KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 14 — Take a trip down Jalan Bukit Bintang, past glitzy Pavilion, past the sleepless intersection with Jalan Sultan Ismail, and past the historic Federal Hotel, and you’ll come across Toong Kwoon Chye Wanton Mee, a 106-year-old business operating out of an unassuming corner shop.
Unassuming, because there’s no “since 1919” on the shop’s sign — the 100PLUS branding sort of compounds matters, too — no hokey facade of heritage, and on most days, you’ll find your noodles being tossed by a fairly young man: Dexter Yap, the friendly fourth-generation owner of Toong Kwoon Chye.
The business was started in 1919 by his great-grandfather and grandfather, who sold wantan mee from a pushcart on Jalan Pasar, Pudu.
Like most hawkers in early 20th-century Kuala Lumpur, the Yap family hailed from southern China, specifically Dongguan, a city just north of Guangzhou.
The name “Toong Kwoon Chye” translates to “Dongguan boy” in Cantonese. Over the next three decades, they shifted around the Bukit Bintang area, unwittingly tracing the emergence of some of Kuala Lumpur’s major landmarks.
They first set up shop near Bukit Bintang Park, the amusement park built by Hong Kong media mogul Shaw Brothers Studio in the 1930s, now the site of Sungei Wang Plaza, before moving close to the Federal Hotel and then to the site of the Cathay Cinema.
When plans for the cinema were announced, they relocated to their current premises in 1952, where they have remained for the last 73 years.
In other words, they’ve been around and seen a thing or two, not least because Menara Hai-O — formerly the Sun Complex — is just down the road in a neighbouring cul-de-sac; a building with a colourful history that will no doubt be familiar to older readers.
The surroundings may have changed over the course of a century, but most of Toong Kwoon Chye’s offerings have not.
Everything is still made in-house: the egg noodles, wantons, and toppings, which include char siu, braised chicken feet and mushrooms, curry chicken, and Hakka zha yuk.
The noodles, tossed in a subtly sweet sauce, have a soft, tender chew rather than a springy, snappy bite, while the wantons are straight out of yesteryear: silky little pouches filled only with minced pork, just as it was done back then.
For toppings, I opted for char siu and zha yuk (RM21). Unlike the jet-black, sticky, caramelised variety favoured today, Toong Kwoon Chye’s char siu more closely resembles the lean, red version, though it sits on the paler side.
It’s a subdued experience, not overwhelmingly sweet, but with a healthy hint of smokiness. And because I’m a glutton, the zha yuk was just alright.
I would have preferred a stronger hit of nam yue, a little more oomph, but that could just be my modern taste buds talking.
For a different kind of comfort, curry chicken (RM12) is an evergreen option. The version here is mild and thin, tasting mostly of curry leaf, but that’s ideal for wantan mee anyway.
Together, the noodles, wantons and char siu offer a glimpse of what wantan mee might have tasted like all those years ago, before our collective palates adjusted to modern tastes. In a city increasingly pricing out its oldest tenants, that is a treasure to cherish.
Toong Kwoon Chye Wanton Mee
Open daily, 9am-3pm. Closed alternate Wednesdays.
Tel: 016-677 3291
Facebook: Toong Kwoon Chye
*This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.
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*Follow Ethan Lau on Instagram @eatenlau for more musings on food and occasionally self-deprecating humour.
