A couple weekends ago I made a drive all the way to Batu Caves to finally meet Penny, someone who used to work in the next building I was at but never managed to see face to face. What made this finally happen was her effective persuasion that I should try the absolute best Wat Tan Hor at Pan Heong Restaurant near Batu Caves.
a simple kopitiam setting with some awesome food
The restaurant is more like a “tai chau” style kopitiam and only opens for breakfast and lunch. For the three of us, we ordered the wat tan hor (literally smooth egg flat noodle), fried noodle (mee goreng), deep fried nam yu pork, and a “fu yu” vegetable dish.
Although pretty packed, it didn’t take too long before the first dish arrives. The wat tan hor was absolutely fabulous, seriously the best I’ve had by far. The sauce thick and very flavorful, and you can taste the difference between the sauce blended with egg yolk and those with only egg white. Very different but equally tasty. There were plenty of cuttle fish, meat, and vegetable in it too.
wat tan hor, mee goreng, “nam yu” pork, vegetable with “fu yu”
I also like the deep fried “nam yu” (fermented beancurd) pork. The fermented beancurd marinated into the pork gives it a distinctive taste, and of course, you need the pork to be relatively fatty to have a juicy texture to go with it. Nice but of course, very sinful.
Of course, a vegetable dish is ordered to give us an illusion of having a complete meal and hence, cancel the sin. Vitamin C is good for you.
The mee goreng, on the other hand, was nice but pale in comparison with the above dishes. I think this might be due to the lack in spiciness, and the fact that I’ve had some pretty good mee goreng like from here (PJ), and here (Penang).
Pan Heong Restaurant is located only a couple hundred meters from Batu Caves
The meal for three came to RM 39.80 with both the noodle dishes at RM 8.50 each, the pork at RM 10.50 and vegetable for RM 6.50. Very reasonable and I will definitely go there again. There are a few more dishes I’d love to try, like those blogged at masak-masak and precious pea, can you say Sang Har Mien?
Address:
No. 2 Jalan Medan Batu Caves 2,
Medan Batu Caves, KL
GPS: 3.233873, 101.673456
Tel: 03-6187 7430
After casting my vote on that fateful election day that changed our history forever, I called up FA to go breakfast as her polling station is just a mere kilometer from mine. I took a very short drive to Sea Park (PJ Seksyen 21, not to be mistaken with Taman Sea) for some Ipoh Kueh Teow Soup at Soo Kee.
master chef skillfully remove all bones from the chicken
For the two of us, we actually ordered up quite a feast. Two bowls of Ipoh Kueh Teow Soup (Ipoh Hor Fun), a bowl of prawn wan tan (with at least 8 wantans in there), and a pretty big portion of steamed chicken. I don’t get to eat early breakfast that often, so it is a feast when I get a chance.
Ipoh kueh teow soup, prawn wantan, and really smooth chicken
While waiting for our food, we noticed that a lady next to our table took out a curiously looking newspaper wrapper, and out came roasted pork (siu yok). That certainly made us salivate, and after FA checked with the lady, I was sent to the wet market just opposite the restaurant on a mission. I came back with RM 5 worth of godsend.
look at FA being so happy with the roasted pork
As it turned out, we really had too much food that morning. The kueh teow soup was actually very good and true to the traditional recipe. Some prawns, shredded chicken meat, spring onion, and a dash of chili oil that amplify the flavor. I particularly like the steamed chicken too, almost completely boneless (like Fatty Loh‘s style), with the meat very smooth and succulent. The wantan was pretty good too, if not a little bit on the saltier side for my taste.
The addition of roasted pork was certainly the highlight of the day. The crunchiness of the skin on roasted pork was a stark contrast to the smoothness of chicken and the kueh teow, the contrasting taste and texture made the breakfast awesome. We had our stomach completely filled.
Soo Kee is located just a stone’s throw away from the Sea Park Shell station
I don’t remember exactly how much each bowl of kueh teow costs, but the entirely meal was more than RM 20. Certainly expensive for breakfast, but with the amount of chicken and prawn wan tan we had, I think it was still reasonable.
Address:
33 Jalan 21/17,
46300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.109781, 101.622012
Tel: 03-7876 7736
