[NON-HALAL]
If you ever find yourself in Gua Musang – a charming, sleepy town located in Kelantan – one of the places worth stopping at for lunch is Hon Kee Restaurant, located on Jalan Besar, the town’s main road.
You won’t be able to miss it. By the looks of it, this establishment has been around for decades, located in a small building lost in time.
Like many Chinese restaurants, there’s no fixed menu – simply ask the server for their recommendations. Hon Kee’s specialty is its seafood, so enquire about the types of fish available.
The prices of their river fish – famed in this area – are clearly stated on the wall, which will definitely help with your budget.
During the writer’s visit, the dishes ordered were stewed pork ribs, a veggie dish, and omelette with preserved radish. The pork was soft and tender, absolutely enjoyable; while the omelette was surprisingly tastier than expected.
The vegetable dish, meanwhile, was just acceptable. These three dishes came up to RM68.
Then, of course, there was the fish, steamed with soya sauce and topped with coriander – the easiest and purest way of cooking river fish, or indeed any type fish if it’s fresh enough.
Two types of catfish were on the menu: “pak sou kong” (900g, RM49.50) and patin (1.1kg, RM93.50). Both were delicious with very smooth, oily flesh that was subtle in taste, augmented by the simplicity of the soy sauce and coriander.
If you’re on a budget, go for the cheaper option as you certainly wouldn’t feel like you’re missing out by skipping the patin. In fact, it would’ve been interesting to have tried both dishes in a blind taste test to see if there were any significant differences!
Restoran Hon Kee (non-halal)
33, Jalan Besar, Pekan Gua Musang,
18300 Gua Musang, Kelantan
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.