PETALING JAYA, May 3 — After a particularly heavy night of drinking — for my fellow Gen Z, it’s like a coffee rave, but actually enjoyable — I always crave the soothing, restorative touch of meat in a rich broth.
What better way to address that than with bak kut teh?
I was in no mood to make the trek to Klang in my decidedly unkempt state. A friend had asked me to check out Xhin Fhong Claypot Bak Kut Teh in Sungai Way after seeing it in a video a few months back, so I decided today would be the day to try something new and closer to home.
Xhin Fhong operates out of a house, just around the corner from the more well-known Ah Sang Bak Kut Teh.
Use that as a landmark, as the stretch in front of the Sri Sakthi Easwari Temple on the same road is probably your best bet for parking.
Xhin Fhong has been in business for the last 39 years, the friendly proprietress tells me.
The place wears every second of that age, from its silver-haired regulars to the many old-fashioned quirks around the space: a newspaper clipping from 15 years ago, and hot water for tea ladled out of a huge pot of boiling water, not from a tap.
The bak kut teh is similarly old-school in taste. The broth is dark but clear, with a strong medicinal and herbal flavour, yet still well-rounded with enough savouriness.
Even when ordered with slightly fattier pieces of pork, as we did with sai kuat, there’s an added element of porky richness, but it never becomes silky or truly greasy like what one might find in Klang.
This is a bak kut teh for those who prefer a cleaner flavour profile, with an emphasis on the herbs.
Best of all, the pieces of pork are soft and tender, even the leaner cuts. Don’t miss out on the yau char kwai, which takes on the robust broth very well.
For a five-person portion, with three bowls of rice, yau char kwai and tea, the bill came to a very reasonable RM126.
What makes Xhin Fhong truly memorable isn’t how unique or old-school the bak kut teh is.
It’s the proprietress herself, warm and unfailingly friendly, chatting with me even after darting around to fulfil everyone’s orders with an unshakeable smile.
She shares that she once ran the business alongside her husband, who died 11 years ago.
She also mentions, in passing, that she used to serve her bak kut teh with shallot oil rice (yau fan), but no longer does, noting that fewer people come to eat like they used to.
In an age where algorithms and social media visibility increasingly decide where we eat, we would do well to remember that even simple interactions with those in our immediate community now come at a premium.
It is human connection, not technology, that will save us from the self-inflicted, mutually assured destruction we seem content to march towards.
What better way to do it than over a meal?
Xhin Fhong Claypot Bak Kut Teh Restaurant | 瓦煲肉骨茶 | Restoran Xhin Fhong Claypot Bak Kut Teh
557, Jalan SS 9A/2,
Sungai Way Free Trade Industrial Zone,
Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Open Tuesday to Sunday, 8.30am-2.30pm
Tel: 012-209 9579 (Mobile), 03-7874 4154 (Home)
* This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.
* Follow us on Instagram @eatdrinkmm for more food gems.
* Follow Ethan Lau on Instagram @eatenlau for more musings on food and occasionally self-deprecating humour.
