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
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
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
A pal of mine, shiang introduced me to this wan tan mee place in SS2 after reading my take on the Sungai Besi wan tan mee place. The dude claimed that he had ate at this place 3 days in a row upon discovering it. Since I usually trust the taste of this not-so-skinny guy, I just had to give this place a try.
no frill wan tan mee, the good stuff
I tried to order their sui kow but they always ran out of those on both occasions I was there, hence we ordered a normal char siu with wan tan noodle, and a char siu with mushroom noodle. Like many wan tan mee places, they also offer the popular chicken feet with mushroom as toppings for the noodle.
The noodle didn’t take long to arrive, and it didn’t look like they are worried about presentation. In fact, there was only the essentials of the dish, the wan tan, the char siu, the noodle, sauce, and pickled green chili. It didn’t even come with vegetable like most other places.
noodle so delicious the hot chick didn’t even have time to camwhore
However, putting the food in the mouth confirms why the dude liked this place so much. The noodle has a proper texture and firmness to it, while absorbing the sauce well. The wan tan too, were of good size and packed with enough fatty minced meat. It is always a disappointment when some stalls make their wan tan too small in order to increase profit.
The best ingredient of dish though, was their char siu, barbecued to perfection, maintaining the juiciness of the meat while achieving a very firm and consistent texture. It was definitely one of the better char siu I had.
Restaurant OK is located near KAYU and Chow Yang
The noodle starts from RM 3.50 per plate.
This wan tan mee stall is opened from around 11 in the morning to 6-7pm. Of course, the same restaurant also offers the Fatty Duck stew duck rice I reviewed earlier this week.
Address:
Jalan SS2/10, Petaling Jaya
(at the other end of the same row of shop houses comprising KAYU)
GPS: 3.115084, 101.616390
Finally we went to the famous Sungai Besi Wan Tan Mee (全蛋面) last weekend. This was the place we attempted to go a couple months ago, but my house mate got lost on the way, ended up driving around KL for almost 2 hours before finally admitted defeat and ate at some road stalls at Bangsar instead. That incident gave her an excuse to upgrade to an expensive GPS phone, but anyhow, we got there this time (we didn’t use the GPS)
this place is usually packed with hungry customers
For the three of us, we ordered a wan tan with mushroom noodle, a mushroom chicken feet noodle, a curry chicken noodle, deep fried sui kow, a plate of deep fried prawn, and some oily vegetable. See, the good thing about this place is the variety of different “wan tan mee” you can order. The other toppings include the original wan tan and char siew (BBQ pork), curry wild boar, ginger duck, pork knuckle, sui kow, and Hakka stew pork.
some of the good stuff we ordered
The noodle served here was actually pretty good, though I feel that it is still 2nd to the stall in Pudu, but still pretty good nonetheless. The toppings and other items were pretty decent as well, and the RM 6 deep fried prawn really offered value for money. Other than the traditional chili, this place also offered two types of delicious sambal to go with the side dishes (sui kow and prawn).
prawn, sui kow, vegetable, noodles, best
The meal was pretty satisfying. However, they can be a little pricey. Including drinks, we had to part with RM 36 for the three of us. That was for the 3 plates of noodle and three side dishes ordered. Then again, you do get the variety and a different taste from the ordinary wan tan plus char siew.
turn right from loke yew to sg. besi and you’ll get there in a jiffy
This place opens from about 8pm till the wee hours.
Address:
190H Jalan 2 1/2 Miles Sg Besi,
55200 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.122819, 101.709087
Phone: 03-9222 8177
