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Pan mee is one of the few underrated hawker dishes originated right around here in Klang Valley that has seen some revival as of late, most notably due to chili pan mee places such as the famous Kin Kin pan mee, and restaurant Super Kitchen (which I prefer largely due to better service).

Hock Thai restaurant, at the less glamourous area of SS 2omb

While I occasionally enjoys chili version of this dish, the true pan mee connoisseurs will always tell you that to taste the real pan mee, you need to get back to it’s origin and have the good old fashion hand peeled version.

The quest for good old school pan mee brought me to this relatively obscure row of shop lots at SS 2 that is situated somewhere behind the Bomba building and Tropicana City Mall – a corner kopitiam by the name of Hock Thai Seafood Restaurant (they serve seafood tai chao at night)

dry and normal soup version of pan mee, with hand made noodle

I met Michael there and we ordered both the dry and soup version of pan mee (RM 4.50). The ingredients aren’t fancy, you get the usual pan mee leave, flavorful minced meat, crunchy fried anchovies, slices of mushroom, and those sweet potato leaves.

What is special here though, is the hand made noodle. The pan mee was very soft and smooth, almost bordering the texture of koay chap yet unmistakably pan mee. It was positively delicious, the soup that comes with weren’t overly salty either, just subtle and flavorful. Furthermore, the chili paste that is served as the condiment was not a disappointment either.

This was one pan mee that I actually enjoyed eating without overloading the dish with chili.

Michael ordered an extra bowl of kolo mee

Update 2021: Aubrey kolo mee & Sarawak Laksa is no longer here

A quick check on foursquare revealed that the Sarawak Kolo Mee (RM 5) too is recommended. We ordered a bowl to share, and sure enough it was another awesome choice. The thin noodle reminds me of angel hair spaghetti and I love the mixture of minced meat and deep fried garlic with the taste of char siu oil in it. Would definitely come again for this too.

If you are a fan of traditional pan mee or kolo mee, Hock Thai kopitiam is definitely a place worth checking out.

Address:
Hock Thai Seafood Restaurant
Jalan SS2/103, Petaling Jaya,
Selangor 47300
GPS: 3.12653, 101.62593

One of my weekend activities is visiting the wet market at Taman Megah, and right after that, breakfast, and that was how I discovered Restaurant Gembira that’s situated right opposite Ming Tien food court.

Sarawak mee, one of the bests I’ve tried so far

It was a quite amazing that despite staying within walking distance to this place, it took me some 7 years before I pay the first visit to this unassuming kopitiam. I’m glad I finally did, and as a reward, I found my favorite Sarawak kam lau mee.

Kolo mee at Restoran Gembira, this stall has been here seemingly forever and always rather busy. Do note that the lady is deaf so any special request is easier done with the make operator. RM 6 for small and 7 for big. #kyeats #breakfast #kopitiam #kolomee #petalingjaya

A post shared by KY (@kyspeaks) on Apr 18, 2018 at 5:12pm PDT

Now, I can’t claim to be any good at determining the quality of Sarawak mee, in fact, Kuching is one of the cities that I’ve never set foot on (other than the airport), but I do know a good plate of hawker food when I eat it.

minced pork, char siu, noodle – simple and delicious

The dish is fairly simple – home made noodle, minced meat, char siu (bbq pork), and a little bit of chopped spring onion in a slightly salted clear sauce (without the dark soya sauce that is typical of wantan mee). It goes for RM 4.50 (regular) and RM 5.30 (big)

The combination was as sublime as it was good, and I think the key in this lies in the home made noodle that has a very good texture. It reminds me of the Sarawak noodle Irene once tapau for us from Kuching. It was delicious.

laksa sarawak here was quite frankly… terrible

The same stall also offers Laksa Sarawak, I’ve tried it once, and it was.. surprisingly terrible. The egg is a bit too burnt for my liking, prawn a tad too small, and soup not quite up to par. Don’t waste your time on this, the Laksa Sarawak at Bangsar is heaps better.

Any Sarawakian who tried this place before? Tell me what you think, and if there’s another place with better kam lou mee/laksa Sarawak that you know of, do share. 😀

Address:
Restaurant Gembira
Jalan SS+ 24/8
Taman Megah, Petaling Jaya
Selangor
GPS: 3.113943, 101.612206