I was exploring the area around Kuala Lumpur's Chinatown when I stumbled upon this quiet looking shop front - this is something unusual in this part of KL where everywhere and every corner is overcrowded with people and vehicles. A man peeked curiously inside, pushed open the glass door and disappeared into the darkness behind it.
The curious cat in me stepped forward and pushed open that glass door.
Surprise, surprise, it's a party inside 😄
How come bojio 🍌?! (Why was I not invited? 😂 )
The little air conditioned restaurant is a great hideout from the oppressive heat, stifling humidity, dust, smoke and noise outside.
The moment I stepped in, a staff acknowledged me and led me to an available seat 👍
The menu - they have various options of traditional beef noodles, curry beef noodles, congee (porridge available only from 5pm) and also poached chicken.
I ordered a small serving of noodles with beef slices for RM7. There is a bigger serving for RM8 but that just gets me more
This one... surely cannot Instagram one 😛
The wanton mee type egg noodles came smothered with a thick black coat of stewed minced beef.
There used to be a couple of stalks of leafy greens (kai lan) served with the noodles but today there was none.
I tossed, turned and folded the egg noodles with the stewed minced beef.
I like the tender crunchy texture of the noodles. The stewed beef was quite robustly savoury. I could feel the tender bits of minced beef but its beefiness was mostly masked by the savoury dark sauce. Still, the beef imparted a bit of sweetness to the dark sauce, so there was some underlying subtle beefy sweetness.
I enjoyed the noodles but sorely missed the greens which would have provided some interesting crunch, colour, flavour and accent to the noodles.
The noodle set came with a small bowl of sliced beef in a clear broth.
No, that is not an empty spoon. The beef soup was almost grease free and as clear as hot water. But, it packed a lovely flavoursome savoury sweet beefiness.
The bite size pieces of beef were blanched to just the right tender juicy doneness. Very tender and silky smooth, it felt like the tenderised type of tender (velveted with corn starch). I can taste the beef's natural gentle sweet savouriness and I enjoyed it a lot.
Saw this menu on my way out - this was much clearer (than the one with the photos).
Next time, I shall order the same small serving and add beef balls, and extra minced beef.
Mr Siew is the second generation owner of Soong Kee. His dad who hailed from Tai Po 大埔 in Hong Kong founded the stall 73 years ago in 1945. His dad's push cart stall was located at the short blind alley just behind today's Soong Kee restaurant. Siew said that his family's beef noodle was developed from Tai Po Hakka noodles.
👉 I shall be back at Soong Kee as I like their style of beef noodles with egg noodles and stewed minced beef. Their signature house made beef balls is another on my eat list. I would also love to try Loa Yau Kee congee (porridge) which opens outside Soong Kee at 5pm.
Many people enter Soong Kee via the side door out of habit because that was the blind alley where the original push cart stall was located (on the Jalan Tun Tan Siew Sin side). Many Soong Kee customers are decades long regulars.
Restaurant name: Soong Kee Beef Noodle 頌記牛肉丸粉
Address: 86, Jalan Tun H S Lee, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
GPS: 3°08'50.0"N 101°41'48.3"E | 3.147215, 101.696757
Waze: Restoran Soong Kee Beef Ball Mee
Nearest MRT/ LRT: Pasar Seni (about 15 minutes walk)
Tel: 03 2078 1484
Hours: 11:00am - 10:30pm (Sunday off)
Non Halal
Date visited: 8 Jun 2018
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if i'm not mistaken the mince meat on top of noodles is a mixture of beef and pork
ReplyDeletethere's a zhu chap chuk nearby too... power!!
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