Seremban One Day Eating Trip – Hawker Food, Siew Pau & Seafood

Compared to the neighboring towns and cities like KL, Melaka and Port Dickson, Seremban might not have much to offer on sights and entertainment but you will surely find the distinctive local food something worthwhile. I went on an one day eating trip to Seremban last weekend and found the experience to be relaxing and stress free.
Unlike other cities (eg. Ipoh, Penang, Melaka) Seremban’s traffic is less and I hardly saw any crowd at the eateries, even the famous ones. So here’s a very simple one day itinerary of Seremban’s food, good for a quick weekend getaway.

Reach Seremban before 10am, drive straight to Pasar Besar Seremban (GPS Coordinates: N2 43.840 E101 56.200) for breakfast. There are at least three things to eat here. Don’t fret if any of them are not open because you will surely find something among the many food stalls here. In case you are wondering the food court is not smelly at all despite having a wet market right under it. Luckily.

If you reach before 9.30am then stall 787′s Mee Hoon Sotong should still be open, if not just starting to close. According to locals 787 is THE stall to try when it comes to Mee Hoon Sotong. As for us, we reached after 9.30am so we went for the 2nd best, Hioong Kee (stall 753)

Mee Hoon Sotong is quite rare in Malaysia and so far I only see it being sold here. Taste wise it was above expectations. If you are from Penang, then I can say the gravy’s flavor is very similar to our Hokkien Char. The chili is nice too, kinda addictive and gives the noodle a good, exciting kick. RM3.50 only. Rating: 7/10.

Ngau Lam Fan from Xin Ru Kee (stall 748) with a side order of beef soup with turnip @ RM13. The beef noodle here uses ‘lai fun’ instead of the normal mee hoon, koay teow or yellow mee in other places so it’s quite special. The starchy sauce, peanuts and sesame seeds are the other toppings that make the flavor stand out from the rest. Rating: noodles 6/10, soup 9/10.

Hakka Mee from Tow Kee @ RM3.30 (small) Honestly I find this a disappointment because of my high expectations of it being an old, reputable shop and all. Even the Hakka Mee at SS2 Toast & Roast is wayyy better than this. Try it just for curiosity sake. Rating: 5/10.

After spending a few hours at Jusco Seremban, we proceeded to Restoran Chai Hong (GPS Coordinates: N2 43.759 E101 56.345) for Chicken Rice. It was recommended by my colleague, who’s a local. It might be weird to eat Chicken Rice in Seremban but it was the nicest surprise of the entire trip because it was simply delicious.

Anyway, you will find this place quite empty because
1. Even some locals don’t know about this place
2. Expensive. 1 rice + 2 pax portion (drumstick and thigh only) + 2 packet drinks = RM35
3. Slowness – you should see how the preparation process. It was beyond meticulous especially when they pour the soya sauce and oil over the chicken, drench it then repeat.. You cannot help but feel they are aiming for perfection in every single plate of chicken served.
Anyway, my rating is 9/10. (could be 10/10 but -1 for the price)

Then we watched a “Alien & Cowboys” which was pretty sucky but nevermind since we only wanted to pass time. By the time we finished the movie it was around 5.30pm. Time to buy some Siew Pau! Now if you are planning to shop for these baked buns at the Empayar Seremban Siew Pau I can only shake my head in disapproval because that’s a well known tourist trap and their siew pau’s quality is inconsistent.

Our siew paus were bought at Asia Siew Pau (GPS Coordinates: N2 44.051 E101 56.414) @ RM1.30 each, fresh from the oven and it was still hot when we ate it. Nice lah! Both pork and chicken version available here. Rating 8/10.

We had our dinner at Kedai Makanan Seremban (GPS Coordinates: N2 43.977 E101 56.058), famous for their signature Seremban Grilled Crabs. Personally, I find the crabs to be overrated.

You can probably find much better ones in Klang Valley but of course the price won’t be as cheap. Can you believe the two plates of mantis prawns and lala are only RM10 each?

As for the crabs they were priced at RM50/kg. I felt the coating sauce is a tad too sweet and the crabs are overcooked so my rating is only 6.5/10. Then it’s a 70km drive back to KL hence ending a short but memorable trip.