One of my favorite Malaysian hawker comfort foods is kuih teow soup, so when I was looking for breakfast during the last JB trip earlier this year, I decided that Ah Hua Kueh Teow would fit the bill. We stayed at KSL Resort, and Ah Hua was just a short walk away, it made perfect sense.
Ah Hua Kueh Teow, Johor Bahru
Ah Hua kueh teow serves kuih teow soup that comes with a pretty good list of ingredients – fish balls, pork slices, liver, minced pork, romaine lettuce , and even a sprinkle of fried lard and a pinch of seaweed, all in a broth that’s subtle and comforting. A side of red chili and soya sauce comes with this, making for a simple yet satisfying breakfast that warms the stomach in the morning.
honest comfort food – kuih teow soup
For those who likes a bit of extra, there’s those deep fried fish cake as side dish. I was sharing a table with 2 retired aunties and that was what they ordered and happily offered to share those fish cakes with me. I did feel bad and ended up paying for them instead, which made for an overall happy day for all three of us.
fish cake anyone? I shared this with a couple Singaporean aunties
Would not hesitant to go back there again should I find myself in JB looking for a warm breakfast.
Address: Ah Hua Kueh Teow 21, Jalan Serigala, Taman Abad, 80250 Johor Bahru, Johor GPS: 1.485697, 103.761054
I make it a habit to try to start most working days with a good breakfast, and this is achieved by riding to work, which allows me to have quite a bit of freedom in choosing breakfast spots before heading to the office in the morning. See, when you’re stuck in the traffic, I’m having my noms, life’s good.
another breakfast stop for me
I was chatting with one of my colleagues just the other day and he mentioned that one of his favorite kopitiam around PJ where his old folks reside was Golden Kim Wah at Damansara Kim. The very next day, I made the slight de-tour and stop by to grab one of his favorite dishes from the place – Robert’s Char Kuih Teow.
I made the order like how I usually do for CKT – in classic beautiful Penang Hokkien, and to my delight, Mr. Robert answered in the very same dialect, which is always good news for a place that offers Penang dishes.
Robert Char Kuih Teow, legit
The RM 6 plate of char kuih teow from Robert was indeed up to expectation. Good amount of “wok hei” with those tiny charred bits, properly moist and yet not too wet, it also comes with prawns, lap cheong, bean sprouts, chives, and even a few bits of lard.
I’m putting this down as one of the few char kuih teow places worth eating in Klang Valley.
Address:
Golden Kim Wah Restaurant,
Jalan SS 20/10, Damansara Kim,
47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS:
When it comes to pork noodle, there is a family that dominates PJ/Sunway/Subang area. I was told that the operators of the famous stalls at Kean Fatt SS3, Subang Jaya SS15, and Ah Or at Sunway Mentari are all related.
SS3’s version is basically my go-to pork noodle (due to location) when I have the patient to wait, but I thought, why not try them all out and see if they are really similar. Hence we got ourselves at Ah Or Pork Noodle last weekends.
Ah Or pork noodle, Sunway Mentari
Ah Or is located at Sunway Mentari, the place where it’s easy to spot and harder than hell to get to due to confusing traffic pattern. It also doesn’t help that the location stated on Google map is wrong (as 10/5/15). But with some luck, we got there anyhow.
The restaurant is as basic as you get, with one pork noodle stall, plenty of plastic tables & chairs, and nothing else.
how can you resist this?
The stall itself indeed does look like the one at SS3, with the rather unique label of “Penang Pork Noodle” in Chinese. Well, I’m from Penang and there’s really no such thing as Penang Pork Noodle…
The menu here is slightly wider than Kean Fatt, you get to choose between wet/dry, and a choice of yellow noodle, meehun, kuih teow, loshu fun, and even meesuah.
Haze and I both enjoyed it with the soft boiled egg
We went for our usual – soup version with kuih teow and an extra egg.
Well, it tasted about 90% similar to the one at SS3 which I’m familiar with, with the exception of intestine being much softer, but liver slightly more cooked. The soup is still has that sweet savory taste, and the half boiled egg perfectly done.
The wait time was some 20 minutes, actually not too bad for a Saturday. Would not mind to go again for sure.
Address: Ah Or Pork Noodle No. 3, Jalan PJS 8/17 Dataran Mentari, Sunway Selangor GPS: 3.078034, 101.612104 Tel: 012-428 8680/012-613 0479
After attending the Time Out Food Awards at KLPAC (a couple weeks ago), a few of us decided to have supper (or actually, dinner, since we didn’t really have a meal at the event). Boo of masak-masak suggested Sentul Ah Yap Hokkien mee, which was a great location since we were already at Sentul, and Hokkien mee for late night?
Awesome choice if you ask me, nothing beats some starch, pork, seafood, and lard near midnight.
restuarant Ah Yap Hokkien mee at Sentul, Jon & Isadora
While the premise of Sentul Ah Yap Hokkien mee is now a pretty nice corner shop lot with air conditioned as well as al fresco style dining areas, every plate of Hokkien mee is still prepared with good old charcoal fire, exactly the same as when it was just a stall in the nearby kopitiam. (there are even other branches now).
Many believes that Hokkien Mee is best fried using charcoal fire, and that there is a distinctive difference in taste when preapred with gas vs charcoal. For me though, I’m not quire sure, I like it when it tastes good, and frankly doesn’t care too much about the romantic idea of having it old school or modern. If it tastes good, it’s fine by me if it was gas, coal, charcoal, or wood fire.
the old school hokkien mee, made with charcoal fire
Our Hokkien mee (RM 12) was quite awesome, there were no surprises – big fat noodle, meehun (we asked for it), prawns, slices of fish cake, pork slices, vegetable, and of course, pork lard.
It really did taste as good as it looks, and made better when Isadora asked for extra lard for us. 😀
butter chicken, marmaid pork ribs, extra pork lard, and tapioka hokkien mee
Other than the Hokkien Mee, we also ordered marmite pork ribs, butter chicken, bitter gourd with salted egg yolk, and another plate of special Hokkien mee made with tapioka noodle.
The marmite ribs (RM 23) were frankly speaking, way too skinny. It would probably be a dream come true for those who loves lean meat, but we weren’t really impressed.
Butter chicken (RM 23) was a pretty decent dish though, flavorful with pretty nice texture to go with. The bitter gourd with salted egg yolk (RM 20) though, was my favorite for the night. The combination of the bitterness and the richness of salted egg yolk, in a weird sort of cosmic logic, worked well for our palates. This is a dish that needs to be tasted to be impressed.
As for the tapioka noodle Hokkien Mee (RM 16), well, imagine the texture of bubble tea pearls, except flattened and served in a plate of Hokkien mee ingredients. I wouldn’t say it was bad, bit it was a bit too chewy for my liking. A novelty perhaps, but not something I would order again.
The Hokkien mee at Ah Yap is certainly worth eating, the other dishes however, was a bit of a hit and miss, and does not really offer very good value for money either. I’d stick with having the original Hokkien mee and that sinful bitter gourd with salted egg yolk here.
Address: Sentul Ah Yap Hokkien Mee 744, Jalan Sentul,
51000 Kuala Lumpur GPS:3.178117, 101.692436 Tel :012-3036800, 012-2816862 opening hours are from 5 p.m – 1 a.m
To those who loves a good bowl of Loh Mee, Ulu Yam is undoubtedly what springs in mind. For those who has never heard about Ulu Yam, it is sort of a half way point between KL and Fraser Hill, within Batang Kali.
You can also go to Genting via Ulu Yam if you’re the sort who enjoys a bit of spirited driving on winding roads with good scenery, though the journey takes quite a bit longer (and further) compared to the standard toll way.
Swee Yen restaurant at Ulu Yam Lama
A couple weekends ago Haze and I had a little getaway at Fraser’s Hill, and since I have yet to try the famous loh mee, we decided to do just that on a pit stop before heading back to KL.
The only problem about finding Loh Mee in Ulu Yam is that.. which one?! It is almost like the case of Klang bak kut teh or Ampang yong tau foo where a relatively small area is littered with several outlets offering essentially the same thing, you have to know which one to choose.
There were different recommendations from Garmin GPS, Google Maps, and blogs. I settled on Kim’s blog entry. If it’s good enough for her mom, it will be good enough for me.
glorious lor mee, look at the lard!
Since there were just two of us, we ordered a bowl of Loh Mee for two and a lala with superior soup as side order.
The Loh Mee were huge (I think people Ulu Yam must eat only 1 meal a day or something), and true to the reputation, it was fantastic!
There’s a pretty strong taste of vinegar in the thick soup but in a good way. There were also bits of fried lard, some prawns, and meat to complete the dish. It’s easily one of the best Central style Loh Mee I’ve tried.
lala in superior soup
Then there’s the lala in superior soup. This too didn’t come in a small dish, and would probably be a serving for 4 in KL. The shellfish were quite big and juicy, with the superior soup carrying a kick thanks to the addition of chili padi and a healthy dose of ginger with plenty of coriander.
Good stuff.
check out the huge portion of lor mee
It was definitely a very satisfying lunch and we didn’t even manage to finish everything, the servings were just too big.
The bill came to RM 33 for everything, including drinks too. Glad that crazy inflation hasn’t hit small town as bad yet. I’m gonna go there again next time and order terrapin! 😀
Address: Swee Yen Restaurant No 38, Jalan Besar, Ulu Yam Lama, 43300 Batang Kali, Selangor Darul Ehsan GPS: 3.4546, 101.64073 Tel: 03-6075 1123, 012-360 4837
