PETALING JAYA, Sept 14 — If food were ranked like songs, there’d be classics, one-hit wonders, and those smash hits you cannot stop listening to — or, in this case, unable to stop eating.

Restoran Kacang Pool Haji is a true smash hit, doling out bowls of Johor’s favourite bean-and-meat stew inspired by the Egyptian dish foul medames.

This Ara Damansara shop is a transplant of the original Johor Baru location, often identified as the stall next to the fire station in Larkin, even though it has multiple locations in that city.

Hidden from plain sight, the shop sits in a triangular layout of shops that are mainly offices except for a Thai Nyonya BBQ place just down the road.

On Sunday, it’s quiet with easy parking, and people slowly amble in to take a seat at the tables outside or inside the shop.

I can imagine parking would be scarce if everyone is in the office during the weekday but you’re saved because they’re also on a delivery app that constantly pings with a hungry person’s order every few minutes or so.

The main act is Kacang Pool Daging (RM9); a mutton version is also available for RM12.

The dish is so widely loved that many websites feature recipes for their version of the bean stew.

It comes in a small bowl topped with a sunny side up egg with a soft yolk, chopped onions and chopped green chillies. There’s calamansi lime on the side to uplift the stew with the tangy juice.

Dunk a piece of thick toast – long Bengalli bread slices smeared with margarine and lightly pan-fried on both sides on a hot griddle – into the stew.

You know it’s cooked to just the right consistency because the stew clings well to the bread without dripping back into the bowl.

It’s a gentle flavour from ground coriander, cumin, and black pepper with a light touch of chilli powder and curry powder that doesn’t make you choke.

When mixed with the chopped onions and green chilies, you get freshness, crunch and of course, lingering spiciness,

Built on a base of blended broad beans and minced beef, it’s substantial enough for a light, satisfying breakfast you won’t mind returning for.

Supporting dishes, all from Johor, can also be ordered from the menu, such as nasi ambeng, lontong, mee rebus and mee soto. They also offer fried rice and fried noodles.

This place serves three versions of lontong, which uses nasi impit (compressed white rice often served with satay) that has a firmer bite compared to the softer rice cakes wrapped in banana leaf.

Lontong Basah (RM8) may look scant on vegetables, but taste just the yellow broth first to relish the freshly squeezed santan that lends a beautiful sweetness to the broth coloured with turmeric powder.

It’s good on its own but have more fun by mixing in the chunky peanut sauce for a touch of creaminess, then the sambal bawang for spiciness, along with the hard-boiled egg, toasted grated coconut, a piece of tempeh, yam bean and carrots cut into matchsticks.

It’s a simple dish but comforting with the coconut milk broth mixed with the compressed rice.

Then the dish converts into an intense Lontong Kering (RM9) once it loses the broth but uses the same elements to hit you with a punch of spiciness.

Joining them are sayur goreng with fried glass noodles and vegetables and rendang chicken.

The rendang hasn’t soaked much into the chicken but it’s a good combination with the spices from the coconut milk gravy.

And if you’re the ultimate lontong fan, there’s even a fried lontong version.

The Mee Rebus (RM8) was a gamble for us; reviews indicated a watery mess but perhaps the restaurant had rectified things as the boiled noodles arrived with a gloriously thick sauce with the use of sweet potatoes.

Two versions exist in Johor; one, popularly known as Mee Rebus Haji Wahid (named after the stall owner who sold it) uses beef broth, sweet potatoes, fragrant spices and chunks of slow cooked beef topped with a crispy cracker made from dried shrimps, rice flour and coconut milk

This wasn’t that version but this one gets its sweetness from dried shrimps, making us fight for the last drop of that gravy and noodles, until the whole plate was scraped clean.

It was a truly spectacular breakfast that saw us rolling back to the car filled to the brim with happy carbohydrates that didn’t seem to matter on a lazy Sunday.

Restoran Kacang Pool Haji (Cawangan Larkin Bomba J.B)

J-G-13, Block J,

Jalan PJU 1A/1,

Taipan Damansara 2,

Ara Damansara, Petaling Jaya.

Open daily: 7 a.m. to 12 a.m.

Closed only four days a year: Hari Raya Haji and Hari Raya Aidilfitri (Three days starting from the eve)

Tel: 014-2757751

Facebook: @KacangPoolHajiMakpol

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

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