Let’s Tabeniko!!!

This time, we’ll introduce Hainan-inspired creative cuisine 🍛

What exactly is Hainanese cuisine? What kind of dishes are there? If I mention that Hainanese Chicken Rice is famous, you might think, “Ah! That Hainanese Chicken Rice~” 🍗 But this time, I visited a restaurant serving healthy Hainanese dishes that use beans, mushrooms, and vegetables instead of meat!!!

This spot is close to the previous restaurant, located in Mahkota Cheras, a district in the southeast of KL. It’s a shop lot—a cluster of small shops akin to a Japanese shotengai—where you’ll find this restaurant. ☕🍛🍗🍜🍴

This area is home to a large Chinese community, with residential neighborhoods stretching as far as the eye can see 🏠🏠🏠🏠🏠🏠🏠🏠🏠🏠🏠.

As a result, the local shop lots are incredibly well-stocked and diverse. You’ll find everything from wet markets 🍉 and chicken shops 🐔 to pork vendors 🐷, dry goods stores, general merchandise shops, pharmacies 💊, hair salons 👵✂️, car repair shops 🚗, cafes ☕, restaurants 🍴, and hardware stores ⚒️. Basically, if you need anything for daily living, you can find it here.

I frequently shop here, get my hair cut, and visit often—it has become an indispensable part of my everyday life.

The key point that makes this shop stand out is that it doesn’t call itself “vegetarian,” but rather “meat-free.” It even uses onions and garlic—ingredients that many vegetarians avoid. According to the owner’s philosophy, the goal isn’t just to label the food as “vegetarian,” but to recreate flavors that closely mimic traditional meat dishes, so people can think, “Hey, I don’t need to eat meat to enjoy something this delicious!” The reason behind this approach? The owner wants to promote the idea that “meat-free” equals “not killing animals,” and ultimately, that people’s staple foods should return to natural, whole foods.

The restaurant is owned by three people, and one of them, Julie, traces her ancestry back to Hainan. Julie herself is from Pangkor Laut (near Ipoh); her father was a fisherman, and her mother used to volunteer at a temple, preparing meals there. Drawing on this rich heritage—combining Hainanese roots with her mother’s decades of culinary expertise—the shop just opened two months ago 🐥. It’s a place born from a long, storied history, passed down from parents to children, and from children to grandchildren. You can really feel the deep love and care behind every dish 🥰🥰🥰 It reminded me of all the recipes my own mother taught me, and it made me want to cook for my son too! Time to get back to cooking! 😂🤣

The entrance to the shop. Could this be Julie’s mom?? And the decorations seem to blend Christmas and Chinese New Year vibes, sparkling with festive cheer 🎄🧧🎄🧧🎄🧧🎄🧧

The dishes I ordered this time 🍜🍛☕🍴

Hainan-style adaptations of Malay dishes, as well as the restaurant’s own signature creations.

From right to left, clockwise

RS01 Signature Hainanese Roasted Chicken Rice – RM9.90

RS05 Signature Special Nasi Lemak RM13.9

Fried tempeh, a traditional fermented soybean product used as a meat alternative, and ikan bilis (anchovies) that are fried with shiitake mushrooms on top! The rice is topped with toasted coconut! A healthy Nasi Lemak 🍛 that doesn’t use meat or fish.

D10 Special Bubble Black Tea RM5.9 (Beverage)

It has a sweet, tea-like flavor and is topped with foam, giving it a beer-like appearance?

N03 Special Curry Mee Hoon & Noodles RM12.9

A healthy curry mee featuring noodles made from a mix of bee hoon and yellow noodles, topped with okra, eggplant, green beans, bean sprouts, and fried tofu.

New Menu: Pepper Noodles

Peppery soup noodles featuring crispy fried mushrooms and tender winter melon.

AC16 Homemade Pumpkin Tofu RM18.9

AC18 Kangkung VSquid RM25.9

Here are my top 3 favorites from what I ordered this time! 🤩👍

The No. 3 spot goes to this↓↓↓

Menu No.: RS01 Signature Hainanese Roasted Chicken Rice RM9.9

It looks like chicken rice, but it’s made with beans instead of chicken. Super healthy! 🌳

The rice was so incredibly delicious that you wouldn’t even realize it was called “chicken rice”—it’s the kind of dish that makes you want endless refills! 🍚🍚🍚

This Hainan-style restaurant is famous for its chicken rice. Inspired by the owner’s heartfelt belief in “not killing animals,” we’ve worked hard to recreate the authentic taste, crafting this dish together with a chef who hails from the same Hainan region. Please enjoy this warm, lovingly prepared chicken rice.

Menu No.: RS02 Signature Hainan White-Cut Chicken Rice RM9.9

The No. 3 menu item I mentioned earlier is the fried version, while the one in the photo above is the non-fried version. Both are delicious, but I prefer the fried one 🥰

The second place goes to this↓↓↓

Menu No.: AC16 Homemade Pumpkin Tofu RM18.9

Homemade Silken Tofu with Pumpkin Sauce 🤩 The fluffy, jiggly texture of the silken tofu pairs perfectly with the sweet pumpkin sauce topped with sesame seeds—it’s just too delicious~~~ 🤩🤩🤩👍👍👍 The silken tofu is made from scratch, and the pumpkin sauce is prepared without sugar, letting the natural sweetness of the pumpkin shine through. It’s so good for your body too! 😻😻😻 I want to eat this again 🍜 Definitely a repeat order 😋😋😋 Food made with so much care and effort is always delicious, and you can really feel the deep love poured into it 🥰🥰🥰

Just a quick aside—this is one of the things that really surprised me when I first came to Malaysia. It turns out that a lot of tofu in Malaysia is firm because it’s coagulated with edible gypsum (calcium sulfate). When I first arrived, I didn’t know any better, so I thought tofu was healthy and easy to prepare, and I ended up eating the packaged tofu from supermarkets quite often. Then, one day, while having a meal with my in-laws,

Mother-in-law 👵🏻: “You’d better not eat too much tofu.”

Me: “Tofu is good for your health, so shouldn’t you eat more of it?”

Mother-in-law 👵🏻: “Tofu contains edible gypsum, so eating too much of it causes calcium deposits in your body.”

Me: “Huh? (＠_＠;)( ఠൠఠ )ﾉ( ఠ ͟ʖ ఠ)Σ(((φ(◎ロ◎)φ)))(⊙﹏⊙)щ(ʘ╻ʘ)щ

😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱

I always assumed tofu was made with nigari, and even my Japanese mother told me that tofu is good for your health, so I was shocked to hear that gypsum is used instead 🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮 I couldn’t eat tofu for half a year after learning that 😵 I can eat a little now, but I never buy cheap tofu. If possible, I’d rather buy it from a dedicated tofu shop…

That’s why handmade tofu made from scratch is incredibly rare in Malaysia 👍

The No. 1 spot goes to this↓↓↓

Menu No.: AC18 Kangkung VSquid RM25.9

Fried squid, you might think—but this is actually fried konjac!!! It’s absolutely delicious 👍👍👍👍👍 It’s topped with fried garlic, onions, and red bell peppers?, which add a perfect accent. It’s not too spicy, just incredibly tasty 😋 Crispy and golden when freshly fried, it’s so good it’ll make your cheeks drop. I could eat this forever 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩

You can really tell that every single dish at this restaurant is crafted with meticulous care and attention to detail.👍

Why is Hainan Village centered around vegetables and beans rather than meat and fish? As the global population continues to grow, we need to produce more food to keep up. Food shortages, particularly regarding chicken and fish, are becoming a pressing issue worldwide, driven by various challenges such as animal husbandry and breeding methods that distance animals from their natural environments, as well as difficulties in storage and management.

It’s possible that people who consume these ingredients are also affected. Eating vegetables and legumes would likely help prevent such issues. The owner opened this restaurant with that very philosophy in mind.

The owner, Julie, used to be a teacher. She was always bothered by the contradiction of teaching children to cherish animals while herself eating animals, which led her to stop eating meat and fish herself. Incidentally, her children don’t eat meat either.

Chinese New Year is just around the corner, so Ethan is now on sale too!! RM88

While it’s usually served with sashimi, this one is made with fruits! 🤩👍 I’d never seen this before—Fruit Isan! 🥭🍍🍒🍏🍌🍇🍋🍊🍉 It’s topped with peanuts and crispy fried wonton skins, then drizzled with a fruity sauce for a dessert-like experience. 😋 Ingredients include kiwi, mango, pear, dragon fruit, grapefruit, lettuce, and carrots. 🥕 I actually prefer this fruit version over the regular Isan! 🤩🤩🤩 I really want to try it again. 😋😋😋

※Isan is a traditional dish similar to Osechi (Japanese New Year’s cuisine).

We all lifted Yusheng high with our chopsticks, tossing and mixing it up, while wishing for a prosperous business, good health, longevity, and happiness in the year ahead 🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀

It seems even the King of Johor was there! 👑👑👑

A deeply satisfying culinary journey that left both my stomach and heart full 🥐🥐🥐☕☕☕🍜🍜🍜

Our culinary journey—Tabeniko!—will continue! 🤩🤩🤩

Website: Since the shop doesn’t have its own website, please check their Facebook page for details.

https://www.facebook.com/MyHainanVillage

Store Name: HAINAN VILLAGE

Contact: [email protected]

Address: No. 3G, Ground Floor, Jalan Temenggung 25/9, Bandar Mahkota Cheras, 43200 Kajang, Selangor

📍Waze: https://waze.com/ul/hw283kk0ds

Parking: You can park on the street around the shop. If it’s crowded, please park a bit further away. Don’t forget to pay the parking fee! (You can do it via an app. There are various apps, but my husband uses FLEXIPARKING. It’s a parking app that works in Selangor and KL.)

HAINAN VILLAGE welcomes franchise inquiries. If you’re interested, please contact Tabiniko!