KUALA LUMPUR, June 25 — The decades-old Lai Foong Restaurant is better known for its beef noodles but insiders know that the other attraction here is the delectable lala noodles.
Order the cooked-upon-order noodles from the siu chow stall.
Started about 10 years ago, this stall is run by Cindy Chai. Previously in the cosmetics industry, she had quit the business as it was too stressful.
Pressured to meet her sales targets, the stress almost made her give birth to her child at work! After about one year of rest, she got bored and decided to venture into the F&B business.
Even though it’s her first time running her own stall, she has had plenty of experience helping her parents run an economy rice stall in a canteen.
There is also a family link with the people behind Lai Foong as her husband’s brother-in-law runs the beef noodles stall.
Her stall’s repertoire is mainly noodles such as Hokkien fried noodles, Singapore fried noodles, dry fried noodles and braised noodles.
There are also a few rice dishes like the classic fried rice, spicy chicken rice and ginger onion chicken rice.
Their best-seller, however, is the lala noodles which Cindy introduced as she loves eating clams. Another popular choice is the Cantonese fried noodles.
The cooking station with its two woks are manned by a young Indonesian-Chinese chef known as Ah Loke. He fries up the clams in a mixture of shredded young ginger, chillies and spring onions before a siong tong or superior chicken broth is added. Lastly, rice wine sourced from a trusted supplier is added.
The rich thick broth makes a good contrast with the thin strands of beehoon that absorbs the broth. If you prefer, you can swap the type of noodles.
For those who love a more substantial meal, you can also order the soup with a plate of plain white rice.
Cindy tells us that that this particular type of clams she sources from the northern part of Malaysia is preferred as they give a sweeter taste to the soup.
What we also appreciate is each clam is painstakingly cleaned thoroughly by Cindy’s nephew. Unlike other places who prefer to just soak the clams to rid them of grit and dirt, Cindy’s nephew will open each one and ensure they are cleaned before cooking.
During peak times, from 12pm to 2pm, the wait for the lala noodles can stretch up to one hour. Cindy explains that the wok can only fit up to eight portions of the lala soup.
The lala noodles is priced at RM10 while the other noodles and rice dishes are RM8 each. For the fresh prawn noodles or sang har mee, this requires pre-ordering a day ahead.
When it is not peak time, Cindy also takes phone orders for take-away but they don’t deliver so customers must come pick up the orders themselves.
Siu chow stall
Lai Foong Restaurant
No. 138, Jalan Tun HS Lee, KL
Tel: 016-3764928
Open daily: 10am to 8.30pm
