vkeong loves good food, travel and photography!
Pudu
Hung Kee Wantan Mee @ Jalan Loke Yew
Jan 31st
If you travel along Jalan Loke Yew frequent enough you will notice Hung Kee restaurant, an old institution many claim to serve one of the best Wantan Mee in KL. Now that’s a claim I heartily disagree with. First of all, do know that your noodles are prepared by foreign workers (nothing personal against them, but you ought to know) while the locals only take down the orders.
For no reason, here’s a photo of wooden chopsticks.
I find the roast pork here quite terrible, soggy and tastes somewhat old. The hand-made noodle on the other hand is not bad, thinner than the usual with a nice bouncy texture but honestly nothing fantastic.
Heun Kee Charcoal Claypot Chicken Rice @ Jalan Yew, Pudu
Oct 16th
Not long ago a reader suggested me to try Heun Kee Claypot Chicken Rice at Pudu. It is true that I haven’t blogged about a good claypot chicken rice for a long time so I guessed, why not. As it turns out, not only the recommendation was spot on, I was glad to find out that their claypot fish head curry is very delicious too.
Even though the smallest order is meant for 1 pax @ RM9, the portion is large enough to be shared comfortably between two people. Heun Kee does not skimp on the ingredients as you could see the rice is topped with generous amount of chicken meat and Chinese sausage. A small plate of salted fish is provided separately and mixed according to your own liking.
The unmistakable aroma of charcoal with a whiff of rice wine greets your senses as soon as the claypot hit the table – inviting you to dig in. Compared to the other claypot chicken rice I had previously, the notable difference for me is in the rice itself. Here, it is cooked to a light and fluffy texture so soft that you don’t need to dig hard to stir the ingredients around. The most savored part of the dish is no doubt the crispy part of the rice at the bottom of the claypot, which tastes extra flavorful but not burnt or hard.
Typica Cafe 豆原 @ Shaw Parade
Apr 22nd
**Note: Since I am getting quite a number of comments regarding the Ice Drip Coffee’s name.. this was how it was written that day. Was it a ‘K’ or ‘R’ for ‘Rwanda’, and was it ‘Musasa’ or ‘Murasa’? You be the judge. But thanks to some commentators now I know there’s such a coffee called ‘Rwanda Musasa‘
I am probably going to offend a lot of Typica Cafe fans out there with this post. Actually, I had two options. I could either parrot what the others are saying and pretend to adore this cafe and everyone will be happy, or I could just tell my feeling it as it is. Well, I have decided to be honest and go for the second option.
First thing first, you need to know the coffees here are not cheap because of the rare siphon-brewing method – at least in KL. The cafe’s owner also makes frequent trips overseas to source different types of coffee beans that are not commonly available in Malaysia. She even roasts them personally so it is truly a commendable passion.
For serious coffee connoisseurs, they definitely unearthed a hidden gem. But for casual coffee lovers like me, I think my level is far from being able to appreciate these gourmet coffees appropriately. So when I read some people’s experience saying that they are able to appreciate the greatness of Typica’s coffee after just one visit, it feels funny to me because most of them admitted they don’t even drink coffee on a regular basis.
I had the Kwanda Murasa @ RM28, basically an Ice Drip Coffee. I was told it is brewed using a seasonal coffee bean imported from Laos that has a chocolatey taste. It must have involved some really rare coffee bean produced by some secret coffee farmers because there is absolutely nothing I could find about “Kwanda Murasa” on Google. And yeah, it comes in a big mug filled with ice cubes, very cool I know.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to to undermine the idea of Ice Drip coffee and the tedious hand-making process involved. In fact, I really tried to appreciate the ‘subtleness’, ‘smoothness’, ‘full-body-ness’, ‘lingering coffee taste’ and ‘intense flavor minus the sourness and bitterness’ everyone has been raving about – sip by sip – but I just don’t feel it? Sorry to say this it is just an overpriced Kopi O to me.
Chun Kee Hakka Mee (春记大埔面) @ Jalan Sayor, Pudu
Feb 26th
A supposedly dim sum breakfast at Tuck Cheong restaurant did not happen because by the time we reached there, everything was sold out save for some buns. Maybe I was too late by Pudu people’s standards but it was only 9am! Desperate for an alternative, we recalled a famous Hakka Mee nearby that some say is the best in Klang Valley. Luckily, Chun Kee was only a few hundred metres away from Tuck Cheong so we walked.
Judging by the look of the noodles and the number of customers waiting in line, it seemed promising so we didn’t mind the long wait. But after tasting the noodle it was an overwhelming disappointment, it just wasn’t as good as it was anticipated to be. In fact, only average at best. The noodles look springy but is actually a lumpy mess and the minced pork does not stick well to the noodles so you will end up eating them as separately.
