We actually spent a total of 10 days in Penang over CNY, my longest stint back home since getting a job in KL some 10 years, and that explains the recent flood of Penang food posts. There will be just a few more before the more KL centric posts resumes.
The extended eating binge was of course, glorious!
Tua Pui curry mee at Weld Quay
On the last few days in Penang, I finally got a chance to try the famed Tua Pui Curry Mee at Weld Quay (situated right across Chew Jetty, now a UNESCO world heritage).
I’m a sucker for Penang style curry mee, and could eat them almost daily until my lactose intolerant body starts to complain. Doesn’t matter, had curry mee!
mine is with extra fish balls, RM 3.80
Tua Pui curry mee is a little bit different from the usual run-off-the-mill Penang curry mee. They have all the usual ingredients you’d find – tofu pok, coagulated blood, blood cockles, cuttle fish; but they also have quite a lot of optional items you can add in. There’s chicken gizzards, big prawns (the bare version has no prawns, bummer), chicken wings, fish balls, and more.
The soup too is enhanced with several types of curry, giving it a little more complexity, I like it.
My bowl was one with extra fish balls for RM 3.80. The two giant fish balls, though looking somewhat peculiar in a bowl of curry mee, did not disappoint, they were quite tasty in itself. Of course, the curry mee overall was as good as any. Well worth a try if you’re in Penang.
we shared a mua chee, and Haze had her 6th laksa or the trip or something
As for Haze, she had her laksa, again. That must be the 6th or 7th laksa of the trip and that girl can never get tired of it. According to her, this particular laksa was a good one too. I didn’t try it, but just by looking at it, you know it’s a winner. RM 3 for the laksa if I remember correctly.
Then there’s muah chee, we paid RM 2 for this excellent combination of flour, crushed nuts, sesame, and sugar that you can find pretty much anywhere in Penang, but for some reasons, not in KL.
I’m missing Penang already.
Address:
Village Coffee Shop
107-A, Pengkalan Weld (Weld Quay),
10300 Penang, Malaysia
GPS: 5.412652,100.338789
My quest for the yummiest Penang Curry Mee continues, and this time it brought me to OUG at Sun Sea Kopitiam. To be honest, I found out about the curry mee here pretty much accidentally as we were wondering about at the area when Haze pointed out: “look here’s a Penang curry mee stall”
It took us the third try to catch it in time (Sunday by around noon), and it was worth it!
Sun Sea kopitiam is becoming one of my favorite places for breakfast
The curry mee at Sun Sea kopitiam is one of the few original Penang curry mee you can find (others are restaurant Okay, PJ SS2 & restaurant Good Food, PJ old town) that comes with coagulated pork blood. My aim is to find more of the same breed in Klang Valley and see how they measure up against some of the bests in Penang.
coagulated pork blood, prawns, cockles, cuttle fish, tofupok, yes!
The curry mee came with tofu pok, a couple peeled prawns, almost-raw cockles (yums), cuttle fish, coagulated pork blood, and that all important chili paste with slightly charred taste. Everything, together with your choice of yellow noodle or meehun or the combination of both, was served in a santan based broth.
It was awesome, this version of curry mee at OUG is almost on par with my favorite one at restaurant Okay, and probably slightly edges the PJ Old Town’s shop. I love it.
the first time Haze likes curry mee instead of tolerating it
It was in fact, good enough that Haze actually liked it (she usually merely tolerates curry mee). RM 4.50 per bowl, if you’re seeking for a bowl of good old fashion Penang curry mee, you can’t go wrong here.
Address:
Restaurant Sun Sea
Jalan Hujan Rahmat,
Overseas Union Garden,
58200 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.073945, 101.673234
daily till around noon+
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I’m a big fan of curry mee, in fact, it is probably my second most favorite hawker dishes all of time, just right behind char kuih teow.
But unlike char kuih teow that are almost always served with the same ingredients, curry mee can be tricky. There’re the Ipoh/central region variety that comes with curry chicken, cockles, and (if you are lucky) pork skin, and there’s the Penang version with prawns, santan based broth, cockles, and increasingly rarely – coagulated pork blood.
hail to Penang curry mee, with pork blood!
The Penang version curry mee isn’t the most common hawker offering in Klang Valley, and as far as I know, only a handful of them serve up a bowl with all the ingredients. So when I found out about this curry mee stall at the newish hawker center at PJ Old Town by the name of Restaurant Good Food, I was rather excited.
prawns, cockles, blood, and tofupok
The operator did speak fluent Penang hokkien, and the bowl of curry mee did indeed come with all the bell & whistles you’d expect – with some extra long beans & lime, but minus the mint leave (i’m nitpicking here).
Apart from the prawns being a bit smallish, this was actually a very good bowl of curry mee, it was the “right” flavor all the way down to the proper sambal with that iconic slightly burnt taste to it. I liked it.
For me, the curry mee at Restaurant Okay at SS2 still edges over this one, but I can almost never wake up in time before they are sold out (usually by 9 a.m. on weekends). This place opens till around 3pm, so hureii!
Address:
Restoran Good Food
Jalan Penchala
Seksyen 51,
46000 Petaling Jaya
GPS: 3.087026, 101.641479
morning till 3pm, close every 1st & 3rd Sundays
I’m a curry mee lover, but I am bias, I almost usually only love the Penang style curry mee, you know, those with coagulated pork blood, prawns, and sea hum. My favorite Penang style curry mee at Klang Valley is the one at Restaurant Okay, SS2.
The KL/Ipoh style curry mee has always been playing second fiddle, and to me, almost always an inferior dish… until I tried this one from Blue & White kopitiam just behind Fahrenheit 88.
check out those cockles and chicken
The stall wasn’t a particularly busy one either, but I ordered a bowl of curry mee just to give it a try earlier this week. The lady asked if I wanted cockles, I told her yes. Cockles aren’t the healthiest seafood, but I like mine almost raw, I like them juicy, and that’s exactly how they serve cockles here, and in abundance too!
deep fried pork skin too, yums
The RM 5 bowl of goodness also comes with a few pieces of deep fried pork skin, another heart attack inducing agent that I can never resist – very yummy. The broth is of course, curry chicken based, and the were ample amount of chicken pieces too.
A few pieces of tofupok and some long beans made up the rest of the ingredients, it was a hearty meal and one that was way above my expectations. Revisit, I shall!
petai and (very small) prawns at the “siu chau” stall
By the way, the “siu chau” (小炒) stall at the same kopitiam also serves pretty good petai prawn that goes for RM 7 or so with an extra egg. It’s a bit spicy, and for sure will leave your pee smelling like petai for the next 2 days.
Bon Appétit!
Address:
Blue White Teow Chew Porridge Kopitiam
Jalan Gading, 55100 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.14622, 101.71415
From afar, Pau Kee is just another one of the many unsuspecting kopitiam by Imbi area. And by from afar, I meant from Win Heng Seng kopitiam, a place that I frequent quite a bit for lunch for it’s char kueh teow and pork noodle.
Eventually curiosity got the better of me (and I do get bored of same dishes very fast), so I decided to give it a try several weeks ago.
Pau Kee – Ipoh Hor Fun
Pau Kee’s main dish is Ipoh hor fun, steamed chicken, and prawn wantan, much like the excellent Soo Kee at Paramount Garden, but in addition to that, they also have wantan mee, and Ipoh style curry mee (with curry chicken).
The one benefit of them serving all these different dishes is that you can let your imagination run wild and have combos such as wantan mee with curry soup, or dried “wantan mee” but with hor fun instead.
Ipoh horfun that looks and tasted like the real deal
Their ipoh horfun though, is a thing of beauty. Look at the photo above, the prawns at center on a bed of shredded steamed chicken on top of the horfun (kuih teow) and bean sprouts, accompanied by spring onions that is precariously cut. Then there’s the soup with a ring of floating chili oil, I mean, it’s beautiful isn’t it?
Fortunately, this thing tastes as good as well.
steamed chicken, soup wantan mee, dry wantan mee, curry mee
I’ve been there a handful of times since, and tried their curry mee (another excellent dish with pretty thick curry broth and fragrant sambal), dried wantan mee (prawn wantan and shredded chicken was good, but the sauce was a bit lacking), steamed chicken (smooth! I’d rate this just below Soo Kee), and sui kao soup (just above average).
The dishes are around RM 5 and up, the portion of steamed chicken above costs RM 8, so prices are really very reasonable. Oh, there’s air conditioning too.
Restaurant Pau Kee
No 10, Jalan Utara (next to Honda showroom)
off Jalan Imbi,
55100 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.145417, 101.715629
Tel : 016-375 1360
