Walking along Jalan Loke Yew, passing by the public housing flats, I noticed a food stall with people enjoying breakfast along the five-foot way under the flats.
What could be they be eating? I want some too 🫢
Oh... Hien Kee is a popular fish ball noodle stall. They have been here since 1971 and serve fish ball, fish cake and herr kiao (fish dumplings) made with ikan parang (wolf herring fish or saito 西刀).
As I will be trying a few different noodle stalls today, I asked the lady boss if I can just have the fish items (skipping the noodles).
So, I had fish ball, fish cake, fish dumpling, and bean sprouts in soup.
The soup was clear with globules of porcine slick floating on top, salty with subtle fish flavour and laced with aromatic lard and fried shallot oil. The chopped scallion, parsley and bean sprouts also added their flavours to the soup.
This reminded me of Johor Bahru's benchmark Lai Kee though Hien Kee's rendition is less salty.
House made ikan parang fish balls go for RM1 each. Firm spongy with subtle fresh fish taste. Not as firm or salty as Lai Kee.
The fish dumplings were excellent even though the filling was peering out through breaks in the skin.
Herr kiao or fish dumplings are basically wantons but the skin is made with rolled fish meat (instead of the usual wheat flour dough).
The skin was relatively thick but it's not a bad thing as it means more fresh fish flavour. The little knob of well seasoned minced pork inside complemented the fish skin well with its savoury sweet flavours.
To me, Hien Kee's fish cake is a winner.
The outer layer was deep fried till browned and tender leathery chewy to the bite. Savoury outside with fish ball type tenderness and sweetness inside.
Plump, succulent, juicy, sweet, crunchy bean sprouts like the type I had in Ipoh.
A lot of the dish's flavours came from fresh lard and lard croutons. We can get more by forking out another RM2.
I enjoyed this 😋
Will need to be back to try their noodles, especially the spicy "dry" version. Hot chili with loads of lard, what can possibly go wrong right?
Stall name: Hien Kee Fish Ball Noodles 馨记鱼丸粉 • 新義豐茶餐室
Address: 24, Jalan Loke Yew, Pudu, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Nearest LRT: 5 minute walk from Hang Tuah station
Tel: +6017 252 5012
Hours: 8am - 9pm (Mon off)
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In JB, the closest thing you can get to Hien Kee is Lai Kee at Taman Ungku Tun Aminah
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Written by Tony Boey on 23 Mar 2026
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