KUALA LUMPUR, Apr 15 — It’s not often an eatery delivers on its promise.

Sure, claiming to serve the best, top or most delicious food is a great marketing gimmick to draw a crowd, but it sets expectations high. 

Believe me, I often walk out shaking my head over wasted calories, time and money. 

And like a friend said, I spend more on another meal to make up for that disappointing experience.

Perhaps that’s why I end up eating so much cake; we all know good cake always waves its sugar coated wand to make life so much better. 

It’s not an illusion but this discreet restaurant actually serves a mighty good bowl of lala clam noodles. 

Behold exhibit number one: a bowl laden with so many clams that you fret they may have forgotten to give you noodles. 

Even the extra bowl provided for the empty shells is filled to the brim. 

The wonder doesn’t stop there, each shell hugs the mollusc, indicating it was cooked to perfection since most times the clams slip out to the bottom of the bowl. 

There are no telltale grains of sand or pesky tiny crabs hiding inside the shells either. 

The broth is well-balanced, a difficult achievement. It is naturally sweet with a tinge of ginger, lightly laced with rice wine, present but not overwhelming. 

The Clam Soup Noodles cost RM13.90, well worth the satisfaction after the meal.

Temptations also lie within their two-page menu of noodles, like their potent Ginger Wine Egg Noodles (RM12.90). 

I sprung for a more decadent version: the Big Prawn Ginger Wine Noodles (RM23.90), which came with three large prawns. 

The firm texture of the prawns was a huge plus. 

The wine is potent with an underlying sweetness, balanced by the scrambled omelette made with fresh ginger and extra crunch from sliced black fungus. 

If you’re a fan of the slightly sweet wine, your bowl will definitely be drained to the last drop. 

Other choices include grouper fillet, fish paste and dumplings, served in different permutations with your choice of noodles. 

There’s also the unusual Golden Fish Puffs, apparently beancurd mixed with fish paste that gives it a softer, fluffier bite. 

The broth has a thicker consistency, flavoured by fish bones and further enhanced with a spoonful of fried garlic. 

All of the other noodle toppings were big hits for me. 

Grouper fillet was thick and flaky with a slightly chewy skin, while the dumplings (siu kow) were a giant, crunchy, juicy bite all rolled into one.

Fish Paste and Golden Fish Puffs focus more on textures, choose based on whether you prefer a firmer bite or a soft cloud-like one. 

My only gripe is that the menu doesn’t allow much flexibility to order the toppings separately, forcing you to follow their pre-fixed combinations like Dumplings and Fish Puffs Noodles for RM13.90, Grouper Fillet Noodles for RM22.90 or Pure Fish Paste Noodles for RM11.90.

It’s not all about noodles as they also serve the everyman’s super meal: kampung chicken rice. 

This isn’t as popular as most times, you see diners tucking into piping hot bowls of noodles . 

Occasionally, diners will add a side order of chicken to ramp up their protein fix. 

Restoran Tasty Lala Noodles

39, Jalan Pandan Indah 4/6A, 

Pandan Indah, Kuala Lumpur

Tel:03-42883564

Open: 9.30am to 3pm, 5pm to 8.30pm (Monday to Friday) 9am to 3pm, 5pm to 9pm (Saturday and Sunday)

Facebook: @tastylala

* This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.

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