Reunion

Wednesday, June 19, 2013 – 2pm

8.5 croutons

2f – 18/19, 2^nd Floor,

Bangsar Village 2

Tel: 03-22873770

The layout:

Probably one of the more refined and elegant restaurants I am likely to visit on this adventure. It is located on the 2^nd floor of Bangsar Shopping Centre II, discreetly tucked behind a row of mirrored glass plate. Through a gallery of elaborate wood panels one finds a small reception desk and three dining rooms done down in a clubby industrial aesthetic with painted white concrete block walls and sculpted furniture.

Service is swift and accurate, but also cold. Some prefer service to be invisible and without presence, and I am usually of this persuasion. However, in some contexts service can be brutish and unflinching as when a teapot is accidently banged down on the table and nary an acknowledgement is made. This is careless service that lacks the human element. Besides, with a street-food pedigree serving Hokkien Mee almost demands some form of in your face service.

The restaurant is air-conditioned and is filled with a well-heeled clientele: at 18 RM for the Hokkien Mee, they better be well-heeled. The 18 covers not just the Hokkien Mee, but also a nice starter plate consisting of boiled peanuts and fresh crunchy lotus root slices together with vinaigrette. I don’t normally like my peanuts boiled, but I have tried them in various places, and I have to say these were the best I have ever tasted. The lotus root was exceptionally good as well. Further, the sambal was the best I have had so far. It was spicier than the others, not very fishy, with the most subtle hint of sweetness, and a profound depth of flavor that persists nicely afterwards. The pickled chilies are on the table waiting for you, and they are pleasant: good heat, sweetness, and consistency – they haven’t been waiting for you too long. Less positively, the jasmine tea was tasty, but not as fragrant and as sweet as I’ve had it. Most disconcerting is the extensive menu that features a section specializing in shark fin dishes, which means I will not be coming back even though this might be the best Hokkien Mee in the city.

The goods

Wow. Thinking about the Hokkien Mee at Reunion as I write this revue makes my mouth water – it is exceptionally good. First off, the noodles are perfect: not too hard, not too soft. The sauce is a tad runnier than usual, but is incredibly tasty. There are tiny pieces of liver in the dish and they must have used liver in the sauce as well to make it so flavourful. There is a lot of cabbage in the dish and it is clear that it is not thrown in as an afterthought, but calculated to please. The prawns seemed to have more flavor than other restaurants and squid was also present, though not in the form or quantity that I would ideally have it. I like lots of baby squid. And then there was pork – lots of it. Nice chunky pieces of pork flesh, pork liver, and plenty of larger pieces of crispy fried pork lard as well. This is unbelievably good Hokkien Mee. Together with their delicious sambal and garlic (which I had to ask for), I cannot think of much else that would be so satisfying to eat.

With so much pork though, one could argue that the dish is too rich. I was hungry but had a tough time getting through the end of the meal. Moreover, I had to ration my lotus pieces in order to have something to cut through the fat with its sweet and sour vinaigrette and crunchy goodness. The sweetness that I found lacking in the Hokkien Mee at other restaurants was also not there at Reunion – but I can’t say it was missing either. The dish did not leave me wanting for any sweetness, or much else for that matter – it was complete. If anything, there was an overabundance and I would recommend splitting this dish with others.

The standouts:

Incredibly rich and delicious Hokkien Mee, with plenty of liver and fried pork lard. With the delicious sambal and garlic, each mouthful was a piece of heaven. I could have done with baby squid however, and I have to condemn their use of shark fin, as the harvesting techniques leave me no choice but to move on and keep searching for a better restaurant. Onwards so.

Restoran Damansara Uptown Hokkien Mee

Saturday, June 15, 2013 – 7pm

6.5 croutons

121 Jalan 21/37

Damansara Uptown

Petaling Jaya

Tel: 013.334.5550

The layout:

Feeling a little underwhelmed, and not quite satisfied, by the hokkien mee at Tiong (see previous review), but enthused by my family’s (!) efforts to find the best hokkien mee in KL, I parked my car 100 meters down from Tiong’s when I saw the sign for another hokkien mee joint. Knowing my kids would not know any better and not call me piggish, we crossed the street and grabbed a table at this bustling noodle joint. The restaurant was much more inviting, with a lively outdoor eating area populated by 20-some tables, two gas-powered wok stands, and some flowering flora here and there.

Great outdoor seating area

The outside is much nicer than the inside, which is old and shody. The menu was on the table waiting for us and the smiling and kind waiter showed up immediately to take our order – perfect: 1 hokkien mee (RM 7.50), 1 Cantonese fried yee mee (RM 7.50) – my daughter had not liked the fried rice either… and a pot of tea with ice. To my delight, they also offered two sizes of pork lard bowls to add to your dish. Still stinging from the stingy amount offered at Tiong I ordered the large one – no surprise there. The tea came immediately and was just amazing: sweet, fragrant, flavourful, wonderful jasmine tea. I made the mistake of adding ice, which diluted the flavor too much, so I gulped it down in order to enjoy the unadulterated brew.

The goods:

Pork lard on the bottom right

Happy kids

The noodles arrived in something less than 10 minutes – quite fast for the busy place. I was surprised to find the noodles on the pasty side; a bit too floury and bread-y. You have to nail your noodles, I mean if they aren’t good, how can you possibly make a good noodle dish? Also, the sauce was thinner than I would have liked and again lacked a slight edge of sugar that I expected from the thick soy sauce. Additionally there was no degree of bitterness, which I had found in Tiong’s noodles, and which continues to intrigue me as I write this review two days after my visit. There was also no squid, just prawn, and no trace of liver that I could determine. There was, however, a good amount of pork meat and an abundance of glorious pork lard. When I added only half the bowl of additional pork lard I had purchased the dish was literally and figuratively a piggish delight!

 

The chopped garlic, which provides an essential flavor punch, was very disappointing. It was nicely chopped and even had a slightly crunch texture. However, it seems to have been parboiled and had lost all its flavor – worthless! There were chopped green chilies and a sweet pickled chili that was too watery without enough flavor. The chili sauce however, was delightful: not too spicy and quite fishy.

The standouts:

This place will be remembered for its brilliant sides of pork lard – just genious. Its bustling ambiance and urbanely picturesque settling make this an interesting, and to some certainly a romantic venue, though I would not necessarily go just for the hokkien mee – there are better places. 

Restoran Tiong Hokkien Mee

6 of 10 croutons

Saturday, June 15, 2013 – 6pm

85, Jalan 21/37

Damansara Uptown

Petaling Jaya

Tel: 016-305-0444

Hours of operation: 4pm – 2am

The layout:

My wife is out of town on business so I decided to take the kids and inaugurate our quest to find the best Hokkien Mee in Kuala Lumpur (and beyond). On the recommendation of a friend for a place not too far from Bangsar where we live, we headed to Damansara Uptown, where after circling the block we came across Restoran Tiong Hokkien Mee, and parked easily right across the street.

Upon entering we were seated at the back of the restaurant, close to the kitchen, amongst a mainly Chinese clientele, with one Indian family. The next time I would probably opt to sit outside at one of the handful of tables on the sidewalk. The restaurant was recently tiled white and presents a clean, if somewhat antiseptic ambiance. There was no menu and looking around the offerings were limited to something like wat tan hor, Hokkien fried kway teow, lor mee, and nam yue. I ordered a Hokkien Mee for one person, a fried rice for my daughter – who hasn’t acquired the taste just yet – and a small Tiger. The beer arrived right away but was room temperature. When I complained the waiter smiled guiltily and said he had opened it and it was too late. Ha – nice try, I sent it back and ordered a glass of tea, which was quite dark with a robust, even pungent, flavor.

The goods:

The Hokkien Mee (RM7) arrived after about 10 minutes. It looked and smelled very good! The noodles had a nice bite to them, moist but not too flimsy. The sauce was good, if not exceptional, however it has a slight bitterness to it that was quite pleasing – was this the liver which I could otherwise find no trace of? I felt there was enough room to allow just a hint more sweetness in the sauce, which would have added to the dish without overwhelming anything. I added some black vinegar to try and get there. There was also a decent amount of pork in the dish, which did not quite make up for the sad amount of pork lard, which was unfortunately, overwhelmingly disappointing. Also disappointing was the fact there was no baby squid on the plate. Squid and lard make this dish! The prawns were fine: medium-small ones most certainly grown in a small and dirty salinized pool with too many chemicals in it. No complaints though. I don’t expect to find anything better at any of the hokkien mee places we will be visiting. There were a few pieces of Chinese cabbage thrown in irreverently, which is how it should be.

On the side, the garlic was flavourful but chopped a bit too coarsely for my liking. Red and green chilies were fresh and tasty, and there was a nicely tasting batch of sweetly pickled chilies as well. The sambal was on the flavourless side with little heat, but a surprisingly pleasant after taste.

The standouts:

I really dislike when someone tries to fob off a warm drink on me by opening it quickly and distancing themselves from the table immediately. I knew there would be a problem because there was no sweat on the bottle so I asked the waiter to come back immediately. There should also be more lard in the dish – come on. Add another Rm .50 to the cost and give us the goods – we aren’t here for the health properties of the dish.

Hello

I moved to KL in March 2013: a devoted father and foodie. 
I'm taking care of the kids full time, so I felt the need to work on a side project.
Food is one of the defining features of KL and a great way to explore both the city and its culture.

So I gave myself a challenge: find the best Hokkien Mee in the city, and sample a new restaurant every week. 

I gave myself a few rules:

  Have to visit a place at least twice.

  Eat the Hokkien Mee and pay attention to 

            Ingredients

            Noodles

            Sauce

            Garlic

            Chilies

            Pork content

            Equipment cooked on

  Comment on rest of menu

  Cleanliness

  Ambiance

  Service

And now for the difficult task ahead...