It's all about clams and steamed fish head at Old Klang Road's Restoran Meng Kee

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 6 — I am a huge fan of clams, cooked in various styles.

When a friend gave the green light for Restoran Meng Kee's famous molluscs, I managed to rope a group of like-minded companions to try the food.

My friends who live in Taman Desa were scratching their heads though because as far as they know, this restaurant is better known for their steamed fish.

If you search for this restaurant online, you will find there are two outlets. We went to the one nearer the entrance leading to the Federal Highway. There is also another outlet, a roadside stall, right opposite Scott Garden.

This is your typical dai chow with zero ambience. Instead it excels at whipping up food at lightning speed with prices that won't bust your wallet.

You will find the menu is atypical of any Chinese eatery.

There's quite a few seafood dishes such as fish, clams, squid and two types of prawns (king and tiger sizes). You have, of course, the usual pork, chicken, beancurd, egg and vegetables choices too. A signature item is their Pipa Duck.

The crowd favourite is their steamed fish like this Song fish head prepared with their signature ginger and soy sauce.

Let's start with the star dish of clams. On the menu, there's two cooking styles for the clams: Signature and Kam Heong.

We tried the Signature Clams and that blew us away.

What made it taste so good was the use of the smaller size clams with brown markings. This type of clams usually yield sweeter tasting molluscs.

Also, try the Salted Egg Yolk Squid that is deep fried and coated with salted egg yolk.

You get dots of chopped fresh ginger on top of the clams and it's served with a balanced sauce. The ginger gives you a slight heat that matches well with the sweet clams and the savoury sauce laced with wine.

It was so tasty we even ordered a second round of the clams. And since we didn't want to jinx the deliciousness, we just stuck to the Signature cooking style.

Watercress Soup is a great addition to a meal here when paired with rice.

The clams are priced from RM20 for a small portion to RM30 for a large one.

And of course, we also had the fish since it's a crowd favourite. There's a lot of choices for fish, to suit your palate.

You have Song fish head, popular for the silky smooth flesh. There's also red tilapia, grouper, ma yau or threadfin fish. Select from various cooking styles, like steamed paired with different sauces. There's like bean paste, ginger silk, Nonya sauce, curry and even deep fried. These cooking styles depend on the type of fish.

Dong Choi Steamed Meat is a classic home-style dish which needs to be accompanied with rice as it can be salty on its own.

Since we had success with their Signature style, we ordered the Signature Steamed Song Fish (RM35). The fish is covered with ginger paste and soy sauce.

You get smooth flesh with just a little zing from the ginger and the savoury sauce. This was perfect paired with rice.

Nibble on the juicy, tasty Nam Yu Fried Chicken as you wait for the main dishes to come out.

As most items were steamed, we added a decadent Salted Egg Yolk Squid (RM30 to RM40). There's no dreaded rubber like texture but we did feel it needed a little more salted egg yolk taste to push it to greatness.

They also offer two types of soups, a Chinese melon one and watercress. We picked the Watercress Soup (RM12 to RM18) that was comforting to eat with our meal.

However, their version is a little different from the usual recipe. With the presence of Chinese herbs inside the soup, sensitive tongues may not like that tinge of bitterness.

The place is popular for its quick tasty dishes that won't kill your budget.

There's a lot of choices for pork dishes but we picked their homestyle Dong Choi Steamed Meat (RM18 for a small portion). It didn't look like much since it came in a thin layer but it was juicy and had the distinct taste of the preserved vegetable. On its own, it was a tad salty so eat this with rice.

As some friends were late for dinner, we started out with nibbling on the appetising Nam Yu Fried Chicken. Each piece was well fried with juicy meat and the savoury taste from the fermented beancurd. Prices range from RM18 to RM38, depending on the size.

There's two outlets along Old Klang Road, this one is housed in a proper shoplot nearer towards Federal Highway.

The place is popular so expect a crowd of people when you dine here. As parking can be limited, we went rather early to get a table and parking space.

Since food is served quickly, it's not a place to linger so it's best to adjourn elsewhere for dessert.

Restoran Meng Kee, No. 3, Third Mile Square, Old Klang Road, Kuala Lumpur. Open daily: 11am to 2.30pm, 5pm to 10pm. Tel: 010-3442011.

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