PJ is one of the oldest townships in Klang Valley with it’s oldest part aptly called Old Town. In this part of the valley, you can find quite a number of eateries older folks are familiar with.
As a general rule of thumb, older establishments that withstood the test of time usually offers better foods, which is why once in a while we’d head to the food court at PJ old town for some good old fashion hawker food.
sting ray curry, vinegar pork, and chicken rice
The last time we went was a few weeks ago, and this time around we ordered the curry fish from Gerai Seong Kee. There were a few types of fish to choose from, we ordered a big clay pot of stingray curry mainly due to the lack of hazard in fish bones.
I almost always choose stingray when it comes to ikan bakar as well. It’s just a lot easier, not to mention the fact that I actually love the way it tastes.
clay pot stingray curry fish from Seong Kee
Rather than ordering white rice to go with the curry fish, we got a serving of pork knuckle with vinegar and a plate of roast pork and roast chicken from Kie Kee chicken rice. This way, we get to have four different dishes with chicken rice instead of plain tasting normal steamed rice.
The concept is pretty much like how you’d dine in a Tai Chow place, except this is actually a food court.
roast chicken, roast pork, and pork knuckle with vinegar from Kie Kee
As it turned out, the rich and creamy santan based curry fish actually does go very well with chicken rice. Combination of cabbage, brinjal, ladies finger and that soft silky stingray meat mixes well with the slightly oily rice.
The pork knuckle was fatty and quite strong tasting, just the way I like it. The best thing is, alternating the few dishes ensures that your palate doesn’t go dull by having the same taste throughout the entire meal. It was good.
Best of all, the lunch session didn’t exactly cost us an arm and a leg, it’s in a food court after all. However, the serving from Kie Kee seems to be getting smaller and smaller while the price basically remains rather cheap. I guess you can’t escape from inflation after all.
Address:
Intersection of
Jalan Othman & Jalan Selangor
Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.087519, 101.645948
I am one of those people who loves variety when it comes to food. In a typical week, I probably had Malay food, a variety of hawker food, maybe even Japanese, Taiwanese, Italian cuisine. It is very rare that I have the same dish more than once in the same week.
Cristang pork burger P7 (by request, not on menu)
But once in a while, a particularly dish come along that is so awesome I just had to have it twice in a row. The latest of such phenomenon come in the form of a very unique pork burger from Cristang Restaurant.
The first time I had it was on Wednesday, I went there again for the same dish on the very next night for dinner, and there is no doubt I would go to Cristang again many times more.
mushroom soup and bacon ribs curry (non spicy)
Cristang Restaurant is located at 8 Avenue in PJ State, a stone throw away across the big Police Station that handles all sorts of traffic accidents in PJ. 8 Avenue itself is a relatively new shop lots that has paid parking much like the concept of Plaza Damas.
The good: there’s always parking spaces
The bad: you have to pay around RM 2 for the spot
pork burger P7, Weihenstephaner beer, pork burger P5
At Cristang, their specialty is pork, and oh, they do serve beer, including the 3 types of Weihenstephaner.
The menu is actually rather extensive, you can find pasta, fried rice with bacon & Chinese sausage, pork bacon soup, pork noodle soup, Portugese laksa, and even Bak Kut Teh noodle.
KY, Terence, and Gareth gobbling down our pork burgers
Then there are the 6 different types of pork burger code name P1 to P6.
Every type of burger comes with their specialty pork patty made fresh and grilled when order. The differences are:
Missing from the menu is P7, by special request, is basically a P4 plus melted cheese. This was the burger I ate twice in 2 days.
kerol, kim, jeff, shiang, cheesie, and jaclyn
To say the burger is unique is probably an understatement, it is a creation of art, something so ridiculously out of this world I am suspecting the chef probably has a very weird sense of imagination.
Who would have thought a little bit of diced petai in pork chili con carne (something similar to pork sambal at 6-10 nasi lemak , except actually better) with melted cheese, bacon, and that oh-so-juicy pork patty and buns could result in a burger that tastes so good?
My favorite animal meat in three different textures and three different tastes, with that fresh yet slightly pungent smell of petai, then there’s the cheese, the onion, tomato, and pickle. It’s just so goooood!
Did I mention that the wedges accompanying the burger is one of the best I’ve tasted from anywhere too? There’s a hint of rosemary to the potato, a mark that the chef doesn’t prepare the wedges just for the sake of serving the burger with some potato.
Well, other than the burger I’ve tasted the mushroom soup and the bacon ribs curry, they are good too, but I’m not sure when I’ll order other dishes and forgo my stomach space for P7 yet. We shall see.
Address:
Cristang Restaurant
Unit B-G-19
8 Avenue
Jalan Jernih (8/1)
Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.09985, 101.640208
Tel: 03-7956 7877
One of my favorite dinner Bak Kut Teh destinations was always been at PJ old town. For the longest time, I actually didn’t notice the existence of Meng Kee Bak Kut Teh despite having been to Heng Kee just a stone’s throw away in numerous occasions.
Meng Kee Bak Kut Teh with all sorts of ingredients to choose from
Meng Kee is located right opposite Public Bank at Old Town at a corner shop that is basically almost all alfresco with no table within the walls. The whole set up is more old school, quite a lot more disorganized, and even busier than Heng Kee.
On the Monday night we were there, it was packed and we actually had to wait for some 10 minutes before a table was available for the six of us. It took a further 20 minutes or so before our food was served.
pork ribs, vegetable, 3 layer fatty pork, braised mushroom
Just like the other Old Town bak kut teh, the dishes are served in plastic bowls instead of clay pots. Personally I don’t find any distinction between having my meat in a clay pot or a bowl. You should eat bak kut teh fast enough that the soup stay warm irregardless of the type of container used.
We ordered 3-layer fatty pork, ribs, braised mushroom, vegetable, a small portion of intestines and tripes, and tofu.
KY, Ginny, Mellissa, AmCheong, Yee Hou, Firdy
The meat, fatty pork, ribs, innards, alongside with the teow chew style bak kut teh soup was good, on par with some of the bests out there. The mushroom and vegetable was alright too, though not particularly special. Tofu was a little too oily but I think it was due to the fact that they rushed it.
There are people we claimed that Meng Kee is better than Heng Kee, but honestly speaking I find no significant difference between the two and would probably prefer the latter’s slightly more comfortable dining experience. That said, Meng Kee does have the more old school nostalgic feel to it that works in its favor for that all important psychological effect.
Meng Kee BKT is located opposite Public Bank at PJ Old Town
Address:
Meng Kee Bak Kut Teh
Jalan Pasar 1/21
Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.086565,101.646044
Tel: 017-291 1745
My ex-housemate, Kerol, came over last weekend to pick myself and Horng up for lunch again last Saturday. As usual, we were not able to come up with any suggestion that could satisfy the girl. At the end, she decided to drive us to one of her favorite lunch places at PJ when she used to work.
The little hidden food court at PJ state located right opposite the big police station (if you have an accident anywhere in PJ, you usually end up there).
old school food court ala Medan Selera style
The place is a municipal built public food court that reminds me of those at PJ old town (with chicken rice), Seksyen 14 (with popiah), and the nasi lemak Tanglin. With plastic tables and chairs affixed on the floor that was as trendy as it was unpractical, especially if you have a larger group of people visiting at the same time.
We located stall number 4 that says Mee Bandung Muar (no I didn’t manage to try their mee bandung, perhaps next time) without much trouble and ordered lunch.
asam ikan pari and telur dadar
They serve three different types of asam fish: kembung (hard tail), pari (stingray), and tengiri (mackerel). But for some reasons, everyone asked for the stingray that day, most probably due to the fact that we’re a bit lazy to have to deal with any bones. We also ordered telur dadar (Malay style omelet) and rice.
the food court is located right opposite PJ State police station
The asam fish itself was pretty nice but I thought it could be slightly more spicy and more sour. I think this suits the KL taste a bit more as compared to the northern version that tends to be a bit stronger tasting. Adding their kicap (slightly sweet version of soya sauce) made it taste quite a bit better though.
Overall, it was still a pretty satisfying lunch for only RM 6 each per person, including rice and egg. Maybe it’s time to try a bit more from the same food court.
Address:
Store 4, Mee Bandung Muar
Medan Selera, PJ State
Jalan Lampan 8/3,
Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.099046, 101.640412
When it comes to pork noodle, I usually visit the famous SS3 pork noodle as I stay just a stone’s throw away.
I was introduced to this particular stall at PJ state by my ex-colleagues one particular lunch session, who described it as “pretty good also!”. Since I am always game for new foods and new places, why not?
note: This stall has been moved/closed down. If you know the where it is now please do leave a comment here.
the sign board for the kopitiam is only visible at the back
The pork ball noodle stall is hidden inside Fook Yun kopitiam, which in turns has its sign board hidden and only viewable from the back of the building. However, it isn’t exactly tough to locate as this would be the kopitiam closest to the pedestrian-only streets opposite the MBPJ building.
Pork noodles come in either the soup, or dry version. The ingredients too, are slightly different, the dry version comes with marinated ground meat and a bowl of pork ball soup while the soup version has Lap Cheong (Chinese sausage) and pork balls. On the contrary, the SS3 version comes with meat, intestine, ground pork, and liver. So they are actually rather different.
ahh, glorious pork noodle
Taste wise, I find it to be pretty delicious in a different way. While the SS3 type is more oily and porky, this version carries the slightly sweeter taste thanks to the marinated ground meat or lap cheong. The pork balls were pretty big, has a firm texture to it, and tasted pretty good too.
As usual, you get to choose from vermicelli, noodle, kueh teow, or the combination of them as the filler.
Fook Yun kopitiam faces MBPJ building
A bowl of pork noodle here is slightly less than RM 5. I wouldn’t hesitate to eat there again.
Address:
29-31 Jalan 52/1,
46200 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.099657,101.645154
