KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 2 — What’s the fuss about a hearty bowl of beef noodles? Prepared well, it’s slurp-worthy and incredibly satisfying especially on a rainy day.
There are a few variants of beef noodles served in the Klang Valley. You have the Hakka version that is usually served dry style.
Here the noodles, usually thin springy egg noodles, are served with a minced meat topping that is almost black in colour thanks to the generous use of dark soy sauce. It’ll be served with a bowl of robust beef broth and your selection of beef slices, bouncy beef balls, jelly-like tendons, tripe and all kinds of innards.
The Hainanese also do a pretty mean version of beef noodles. It is distinct from the Hakka version as it uses preserved vegetables or ham choy in the broth.
This adds a nice tangy dimension to the beefy broth that is served with an assortment of beef, beef balls and innards.
The dry version is also mixed with a sticky thick gravy that is made from boiling down beef broth, dark soy sauce and spices. Usually it’s topped with chopped spring onions, peanuts and preserved vegetables. Some stalls even sprinkle on some sesame seeds.
Places like Tangkak and Seremban are well known for their beef noodles prepared that style, hence some stalls will just herald they are from those areas to identify that they are serving this type of beef noodles.
Each stall has a different take on their beef broth whether it’s more herbal tasting or even peppery but it needs to have a distinct beef taste with none of the unpleasant gamey aromas.
Usually lai fun or thick rice noodles is the preferred choice as it has a firm and bouncy bite that marries well with the broth. Otherwise, it’s your choice of noodles whether it’s the short stubby rats’ tails noodles or loh shee fun, or the smoother flat rice noodles or kway teow strands.
A bowl of noodles is also served with a tangy chilli sauce that will give your meal a spicy kick.
Yung Kee Beef Noodles
Restaurant Kwai Hup
24, Jalan Kancil, Off Jalan Landak, Pudu, KL
Open: 8am to 3.30pm
Operated by Albert who takes his beef noodles up a notch using his Hong Kong experience. You get a deep tasting beef broth that is incredibly satisfying. On normal days, it’s the usual bowl of beef parts, tendons, beef balls and cow’s stomach. It gets more interesting during the weekends as he serves choice cuts of US beef sliced shabu-shabu thin that is delicious with their beefy broth. Come by 10.30am to sample their beef brisket, a weekend special with its luscious fat-to-meat ratio. The dry beef noodles are also available for the weekend.
Soong Kee Beef Noodles
86, Jalan Tun H.S. Lee, KL
Open: 11am to 10.30pm
Started since 1945, this place that serves Hakka-style beef noodles is now run by the fourth generation of the founder Siew Koy Soong. It’ll be a bowl of your choice of noodles topped with their almost black coloured minced meat topping that is stir fried with chopped garlic and dark soy sauce. On the side, you will be served a light tasting beef broth with your choice of bouncy beef balls, sliced beef, cow’s stomach and tendon. In the evening, just outside their shop, you can relish thick porridge with smooth poached chicken, raw fish slices or crunchy fried intestines. You can also get your beef noodles at Lot 10 Hutong or their recently opened branch at Jalan SS2/66.
Lai Foong Restaurant
138, Jalan Tun H.S. Lee, KL
Open: 6.30am to 9.30pm
One of the legendary stalls that has chalked up around 50 years of experience, this place serves Hainanese beef noodles where their flavourful beef broth has preserved vegetables for that slight tangy taste. Order a bowl of soup with your noodles and pile on the bouncy beef balls, tender beef slices, tendons and tripe. If you don’t want to brave the traffic, they also have branches in Taman Taynton View, Cheras and Bandar Puchong Jaya.
Shin Kee Beef Noodles Specialist
7A, Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock, KL
Open: 10.30am to 8.30pm
Located across from Lai Foong, this hole in the wall place serves a satisfying bowl of Hakka-styled beef noodles. Get the dry version and your choice of noodles (our favourite is the loh shee fun made from rice flour) with a lighter brown coloured minced beef topping. The broth tends to be a simpler one with a dash of pepper, chopped spring onions and coriander. Their beef balls are labelled as bakso, the Indonesian version to garner a larger crowd from the foreign workers.
Cheong Kee Beef Noodle Restaurant
45, Leboh Bangau, Taman Berkeley, Klang
Open: 8am to 3pm. Closed on the second and fourth Friday of the month
If you are hankering for beef noodles in the Klang area, this is the place to visit for Tangkak-style noodles. It is located a few doors away from the popular Fatty Mee Hoon Kueh restaurant. The light-tasting beef broth is given a flavour boost with a spoonful of garlic which is quite unusual for beef noodles. You can order a mixed bowl with cow’s stomach, tendons, tender pieces of beef and beef balls. For those who can tolerate spiciness, ask for their special chilli sauce that will blow the roof of your mouth off. If you are hungry, the stall next door also serves cucur udang that can be eaten as a snack. Other goodies served at this eatery include curry beef noodles, char kway teow and fish ball noodles.
