While in the Pudu area of Kuala Lumpur one ordinary Friday, this writer decided to head to the best eatery for roast pork rice in the vicinity, Restoran Wong Mei Kee. However, as luck would have it, the place was completely packed, forcing him to have to look for an alternative.
Located nearby was a simple kopitiam, Sin Hiap Hee, with what looked like a mixed-rice stall with a decent but not overcrowded number of customers. A closer look revealed that, rather than “chap fan”, the Chinese operator of this stall sold nasi kandar!
Nasi kandar is, of course, a traditionally Indian-Muslim offering, which made this place worth checking out. The only other stall of this nature that this writer is aware of is at Puchong’s Kok Siong kopitiam.
Lunchtime, as a sign very helpfully points out, is from noon to 2.30pm. Joining the queue, you might observe that the stall’s curry fish head is popular: there’s a big pot of it, and many groups of diners can be seen ordering one serving for the table.
If you’re here on your own, worry not, as there’s plenty else to choose from! From fried chicken and curry fish to fried squid, turmeric cabbage, and hard-boiled eggs, most of the dishes you would expect at a typical nasi kandar stall are available here.
On this day, the writer went with a portion of rice with stingray curry, lady’s fingers, fried fish eggs, the standard cabbage, and – at the insistence of the lady boss – some papadum, which she claimed was very delicious.
The fish was properly cooked with the right texture without being overly soft, and the curry, while a bit lighter, had the essential flavours of what anyone would look for in a stingray dish of this sort.
But it was the fried fish egg that hit a high note: crispy on the outside while retaining the moisture within, to the point where you could feel the individual caviar pearls popping in your mouth. Delightful.
As for the papadum? Yes, delicious indeed.
Judging by these few choices and the way other dishes looked, the conclusion one will reach is that this is a perfectly pleasant place to enjoy your meal at – flavour-wise, at least.
There are some complaints about the operator being quite rude, which was indeed observed on this day when a customer made some less-than-smart decisions. But your mileage in this regard might vary.
Heck, you might even find these interactions entertaining!
Restoran Sin Hiap Kee
32, Lengkungan Brunei, Pudu,
55100 Kuala Lumpur
Read the original article here. Trying to influence your cravings since 2005, Kar Yeong was Guest Judge on Versus 1001 Rasa Baba’s 2018, R.AGE Food Fight Judge 2015 and NTV7 Foodie Blogger 2014. To read more about Kar Yeong’s food journeys, visit his blog at KYspeaks.com.