vkeong loves good food, travel and photography!
Posts tagged Hawker Food
Cheok Sah Hokkien Mee @ Bukit Mertajam
Sep 29th
It’s really kinda hard to find good Hokkien Mee (prawn noodles @ KL) in BM nowadays. The once famous [tag]Hokkien Mee[/tag] at [tag]Cheok Sah[/tag] Square opposite Cheok Sah cinema is fast becoming bad too. Back in the 80s when I was still a small kid, the noodles was quite tasty and the stall had a good customer base. In the 90s the quality started to drop a lot and now it is no better than any average Hokkien Mee you can find in normal hawker centres.
Since then, eating here is a thought that would have never crossed my mind. So, the only reason I went back for the noodles was solely for nostalgia’s sake. Sitting in the coffee shop while looking at the old abandoned cinema and people carrying out their daily lifes on the market streets sure brought back some fond memories.
My first ever experience of going to the movies was here too – I went to see Terminator at Cheok Sah. At that time, where got GSC, TGV or Cathay? LOL. And our snack would be cotton candy and those round keropok resembling steering wheels in a cone shaped packaging.
Like any other soup based noodles, the problem with Cheok Sah’s Hokkien Mee lies in the soup. It might be due to the rising cost of ingredients and the owner trying to keep the price as low as possible. So, the soup was very diluted and you can’t really taste much prawns in it. Kinda pity eh since it seemed like quite tasty from the looks.
Next to the stall is Yoong Kee Restaurant, which is famous for their Teo Chew dishes. Actually, one of the reasons I am posting this even though the noodles does not taste that good is because I want to fish comments from my fellow BM kias, lol. Any BM kias reading this reading mind telling me where to look for good Hokkien Mee in BM? Sri Rambai? Taman Bukit? Berapit? Kampung Baru? Name it and I will try it on my next trip home during the Raya holidays. Kam siah!
GPS Coordinates: N5 21.724 E100 27.641
Kang Beef Koay Teow Soup @ Jalan Kulim, Bukit Mertajam
Sep 22nd
Kang Beef Koay Teow Soup @ Jalan Kulim, Bukit Mertajam was recommended by a fellow reader. I have always knew about the stall and its popularity among BM’s [tag]Beef Soup Koay Teow[/tag] lovers, just that I didn’t have the initiative to try it. But, I finally tried it on my last trip back to hometown.
I ordered the dry version which cost RM6 for the smallest order. Price wise it was kinda expensive if compared to the ones I could have had in KL. Anyway, the preparation was really simple – by adding dark soy sauce and chopped garlic with oil on it. Sad to say the noodles tasted pretty bland – I could only taste dark soya sauce and nothing else.
For dry beef koay teow, the beef meats are served separately in a bowl of beef soup. It tasted quite good with plenty of ingredients. I think I could have enjoyed the soup even more if there weren’t so much chopped coriander leaves in it. Although I don’t particularly dislike coriander, the amount was just too much and overpowering for my liking.
If you can read Chinese, you will see that they serve bull penis as well, just add RM8. Well, I am not that daring yet lol.
There aren’t many Beef Soup Koay Teow stalls in Bukit Mertajam. So, unless you are willing to travel to Butterworth or Penang island for the really good ones, Kang’s is still quite OK to satisfy some cravings for beef koay teow soup.
Map: http://wikimapia.org/#lat=5.3540448&lon=100.4714298&z=18&l=0&m=a&v=2
GPS Coordinates: N5 21.247 E100 28.286
Hameed Pata Special Mee Goreng Sotong @ Padang Kota Lama, Penang
Sep 17th
[tag]Mee goreng[/tag]! There’s a stall in Padang Kota Lama (Esplanade) that sells some kickass and spicy mee goreng that will definitely make you ask for more. Hameed ‘Pata’ Special Mee is hidden in a small food court next to the famous Fort Cornwallis. If you didn’t know its exact location you probably will miss it because it’s not really that visible from the main road.
However, Siang Leng was here before so I had absolutely no problem in locating this fabulous mee goreng. It is one of the best in Penang and you’d be crazy to miss this!
The mee goreng has all the flavor – sweet, sour and spicy. Sweetness from the gravy used to fry the noodles, hint of sourness from the lime and spiciness from the delicious cuttlefish. Ada kick! The ingredients used are pretty simple as you can see, just like those used in any other Indian fried noodles in [tag] Penang[/tag] .
So, the only things that can make the difference are the gravy and cuttlefish. They are really the main contributors to the noodles’ tastiness that made it stood out from the rest.
The stall seemed to be manned by two young cook and although they looked damn cincai when frying the noodles, the outcome was not disappointing at all lol. Besides mee goreng there are also mee rebus and other types of fried noodles. But usually people come here for their famous mee goreng. Only RM3.50 for a plate of satisfaction, guaranteed.
Arggh my stomach is growling by looking at the photo alone, and I just taken my dinner! Sigh, those in Penang are so lucky.. I can’t even find a great mee goreng here in Seri Kembangan. Well, some are quite good, but not as great as Hameed‘s.
One thing you need to be careful while enjoying your mee goreng here, the birds especially crows. There are PLENTY of them and they like to hang out in the trees in the food court’s premise. So, if you don’t want your noodles to have extra “toppings” you better watch out where you sit lol.
Map: http://wikimapia.org/#lat=5.4200561&lon=100.3428286&z=18&l=0&m=a&v=2
Best Chinese Nasi Lemak @ Bukit Mertajam
Sep 4th
I am going to introduce to you in my opinion is inarguably the best Chinese nasi lemak in Bukit Mertajam. I call it “Chinese nasi lemak” because the seller is indeed a Chinese aunty, and also to stress that it’s non-halal, that’s all. Anyway I am lucky enough to stay just 5 minutes away from the stall which operates next to AIA company, opposite Courts Mammoth along Jalan Sungai Rambai.
I have been patronizing this [tag]nasi lemak[/tag] stall since Form 1, that’s like more than 12 years already! Since I am a long customer of hers, we do chat a bit. According to her, she has been selling even before I was borned, lol.
Another thing, the rice is only normal white rice, not any coconut milk rice lol. Sorry about that, I just have no idea what name to give to the rice she sells. Shown here is a my most favorite combination for a wonderful breakfast – curry chicken, curry prawns, baby squids in dark soy sauce, loh bak (meat rolls) and lots of curry gravy!
Trust me on the combination, as I have tested many variations. This is the tastiest, lol. It usually cost me RM3.50 to RM4.00 for a packet.
When I was still working in Penang, I used to take away the nasi lemak here to the office. On the journey there, the rice would get soaked nicely in the curry chicken and prawn’s gravy. Everytime I open my packet, the aroma would never fail to draw my colleagues over to my cubicle lol. Although smaller in size, baby squid’s flesh is less chewy and more tender than a full grown squid. You really gotta try it.
The array of dishes she prepares daily (in addition the ones I mentioned just now) always consists of curry stingray with okra, cockles, fried anchovies and long beans. Sometimes when I am not in the mood for rice, I’d order fried mee hoon with only curry prawns instead. It tastes just as nice!
She starts selling from 7.30am onwards daily except on Sundays. And since her business is very good she usually finish selling by 9am most of the time. So, you gotta be early or you’d miss out all the nice dishes. This is one of the foods I never fail to have whenever I take a trip back to BM – partly because it has played quite a big part in my life. If this interests you, find the map here.
GPS Coordinates: N5 21.855 E100 27.181
