PETALING JAYA, May 14 — Nostalgia is a powerful thing. 

Whether it’s being harnessed by Don Draper to pitch the Kodak Carousel in Mad Men or warming Anton Ego’s ice-cold heart in Ratatouille, it is, in Draper’s words, “a twinge in your heart far more powerful than memory alone”. 

And food is often the vessel through which we come under the dizzying influence of nostalgia: a sight may remind us of a memory, a sound may remind us of the place, and a scent may remind us of the person. 

Put them all together in one dish? 

It takes us back to a time when things were better. 

Or at least, when we were happier.

It’s why we are such creatures of habit, why we return to some restaurants or cafes, sometimes even long after we stop considering them our favourites. 

It’s why restaurants so often use it as a marketing tool — à la Don Draper — to get us through the door. 

At TianMiMi Secret, a tong sui cafe and restaurant in Ara Damansara, the appeal to nostalgia isn’t exactly shoved in your face; instead, marketing copy on the walls talks about how a bowl of tong sui “carries the taste of memories, and warmth of home”. 

It’s a common angle for traditional desserts, but TianMiMi, which opened in January, doesn’t limit itself to just tong sui. 

The name is both a pun and a reference: tian mi mi is a phrase in Mandarin that means “sweet as honey”, and is the title of one of Teresa Teng’s most famous songs, while mi mi is a homophone for the Chinese word for “secret”. 

The secret? There is none. 

TianMiMi prides itself on using natural, healthier ingredients, less salt, less sugar and no MSG — just the sort of thing that diners who miss “the good old days” will love, although there’s absolutely nothing wrong with good old monosodium glutamate. 

Another thing that’s a throwback directly from yesteryear: a Hainanese chicken chop (RM24.90). 

For many, particularly those from my parents’ generation — they’re both in their 60s — this classic Hainanese dish was their first taste of “Western” food. 

But I didn’t grow up with this dish. 

Would it still win me over, without the weight of nostalgia behind it?

The answer is a resounding yes. 

Here, the chicken is lightly pan-fried instead of battered and deep-fried, served with the classic accompaniments of potatoes, tomatoes and peas. 

The best thing about it is the terrific sauce: traditionally conceived with a mixture of ketchup, Worcestershire, brown gravy and onions, many versions often sit somewhere between cloyingly sweet and tasteless brown sludge. 

This is definitely not. 

Savoury and tangy, the flavour is spot-on; however, my only complaint is that I wish it had a thicker consistency for a truly optimal smothering experience.

The rest of the savoury menu includes house-made yong tau foo (RM3.80 per piece) and even a decent version of sambal petai prawn (RM25.90), but the real highlights are the chicken chop and, of course, the many tong sui on offer. 

When I brought my parents on one visit, they opted for their favourites, peanut paste (RM13.90) and bubur cha cha with fresh coconut milk, topped with nangka (RM12.90). 

The former came thick with a lovely nutty flavour, while the latter was laden with the natural sweetness of sweet potatoes, but both were distinctly light on sweetness. 

Part of their philosophy here is to use only wild honey and no white sugar, only a bit of brown sugar if needed. 

The result is a lighter dessert experience that doesn’t completely take over your palate and leave you bowled over, but just satisfied enough.

When I visited alone the first time, barley and ginkgo sweet soup (RM12.90) called out to me from the QR menu. 

I have a soft spot for it: every year, on the morning of the first day of Chinese New Year, my grandmother would make it for the whole family as part of a breakfast together with fried nian gao. 

When I studied abroad, that was what I missed the most about Chinese New Year with the family. 

Not the reunion dinner, not the ang pao, but the breakfast of fried nian gao and ginkgo barley. And I don’t even like eating ginkgo nuts!

The version at TianMiMi is, somewhat ironically, not as sweet. 

But it still took me out of my seat and dropped me back in my grandmother’s kitchen in Ipoh, sitting under the massive recreation of da Vinci’s The Last Supper (my grandfather was a staunch Catholic) and enjoying the sweet, mildly creamy soup. 

When I left, I called my grandmother, who — and I am ashamed to admit this — I don’t speak to nearly enough. 

They Ratatouille-ed me into doing it, and for that I am grateful. 

I can’t think of a higher compliment than that.

TianMiMi Secret 甜秘密糖水铺

A-G-11A, Block A, 

Taipan Damansara, 

1, Jalan PJU 1A/3J, 

Ara Damansara, Petaling Jaya.

Open daily, 7am-9.30pm. Open till 11pm on Friday and Saturday.

Tel: 010-455 8383

Facebook: 甜秘密 Tianmimi Secret

Instagram: @tianmimisecret

* This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.

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* Follow Ethan Lau on Instagram @eatenlau for more musings on food and occasionally self-deprecating humour.