One of the best things about sharing my food adventures on this site is that I do get a lot of good recommendations from readers. From the previous post on the char kuih teow at Mei Sin kopitiam, missyblurkit commented that I should try their nian gao (kuih bakul, 炸年糕, or fried gold cake), and another reader, May, mentioned that I should try the Ipoh kai si hor fun.
A couple weeks later, I did just that.
fried nian gao at Restaurant Mei Sin
For those who aren’t familiar with nian gao, also known as Chinese New Year cake, it is prepared from glutinous rice and very generous amount of sugar. It is sweet and sticky, and most consumed during Chinese New Year as the name nian gao 年糕 sounds like 年高, which symbolizes a higher (better) next year.
I love it smacked between layers of sweet potato and yam, and deep fried in batter.
nian gao in between yam and sweet potato, superb with coffee
The end result is a lethal dose of calorie that is crispy on the outside, firm in between, and soft in the middle. This delicacy is best consumed piping hot, it is mainly sweet, and I think goes best with coffee (even better with Vietnamese coffee).
The same stall also offers other deep fried goodness such as sesame seed ball and banana.
I remember having this first time when I was a small kid back in Penang, from the then famous (or perhaps still) stall located right in front of Island Plaza (of course back then there was no Island Plaza) in Tanjung Tokong. This is the first time I had a good one in KL, any other places offering the same thing?
kai si hor fun at Mei Sin kopitiam
The nian gao was of course, the dessert. My main meal for the day was the Ipoh kai si hor fun, and as suggested, I tried the dry version.
It was a pretty simple dish, with hor fun (or kuih teow, if you like) served in some combination of dark/light soya sauce with bean sprout, smooth steamed chicken and plenty of fried garlic on top. It actually tasted good, and I bet would be even better if I ask for thigh next time. (mine came with chicken breast, I don’t like chicken breast)
Address:
Restaurant Mei Sin
No. 16, Jalan Melati
Off Jalan Imbi,
Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.14396, 101.714768
Pork ball noodle is somewhat of a side kick in the world of hawker food that involves pork and noodle. While pork noodle is Batman, pork ball noodle would be Robin.
Just like Robin, pork ball noodle isn’t exactly as prevalent as pork noodle, and in places where both types are available, Batman usually takes center stage.
Of course, everything has an exception, and such is the case at Win Heng Seng where the pork ball noodle stall arguably busier than the pork ball counterpart (I love the kidney).
pork ball noodle stall at Win Heng Seng kopitiam
The pork ball noodle comes in soup or dry version, and you get to choose from kuih teow, mee hun, yellow noodle, loh she fun, and the combination of them as stomach filler.
While the stall get get very busy (as with the kopitiam itself over lunch), it usually doesn’t take very long for your bowl of goodness to be served.
dry version is my favorite, with kuih teow or lou she fun
I particularly like the dry version here, there’s the properly flavored minced pork over noodle and black sauce, and the side of homemade pork balls and those super addictive Chinese sausage (lap cheong siu cheong). This is a largely savory, non spicy dish with pickled green chili in soya sauce for those who likes to have that bit of kick to go with.
firm and flavorful pork ball, then there’s the Chinese sausage
I usually devour everything within 10 minutes or so, and maybe next time I should ask for more lapcheong. So irresistible.
The standard bowl goes for RM 5 or RM 5.50 RM 6, a pretty standard price for this area, and you won’t regret it. 
Address:
Restaurant Win Heng Seng
Jalan Imbi, Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.145479, 101.715087
Ask anyone from Penang, and chances are char kuih teow is in the list of their favorite hawker dishes. So for those Penangites living in Klang Valley, there’s always a constant urge to find a good plate of char kuih teow.
So when a colleague who was also from Penang talked about this CKT place at Imbi, I knew that we will surely have to try this over lunch time, even thought it meant a good 1km+ walk under the sun.
Mei Sin kopitiam Char Kueh Teow stall
Mei Sin eating shop is a kopitiam just off Jalan Imbi, and just like another famous kopitiam nearby – Win Heng Seng, this one is usually packed with white, blue, and no collar workers during lunch hours.
glorious char kuih teow, just need even bigger prawns actually
We went there by around 12 p.m. and the crowd was just building up. The char kuih teow we ordered (of course I ordered in Penang Hokkien, always as a litmus test) took just 15 minutes or so to arrive.
The plate of RM 4.50 goodness came with lightly cooked cockles, prawns (medium size), egg, kuih teow, bean sprouts, and of course, chives. It was lovely, spicy, full of “wok hei”, and positively delicious.
I would rate this place a little better than the CKT stall at Win Heng Seng a stone’s throw away.
Sheng loves the CKT, and do try the fresh yao char kuai too
When you are at Mei Sin kopitiam, don’t miss out on the yao char kuai too. The freshly deep fried yao char kuai I had was very crispy and had just the right amount of saltiness with it. I wished there were some bak kut teh soup to go with, but I guess kopi-o wouldn’t be a bad substitute either. The yao char kuai place seems to be off on Thursdays.
Address:
Restaurant Mei Sin
No. 16, Jalan Melati
Off Jalan Imbi,
Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.14396, 101.714768
Every once in a while, usually on Fridays, we drive out from the enclave of Bukit Bintang to eat at a land far away. For example, Ah Koong Eating House (亚坤纯正西刀鱼丸) at a grand total of 2 kilometers away from the office.
Ah Koong Eating House, Imbi, plenty to choose from
Ah Koong Eating House has quite an extensive menu of various fishball noodle with different choices of fish, oyster, fish cake, yong tau foo, and more. It is in essence, similar to the likes of B & Best Seafood Noodle and 60s Teow Chew Fishball Noodle, but with even more varieties on offer.
The good thing about Ah Koong though, is that the shop is airconditioned too.
some deep fried goodness as side dishes
Ordering at Ah Koong is simple, you proceed to the front of the “stall” pick your choice of noodle/rice/porridge/kuih teow etc to go with your choice of different fish meat, fishball, oyster, and more. There’s also a choice of different soup to go with – dry, tomyam, curry, and clear soup.
curry mee, dried noodle, soup noodle, and oysters
We ordered some deep fried fish cake and yong tau foo items to share, and I had the fishball kuih teow soup with oysters (RM 14 + YTF price per item), and it was actually quite delightful. A colleague had their curry mee, and another elected to go with dried lou she fun, and each gave pretty decent feedbacks to their dishes.
While the place might have a reputation of being expensive, I found that the price is pretty much in line with other shops that serves similar type of food. Parking at Imbi area can be a drag, but if you’re looking for a bowl of good fishball soup with choices of other goodies to add in, this would be a place to go in KL.
p/s: if you want those with pork lard, head to B & Best instead.
Address:
Ah Koong Eating Place
Ground Floor No.172,
Jln Changkat Tambi Dollah,
Off Jalan Pudu,
55100 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.140039,101.712858
Tel: 03-2143 3477
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
