Category Archives: Food Type: Chinese

Hung Kee, Jalan Loke Yew – Wantan Mee

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When Boo_licious blogged about Hung Kee, I suddenly developed a craving for good wantan mee. Unfortunately, now is a bad time to develop cravings as it’s the Chinese New Year period and not all chinese food stalls are open. It’s just as well that I have an appreciation for all kinds of food, so I’ll never go hungry.

So anyhow, I managed to convince my lunch kakis that Hung Kee would be open today and we should risk driving out, failing which we could always eat at one of the numerous foodstalls along Jalan Loke Yew. Surely one ought to be open at this time! Eeyore peered out of the car as I drove past on the other side of the road and ecstatically proclaimed that the restaurant was open (but I knew that already :-)). Parking was a breeze thanks to the number of people who were still on leave. Incidentally, all the shops on either side of Hung Kee were also closed for the CNY season. There was a buzz of activity at Hung Kee, though, as people stood outside waiting for empty tables. But this is normal, as I have been to Hung Kee at other times and I’ve always noticed a crowd.


We ordered the wantan mee with char siew (barbequed pork) and pork wantan. According to Eeyore, the noodles are not the egg variant as compared to the wantan mee at Koon Kee, Petaling Street, which he preferred. I, on the other hand, enjoyed the springy texture of the noodles and I thought the sauce that the noodles were tossed in was full of flavour and complemented the noodles marvelously. There is no need to order extra wantan as each serving came with about six pieces of wantan. The char siew is sweet and sticky and just perfect.


We also ordered an extra bowl of sui kau (dumplings) stuffed with minced pork, and a plate of siew yoke (roasted pork) which we felt didn’t meet up to our standards as compared to the superb siew yoke in Pudu. Nevertheless, if you do venture out to Hung Kee, do give their wantan mee a try. It’s well worth the trip.

Woo Lan, Brickfields – my favourite dishes

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In the midst of rushing for deadlines before the Chinese New Year holidays, we were still itching to have a nice lunch together with colleagues. A number of us cannot resist yue sang and if there is an opportunity to eat it everyday, I think we’d do that!

I’ve blogged about Woo Lan before, but I wrote about the different noodles served there. This time, we ordered dishes, and our old friend, JT, coincidentally ordered all my old favourites. I’ve graduated from these dishes and moved to several new ones, but like old socks, it is comforting to eat what I term “happy meals”.


First up was the plate of yue sang which we promptly finished, right down to the last sesame seed. It pays to have guys in the group who are not ashamed of being seen as desperately hungry, haven’t-eaten-for-one-week blokes.


In 2001, I was a big fan of fried pork belly. This simple dish is made of thinly sliced, deep fried, crispy belly stir-fried with chunks of cut onions in a slightly sweet and sticky dark sauce.


In 2004, I discovered butter squid (sotong). The sauce is very similar to butter crabs, which is a creamy milk sauce, and the squids are fried in this sauce together with a substantial amount of curry leaves. I remember in the old days, I used to finish up all the sauce as that was the best part of the dish. I even licked the curry leaves dry. 🙂 This dish takes a longer time to prepare, so order this only if you have time to spare.


Yau mak (romaine lettuce) was my favourite in the 90s.


The salted chicken dish was too dry; it would have been better had the sauce not leaked out of the packaging. But the flesh was tender and moist, although it was too small a portion for a table of 6.

Woo Lan (map here)
19, Jalan Scott,Brickfields, 50470 KL.
Tel: 03-2274-8368

Opening hours: 11.30am – 3.00pm & 5.30pm – 10.00pm

O & S Restaurant, Paramount Garden, PJ

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I come from Penang. Okay, so I spent only the first 9 years of my life there and my memories are restricted to eating flavoured toothpaste in kindergarten, playing hopscotch in primary school, eating koay teow th’ng at the market with mum, and swimming naked at the beach. But I still like to lay my claim over that island and all its wondrous food offerings.

Nowadays, I visit Penang once a year for my annual “makan” trip. The one dish I crave for constantly is the humble chee cheong fun.

You either love it or hate it. Chee cheong fun with prawn paste. Some are turned off by the strong fermented prawn smell. I, on the other hand, get delirious with pleasure.


Well, now I don’t have to travel all the way to Penang to fulfill my desires. I can get penang chee cheong fun less than 20km from where I live. That’s a marked improvement, I must say. I suppose there are a number of other restaurants in KL that serve this, but for now, Restaurant O & S will be a favourite. The chee cheong fun here is served with thick prawn paste and lots of fried shallots and sesame seeds sprinkled on top. Chilli is served on the side so you can control how spicy you want your meal to be.


The only problem with this restaurant is that it is so popular that finding a table at breakfast or lunch is hard work. There are a number of stalls serving a variety of food that will definitely satisfy one’s appetite, even if one is turned off by penang chee cheong fun (horrors!). Pretty Pui belongs to the Penang Chee Cheong Fun Hate Club so she ordered another favourite at this restaurant, asam laksa. I tried some of her soup which, despite having huge chunks of fish in it, tasted like the turmeric had not completely dissolved in it. But I’m willing to give this stall the benefit of doubt as I’ve tasted better asam laksa from this stall before.


We tried the prawn noodles, but we were not impressed. The thin soup lacked flavour.


Since our orders were rather small (translated: we’re gluttons), we also ordered a plate of yong tau foo to share. It wasn’t too bad, but I wouldn’t order it as a main course. I’d still go for the chee cheong fun! Call it an obsession!

O & S Restaurant
Paramount Garden, PJ