Shin Kee Beef Noodles Specialist

Shin Kee Beef Noodles Specialist

No. 9 Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock

50100 Kuala Lumpur

+60126737318

(Coordinates: N3° 8' 42.5" E101° 41' 48.9")

Brendan is away at a debate camp till Thursday and Cat and I were left to our own devices. We were in the neighbourhood registering Brendan for extra classes during the long third terms school holidays at a tuition centre nearby. We had in fact intended to have lunch here two weeks ago but the diminutive shop was filled to the rafters then.

 

we finally meet

 

along a very busy street

 

erm, we're here to see the specialist?

What with it being a weekday and the fact that we were a little early for lunch, we were able to secure seats. Located along the bustling Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock, it would be virtually impossible to find decent parking anywhere in the vicinity (unless you park at Kotaraya, which is a challenge in itself). We had the table by the entrance and had an excellent view of the colorful pedestrian traffic, comprising a multitude of ethnicities.

 

this is pretty much it

 

hard at work

 

waiting to be served

Cat and I ordered the identical ‘dry’ Beef Noodle soup (which means the soup is served separately) and a Coca Cola each.

 

we both ordered the same RM7 bowl

 

the minced meat was divine

 

ooh la la

 

we could hardly wait

 

beverage and condiments

 

managed to squeeze this shot despite the cramped quarters

The damage? It all came to a pretty decent RM18 for Cat and I. And the verdict? Being a bit of a beef noodle aficionado ourselves, while we were of the opinion that Soong Kee had the better beef balls and Beef King Noodles had the better soup, we agreed that Shin Kee had the best minced meat. So it was honours even among these three magnificent beef noodle restaurants. But hold up, we hear that there is a pretender to the throne! Apparently our favourite beef noodle soup restaurant in Kota Bharu has set up shop in Puchong, and we intend to pay it a visit soon, so stay tuned!

Restoran Ali Maju (Sri Rampai)

Restoran Ali Maju

Jalan Rampai Niaga 3

Rampai Business Park

53300 Kuala Lumpur

(Coordinates: E101° 43' 40.1" N3° 11' 54.0")

(Preamble: Kuala Lumpur City Hall recently embarked on a city-wide crackdown on insanitary and dirty eateries within in its jurisdiction. We were shocked to find our favourite Mamak restaurants along Lorong Medan Tuanku closed down as a result of the crackdown. Restaurants like Hanifa and RSMY House of Real Beriani are now temporarily closed for at least two weeks until they pass the next health inspection. Notwithstanding this, we have now lost faith in these restaurants given that a large shadow of doubt has been cast on their cleanliness. Chances are we will no longer patronize these establishments.)

Brendan will be attending a debate camp for the next four days in Sri KDU International School in Kota Damansara. His Aunt Vivien was kind enough to offer him room and board for the next four nights at her place which is much closer to Kota Damansara then our apartment. Seeing as he won’t be able to get his fix of South Indian curry, we thought we’d take him to lunch at an Indian restaurant.

We read about this restaurant (Mani Curry House, 2030-1 Jalan Sentul 51000 Kuala Lumpur, Coordinates: E101° 41' 26.3" N3° 11' 50.0") online and thought we’d give it a try. Parking in this area can be a real challenge, and by sheer luck managed to find a decent bay nearby. I began to take some photographs of the exterior when I noticed the waiters gesturing to someone at the back of the restaurant. They were signaling that I had a camera and was taking pictures, and sure enough a Bangladeshi gentleman approached me and asked me to state my business. When I explained that the photographs were for a food ‘blog’ he asked me what it is that I want to ‘block’.

Cat and Brendan were in the midst of selecting their dishes when I asked that we immediately leave Mani Curry House. The look of horror on the Bangladeshi gentleman’s face was priceless! He must have thought that I was on my own and only came to the restaurant to take some photographs, not knowing that we were legitimate customers actually wanting to have our lunch there. He tried to restrain us from leaving by giving some lame excuse about not understanding what it was I was saying earlier, but to no avail.

 

jewel/gem or cheap trinket?

While we understand that a business has every right to deny anyone service, would it also be fair that we be allowed come to our own conclusions? When a restaurant is apprehensive about its patrons taking photographs of the premises it can only mean one thing… we can only construe that they have something to hide!

 

... like the plague?

So to anyone who bothers to read this: would it be too much to ask that you avoid Mani Curry House like the plague…?

Since we were still looking to have Indian curry for lunch we thought we’d try our default favourite, Steven’s Corner in Setapak (Lot 9136, Jalan 2/23D Prima Setapak, Jalan Genting Klang 53300 Kuala Lumpur [+60340229018] Coordinates: 3° 11' 56.50", 101° 42' 49.50") but were aghast to find it closed for renovation. This is not turning out to be our day.

 

with arms wide open!

 

in the heart of Sri Rampai

We then remembered Restoran Ali Maju in Sri Rampai and headed there. We were pleased as punch to find it open, and even more pleased to find that they welcomed our camera with wide open arms. That speaks volumes to the supreme confidence that they have in their restaurant’s cleanliness, don't you think Mani?

 

very spacious

 

the dishes that beckoned us

 

we were encouraged to take photos here

 

so we duly obliged

This has got to be one of the most spacious ¹Mamak restaurants anywhere in Kuala Lumpur and only Steven’s Corner Setapak (sadly closed for renovation) is larger in terms of floor space. Brendan had the (what else?) Chicken Curry with white rice while Cat tried the Fried Mackerel with a side dish of Chilied Pickled Cucumbers with her white rice. I on the other hand ordered the Chicken Chop thinking that I’d avoid carbohydrates as much as I could (though the French Fries that came with it sort of defeated the purpose).

¹Mamak, a term used in Malaysia to describe the local Indian Muslim community, culture and its marvellous cuisine!

for a change

 

Brendan's delectable chicken curry

 

Cat's ordinary fried mackerel

 

my (low-carb?) chicken chop

 

they could hardly wait, so they started without me

 

reasonable

The verdict? Brendan absolutely loved his Chicken Curry while Cat thought her Fried Mackerel was pretty much on par with the standard Mamak fare. My Chicken Chop was also pretty average and took a pretty long to prepare, Cat and Brendan were already done eating when it was finally served. And the damage? It came to a pretty easy on the pocket RM30.80 even with a round of Coca-Cola for everyone. Would we come here again? Brendan says heck yeah!

Restoran Chuan Hupp (Reloaded)

Restoran Chuan Hupp

25G Jalan Wawasan 2/10, Taman Wawasan

68000 Ampang

(Coordinates: 3.145811, 101.766265)

It’s been raining pretty much the whole day since we got back from Minang Maimbau. Brendan had a hankering for Char Kueh Teow, and this is one dish that’s not readily available where we live. Seeing as Chuan Hupp is our default Chinese food court when it comes to all things noodle, we made our way here this wet and rainy night. In fact we’ve already covered this place here and here, which is a clear testament of how much we adore this food court.

we're back!

It’s been a while since we’ve been here (the last time we were here was in July) and we noticed that they’ve widened the dining area. Some of the stalls that used to occupy the five-foot way have been moved to make way more tables and chairs. We think the proprietors of the place must have noticed that most diners preferred the five-foot way to the indoor seating area which can be quite stifling from the heat of the sizzling woks, and can be almost sauna-like.

stalls in neat rows

we saw only one person eating indoors

Brendan ordered the (what else?) ¹Char Kueh Teow; Cat tried the ²Wat Tan Hor while I ordered my firm favourite, the Beef Noodle Soup.

¹flat rice noodles stir-fried over very high heat with light and dark soy sauce, chili, a small quantity of belachan, whole prawns, de-shelled cockles, bean sprouts, chopped Chinese chives and egg

²also known as Char Hor Fun or Kong Fu Char depending on where you’re from, flat noodles coated in thick and creamy egg-laden gravy

Brendan ordered from this Uncle

he absolutely loved his char kueh teow

Cat ordered her dish here

she was delighted with her wat tan hor

as always, I come here

and as always, I am never disappointed

bon appetit

the usual usual

Hold up, hold up… check this out!

a SECOND helping of char kueh teow?

devilish, isn't he?

We don’t know if it’s because of the rain or whether he had a good workout earlier in the evening, but Brendan had a second helping of his favourite Char Kueh Teow. And the damage? Even with a second plate of Char Kueh Teow it still came to an incredibly inexpensive sum of RM26.10 which includes herbal tea all round. Does this food court represent the everyday food for the everyday man or what? 

Rumah Makan Minang Maimbau

Rumah Makan Minang Maimbau

519 Jalan SS 9A/12

Sungai Way

47300 Petaling Jaya

(Coordinates: E101° 36' 55.3" N3° 5' 22.6")

Our only experiences with Minang cuisine have been limited to Capital Café and Restoran Padang, both located within a stone’s throw away from our apartment. While we’ve never had any complaints about the dishes at these eateries we thought we’d broaden our horizons where Minang cookery was concerned.

A quick check online yielded this quirkily-named shop in Sungei Way, a place that is quite unfamiliar to us. Apparently Maimbau Minang means "Minang Calling" or "Minang Invitation". Punching in the coordinates, we set off in a pretty roundabout fashion given that our cheap GPS navigator forced us into several false turns before finally arriving at our destination. We did not complaint since we were given the opportunity to properly explore Sungai Way.

 

Minang Maimbau, which means...

 

... Minang 'calling', or...

 

... Minang 'inviting' us over

 

pretty deserted during lunchtime

Despite arriving at the shop at peak lunchtime, we were pretty much the only ones eating there apart from a few stragglers only having drinks, and surmised that they catered to the weekday and dinnertime patrons. 

 

our first time here

 

Brendan had the...

 

... chicken curry (or gulai), no surprises there right?

 

quite an extensive variety of dishes

 

but not quite in the league of Minang cuisine we're used to

Brendan had the Gulai Ayam with white rice; Cat tried the Fried Cat Fish with white rice while I sampled the Fried Chicken with a (reduced portion) of white rice and a fried egg (the yoke was later donated to Brendan).

 

only in Malaysia beverages

 

Brendan's gulai (curry) chicken

 

Cat's fried cat fish (am I the only that thinks this is funny?)

 

my fried chicken and egg

 

'selamat makan'? or it is 'jemput sila'?

The verdict? Let's just say that we now understand the hype surrounding Capital Café and Restoran Padang and leave it at that. That’s not to say that we did not enjoy our dishes at Minang Maimbau; rather we felt that the cooking here is a watered down version and closer to the Malay variety rather than the authentic Minang dishes we’re so used to. And here’s the kicker; price-wise together with a round of Iced Lemon Tea for Brendan and Cat and an Iced Nescafe for moi the total came to a unbelievably easy on the pocket RM17.60, which in hindsight made sense given the neighbourhood it’s located in. Minang Maimbau would be a great alternative for those living in the Petaling Jaya area and are not inclined to make a trip up to KL for Capital Café and Restoran Padang.