Portuguese grilled fish is a bit like chicken Maryland. If you head to wikipedia and search for Portuguese cuisine, there won’t be any dish described in there that is remotely close to what we are familiar with as Portuguese grilled fish. Similarly, I’ve been to Maryland a few times without ever encountering our version of this Western food chicken dish.
Nevertheless, along with such terms like Balinese cats that aren’t from Bali, we know what we’re getting into when we order Portuguese grilled fish, and we don’t expect it to be Cristiano Ronaldo’s favorite dish.
this stall has been around for decades
My very first experience with this version of grilled fish was actually at this famous stall at Petaling Street probably some 15 years ago when I was studying at Subang Jaya, and it wasn’t just a few weeks ago that I finally pay a return visit after all these while.
15 years ago, Petaling Street had no roof, the stall operators were mostly locals selling counterfeit products, and the Portuguese grill fish operation was a stall next to Hong Leong bank.
Today, the street has a shiny roof, stalls are manned by Banglas & Nepalis selling the same counterfeit products, and nothing has changed to the Portuguese grill fish stall.
medium portion with squid, lala, and sting ray
A portion of grilled fish starts at RM 5 (kembung) & RM 7 (stingray, tilapia, chicken fish) and comes with one serving of rice. The version we ordered had string ray, lala, and squid in medium portion and cost an affordable RM 15.
Other than fish, you can order prawns, squid, bamboo shoots, and chicken wings, and the combination of them.
The preparation method seems fairly straight forward – the ingredients are chucked into aluminum foil, and then cooked over charcoal fire. Waiting time is usually at least 25-35 minutes because everything is cooked from its raw form.
still as good as when I had it for the first time more than 10 yrs ago
While the rice we had that day was a little too wet, the grilled seafood was a blast. Their super spicy sambal is still as addictive as I remember, and there was just no way one could realistically finish the paste without suffering permanent damage to the stomach lining, but we couldn’t stopped ourselves from having just one. more. spoon.
It was another good meal, the old fashion way, and next time, I’m gonna order them with petai. 
Address:
Ikan Panggang Portugis Istimewa
by Hong Leong Bank, Petaling Street
50000 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.144501, 101.697725
Tel: 019 315 9448
Second day in 2011, and we went to Petaling Street for some old school goodies – the Hon Kee Famous Porridge. A hawker stall that has been in operation since 1959, when most of our parents are still licking lollies.
Hon Kee famous porridge at Petaling Street
We ordered a bowl of sang yu (raw fish, haruan) porridge, pork intestine porridge, a serving of yao cha kuai, and two iced herbal tea. There are only a few tables right outside the stall, but they do have plenty of seats just across the road right outside Hong Leong Bank.
pork intestine porridge & raw fish porridge
The pork intestine porridge had plenty of crunchy intestine and sliced tongue/etc, and served with some shredded ginger and chopped spring onion, yums! This is as good as they get, but I’d wish that they have coagulated pork blood though.
The raw fish porridge is served with the fish raw and on a separate plate. Adding them into the piping hot porridge cooks the fish almost instantly though, fresh and flavorful, it was actually very good – except for the tiny problem of getting too sweaty when it is hot like this afternoon.
The yao char kuai turned out to be good too. Always nice to have a bit of different texture.
Haze and KY at Petaling Street
There are always some misconception that food at this area is priced artificially high to slaughter them tourists, we paid RM 14+ for two bowls of porridge, two iced drinks, and a serving of yao char kuai, pretty good value for money if you ask me.
Another place for pork intestine porridge would be at Jalan Sayur’s hawker center, check out the porridge tag for more entries too.
Address:
Hon Kee Famous Porridge
93, Jalan Hang Lekir,
50000 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.144389, 101.697924
Tel: 012-227 6281
I’m sure most of us have friends whom we never had the chance to meet up and share a cup of coffee over the friendly mamak stalls despite knowing each other for years.
becki, myself, and danny
A little while ago I had the chance to finally meet Becki, a gal from Sydney that I got to know through IRC (yes, it still exist!) since way back, a time when the World Trade Center were still standing, computers weren’t infected by adware, and the term ‘blog’ wasn’t invented yet.
It was unfortunate that I had to go to Vietnam the very next day after Becki and Danny arrived. I apologize for not being a host for their entire length of stay in KL.
was nice meeting you guys!
In the short few hours I got to play host to Becki and the boyfriend Danny, we went to Petaling Street and had some chicken jerky, Hong Kee clay pot chicken rice for dinner, walked the perpetual pasar malam of Petaling Street, and had a drink at Traders Hotel poolside bar (very nice hangout place). We also managed to sneaked in a Ramli burger for the couple right after dinner. Something that was very well received.
If you’re reading this, it was nice meeting you after so long. I hope I was a half decent host, and spend me nice dinners when I go to Sydney ok?
Cheers!
We decided to catch dinner at the nearby Petaling Street after going on the Eye on Malaysia a couple weeks ago. Even though it was a weekday, the heart of KL is packed as usual. We ended up at Hong Kee (鸿记) clay pot chicken rice after seeing that the rat’s tail clay pot place was not operating that night.
the old school charcoal burner
Like it’s Damansara Jaya counterpart, this stall cooks the clay pot chicken rice with the old fashion charcoal fire instead of using propane gas. I’m not sure I could taste the different, but it sure make the food preparation a lot more exciting, attracting the tourists along the busy Petaling Street.
Although the place also sells Portuguese Ikan Bakar, we only ordered their signature dish, the clay pot chicken rice, and a plate of vegetable (油菜) for the night.
suanie was philosophical about her food
Our food didn’t take too long to arrive. 2 big pots of steaming clay pot chicken rice for the 5 of us. The chicken rice marinated with the appropriate sauce, topped with some shredded salted fish, sliced lap cheong (Chinese Sausage), and spring onion was as good as I’ve tasted from anywhere. The vegetable though, was just average.
fireworks
Price wise, Hong Kee is inline with the other places despite operating in the city center. The meal costs about RM 10 for each of us, a pretty decent place to visit if you’re down at Petaling Street.
Hong Kee is just right next to the Chinese bookstore by Petaling Street
GPS: 3.144651, 101.698637
