Stumbled upon Chun Kei Hakka Noodle shop at Pudu's "glutton street" 半山芭为吃街. Founded by 杨春华 in 1931, Chun Kei is just 5 years shy of 100 years old (as at 2026).
Founder 杨春华 left Tai Po 大埔 in Hong Kong in the early 1900s during the final days of the Qing Dynasty (which collapsed in 1911). 杨春华 moved around British Malaya and the Dutch Indies selling food, before opening his Hakka noodle stall in Pudu, Kuala Lumpur in 1931.
In 2017, Wai Sek Kai or Pudu's glutton street was destroyed by a fire. Chun Kei was one of the many stalls burnt down. But, in 2018 the resilient 杨 family reopened Chun Kei as a restaurant at the eastern end of Wai Sek Kai.
Chun Kei is in the fourth generation now.
To this day, in its fourth generation, 杨春华's descendants still make their noodles in house and knead the wheat flour with a bamboo pole.
Only one dish - Hakka noodles and wantons. Choose only the size of serving. Add 50 sen upsize from medium (RM10.50) to large serving (RM11).
The good Singaporean in me, decided on the large serving without a second thought 🤭 Easy decision, even though I normally avoid carbs as much as possible.
I don't know why, I always like to sit right beside traditional windows or iron grills wherever I find them.
It was actually almost closing time when I got here but everyone was kind and welcoming to the white hair unker, in Bermudas with many pockets and a bursting haversack (containing my three nights of clothing for this KL food hunting trip 🤭 )
The large noodle serving came with three wantons (pork dumpling) in a soup. RM11 (2026 price).
Mound of slender wheat noodles greased with lard, flavoured with soy sauce, fish sauce, aromatic oil and smothered in a thick blanket of fried minced pork and char siew slices. Dressed with chopped raw scallion and blanched choy sum.
It's an austere dish from harder times in China one or two centuries ago that survived to this day (in form and in spirit).
Truth be told, the noodles weren't as heavily greased as I liked at first, so I requested for more lard (which was generously given 🤭 ).
The noodles were tender with a subtle spring and enveloped with lard. The soy sauce, fish sauce and aromatic oil were present but not assertive enough in my opinion.
The fried ground pork and char siew provided most of the savoury salty flavours in the mouthfuls of noodles.
Three pork wantons (no prawn) in pork soup. They were savoury sweet nice.
Credit: Source of historical background for this article is gleaned from this 2018 Sin Chew Daily 星洲日報 report that so proudly hangs inside Chun Kei.
Chun Kei's Tai Bu noodles is faithful to the tradition of Hakka noodles, an edible artefact from the past. No "fusion", no inclusion of outside influences. Hakka noodles is a comfort dish of familiar flavours for Hakka people and Chun Kei is a place to get it as authentic as it gets in Malaysia.
Restaurant name: Chun Kei Tai Bu Noodle
Address: Ground Floor, 2, Jalan Sayur, Pudu, 55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Nearest LRT: 10 minute walk from Pudu station
Tel: +6016 212 6870
Hours: 6:30am - 2:45pm
Written by Tony Boey on 15 Feb 2026
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