There’s always been one and only important mission whenever I am in Penang - to eat as much as possible. So in between late lunch and dinner, I slotted in another meal.

My initial plan was to find the famous mee sotong at Esplanade, but it was already closed by 5 p.m. Feeling a bit adventurous, I parked my car near Jalan Kapitan Keling in the older part of Penang town and got on my foot to search for something to eat.

kedai makanan Fok Kee, and old school kopitiam

Quite a few old school kopitiams are already closed by this time of the day since this area is not known to be famous for tourists when it comes to food, then I walked by Fok Kee kopitiam and saw that they have this interesting item by the name of Taiwan Fish Maw noodle, I just had to try it.

I had absolutely no clue how this was going to turn out.

pork skin, liver, tofu, and minced meat too

I sat down, order a bowl of fish maw noodle and a glass of nutmeg juice (I don’t know if you can find this outside penang, grated nutmeg and sour plum, I love it!).

The chef went to work, and a few minutes later I was presented by this big bowl of “noodle” that, frankly, looked a bit weird. But thank goodness the taste was actually quite delicious, if not just a bit different from your usual hawker food.

fish maw noodle and nutmeg juice, yums!

The “noodle” is actually made from fish paste (like those you get at steamboats) shaped into long strands then deep fried. Soup is half way between loh mee and clear soup in terms of consistency, and the served with vegetable, tofu, minced pork, liver, and pork skin.

The combination was actually quite good, and goes especially well with pickled chili padi. I wouldn’t say this is a must-have if you’re heading to Penang for vacation, but it  was definitely worth the RM 3 or RM 3.50 that I had to pay, have your char kueh teow, laksa, and other must-haves first, and if you want to try something different, this wouldn’t be a bad choice.

Address:
Kedai Makan Fok Kee
Jalan Kaptian Keling,
10200 Penang
GPS: 5.417741, 100.338333

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Tags:  hawker,  kopitiam,  liver,  noodle,  Penang,  pork,  xpax

Posted by KY | 20 Comments »

It’s quite amazing how I completely missed writing about this place despite having been eating here since seemingly forever. The lala and noodles at Mei Yun restaurant in Taman Paramount needs no introduction to many of the dwellers at PJ, having been in operation for well over a decade and still using traditional charcoal fire to cook all their dishes.

charcoal powered

Just before heading to the soft launch of Bondai Grill & Pub at the Curve a couple weekends ago, the gang (my ex housemates) and I decided to have a quick dinner. Since we were at the area and lala was in my mind, this place came as a natural choice.

lala, more lala, and noodles

For the five of us, we ordered two types of lala. The kam heong (spicy), and siong thong (soup), as well as hokkien mee and wat tan hor (flat noodle with egg) in portions for two person.

It didn’t take long for the siong tong lala to come, and boy the portion was huge. I reckon there must be over a hundred pretty decent size clams in the pot. The soup was pretty subtle and the lala retains it’s natural taste. It was pretty nice as the lala were rather fresh.

a bunch of old timers

The kam heong lala, while not as good as the one served up at Alisan SS4, still did the seafood justice. Slightly spicy and a bit stronger tasting than the previous type. Again, the portion was pretty big.

The two types of noodles we had were equally good. Hokkien mee comes with just enough pork lard to give it a proper taste, while wat tan hor was smooth and flavorful, with egg yolks providing that extra color and savory sensation.

mei yun restaurant is located at taman paramount

The best part was, for five person, that entire dinner only costs RM 42. The shop operates from dinner till late.

Address:
Jalan 20/7,
Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.110242, 101.627129

Tags:  hawker,  kopitiam,  lala,  noodle,  paramount

Posted by KY | 34 Comments »

On most “by invitation” food review sessions, there are PR representatives or the restaurant owner joining myself and other reviewers. Most often than not, the conversation will initially revolves around the food they serve, their restaurant, the company; but eventually to food in general and ended up with information exchange on the best food secrets in town.

The same thing transpired on the review at Dragon-i Pavilion. The PR couple Mr & Mrs Kong claimed to be the pickiest wan tan mee eater this side of Klang Valley, I told them I thought the wan tan mee at restuarant OK, SS2 is pretty good, while their recommendation was this place at Hock Lim kopitiam, PJ State.

this kopitiam doens’t even have a banner

The very same weekend after the review, Kong sms-ed me and said the wan tan mee I recommended was not up to their standard. It was then I decided that I must try this place, so Rachel and I went over to PJ State on Merdeka Day for breakfast.

ohhh, glorious char siu and wan tan mee

We ordered two medium plates of wan tan mee with the standard ingredients: char siu (bbq pork) and wan tan (dumplings).

It took a while for the noodle to be served, as the stall was apparently the busiest among the lot. However, true to Kong’s recommendation, it was really very good. The noodle with just the right amount of sauce, the pork wan tan with very soft smooth skin giving it a very nice texture and taste. Best of all, the char siu was really excellent, complimenting the noodle perfectly.

You can see how we appreciated it from the empty plates at the end of the meal.

hock lim kopitiam is facing MBPJ building

The stall is located at Restaurant Hock Lim which is situated on the same row as Saito College at PJ State.

Address:
Jalan 52/18,
46200 Petaling Jaya
GPS: 3.098789, 101.645132

Tags:  char-siu,  hawker,  kopitiam,  ky,  noodle,  rachel,  wan-tan-mee

Posted by KY | 41 Comments »

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

Tags:  bbq-pork,  beef,  dining,  food,  hawker,  noodle,  rice,  roasted-duck,  roasted-pork,  traditional,  wantan

Posted by KY | 37 Comments »

My never ending quest for a bowl of good Penang Hokkien Me (瑕面, also known as Prawn Mee in this part of Malaysia) has brought me to Restaurant Yon Len at Taman Tun Dr. Ismail (TTDI). Although the old man at Kampung Chempaka does offer excellent prawn mee, the operating hours are only from around 2-4pm, and I want to have it as breakfast. It was one of those things that bothers me, until the hot chick suggested Yon Len at TTDI last weekend.

this is what I call a perfect no frill presentation

We arrived at the much talked about kopitiam at brunch hours, parking situation was actually not too bad, something that can’t be said for TTDI most of the time. I went to the prawn mee stall and ordered 3 standard bowls of this Penang’s pride.

If you are familiar with how prawn mee is served in Penang, you will find that this particular stall did everything correctly. Noodle (and mee hun), sliced pork, small sliced prawn, kang kung and bean sprout in a soup based that’s boiled with prawn and pork bones. All these is topped with some fried shallots, and of course, chili paste is given as well for the spicy touch.

we’re seriously enjoying the prawn mee

I like my prawn mee to be a tad more spicy, and hence asked for more chili paste. The overall taste of the prawn mee here made me feel like I was in Penang. Very excellent broth, with everything else cooked to the proper texture and taste. I actually finished everything short of licking the bowl. It was really satisfying, I think I’m going to go there over and over again.

Restaurant Yon Lee is right across the Perodua showroom

At RM 3.50 per bowl, the price is in line with other hawker centers that offer the same dish. You should really give it a try.

Address:
Restaurant Yon Lee
J. Tun Mohd Fuad 1
(opposite Perodua showroom)
Taman Tun Dr. Ismail
Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.141630, 101.629243

Tags:  瑕面,  hawker,  hokkien-mee,  KL,  noodle,  prawn-mee,  TTDI

Posted by KY | 7 Comments »