Amazing Char Siew
For some of the best char siew, look no further than Meng Kee, in 13 Tengkat Tong Shin, Kuala Lumpur. It’s quite hard to locate, but.. damn. It really does taste like “bak kwa on steroids and pimped up with a greasy sugary coating… [like] pork-flavored candy with a greasy after-taste”, according to the Travelling Hungryboy. He’s right. But it isn’t just that—this stuff is heavenly.
My attempt at clearer directions: if you’re familiar with Jalan Alor (behind Bukit Bintang), this place is pretty nearby, on Tengkat Tong Shin itself. There’s a brick building somewhere opposite Number Eight Guesthouse (great place to stay, by the way)—there isn’t a sign or a signboard, but a tiny little counter in the corner with some chickens and pork has a small “Meng Kee” sign written on it. You’ll know it’s the right one when you see the queue, and the chaotic char siew sellers shouting at each other (and the customers) in Cantonese.
This stuff is so good I think I can die in peace because I had it yesterday. They start at 10:45 am and sell out by 1pm or earlier.
While you’re at it, also help yourself to the famous Ngau Kee beef noodles on the same street. Malaysian hawker food makes me depressed. Why can’t I have good hawker food in my city too?
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I love those beef noodles. The whole area has a lot of eating places, including Palate Palette (http://www.palatepalette.com).
My girlfriend and I had a bad experience at number eight at the end of last year though. There were bed bugs in our room and others’ (I saw them complain at the reception). It seems that they had closed the whole place for fumigation, but the problem had not gone away.
As it seemed to be full occupancy and we didn’t want to risk another room with bedbugs, we had to find another place to sleep in the middle of the night. Altogether, it was very unpleasant and a shame, because I was looking forward to have a stalwart accommodation in KL.
It would be interesting to explore the reasons why Singaporean hawker food can’t match up
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cuz we’re healthier?
you forget; SUGAR CANE JUICE!
@Ace I beg to differ! ‘Healthy food’ is all in the imagination. :) Our very basic cooking can’t even.. match up. It makes me sad.
@gabriel yeah, been thinking about that too. write a paper about it, i’ll contribute some segments. :)
@lola dazzzzzzz riteeeeeeeee
@Kelly Sorry to hear about that. just stayed very recently, liked it sufficiently though I have to admit for a backpackerish place it is getting pretty expensive (some decent hotels in chinatown go for much less than what eight is now asking—they’ve gotten very popular, and written about a lot in the international press). was also at palate palette recently, it was pretty cool. try www.stayorange.com? no experience with that but one of the new places that’ve sprung up recently.
Two possible reasons: MSG and ambient bacteria.
if that’s the case, i’d rather live in a msg-laden, dirty place. my tummy would be so much happier!
Unfortunately many Malaysian non-hawker restaurants don’t have pork. My stomach is decidedly un-happy.
My cries of despair and rage when I went to Tony Roma’s in Sunway Lagoon to find I had a choice of Original Beef Ribs, Carolina Honeys Beef Ribs, Blue Ridge Smokies Beef Ribs and Red Hots Beef Ribs cannot be described.
http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/2467/15tonyromasbountifulbeedk8.jpg
A part of me died that day.
Did my last comment get swallowed up by the spam filter?
Repost:
A summary:
– Singapore has more variety: gains from specialization – Malaysian servings are small (maybe it’s satiation – if I eat a small plate of Char Kway Teow I am less likely to get sick of it than if I eat a large plate) – Selection bias: people compare their favourite Malaysian outlets with the average Singapore outlet – Malaysia has a larger Chinese population than Singapore, so their top 100 hawkers are better than our top 100 hawkers – Some people prefer Malaysian-style food to Singapore-style food (eg Penang Char Kway Teow to Singapore Char Kway Teow) – Lower hygiene: more free reign to cook and be authentic (and maybe dirt makes food taste better) – People like to eat in dirtier places – more authentic – More oil, salt and MSG – Cheaper ingredients (so they put more) – Singaporean hawkers don’t cook with pride – More wok hei due to older woks (wth)
Some I came up with after going to Penang later that year: – When you squat beside the drain, the drain stinks so your food tastes better – Malaysians are less tolerant of bad food than Singaporeans (witness how Singaporeans meekly eat cold pre-made prata – OTOH you always have to wait for canai)
kl restaurant where you get lots and lots of pork. german, of course. http://www.elcerdokl.com/
I also blame our food court/mall culture, and the large food court chains for spoiling our food. Kopitiam? Food Junction? Any food court at all? Abysmal. I can’t stand to eat at any food court and cannot think of a single one stall in any food court that avoids the fate of being mediocre, expensive, and… soul-less. Most of it is… certifiably inedible. Maybe I’m picky, maybe I’m a food snob, I don’t know. I just can’t stand to even put most of this stuff into my mouth (I’ve tried). Singapore hawker food has lost its soul, and its bite. I worry: we claim to be a food paradise, put up these fancy pretend hawker centres like Newton and Glutton’s Bay, and undiscerning tourists think this is the best of what Singapore hawker food has to offer, when it doesn’t even compare to even the worst of KL, Bangkok, Jakarta.
The younger hawkers (by this I exclude the old men and women and old stalls in certain old places like Old Airport Road, Tiong Bahru, Ghim Moh, Bedok 85, etc)... don’t really seem to give a damn. Maybe it’s nostalgia, remembering how food used to be—but there’s a reason for this nostalgia: food is really bad these days. Unless you know where to go, and even then there’s only a handful of really good places with respectable hawker food left. and i wonder why i spend so much time in that city 400km to our north. :)
Well, I wouldn’t say inedible, but it sure doesn’t measure up.
It tells you something that they need to come up with Food Republic, where they guarantee the food is good.
Good food has transitioned from something you expect/deserve to a special treat.
Reminds me: the worst fried rice I’ve ever had was at Glutton’s Bay. Hah.
I think what we offer to tourists is variety, hygiene and novelty. Asia-lite, perhaps.
Inedible! Okay I’m just being harsh, and maybe too picky, but.. I do not like wasting my calories on food that isn’t insanely awesome. Maybe that’s why I’m sad all the time. You’re right, good food is a special treat :)
p.s. haha, the so-called ‘famous hawkers’ at glutton’s bay are really bad, and expensive, except maybe the char kway teow stall where they fry their stuff while wearing fancy straw hats, which is okay sometimes for an oily char kway teow fix after a late night concert at the esplanade.
I like the Hokkien Mee at Glutton’s Bay (shouldn’t it be Gluttons’? Oh well)
I don’t mind wasting my calories. Maybe that’s why I’m fat all the time ahahahahhaah
Thank you! I really hate the food court/mall culture too. The food is bland and average at best and the ambience is sterile… just a place to fill your stomach. And yes, I blame the government. Those ‘elites’ up there.
Thanks for the recommendation, I’m definitely going to make a trip there some time this week =)
Coincidentally I just had El Cerdo’s for lunch just now, good stuff. The best thing about the area is how you can get great food on any budget. If you had the appetite, you could have a RM100 plate of pork knuckles, then walk over the street and have a plate of RM6 plate of char siew in the same afternoon.
Btw, KL’s best honey glazed chicken wings are right at the end of Jalan Alor, you might want to give it a try the next time you’re in the area.
A friend of mine has another theory. Apparently hawkers are viewed as financial and career failures over at Singapore no matter how well they do. In Malaysia the ones that make good food are pretty much celebrated as local heroes. Personally, if I had a stall that actually made money selling char siew from 10:45am to 1pm I’d count myself a minor success. Not quite sure how that would sell as a career anywhere else =)
I love wong ah wah too!
I’ve tried that. It is splendid, but very pricey I think.
Do try the road side beef stall just across the road. Sedap too! :D
One of the best char siews can also be found at Oversea Restoran (no it’s not a typo, it’s really oversea). They’ve got several outlets around KL including along Jln Imbi and also in Damansara at Armada Hotel.
They have a great marinade and it’s not too fatty so it’s not that sinful!
the armada hotel damansara oversea kitchen can’t compare – for the best, go to bb one
actually oversea serves freaking good food full stop although the cost of a meal has gone up a lot over the last 10 years, eat up there before prices go up any further
actually on reflection char siew here in hk sucks. i wonder why – you would think access to chinese pork with all the steroids and sludge and zero health standards should provide great raw matrerial.
“actually char siew in hk sucks
i have no idae why”
– nw.t
So much for the home of Cantonese cooking
ugh, number 8 guesthouse. their service pisses me off.
ngau kee used to be more fun when the couple running it used to work together, and screamed at each other all the time. you could tell who always ate there because they’d ignore it (happened every night / possibly hour). it doesn’t taste like it used to, but none of the old hawker shops really do and i still like it anyway.
have you tried the loh shu fun off petaling street yet? awesome supper food
number 8 cancelled a room reservation on me, after they said it was okay for me to pay the deposit an hour later because i was having lunch in lot 10 – i had asked them to notify me if i had to head there immediately for the deposit, which they agreed to, very pleasantly. i arrived to find i’d lost a room – no apologies.
celaka punye management.
hello i always go to tongkat (sp?) tong shin when i go to kl. i’m a muslim so i actually visit this corner (its really at the corner of a curb) uhm stall on wheels with seats and tables on pavement. i cant remember the name now but its a malay-muslim stall and for the last few yrs (cant vouch for earlier and i havent been there for 2 yrs) have really excellent malay food (noodles and fried rice stuffs). the drinks are also fabulous. i bring all friends to that place and all of them love it. it was really crowded the last few times i went there but can still squeeze in abit. i think allson genesis hotel is nearby and it faces a big field and we can see a huge tv screen (samsung i think) on a building beyond the field and adjacent to it, a carpark.
hope its still there and going strong!