Review: Shin Kee Beef Noodles Specialist (Evening Edition)

**Non-Halal**


Thank you guys for your well wishes. I think I'm better now albeit the lingering cough, something that will take time and numerous concoctions to cure. Now, let's get back to some blogging business.

Did you know that before Shin Kee Beef Noodles Specialist operates from the hole-in-the-wall shop at Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock (opens from 10:30am to 3:30pm); they started off at a cart at the lane between Hong Leong Bank and Chinatown Food Court at Jalan Hang Lekir? I used to go there for a bowl of hearty beef noodles after office hours with my colleagues then.

The stall is still operation now but opens only in the evening. There are few tables available here, so most times one might need to share a tiny table with other patrons. Service is very quick here and I have my bowl of dry mee and hor fun (flat rice noodles) with beef balls and meat slices in a jiffy. The mee served here is not of the yellow oily kind but it's the flat egg noodles. Gave the bowl of noodles a thorough mix with the minced meat and slurped them down. It's still as good as I could remember.



The minced meat sauce is well seasoned and melded well with the noodles be it dry or soupy style. The beef balls are bouncy and the sliced beef is tender, best when dipped into the chilli sauce. I emptied the bowl of broth so do I need to tell you how good this is heh? Did not feel thirsty after a bowl of this ;-)

So I'm glad that I can head to Shin Kee at Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock for brunch or lunch and to Jalan Hang Lekir for dinner.

Well other than Shin Kee, Soong Kee is our favourite too for a quick and easy dinner. The best soupy version for me can be found at Lai Foong Restaurant. Nearer home, we loved Restoran 3U for their beef balls, beef tendon balls and stewed beef noodles!


Shin Kee Beef Noodles Specialist
Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock (opens from 10:30am to 3:30pm)
Jalan Hang Lekir (evenings)
Kuala Lumpur

Review: Char Siu & Noodles @ Restaurant Yook Woo Hin

**Non-Halal**


Restaurant Yook Woo Hin is more famous for yum char or dim sum session in the morning but did you know that they serve dishes and noodles for lunch? One of the prominent items on the menu is char siu (barbecued pork)! If you're early enough, do ask for char siu thau, literally the head part which is actually the end bits, well, if you're not afraid of blackened charred char siu melded with melt-in-the-mouth fatty bits!!! However this plate here is not that part cos we were there rather late. Glad to say that the char siu is not of the sickly sweet kind.



Another must have item is the deep fried wantan. It comes with a bowl of tomato dipping sauce. We loved it the way it is, crunchy and filled with generous minced pork. Not oily at all. There's another must have, boxing chicken (tit kung kai) which we did not order on this particular day. Equally as good.



We have noodles instead of rice. First their signature (jiu pai) noodles which is a stir-fried sang meen (fresh egg noodles which is commonly known as wantan meen). Filled with wok hei (breath of the wok), peppered with diced char siu and loads of cabbage strips. My fave here ;-)

This is the wart tarn hor (Cantonese fried koay teow) which is very very old school. Don't think you can find pork liver slices at other places. Loads of ingredients here too that consist of pork slices, prawns, fish cake slices and choy sum! The eggy gravy is not too thick nor starchy, just nice. BoiBoi lapped up all these.

I can't remember the exact amount but it's around RM30+ for the above and a pot of tea for 3. The noodles portion was individual serving. Not too expensive I would say. If you're around Chinatown, why not give Yook Woo Hin a try.


Restaurant Yook Woo Hin
100 Jalan Petaling
50000 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 603-2078 4681
Opening hours: 6am to 3pm
Closed on Thursday

Review: Restoran Sang Kee (Yes, Again!)

**Non-Halal**


I can't help it but post this up quickly even though I have other impending posts cos I'm having a sudden craving for Sang Kee's Goe Low Yuk (Sweet and Sour Pork). As I've mentioned before Sang Kee's version is how goe low yuk should taste like where the pork pieces are not fatty and remained crispy even after cooking in the sweet and sour sauce.



We're having rice this round instead of sang har meen, so we ordered a Steamed Tofu with Fish Paste upon recommendation. Apparently, this dish was mentioned in Taste of Jason, sounds like a must order item. When it arrived, I was like thinking aloud "Aisay, my mom always cook this dish hahaha". In fact, I've cooked them as well, easy peasy, simple and nice.



We decided on Stir-fried Sweet Potato Leaves with Belachan after the captain rattling off the short list of vege available. Enough wok hei but not sambal belachan no ommpphh PLUS the stems are sooo fibrous indicating the vegetable is very matured! Took us so long to chew them up!



Actually these 3 dishes would be just nice for us but Capt'n Hook saw the waitress sending a plate of Foo Yoong Darn (omelette) to the next table and immediately beckoned for one as well!!! *roll eyes* Someone just ate with his eyes which is bad cos 2 of us definitely can't finish all these up! Sang Kee's version contained quite a number of prawns, char siu (I think), onions and lots of spring onion which gave it a very fragrant flavour. What I liked is the omelette is fluffy and crispy on the sides, not soaking in oil.



Since we were there on a weekday, service was quite good even though the dishes came a tad slower. I can't imagine what it is like on a weekend which I saw people commenting in Jason's site about bad and slow service. I guess have to avoid this place on weekends.

We've paid RM48.70 for the 4 dishes, one bowl of normal sized rice and one small bowl of rice plus a pot of Chinese tea.


Restoran Sang Kee
Off Jalan Hang Jebat
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 603 20785092
Opening hours: 11:00am-3:00pm; 5:00pm - 11:00pm
Coordinates: 3°8'36"N 101°41'57"E

Review: Restoran Sang Kee

**Non-Halal**


Back in April (oops sorry I've loads of back logs), I've gotten tired of the eateries around Chinatown but got pressured by Capt'n Hook to think of a place to eat nearby as we were stupendous hungry, otherwise we'll end up at Seng Kee again!!! Being the kind of person who usually will get extra creative under extreme pressure, I think I did it again heh :p

I suddenly recalled there is this place which my parents used to bring me as a child... hidden in between Traditional Chinese Medical Institute Malaysia and BP House along Jalan Hang Jebat is Restoran Sang Kee. There is limited parking space inside the Traditional Chinese Medical Institute Malaysia for a nominal fee.



Stepping into the restaurant really brought back loads of memory. Nothing much has changed. Everything is still pretty old school and we loved the fans cos Capt'n Hook was wondering what brand they were as the wind generated was so strong hehe.



Capt'n Hook ordered their fresh water prawns noodles (sang har yee meen RM40 for 2 huggeee prawns). Have you guys been noticing that we have been ordering this a lot?? It's his fave! Funny the crispy noodles used here is not the thick yee meen. To me it looked and tasted like deep fried mee sua (vermicelli) instead. The prawns were extremely fresh whilst the gravy was nice, just not eggy enough for me.



Can't resist to order Goe Low Yuk (Sweet and Sour Pork RM13). In the days of the yore, Goe Low Yuk is a standard fare especially when you have children around, well I was one of the children hehe benefited from the yummy gravy and pork bits. This is a must have ok!!! If you happen to come here, take a look at the tables around, sure have this dish on them. This I tell ya, is how an original Goe Low Yuk should taste like!!!

Sang Kee's version still retained the old school taste. The pork pieces are tender without much fatty bits, coated with seasoning and flour before being deep fried to a crisp. They are then cooked quickly in tomato gravy with pineapple, cucumber and capsicum pieces. The pork retained its crispiness till the last bite and the tomato gravy tasted just right, not too sweet or sour.



When I was there, I saw the notice pasted up which said Ho Chak!Ah Xian (sorry cos it was like 2 months back :p thanks to Mimi for refreshing my memory) featured them over that weekend... which explained why there were quite a number of young generation dining there that night. Dear Restoran Sang Kee, we'll be back!!!


Restoran Sang Kee
Off Jalan Hang Jebat
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 603 20785092
Opening hours: 11:00am-3:00pm; 5:00pm - 11:00pm
Coordinates: 3°8'36"N 101°41'57"E

Review: Dim Sum at Yook Woo Hin

**Non-Halal**

If you have been living in Kuala Lumpur for the longest time ever like me since birth, you can be sure to have heard of Yook Woo Hin from your parents or even your grandparents. Not only heard perhaps, they might have brought you along seven early eight early in the morning to yum cha in one of the oldest yum cha place in Chinatown.

In the days of the yore, dim sum is only available early in the morning (no later than 9am else all goodies would have gone by then) and not any other time of the days, just like bak kut teh. Excitement looms at bedtime when dad declare that we will have dim sum for breakie and you can be sure that all 3 of us would wake up super early on a Sunday so that we can enjoy a long awaited dim sum treat.

Yook Woo Hin was closed last year for almost a year to have the whole building tore down and in its place now... a spanking bright, clean and airy building (ohh I love the high ceiling!). However, it did not lost the old world charm for I can still find the signature old folks tarn cha (having dim sum and tea) as early as 7am. The stainless steel table tops were retained. The not so young staff are still there bringing trays of piping hot dim sum around, let alone the deep fried ones. The only exceptions were of course the presence of a few foreign workers.



That particular morning, hubby and I have this chee cheung fun (rice noodle) which is served with a ladle of mushroom gravy, totally different the common chee cheung fun served in town. The thick savoury gravy with generous slices of shitake mushrooms went well with the smooth and slippery chee cheung fun.



We shared an old favourite, loh mai kai (chicken glutinous rice). Tasted just like the good old days. The rice texture here is soft but yet retain the bite and you can still see the individual grains. Totally satisfying.



Other than these two items, we have 4 different types of steamed dim sum. From bouncy fish balls, foo chuk to 2 different types of siu mais. All tasted freshly made, plump with fillings especially the siu mais.



Other than dim sums, they have pastries as well and not forgetting mooncakes during Mid-Autumn Festival. We find that this is the only place that made authentic kum tuay (mixed nuts with ham) that my parents loved. During lunch, noodles, rice and dishes are served. Char siu lovers should give this place a try for delicious, caramalised and burnt bits of bbq pork belly. Other must orders are their deep fried wantans (dumplings), tit kung kai (boxing chicken) and nam yue pai kuat (deep fried red preserved beancurd pork ribs)... ohh yummmm!!!

By the way, if you're interested... all the above plus a pot of tea costed us RM19.00.


Restaurant Yook Woo Hin
100 Jalan Petaling
50000 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 603-2078 4681
Opening hours: 6am to 3pm
Closed on Thursday


Technorati Tags: malaysian food + dim sum + petaling street

Review: Beef Noodles at Lai Fong Restaurant

**Non-Halal**

I made a pit stop at Lai Fong for a late breakfast after visiting the clinic few weeks back for my cough. My standard order whenever I'm here would be the beef noodles. I simply love the clear broth that tasted so flavoursome with the addition of harm choy (pickled mustard cabbage) and chopped corriander. I usually drink them all up without having any qualms since it's not thirst inducing, an indication of no or very little MSG is used.



My usual order would be the soup based thick rice noodles (lai fun in Cantonese) with sliced meat and meat ball. The meat is sliced thinly and coated with marinade and some corn flour for a smooth and slippery finish. The meat balls are bouncy on the bite. Suffice to say I ate and drank everything up leaving an almost empty bowl! However, the only shortcoming is the chilli sauce. Somehow this type of blended chillies with calamansi lime doesn't seems to jive with the usual chilli sauce for beef noodles.



I've also tried a couple of times the long time stall that is now residing in Chinatown Food Court. Once was with Miss Sweet 16 where I had the dry version. I don't like the sauce used for the dry version. It's not helping when they do not serve fresh noodles. The soup was just ok with the usual meat and meat balls. Another time, I tried the soup version. Somehow it's just not as flavourful as Lai Fong or Soong Kee or Shin Kee. Moreover, I felt extremely thirsty after eating that bowl of noodles.

With that I think I've concluded posting up most of the beef noodles stalls/shops around Chinatown. Did I missed out any??


Lai Foong Restaurant
138, Jalan Tun HS Lee
Kuala Lumpur
Tel No: 603 - 2072 8123

Chinatown Food Court
Jalan Hang Lekir
(behind Hong Leong Bank)

Both stalls opens from morning till lunch time

Technorati Tags: beef noodles + Beef Ball noodles + malaysian food + petaling street

Review: Shin Kee Beef Noodles Specialist

Whilst I was busy at my client's some months back, I took the opportunity to get down to Chinatown (Petaling Street) area to soak up the atmosphere during lunch or after office hours. I like to work in this part of the city as the food choices are endless! Ranging from chicken rice, wantan noodles, chee cheung fun, yong tau foo, claypot loh shue fun and siew yuk noodles, exotic food, fabulous curry laksa, and not forgetting the happy happy pastries for dessert or snack.

Other than Soong Kee, I also like the beef noodles at Shin Kee Beef Noodles Specialist at Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock opposite Lai Fong Coffee Shop. I used to frequent their evening stall at the side of Chinatown Food Court/lane behind Hong Leong Bank. For lunch, I'm happy to eat at their tiny shop. Yeah it's really tiny that can fit about 30 people or so and most times you'll need to share tables during peak hours. It's hard to get a seat at that hour but fret not, just wait a while as people will eat and leave as soon as they finish to make way for others.

I usually order loh shue fun (a type of rice noodles) or hor fun (flat rice noodles) but this one shown here is the combination of bee hoon (another type of rice noodles) and yellow noodle (RM5.00 per bowl) that came with my choice of beef meat balls and beef slices.

Simply loved the minced meat sauce together with the noodles. I still think loh shue fun or hor fun goes better with the sauce. I slurp those down with their bouncy beef meat balls coupled with the super tender beef slices in the clear broth in a jiffy! Most times, I will clear the broth too and it's safe to say I don't feel thirsty after a bowl of this.

On the sideline, I was waiting for Yozora to post this Chocolate Cheesecake recipe up. This test bunny and the junior test bunny ate them all up and declared it's delish!! *2 thumbs up* Junior said thank you to Auntie Yozora for the lovely supper. Go on to her new food blog to grab the recipe.

Shin Kee Beef Noodles Specialist
Jalan Tun Tau Cheng Lock
Open 10:30am to 3:30pm


Technorati Tags: Beef Ball noodles + malaysian food + petaling street

Review: Webbed Feet Delight

Can you guess what is this???

Sorry, I know it looked very gross especially under such lousy lighting with my camphone. Hehehe... it's actually Ngap Keuk Pau, literally translated as duck feet wrap. Hahaha sounded grosser huh??? I doubt the younger generations would have any inklings to this item which is usually found at roast duck stalls in Petaling Street.

Last Friday, I went along with Yozora to Petaling Street. She wanted to grab some char siew (bbq pork) to make loh mai kai for her miow-miow. Whilst waiting for the Auntie to chop up the char siew and siew yuk, I can't help but salivate over the string of the webbed feet. The wraps practically glistened under the sunlight! I haven't eaten this delicacy for more than 15 years! I still remember how my mom would packed them back whenever she goes to Petaling Street.

Since I was scheduled to go back to my parents that evening, I packed 10 pieces home at RM2.00 each. My mom said it's expensive recollecting that it only costed RM1 for 3 back then but she said these are much bigger in size.

I'm not sure how these wrapped duck feet are made, could be marinaded in the same char siew sauce before grilling. Wrapped on the outter layer is the duck's intestine. Then, there is a piece of duck feet and few pieces of lean char siew. Nestled on the feet is a piece of duck liver and gizzard.

Tasted good but not as succulent as I could remember. Maybe because the usage of lean meat. I remember back then, it's usually a large piece of fatty char siew. The gizzard is very very hard that I threw them away after one bite hehe. Best part is the chewing and suckling up the webbed feet. That's the most fragrant bit.

The piece that my dad took has no duck feet inside which my mom said it's pretty normal. In place of the feet, they have more char siew pieces. If you have some fear factor blood in you and decided to give this delicacy a try, head on to Petaling Street, this stall is located at the entrance to the wet market next to Pak Peng Building or alternatively you can find them at Sei Ngan Chai or roast duck stalls along here.

Good luck and enjoy!

Technorati Tags: malaysian food + duck

Review: Chicken Rice at Kai Yong Food & Beverage

Updated 6 June 2009: We passed by here last week and noticed that Kai Yong Food & Beverage signaged has been replaced with Kedai Nasi Ayam Kam Kee. Not sure if it's the same operator, will find out when I have the chance.


**Non-Halal**


I was wondering around Petaling Street area looking for stuff and I got hungry along the way. I was too lazy to walk further for a chee cheung fun fix with the current HOT wave going on in the city, so I dropped by this place called Kai Yong. If I remember correctly, my ex-colleague said this is one of the shop he patronises after school instead of Nam Heong. Since I always go Nam Heong, I decided to head for this Kai Yong instead, for a change. Kai Yong's shoplot has a very very tall ceiling which made the place looked roomy and airy. I sat at the side which is quite warm but cool down quickly. Thank goodness, I was virtually melting there.

As it was my first time there, not sure what to order... I just asked for poached chicken, small portion. The next thing I know... these appeared right under my nose...

Fuuuwahhhh... the "oil" rice, so old school... came in a bowl haha... got a plate of chicken PLUS ONE pork meatball in the bowl of broth LOL!!!! So happy... like kena (strike in Malay) lottery like that.

Looking at the rice, it's in a deep yellow hue... very very rich indeed. Made me feel very stuffed at the end of my meal. A little on the salty side since I'm more used to blander food.

The chicken, generous in portion, is not a smooth though but maybe because I've asked for breast meat. A little tough I would say but I'm ok with it. Ate them with tonnes of chilli sauce, blended garlic and ginger plus lots of dark soy sauce!

The meatball has bits and pieces of dried octopus which render a lovely fragrant it. The broth is nice and I don't think have MSG since I did not feel thirsty at all after lunch. Excluding the drink, the meal came to RM4.80.

The next time, I'm gonna order the beef brisket cos almost everyone asked for it and there isn't any left after I sat down not long. Some patrons asked for the broth to be served with their meatballs after hearing that they have ran out of brisket! This will be definitely on my must try list.


Kai Yong Food & Beverage
40, Jalan Sultan,
Kuala Lumpur
Opening Hours: 8.30am - 3.00pm
Closed on alternate Tuesday


Technorati Tags: malaysian food + chicken rice + petaling street

Happy Days

Since everyone went on a happy meal, so I may as well join the bandwagon...

I went to Madras Lane, again sometime back... Other than CCF and YTF; I also love the assam laksa and curry laksa but had to sweat thru lunch as it's HOT eating curry under the zinc roof!

YozoraNiteSky ordered a bowl of curry laksa and I was undecided since I was wearing a white shirt that day. Anyway, I succumbed to the temptation and had this absolutely sinful bowl of curry laksa!!!

If not mistaken, this bowl is from the stall, opposite the drink stall which is beside the YTF stall. Haha sorry hor I forgot to take down the stall number. To cut things short, it's from the stall where you can sit and order YTF. The first drink stall won't allow that I think. Dang complicated these hawkers territorial thingy!

Ooooo the laksa is filled to the brim with all the delicious trimmings of blood cockles, brinjals, long beans, chicken slices, pork rind, and taufu pok!!! Yumyum, I'm salivating now. I usually will drink up the rich santan enriched broth hahaha... very very sinful and sorry it's non-halal one.

Checked my shirt too... YAY no curry spots *giggle*

After sinning on such rich bowl of laksa, we popped by Happy Meals. Yeah the place I bought my durian cream puffs from. Teckiee told me their almond tarts are good so I decided to get a few varieties just to test out.

These are the almond tarts. Tasted ok to me since I loath almond essence taste.

I prefer the coconut tarts more, it's moist and juicy coupled with soft, fluffy pastry. I would loved more of these! I usually don't dig coconut tarts as compared with hubby but these from Happy Meal, I have to say YES to!

Other than those, I bought a cheese tart for boiboi. Since I did not taste it, not sure how was it. Boiboi said it was good but anything with cheese, he will said its nice *roll eyes*

Sorry for the crappy photos, my phone don't perform well under artificial lightings.

Technorati Tags: malaysian food + petaling street

Review: Koon Kee's Wantan Noodles

**Non-Halal**

Edited 27 Oct 2007

Goshhh I was hankering for a good plate of wantan meen (noodles) for more than a week. The one I had last week, did not manage to satisfy my craving, in fact it was a total disappointment.

In my book, a good wantan noodles would mean... a plate of fresh noodles done kon low (dry) style where the sauce concoction have a hint of sweetness to it and not overly salty; the fresh noodles ought to be cooked al dente in order to have a springy texture; and must topped with slightly charred char siu (barbeque pork) slices with slight fatty streaks and a coating of sweetish and sticky caramel!!! The wantans (dumplings) that come with ikan bilis (anchovies) broth are secondary to me, darn, I wonder if they serve only char siu meen rather than char siu wantan meen that would come out of my mouth automatically?!!?

Thank goodness I managed to cure my cravings just now! Woottt!!! I had my fix at Koon Kee. Well, it's not as good as before but at least they met those points in my book of wantan meen. Boy, I was so glad and I'm still reeling in the happiness heh!

Koon Kee is located just beside Hon Kee Porridge along Jalan Hang Lekir (right smack in the middle of Kuala Lumpur's Chinatown). Alternatively, they have a stall at Chinatown Hawker Center which is just opposite of their hole-in-the-wall shop. I think their opening hours are from late morning till late afternoon.


Koon Kee Wantan Meen
95 Jalan Hang Lekir
50000 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: (603) 2078 6554
Opening Hours: 10:00am - 10:00pm


Technorati Tags: malaysian food + wantan noodles + char siu