Category / Pudu and Downtown
May 22, 2013
Every once in a while, we would make a rather long journey from PJ all the way to downtown Pudu for dinner. The destination is almost always the old school outdoor open air food court at Jalan Sayur.
There you find many stalls that are famous for what they serve (char kuih kak being my favorite, mixed pork porridge is awesome too). Today, we look at Sei Ngan Zai fried chicken (四眼仔胜利炸鸡)
Sei Ngan Zai fried chicken stall at Jalan Sayur
The stall is located at the end of Jalan Sayur that is closest to Jalan Pudu, and almost always with a line of customers waiting to get their freshly fried chicken.
A piece of chicken cost RM 2.80, chicken wings at RM 2.30, and a 1/4 chicken (thigh & drumstick) is priced at RM 4.50. They also offer fries at RM 1.80, and for those with a sense of adventure to the wild side – bishop’s nose (aka chicken ass).
we had fries, chicken wings, and thigh
Their fried chicken is well marinated and you almost always have it straight out of the fryer, steamy hot, tender, and definitely very delicious. The fries are passable though not exactly special. I’m not a fan of bishop’s nose (tried it years before and found it a tad too oily) but words are that this place serves one of the bests in town.
If you head down to Jalan Sayur, be sure to grab a few pieces of fried chicken from sei ngan zai, they serve as pretty awesome side dishes to go with whatever else that you decide to be your main show of the night.
Address:
Sei Ngan Zai Fried Chicken
Jalan Sayur,
Off Jalan Pudu,
55100 Pudu,
Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.135208, 101.713051
Hours: dinner & supper
April 22, 2013
With the cats waking me up before 7am every morning and the fact that I now ride a bike to work, it opens up a lot of opportunity for me to explore various breakfast outlets in the city. Last week I went to one of the oldest Hakka noodle stalls in town – the “Da Bu Mien” stall at Jalan Sayur, Pudu.
Hakka noodle at Jalan Sayur, brisk business in the morning
Even at the early hours, the 8 decade old stall is already packed with people. Sharing table is a norm, and you can say goodbye to comfortable chairs or air conditioned dining hall. The promise is a bowl of noodle as authentic as it gets, hand made and with ingredients true to the heart of the operator.
The stall has a yellow label that says “Da Bu Mien” (大埔面), which state it’s origin from Dabu county, a district of Meizhou, Guangdong Province of China, a center of Hakka culture.
minced meat, chasiu, and wantan too
A bowl of noodle is RM 4.50 and comes with minced meat, chasiu, vegetable, and a side of wantan soup. The traditionally made noodle (using bamboo) has a good springy texture to it and is closer to wantan noodle instead of the more common flattened style found in other Hakka noodle places.
I find myself enjoying the slightly oiled minced meat quite a bit, in fact, some regulars prefer to have more minced meat instead of chasiu.
Over all, it was a rather good bowl of noodle, and a place I certainly will visit again.
Address:
Chun Kee (Da Bu) Hakka Mee
446, Jalan Sayur,
Off Jalan Pudu,
55100 Pudu,
Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.135208, 101.713051
Hours: breakfast till late lunch
April 17, 2013
To be honest, when I first discovered this little old school eatery by the corner of Lorong Brunei 2 and Jalan 1/77c at Pudu, I don’t really know what they serve, but sometimes you need to be a bit adventurous when it comes to food.
the pork ball noodle stall is at the corner of Lorong Brunei 2 and Jalan 1/77c
Situated right under a big tree by the corner, the sign says Seremban Minced Pork Noodle (芙蓉肉碎面). Old marble tables with newish plastic chairs, the clienteles seems to make up of regulars who have been there for years.
I parked my bike, took a seat and ordered my noodle. Both times only choosing my choice of noodle (mee + meehun is my choice) and stating if I wanted it dry or in soup.
dry version, served with a side of soup and chili
I really liked the dry version (RM 5), a bowl of soup with deep fried pork skin and “three-in-one” meatballs on the side, and noodle with dark soya sauce base sprinkled by minced pork/chili (I am not quite sure what they really are, but it’s very delicious with the noodle). The chili paste in the small saucer tastes like a cross between HK dimsum style chili oil and Penang Curry Mee chili.
The combination is familiar yet different, I liked the execution and the different complexity brought by the chili. It is more fragrant than spicy though, a plus for those who don’t like their food too hot.
soupy version, everything’s in the bowl, side of chili paste
The soup version comes with pretty much the exact same ingredients, it was a bit lighter but tastes rather good nonetheless. This reminds me of pork ball noodles.
Either way, you can’t go wrong. Give this a try if you are in the area, they’re open for breakfast and I suspect, till around lunch.
Address:
芙蓉肉碎面
Corner of Lorong Brunei 2 & Jalan 1/77C
Pudu, Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.137163, 101.712536
January 31, 2013
One of the biggest advantage of riding to work is the flexibility in breakfast choices. No longer am I confined to the route of LRT or just the food stalls within walking distance of the office. All I need to do is to leave home half an hour earlier, and so that’s what I often do these days, exploring breakfast places around KL in the wee hours.
old uncle’s been preparing wantan mee for a while now
The area behind Berjaya Times Square is one of my favorite places to explore. Being one older part of town, it’s littered with many old school eateries.
And it was by random choice that I ended up at this nameless kopitiam at Jalan Brunei just behind the Caltex gas station. Business always seems pretty brisk in the morning, so I thought I should give it a try.
bbq pork, minced meat, lard, pickled chili, wantan
There is only a stall operating in the morning, offering wantan mee and sui kao mee.
The wantan mee (a tad under RM 5) comes with everything you’d expect in a plate of wantan mee and some. There’s wantan, minced meat, spring onion, charsiu, pickled chili, and even lard. It can take 10-15 minutes before your plate of wantan mee is served, the noodle is springy, the combination of various pork ingredients work their wonders, and is everything you’d want in a wholesome hearty old school breakfast.
the sui-kao (dumplings) are very yummy as well
Their sui kao too are of top quality, packed with black fungus, minced carrot, pork, and prawns.
If you are a fan of wan tan mee or sui kao mee, this is a place to check out. I’ve been back several times since.
Address:
Ban Lee Hin Kee kopitiam
Jalan Brunei (behind Caltex)
Pudu, Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.137286, 101.711544
March 15, 2012
For nasi briyani lovers who don’t feel like paying an arm and a leg to get a plate of these yummy rice from mamak chains, here’s definitely a place you should check out.
Located right within the heart of financial district at Lorong Bandar 13 just off Lebuh Pasar Besar is Warong Nasi Briyani Tajudin where you can still get a plate of nasi briyani for as low as RM 5. (that’s about the 2 teh ais at those “high class” mamak these days right?)
Nasi Briyani at Lorong Bandar 13
Since parking is a bitch at the area, we decided that take away was the best option. Luckily, even though the stall was plenty busy, they are well prepared for big number of tapao orders and we got our 5 packets of nasi briyani in less than 10 minutes.
There are some cozy tables at the lorong where this stall operates, so it is an option to dine in, though not a particularly great idea to do so during peak lunch hours.
chicken briyani and lamb briyani, yum yum
Chicken briyani is RM 5, lamb at RM 6. I had mine with lamb, and while the size of that one piece of lamb wasn’t exactly big (barely sufficient), it was rather tasty, and certainly worth the price we paid.
The rice was fragrant, and I love the extra couple packets of curry that comes with it, one being the normal curry and the other tasted almost like satey sauce, kinda interesting but it worked. There’s also a tiny portion of cucumber and onion, I guess you can call those vege?
Other than lamb & chicken, they also serve briyani burung puyuh (RM 7), briyani fish/sotong (RM 6), and plain rice with those ingredients.
Happy eating!
Address:
Nasi Briyani Lorong Bandar 13
Off Lebuh Pasar Besar
Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.146794, 101.696255
Tel: 012-265 3653 / 016-602 3737
Hours: 10am – 4pm
