Truly a hidden gem, Overseas Union Garden's Sun King City offers 'kai see hor fun' and poached chicken

KUALA LUMPUR, June 28 — It's not deja vu. I'm back in Overseas Union Garden again.

This time, it's to unearth a hidden spot, said to serve "one of the best in town kai see hor fun."

The proof, of course, is in trying it out for myself.

Why hidden, you may ask? I guess since I don't read Chinese, it's something I would not notice unless I whip out my Google app to translate their banner.

Sun King City resides inside a restaurant that sells wild grouper seafood noodles. It's just a few doors away from Restoran Sun Sea that sells the popular pork noodles.

What completes your dining experience with your 'kai see hor fun' is juicy poached chicken.

Looking to omit the broth to beat the heat? Try their dry 'hor fun' with dark soy sauce, fried shallots and chives.

If you approach the place, you would think it's just any ordinary chicken rice stall. I imagine my friends would say, "It's nothing special" since for some, chicken rice can be found at every corner.

Maybe the difference lies in who is operating it. This stall was started by 33-year old Ares Kuan, once featured in Malay Mail as the "chicken rice prince" of Taman Desa.

That time, he was a young apprentice at 25, learning the ropes to make the perfect chicken rice.

After a failed business deal and working at other places, he hurt his back which saw him taking a break.

A few months ago, he decided to open this small stall in Overseas Union Garden. He started at 4pm till late, since the seafood noodle business is only open till 2pm. He now operates his business from 10am to 10pm.

The poached kampung chicken thigh has a crunchy skin and a firmer texture for its meat (left). The unusual almost black soy sauce chicken has a homestyle taste reminiscent of braised soy sauce chicken (right).

You can also enjoy the poached chicken with a plate of rice.

As he excels in chicken rice, you will find poached chicken (normal and kampung chicken variety) and the unusual soy chicken.

The enterprising man also decided to offer kai see hor fun, using a recipe he got from his aunt. He also offers a dry version of hor fun, which is not so common.

I'm glad he went the extra mile to offer the kai see hor fun as it's truly a very good rendition. Maybe because he is offering chicken rice, he has access to chicken bones and meat to brew a flavourful broth with a more viscous texture.

Most places that sell chicken rice would only offer a bowl of hor fun noodles to pair with their meat. Here it's better since there's a fragrant prawn oil layer, making each spoonful extremely drinkable.

On the top, there's fried shallots and chives for extra oomph! While the hor fun isn't the usual Ipoh type which is super smooth and slippery, these were not bad and can be silky, when you eat it with that delicious broth.

You also have two peeled prawns and shredded chicken as toppings. If you want to go all out, there's an option to add poached chicken on top.

Their sour mustard greens stew is not too spicy but it has a nice tangy taste.

The kai see hor fun is priced at RM10 for a small portion while the larger size is RM11.

I tend to prefer eating the poached chicken on the side. Here lies Kuan's trump card as the chicken drumstick (RM8) is prepared beautifully with supple meat and smooth skin. He also gives pounded ginger too for an extra flavour boost.

This makes the whole experience more uplifting where fragrant broth is slurped down with the flat rice noodles and enjoyed with the juicy poached chicken.

For something different, try the dry hor fun. I can imagine it as a good option, especially if you're trying to keep cool in this blistering heat.

Here, silky flat rice noodles are drenched with dark soy sauce that coats it to give a savoury taste with just a twinge of sweetness. What drives flavour is the abundance of fried shallots and the chives.

If you dine here before 2pm, supplement your meal with offerings from the wild grouper seafood noodles restaurant, like this homemade fish paste with a bouncy texture.

You can also upgrade your chicken to a kampung chicken, if you like. The difference lies in the skin. With the kampung chicken, the skin has a crisp bite to it followed by a firmer meat. The kampung chicken thigh is priced at RM9.

There's also a soy sauce chicken which looks pretty dark. It's not the typical Hong Kong soy chicken but here the chicken skin is slightly sweet while the meat is firmer.

It has a homestyle taste, reminiscent of braised soy sauce chicken that I used to eat for weekday family dinners. For the drumstick part, it's RM9.

If you're looking for a more substantial meal, there's oil rice with plump rice grains tinged brown and tasting of the chicken broth.

I also liked the sour mustard greens stew (RM6). It's not too sharp or spicy. Instead, it's a mellow tanginess I want to drink to the last drop.

Ares Kuan started this stall a few months back offering chicken rice and 'kai see hor fun'.

Look for the banners to get here, the place is a few doors down from Restoran Sun Sea in Overseas Union Garden.

The stall also offers clam soup noodles. This is only available after 3pm.

If you dine here before 2pm, there's an option to supplement your meal with items from the seafood noodles restaurant.

I ordered the Homemade Fish Paste (RM13). These were bouncy tasty orbs of fish paste with rough indentations.

The soup may look clear and tasteless but it had a distinct sweetness plus cubes of fried lard that gave me pops of happiness. I really don't mind returning for their signature wild grouper noodles another day.

Sun King City, 37, Jalan Hujan Rahmat, Overseas Union Garden, Kuala Lumpur. Open: 10am to 10pm (Tuesday to Sunday). Closed on Monday. Tel:018-2998813.

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