In my previous rapturous odes and Celine Dion-esque power ballads to Pan Mee, I’ve waxed lyrical (and delirious) over the divine origins and sublime aspects of the supremely-uncomplicated, yet gloriously-majestic dish. I’ve marveled incessantly over the noodle masterpiece’s flavourful, ‘Pan’-Asian heritage (it is of Hakka descent, yet a local born-and-bred Malaysian passport holder); and eulogized the sacred handful of Klang Valley eateries where bona fide, ISO 9001-certified Pan Mee is reverently served (all of them are invariably humble, stand-alone kopitiams gripping the roadsides of unsexy neighbourhoods). So it was with the stunned amazement of David Attenborough discovering a new species of intestinal parasite that I stumbled across Homie Recipe Chinese Noodle House, while sashaying from H&M to UNIQLO, in one of the Klang Valley’s snazzy new malls.
The place
Shyly crouched in an out-of-the-way corner of the Lower Ground Floor of NU Sentral Mall, Homie has, by far, the most swag of any Pan Mee specialty restaurant in Malaysia. Though by no means Oscar red carpet-ready – the interior décor is painfully minimalist (to the point of appearing one-dimensional), the colour palette is Clorox bleached-muted, and the showcase checked floor tiles seem disorientatingly out of place – Homie is a Her World cover girl compared to Pan Mee’s other cruelly splashed-by-acid hotspots. The restaurant’s mall patron-oriented staff are crisply efficient and on-point competent – distinguishing themselves from the more ‘chin chai’ and perfunctorily-hospitable workers of standalone eateries. Above all, it’s Homie’s kaleidoscopic menu – both in terms of design and list of offerings – which makes it a baroque standout on the Pan Mee-purveyor landscape.
The food
Homie’s luminous, pork-free fare is an adoring homage to its signature offering’s gymnastic flexibility. Pan Mee suffers from a severe case of Multiple Personality Disorder at Homie, with up to 14 different preparations available, all of which fall under the categories of ‘home style’, ‘soup’ and ‘dry’. Among Pan Mee’s many faces that patrons can stuff their own faces with are Salted Fish & Minced Chicken, Seaweed & Egg, Shrimp Dumpling, Chicken Curry, Diced Mushroom, Veggie & Mushroom and Coriander. The restaurant’s supporting cast of side dishes, meanwhile, ‘raise the roof’ all on their own, and feature Stuffed Tofu in Black Bean Sauce, Fish Paste Bean Curd Roll, and more. Most eyebrow and spirit-raising of all: in spite of being a mall-based F&B establishment, Homie’s prices are wallet-humane, with main dishes costing between just RM9.90 and RM11.90.
As a toe-dipping exercise into Homie, I ordered the Sambal Chili Shrimp Pan Mee (which proved to be a dive into the deep end) for RM10.90. The portion was impressively generous, and the egg noodles seemed buried alive under mounds of dried shrimp, chopped scallion, fried shallot, a tremendous dollop of dry chili sambal and one shining, perfectly-poached egg. After a thorough mixing, and near-inhalation of the ingredients (I was impatient), the first thing to punch my palate was the sambal, which was out-of-this-world superb. Solar flare hot, and with an almost glutinous texture, the chili paste gave the dish a merciless kick that sent it thrillingly airborne. The other ‘boss’ ingredient was the dried shrimp, which was perfectly seasoned and whose marvelous ‘umami’ flavour drilled through a commotion of other tastes to single-handedly ravish and conquer the palate. Unfortunately, two other main ingredients forgot to ‘bring their game’ that day: the noodles themselves paled in comparison to, for example, the springy sensation served at Kin Kin Chili Pan Mee; while the poached egg was a tad overdone, and failed to mix smoothly with the dish’s other components. Rating: 8 out of 10.
To slow my descent from the Pan Mee high, I ordered Homie’s sizable bowl of Fish Ball Soup (RM7.90), which was heavy enough for light eaters to consider a meal. Drifting leisurely in the uniquely tea-like, prawn stock-infused soup were 5 plump fish balls, luxurious, billowing blankets of Sayur Manis, crumbs of dried prawn and discs of chopped scallion. The soup itself was delightful and unlike anything I’ve ever sampled, its dried prawn tang working wonders on the palate. The fish balls, however, fell a tad short, perhaps because the quality of fish used was on the mediocre side, as was manifested in its lovely, but somehow still lacking, flavour. Rating: 8 out of 10.
Homie Recipe Chinese Noodle House
LG 18, NU Sentral Mall, Jalan Stesen Sentral 5
Brickfields, 50470, KL
Hours: 10am to 10pm daily
Tel: 03 2276 3700
Site: Homie Restaurant
* Based on an article published by militant foodie, omnipresent shutter bug, indefatigable traveler and bionic blogger, Venoth Nathan, in Venoth’s Culinary Adventure. Images are courtesy of http://venoth.blogspot.my/.