vkeong loves good food, travel and photography!
Kuala Lumpur
Lai Foong Beef Noodles @ Jalan Tun H.S. Lee, Kuala Lumpur
Aug 25th
Lai Foong Restaurant on Jalan Tun HS Lee is one of the most popular places in KL for beef noodle. For people who are driving they would usually park their cars at Central Market and take a short walk to the restauraunt. From my own experience I have never had any problem looking for a parking spot there and the rate is quite cheap too considering it’s KL. It starts from RM2.50 so it is still very bearable.
This was actually my first time here after hearing so much about it from friends who have patronized this stall since they were small. And of course I know the standard has dropped compared to last time. Nevertheless, I was still keen to give it a try especially given their fame and long history as one of the oldest beef noodle in town. I had the dry version and found it disappointingly bland and flat tasting. Given that I skipped breakfast and was feeling extremely hungry but yet did not finish the noodles, it’s a really bad sign.
Keong Kee Herbal Soup 强记补品 Opposite Shaw Parade, Off Jalan Pudu
Aug 16th
Street food has always been the best food in Malaysia because it is usually cheap, localized and most importantly delicious. Sometimes I feel I should be covering more of these instead of just visiting the restaurants. As far as KL is concerned I have to admit I have not been adventurous enough therefore missing out a lot of good and affordable makan places. And after trying Keong Kee Herbal Soup in Pudu, this sentiment of mine is even stronger now.
But first, a little background of how I got to know about Keong Kee. You see, besides this food blog I also maintain MamakOnline, a small community forum where we talk just about anything under the sun, usually more on food. So Keong Kee happens to be one of the heavily recommended eating places by one of the forumers from KL nicknamed Moon. To most KLites I believe Keong Kee is probably well known or even old for you. But for a non-local like me, it is one of the most exciting discoveries that I want to share with everyone.
In case you missed the many stacked steamers, Keong Kee is situated just acrosss the street from Shaw Parade. Because of the large tree that shades Keong Kee, they are also referred as ‘the stall under the big tree’ or ‘dai shue tao‘ in Cantonese. If you are coming for dinner I strongly suggest you to come early before the peak hour kicks in, as business is very brisk and it would take a long time before someone finally attends to your order.
Also, if you are a first timer it is also best to send someone to scrutinize the menu imprinted on their signboard. The reason behind this is because the waiters won’t be suggesting those more exotic dishes like flying squirrel, white pigeon, terrapin, bull penis and etc. But if you are not that adventurous in food then nevermind.
One thing that you must try here is the Wild Boar Curry, simply the best I have ever had so far hence highly recommended. For those who have tasted it before will know surely what I am talking about. But for those who haven’t, it is for you to find out because words cannot describe the awesomeness. So you can forget about any wild boar curry that I have mentioned in the past, Keong Kee’s rendition is now the new benchmark.
Chan Chan Yong Tau Foo @ Bandar Menjalara, Kepong
Aug 8th
Fortunately when it comes to Yong Tau Fu I don’t need to travel far for it. A good one is only 5 minutes away from SL’s house and we visit it quite regularly. Chan Chan Yong Tau Foo has become one of our ‘safe places’ to eat where the service is fast with reasonably priced menu and the food surely won’t fail one.
Most of the restaurants in Kepong are packed to the brim in the weekends so you usually end up spending more time waiting for food instead. Sometimes the waiting time could even exceed 1 hour! So, after a few times we got tired of this and decided to look for alternatives; hence discovering Chan Chan YTF.
For RM1.10 a piece, I would say the yong tau fu’s price here is not cheap but quite standard because I have seen those priced at RM1.20 in PJ, eg. Ampang Yong Tau Fu at SS2. Not only that, Chan Chan is more worthy eating if you take the yong tau fu’s size into consideration too. The fried items are easily double the size of what you would get at some other places. But of course you can even find some YTF restaurants in Kepong selling RM0.60 a piece but those come with terms and conditions so let’s no go there.
Ah Loong Grilled Fish Seafood Restaurant @ Jinjang Utara
Jul 26th
Being the biggest ‘New Village’ on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, Jinjang has been infamously known for gangsterism in the past and common perception is that it is an unsafe area. This is most likely why the public tend to shun Jinjang and go to Kepong for food instead, even though Jinjang has plenty of cheaper eateries and seafood restaurants waiting to be discovered.
As for me, I too have been shunning Jinjang for the same reason mentioned earlier. But one day we decided to venture into Jinjang after learning there is a good seafood restaurant worth trying called Restoran Loong Grilled Fish Seafood. After seeing for myself, honestly I could say that Jinjang is not THAT bad of a place. It is quite similar to any new village you would come across like Seri Kembangan and Sungai Buloh – poorly planned township, often connected with narrow, crowded and bumpy roads. But still it is not the best place to bring a guest, especially if your purpose is to impress.
Ah Loong is quite well known for their ample supply of large crabs, which was also the main reason for us to come here. We were not disappointed at all. Although the size is still a far cry from the one we had before in Singapore, it is one of the largest we manage to find so far. If you ask me, I prefer to savor crabs in their natural flavor so I tend to have them baked or grilled with minimal seasoning.
