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I’ve  heard of Restaurant Ahwa and it’s famous Hokkien Mee (not prawn mee) for a long time. However, for some reasons it took me years to finally go there despite staying only some 2 kilometers away.

What followed was a second visit just days after the first, the reputation for this place is indeed well deserved.

Restaurant Ahwa, hokkien mee, wat tan hor, and more

Restaurant Ahwa is located just next to the Shell gas station on Jalan 222, just a short turning from Federal Highway Jalan 222 exit. Parking is usually not a very trying affair as there is only a single row of shops where the restaurant is located. Looking for a place to sit though, might prove to be slightly harder as the restaurant is rather busy.

wat tan hor, hokkien mee, loh bak, and lala

On the first visit, horng and I ordered hokkien mee for two and we added a plate of loh bak for good measures.

The Hokkein Mee (RM 12 for 2) was rather good. Dark, rich, and of course, with bits of fried pork lad. I would say this place is on par with the other famous Hokkien Mee stall at Chow Yang. It did not disappoint despite the fact that KL style Hokkien Mee isn’t exactly my favorite hawker foods.

The loh bak was pretty satisfactory, but we’ve had better prawn fritters though, (the one outside Pudu Plaza comes to mind).

pickled green chili and red chili paste for the taking

On my second visit with Kerol, we ordered Wat Tan Hor (RM 12 for 2, flat noodle with egg gravy) for two with a plate of lala and a couple deep fried chicken wings as appetizers.

Perhaps it’s a personal taste, but I do like their wat tan hor more than the hokkien mee this place is famous for. The gravy was thick and savory, the flat noodle flavorful.

The lala (RM 11) too were juicy and spicy, which makes it a perfect appetizer. I wish we had ordered a bigger serving though. As for the chicken wings, they were decent enough as normal deep fried belacan marinated chicken wings, but not something to shout about since I still think mom makes the best belacan chicken wings on the surface of the earth.

On both occasions though, we ended up pretty satisfied while not exactly having to scotch the wallet for a sumptuous no nonsense KL hawker food. I shall return to this kopitiam again and again.

restaurant ahwa is located next to the Shell station along Jalan 222

Address:
Restaurant Ahwa
66, Jalan 14/48,
Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.096657, 101.629441

A couple weekends ago I made a drive all the way to Batu Caves to finally meet Penny, someone who used to work in the next building I was at but never managed to see face to face. What made this finally happen was her effective persuasion that I should try the absolute best Wat Tan Hor at Pan Heong Restaurant near Batu Caves.

a simple kopitiam setting with some awesome food

The restaurant is more like a “tai chau” style kopitiam and only opens for breakfast and lunch. For the three of us, we ordered the wat tan hor (literally smooth egg flat noodle), fried noodle (mee goreng), deep fried nam yu pork, and a “fu yu” vegetable dish.

Although pretty packed, it didn’t take too long before the first dish arrives. The wat tan hor was absolutely fabulous, seriously the best I’ve had by far. The sauce thick and very flavorful, and you can taste the difference between the sauce blended with egg yolk and those with only egg white. Very different but equally tasty. There were plenty of cuttle fish, meat, and vegetable in it too.

wat tan hor, mee goreng, “nam yu” pork, vegetable with “fu yu”

I also like the deep fried “nam yu” (fermented beancurd) pork. The fermented beancurd marinated into the pork gives it a distinctive taste, and of course, you need the pork to be relatively fatty to have a juicy texture to go with it. Nice but of course, very sinful.

Of course, a vegetable dish is ordered to give us an illusion of having a complete meal and hence, cancel the sin. Vitamin C is good for you.

The mee goreng, on the other hand, was nice but pale in comparison with the above dishes. I think this might be due to the lack in spiciness, and the fact that I’ve had some pretty good mee goreng like from here (PJ), and here (Penang).

Pan Heong Restaurant is located only a couple hundred meters from Batu Caves

The meal for three came to RM 39.80 with both the noodle dishes at RM 8.50 each, the pork at RM 10.50 and vegetable for RM 6.50. Very reasonable and I will definitely go there again. There are a few more dishes I’d love to try, like those blogged at masak-masak and precious pea, can you say Sang Har Mien?

Address:
No. 2 Jalan Medan Batu Caves 2,
Medan Batu Caves, KL
GPS: 3.233873, 101.673456
Tel: 03-6187 7430