There are quite a number of places in Klang Valley that are famous for their char siew (bbq pork), and a couple weeks ago my colleagues introduced me to another place that serves one of the best char siew in town – Restaurant Soo Kee at Jalan Ampang.
I think some day I should compile a list of the best char siew places, but until then… lets talk about this place instead.
restaurant Soo Kee is where you find awesome char siu
Restaurant Soo Kee is situated at Jalan Ampang, just right next to the flyover heading to Ampang Point. While you can’t park directly outside the shop, it’s not exactly tough to find a spot at nearby roads.
It’s an old school restaurant with even older owners, but the place is air conditioned, and pretty clean too, that’s always a plus.
intestine, salted roast duck, and the char siu (bbq pork)
For the 7 of us, we ordered the char siew, salted roast duck, intestine, deep fried spring roll, and their signature tofu dish. I think we had initially ordered a vegetable dish to go with, but canceled it somehow.
So the char siew - it was easily one of the best I’ve had. The skin was slightly charred, the meat soft, succulent, and the layer of fat almost transparent. This is what we came for, and none of us were disappointed.
Then there’s the salted roast duck, this too was a dish not to be missed. It tasted essentially like .. well, salted version of a good roast duck. I do like the extra dimension that the saltiness bring, the skin was crispy, and we devoured everything.
The intestine though, was a bit of a disappointment to me, it was a little bit too tough (perhaps overcooked?). Not bad per se, but could be nicer if it was a bit softer.
deep fried spring roll and signature tofu
Deep fried spring roll actually looked and tasted nothing like spring roll, but a lot closer to fish cake instead. However, it was a really good fish cake and something that I’d order again without a doubt.
The signature tofu is basically Japanese tofu in egg drop soup with a bit of seafood ingredients. Offers some contrasting taste to the mostly oily/fatty dishes we had, a good balance, but nothing to shout about.
KY, Debran, Sarah, Yin Foong, Angelina, Michelle & another ninja
We had an awesome Friday lunch for sure, and Soo Kee is definitely a place worth revisiting. The lunch came to something like RM 15-17 per person. Reasonable for what we had.
That Friday afternoon was spent fighting the zzz bug though. Just one of the disadvantages of having a lunch too good on working days
Address:
Restaurant Soo Kee
No. 373-1, 4th Mile,
Jalan Ampang Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.158449, 101.747088
Tel: 03-4257 0767
Closed on Mondays
This is the last food post from the Redang trip last month. After stopping by for keropok lekor, our last item on schedule before heading back to KL was naturally, lunch.
Ed again served as the guide and this time he brought us to Restaurant Golden Dragon in Chinatown
a very straight to the point “non halal” sign
I knew that it had to be at least a pretty decent place soon as we arrived. The restaurant was absolutely packed even on a Monday, and we had to wait for a table. There was a big group of middle aged ladies with “I love Redang” t-shirts, which doesn’t bear any significance to anything but I just felt like mentioning.
long beans, eggplant, salted fish, roast pork and BBQ pork
Ed ordered a large portion of roast pork and BBQ pork, and I made orders of several other pre-prepared dishes to go with steamed rice. We had long beans, eggplant, omelet, bitter gourd, and some soup too.
Though the BBQ pork (char siu) was ordinary, the roast pork (siu yoke) was actually rather good. We actually ordered a second serving of roast pork to make up for going 3 days porkless on the island.
bitter gourd, omelet, soup, rice
While the other dishes were commendable, my favorite had to go to the salted fish fillets. The aroma and taste was just so “right” I used it to replace soya sauce. Omelet with salted fish, roast pork with salted fish, bitter gourd with salted fish, egg plant with salted fish, they were all awesome!
Terence, Kim, FA, Ed, Horng, KY & Joe, Kerol & Haze
Including drinks, we only had to pay RM 8 per person for the meal. It was really cheap considering the amount of items we ordered. I’ve read that they serve pretty good “tai chau” during dinner time too.
Address:
198 Jalan Kampung Cina
Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu
GPS: 5.333684, 103.132921
Tel: 09-622 3034
I have been a fan of roasted duck for the longest time and usually get my fix at Loong Foong in Taman Paramount whenever temptations got the better of me. While roasted duck is all good, everyone has been telling me that roasted goose is a whole other level altogether when it comes to taste, people like Horng who has been to HK on numerous occasions. As you might have guessed, roasted goose is a rather common dish there.
glorious glistering roasted goose
However, some weird cosmic arrangement has resulted in the relative scarcity of this dish back in Malaysia. They are so rare that so far I am only aware that less than handful of places offer them around KL.
It wasn’t until late last year that I got myself a taste of this Chinese/HK delicacy at a food review session on Canton-i, and I can attest to the claims. Roasted goose is really quite a bit more succulent and juicy compared to duck, not to mention the relative larger portion which makes it easier to eat too.
Soon Fatt Beijing Roasted Goose is a shack by the corner of Jalan Pasar
Since that event, I had been back to Canton-i a couple times only to find out that the roasted goose is sold out every time I get there. Something had to be done, and I vaguely recalled the availability of this dish at Jalan Pasar.
A few clicks on google and a short drive later, a couple colleagues and I arrived at Soon Fatt Beijing Roasted Goose at Jalan Pasar on one fateful Friday afternoon.
For the three of us, we ordered quarter portion of roasted goose (thigh and drumstick portion), another generous portion of char siu (bbq pork) and siu yoke (roasted pork) on the side, three rice and some drinks.
The dishes came with 3 types of condiments: a plum sauce and 2 types of chili sauce. Soup is served with rice as well.
The portion of roasted goose was actually rather big even for 3 of us. The meat juicy and very scrumptious, which leaves me wondering the differences the breast portion would bring since duck breast and duck confit do carry different taste. While the siu yok wasn’t as impressive as Wong Meng Kei, they still tasted pretty good. The char siu though, was actually better than expected, on par with some of the bests in town (such as meng kee at pudu, or Aman Suria’s famous Hakka noodle char siu)
roasted goose, roasted & bbq pork, rice, soup, bliss!
It was a satisfying lunch but also one that came with a pretty steep price. The meal was some RM70 for three of us, still, RM 20+ per person isn’t too exuberant for something you don’t get very often. Now if only this place has air conditioning…
Address:
Intersection of Jalan Pasar and Jalan Yap Hin,
Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.135315, 101.716479
Tel: 012-212 9018
I had actually been to Canton-i a couple of times prior to the kind invitation by Wai Kong of PRKraft for this proper food review session. I was pretty excited about the review as my previous visits were rather positive. In fact, it was my god mom who brought me there for the first time, which explains the lack of posting and photos from my prior visits.
chef: herro I am from Hong Kong!
Canton-i is run by the same people who brought us the Dragon-i chain, same ownership, same management, and operated in a very similar style in terms of set up and the way ingredients are sourced. The biggest difference is, while Dragon-i concentrate on Shanghai cuisine, Canton-i brings Hong Kong food to Malaysia in its original form. As explained by Kong, there is always at least an experience chef from Hong Kong at the branch to oversee the operations.
roasted bbq pastry, egg yolk in custard buns, egg tarts
Suan and I arrived at the Mid Valley Gardens’ branch to find Sid & Sunny from BigBoysOven already there. We started out with a few light dishes you might find at dimsum places. The roasted bbq pastry was nice (something like seremban siu pao), and the egg yolk in custard buns with its rich and hot liquid ingredients reminds me of the excellent creamy and flowy custard from SOHO. As for the egg tarts, they were really delicious to the point that Suan actually asked for more to bring home for her parents.
roasted and bbq pork, veal ribs in black pepper sauce, roasted goose
You can never claim to have proper Hong Kong food without these roasted and bbq dishes. This session was actually my first time tasting roasted goose, and it was one of those food moments you never forget. Like the first time you had durian, or raw fish sushi. I thought roasted duck was good, but goose is just a whole other level when it comes to taste and especially the texture. Very smooth and succulent. I love it.
The bbq pork (char siu) and roasted pork (siu yok) were of pretty good standard as well. The skin from siu yok is crunchy and the meat of very nice cuts with proper skin/fat/meat ratio. Honey and mustard is served with the meat for those who prefer to have a little kick with it. The veal ribs in black pepper sauce is similar to steamed pork ribs you find at typical dim sum place, except the slightly gamy taste to it, might not be everyone’s cup of tea.
steamed pea-sprout dumpling with scallop, steamed wheat buns, chee cheong fun with yau char kuai, cuttled fish pancake
The next dim sum dish was the pea sprout dumpling with scallop which was rather sophisticated in the looks department and tasted pretty nice as well. The steamed wheat buns though, is something that’s supposed to be healthy, I thought they tasted just alright.
Chee cheong fun with yau char kuai is an interesting dish, combining two old school breakfast favorites into one. I would however, only describe it as far as being interesting. Didn’t exactly like the combination that much myself.
The cuttle fish pancake, on the other hand, is easily one of my favorites for the day. Firm texture with a slightly crunchy skin and that savory taste of cuttle fish. It was very very nice, even better than those very good fish cakes from, for example, the fish ball soup place near Atria.
shrimp dumpling wantan mee, pork ribs wantan mee, carp fish ball and lettuce congee
The shrimp dumpling wan tan mee was actually one of the first dishes I’ve ever eaten at Canton-i, a pretty non nonsense Hong Kong style wan tan mee that hold it’s place pretty well. You can choose between having the dry or soup versions. However, the pork ribs wan tan mee only comes in the dry version, I believe.
Another specialty of Canton-i is the carp fish ball lettuce congee. While I didn’t exactly fancy the taste of carp fish ball, the congee itself was very smooth (and steaming hot) and delicious, I actually ordered some other type of porridge on my subsequent visit to this place.
steamed shark fin dumpling in superior soup, marinated cuttlefish with bean curd, deep-fried durian fritters, milk with ginger sauce
As we thought our stomachs couldn’t handle it anymore, we were served even more food. The steamed shark fin dumpling in superior soup was nice, and interestingly with the soup tasted even better than the dumpling. Reminding me of the excellent soup I had at Emperor Chinese restaurant at Sheraton Subang. We also had another classic Hong Kong food, the marinated cuttlefish with bean curd. I liked the bean curd but can’t say I enjoyed eating the marinated cuttlefish though, it was just chewy and slightly sour.
For dessert, we were fed some deep-fried durian fritters which we surprisingly good (made with real durian). Then there’s the milk with ginger sauce that looks and tasted pretty similar to taufufar (soya bean curd) except even smoother and well, slightly milky.
KY, black & white evaporated milk, big boys oven, suanie
I ended the meal with a cup of milk tea made with imported Black&White evaporated milk that is common in Hong Kong. This was an overly very satisfying meal, I almost couldn’t walk.
Prices at Canton-i is pretty reasonable considering the quality of food as well as its location and settings. Dishes are from RM 7 or more for dim sum, wantan mee costs from around RM 12. You can have a decent meal for as low as RM 20 per person, or run the bill a lot higher if you are into more lavish dishes. Expect crowd during busy lunch/dinner time.
Web: canton-i.com.my
Address:
LG 202 & 203A, Lower Ground Floor
Mid Valley Gardens
GPS: 3.118675, 101.676085
Tel: 03-2284 6888
Address:
G-208, Second Floor
1 Utama Shopping Centre
GPS: 3.150050, 101.615939
Tel: 03-7729 7888
Undoubted many of you agree that Penang offers the best hawker food in this country, the best char kueh teow, curry mee, prawn mee, and of course, laksa, can be found on the island. However, there are more than just these few offerings when it comes to Chinese hawker food, and there are certainly dishes that tastes better outside the favorite hawker food destination that is Penang.
traditional set up with lots of combination of ingredients
When it comes to wantan noodle and various roasted/bbq meat items, some of the bests can be found right here in Klang Valley. One of my favorite places to have a cheap and good traditional wantan noodle would be Restaurant Choy Loy at PJS 10, situated just opposite Sunway Pyramid.
The first time I visited this place was actually in the previous decade when I used to stay at around the area. It was nice to see that the shop is still running and selling basically the same thing after I came back from the States.
roast pork & bbq pork, beef & innards, chicken feet & mushroom, roasted duck
The selling point at Chong Loy is the variety of traditional noodle and rice you can get. They have the classic wan tan mee with char siu (bbq pork), then there’s siu yoke (roasted pork), lap cheong (Chinese pork sausage), roasted duck, chicken, chicken feet with mushroom, and even beef including tripes. You can pick any combination to go with noodle in dry and soup version, or rice.
look at the dude enjoying!
I have tried pretty much everything from this place over the years. While it might not carry the wow factor like siu yoke at Pudu or char siu at Aman Suria, everything do tastes pretty good and proper, just like how they should be. I particularly like the chicken feet with mushroom and the wan tan noodle with beef.
This place is just behind Ah Foong bak kut teh
Address:
Jalan PJS 10/9
47800 Bandar Sunway
Selangor
GPS: 3.076731, 101.603934
