Restaurant Good Taste Pan Mee USJ Taipan

Last monday being Merdeka day, what better way to celebrate then to eat panmee! :) Upon a friend's recommendation we decided to head down to USJ Taipan to try out this newly open panmee joint. Open by a friend's friend, we arrive around 1nish to find the place relatively packed! 

Maybe it's the holiday "brains at rest" mode, i was futily trying to take a clear picture of this menu... failed miserably!  We ordered the house spicy panmee along with a bowl of the traditional soup panmee below.

Along with those, the menu does have quite a variety of other stuffs for those non-panmee folks. With Nasi Lemak and curry noodles along with an assortment of desserts... Alas, being the lazy me, i was only interested in panmee and panmee only. Afterall, the measure of a panmee shop would be the panmee itself, no? :P

Ok, here's the difference between this chillie panmee as oppose to Kin Kin's and Super Kitchen's. The noodles's been mixed with your normal icky gravy that comes with a normal bowl of dried panmee! Now, call me an orthodox mule... but spicy is as spicy does. The gravy actually kills the taste of the noodles, making it slightly more sour and "different"! :P

That being said, maybe the spicy noodles isn't their speciality. Now, the good thing about this shop is the normal, run of the mill "traditional soup pan mee".

Adhering to years of tradition, (hence it's name),  consistent noodles thickness and texture, brothy soup, with all the perfect condiments in place and served with the much noted fiery sambal... Really not too bad, what am i saying, i'd come back for this!

Another shot of the wannabe chilli panmee... maybe it's just a state of time a'changing. Sorry, i'll pass :) Along with these, they've got "Fu zhou fish balls"! It's basically your normal fishball with stuffed minced meat! My first-time trying 'em and it was good!

The address is 11GF, Jalan 10/1C. UEP Subang Jaya, and you can find ze shop here! and if anyone has more details please comment! 

Taman Desa Panmee - Restaurant Sepetang

If you're ever in the area, drop by Taman Desa to try this bowl of panmee! This gerai (hawker stall) has been around quite awhile, i've eaten here back in 2005 i think! Their speciality really is a really good brothful bowl of noodles with lots of mince pork meat and condiments. Portions really is huge, so order at your discretion. 

A double engine :) Two panmee rollers, and i shoulda taken a shot of the noodle block, it was before lunch when we arrive and it looked like they've gone through 10% of it only. It's huge, nearly a foot long and a probability of making tons of noodles :) You could see a glimpse of it right behind the right roller! Business is good!Restaurant Sepetang is really a nice place, albeit it's a coffee-shop and non-a/c but it's spacious and it opens up to the back alley where most would sit and enjoy the cold breeze. We'd usually order and move on to the back!And as always, a cuppa cham or "tea-coffee mix", one for the missus, another for me :)

Most other times, we'd eat a soup bowl 'pulled' instead of 'yao' or thin as really the only way to enjoy good soupy panmee is 'pulled' as you'd taste the noodles more (As per the Klang's Fatty Mee). Somewhat like eating the usual spagetti bolognese instead of angelhair bolognese... somehow, u don't taste the pasta as well (IMHO). If you're wondering what's 'pulled' and 'yao' means, i wrote about it earlier here!

Oh yeah! Of course... the neccesary 'evils' :) A compulsory big bowl of vegetables!! :)

I kinda took this photo half way digging into the bowl. That's half the amount of meat i had in mine! So for the meat lover, do expect chunks of mince pork in your noodles :)

This is the dry big version. It's great with lots of chillies so ensure that they've given you enough. I'd usually dump a whole sauce-bowl in and would need more to go :P  

The humble pounded chilli belacan sauce, simple yet the best thing ever for a big bowl of panmee. Doesn't look that great though, but really... it'd spice up your meal alright! :P

All in all, we ordered two big bowls and an extra bowl of vegie and the bill came up to RM9! Yeap, it's really good/economical/healthy/and have i mentioned cheap too? :P A hearty cheap meal in Klang Valley. So here's a map to the location, unfortunately the shop doesn't have other details or days off mentioned! If anyone do know, please comment yah! 

Sri Kembangan Prawn Panmee

 It's humbling to think about how the panmee's simple beginnings in malaysia where poor folks those days would eat them as a staple meal. So the story goes as how i'd remember my parents telling me that during the japanese occupancy in Malaysia, people were in hiding and were staying in the jungles. There wasn't much to eat and they would plant tapioca. The chinese folks would cook noodles made out of flour from the tubers with simple condiments. The idea behind eating panmee is that because you're starting out with a block of knead-dough, which one could either make strings of noodles or pulled to size, you can prepare it as and when it's needed, however you'd want them. A good panmee shop starts your noodles from that block which they'd cut a section to make your portion from. Bad panmee is shops which have them already prepared, urgk! They'd end up having to over-salt or end up putting too much sauces and oil to make their bowl edible!

 Hence a soup base of anchovies, adding the ever available sweet leaf which grows so easily and meat slivers, a simple and nourishingly conforting  bowl of noodles was served! Those days, only the poorer folks would eat panmee. The original recipe did come from China but it really is something to think about how far it has travelled, taste-wise becoming a dish with many different nuances to satisfy the populace. These days, the malaysian folks are eating more and more panmee as a healthier alternative with no or less MSG and lots of vegetables. Chillie panmee being healthy?! Maybe not to your stomach :P

 Thus far, if u're going to be eating a basic dry panmee, this place really does serves up a really scrumptious meal! The best way to enjoy this version of the panmee, is to order it with extra everything or in cantonese, to tell them "ka-lieu" (add ingredients). I'll always have the dry-version (kon-lou) and that the noodles are thin (yao). Typically, panmee comes in 3 versions; thin (yao),  thick (chou) and pulled (meet)... :P Depending on shops and also preference, one could order panmee and have them in different ways :) So, here's what you'd have to tell the cook when you wanna order! kon-lou, yao meen, sai... kah lieu! :P lol!! tai means big and sai is for small. Oh and yeah, meen is noodles in cantonese. This will ensure that u'd get all the good-stuff

 Don't forget your dose of vegetables! Here, you can order a separate bowl of vegetables. They'd also have fish paste-stuffed beancurd (fpsb) which goes brillantly with your bowl of vegies. I'd usually make a separate order of one piece of  fpsb in a bowl of vegetables! Sorry, no pictures though... missed this one, was too hungry! You could also order sui-gau which is seasonal! The bowl is served with a number of big prawns and comes with extra chrispy anchovies and sambal belacan on the side.  The first time i tried this place, i actually ate yee-mee instead and never realised their speciality is the panmee! Over a period of time and a colleagues insistent to try panmee, we took a drive out to Sri Kembangan! That was nearly 5 years back and as they'd say... the rest is history! 

All in all, a small bowl of noodles, with extra ingredients plus another bowl of vegie will set you back less then RM8, approx as i can't remember ever ordering a single order and remember what the tab was in the end!! Here's the map to the location. It's house no. 800! It's quite difficult to find as the shop's really in the heart of Sri Kembangan! :) Hopefully, the map does help though!

Kota D'sara Chilly Panmee (Rest. Super Kitchen)

At long last i manage to get the needed photos to blog about this panmee shop in Kota Damansara! Now, here's the question everyone's asking... is it ever as good as Kin-Kin's, the de facto and benchmark for their version of the spicy chilli pan mee! I can say for sure, it's really is a good contender and i'd place it 2nd only if u consider both bowls side by side with no other fringe benefits! Let's just say... i've been going back to Super Kitchen (SK) instead of Kin-Kin's (KK) for this version of the spicy dry noodle!! This is why i'd return most times...

1. Kota D'sara is in a slightly less congested part as compared to ChowKit. Getting in and out of the shop, including parking woes and traffic... you'd get to SK easier.

2. Service is with a smile...and yes it matters!

3. You get more options in SK as oppose to KK... Afterall, they've only got a default of dry panmee, wet and yee-mee.. i think. And it's even fixed size! Heck, nobody goes there to eat anything else except their chilli panmee!!

4. Here's the winner point for me... They'd let u 1up your vegie dosage! I've always ordered my bowl of noodles with an extra dose of the green stuff! If u're going to be killin' your digestive tract, at least help ease the traffic with a lil' more ruffage!

5. Per bowl, somehow over the years KK has shrunk! Erm, maybe if someone does a dollar to grams measurement, we'd have a more definite answer here, but I'm comparing bowl per bowl...and SK wins here! My usual is a 2 bowl sit-down in KK... finishing that, i'm still yearning for seconds but knowing it's already tearing me around the seams. After a 2 bowl session in SK. I can't move... seriously!! It's pure gluttony to eat 2 bowls here! What more...trying to consume the third bowl!

6. SK serves HOT chinese tea! 'Nuff said!

7. If you'd step into either places on any given weekend during peak-periods, lets just say expect to wait at least an hour for your bowl in KK! Now, that and the fact that SK's not so "famous" yet... Last trip up, i was there for lunch at apporx 1:30. Taking the last seat in the house, i got my noodles within 15mins!!

8. The last point isn't a real point, as it's rather contradicting... KK' comes with pork lard! Now, here's why KK's still the best, taste-vice..but unfortunately, thanks to the fact I'd wanna see my children grow past puberty, i've been eating at SK. Now, this is an assumption as I'm uncertain if it's really the lack of lard that makes the difference... of if both KK and SK has lard in their noodles. But as they'd say, what you don't see, won't hurt u... :P Lard placebo anyone?

anyone's got any other vs. pointers to add, do please comment!

Okay, so there's actually a technique to eating a bowl of chilli panmee! You can't just eat it off the bowl as really... it has to be savoured! Firstly, get lime (Citrus microcarpa)! Both KK and SK serves them... KK's tend to be dried up while SK would cut 'em for you upon request. My measurement's a lime per bowl. You'd also need a dash of soy-sauce, as the egg needs salting. Approx a tablespoon of the infamous dried chilli goes in next! The combination has to be made proper depending on one's chilli tolerance! To much and u'd end up with a stomach churner, just right and it'd be the greatest thing you've tasted! So ensure total silence, do not operate heavy vehicle and make sure you've ordered your beverage beforehand! :P

Mix them all up, make sure that you'd also break the egg-yolk during this process! What you'd get is an of even, slightly reddish chilli coating and yellow egg-yolk all over your noodles, with a good mixture of achovies and mince pork all over...yummy!

You'd have to dig in quick too as once it cools down and the egg yolk coagulates, it'd harden becomes dry and well... spoil your day!

So here are the needed details I stole of someone's blog...Sorry, complements to your piece of information!

Oh yea, and thanks to John for the recommendation!!

"Super Kitchen Chilly Pan Mee (Batu Road) is located at Jalan PJU5/4, Dataran Sunway, Kota Damansara, 47800 Petaling Jaya, Selangor. T: 03-6141 7398 , 03-2697 0998"

And here's a map to the place too! :)

Batu 14 Noodle Shop

The nice thing about this noodle-house is that it's good simple cooking conveniently nearby! A big bowl of soupy ikan billis (anchovies) stock panmee plus a good big cuppa cham (tea+coffee) usually comes up to be approx RM6. I've never been really good at remembering the costings, as we're usually there for more the one order of something! And as usual when it comes to hawker food, depending on weather patterns, fish market trends and boss's mood on that day... it's quite iffy, to say the least! Erm, also I don't think i got the name of the shop right as it doesn't translate directly from the signboard. Sorry, don't know how to speak mandarin and my colleague who i'd rely on translating this is too lazy to bother helping! :P

A big bowl of panmee with all the usual condiments, pucuk manis (Sauropus androgynus), fried anchovies, black fungus and if u've been a good boy/girl, some pork balls! (obviously, u'd have to order this separately!). Oh and of course this shop does panmee with eggs! with extra cost though! 

The usual cuppa joe, or in my case, cham which as you can see compliments to the coffee sommelier who mixed my drink, consist of 3 layers. First being condensed sweeted milk, the middle tier's tea and the top most layer is coffee! 

Of course, eat your vegetables! Oh yeah, don't forget that a good bowl of panmee comes with  really sambal consisting of chilli padi, lime, some amount of sugar, onions, garlic, and most importantly, belacan! All blended up and serve with a dash of soya-sauce! I'd probably left out something, or didn't get my quantities right as somehow I don't seem to be able to get it right!

Their speciality is the panmee but they do have yee mee too. Panmee comes in two version, dry and soup base. Portions are huge though! So caveat emptor people :) They may have other stuffs which i've yet to try, 'cause we're mostly there for the panmee! And because it's very near the Han Ming primary school of Puchong, it gets crowded as most parents would have their lunch while waiting or dropping their kids off! Parking a breeze during non-peak, as there's a piece of open land directly across from the shop. Here's a picture of the front of the shop, according to a friend of mine, it says Raub! 

So here's a map to the place! do let me know what you think if you do go by! :)

Pork Noodle style Panmee in Taman Berkeley Klang

A trip to Klang to try this famous panmee was long overdue, and last week we decided on a lazy sunday afternoon (bed-side baptist... unfortunately), to take a drive down south into the Klang territory! A friend who's another panmee aficionado, brought us here..professing of it being the best, most smoothest textured panmee ever made! :P

Checking out other blogsites, this shop has been around for a long long time...! Our friend was brought here by his dad when he was a small lil' kid! And here's something to take note of... there's actually a 7-11, two doors away from the restaurant! Sorts of tells u the crowd of people this place pulls, I would think it'd be a good deal for 7-11! (Which is where we went after a big bowl of panmee!! )

The master-chef in action. Erm, so i think! :) Not much have change over the years, looking at the older pictures from other blogsites! :P Except for their name-plaque...

A much needed drink to cool down with! I heard they've got some weird concoctions of barley and cincau! Didn't have to try that though... as lazy me only decided to check it out after the fact! 

You can see the hard-work that goes into the prepartion of your bowls of noodles! Each individual block of noodles is nicely squared off and place into a big huge pot! Upon making your bowl, a  slew of well-trained chef-de-partie pulls, prods and pinches it in bite size morsal. This as they say, is where the art is as you'd have to be quite quick to process these blocks before they over-cook! Note picture below of lady on the left in midst of action... :)

And voila! A hot bowl of pork-style pan mee! And yes, the kung-fu is there alright! The noodles turns up smooth, thin and not over-cooked! Unlike other panmee, which can at times be too hard or thick, or the soup ends up starchy, "Fatty Mee Hoon Kuih" has it down to perfection! We ordered nearly 7 big bowls among us with all turning up perfect. To our surprise, the cooks didn't want to prepare all 7 bowls on one go... deciding that they'd cook 5 bowls for us 5  and upon a go-ahead sign, to cook the other 2! Now, that's what you call good CMMI level of service!

Address is courtesy of Malaysia most wanted Food webiste,  No. 15 Lbh Bangau Kaw 17, Taman Berkerley, 41150 Klang, Selangor. There's also more writeups at the link above. Unfortunately, there really isn't any good maps to Taman Berkeley, so I'm guessing you'd have to be rather good with roads in Klang or what better reason to call upon your friends in Klang but for a bowl of panmee! :) But below's a map nevertheless...

Kepong Wet Market Panmee

So along we went to the wet market in Kepong last week for by far the best spicy soup pan mee i've ever tried! :) It's just one of those place u'd stumble into, on a cold morning marketday as u run your errands and end up being dead-hungry!! The usual fair would be a hot spicy bowl of panmee with pieces of fish paste, pork-slices, fu-chuok (fried bean-curd) and the most important condiment, lots of celery/parsley leaves! Pictures describes a thousand words...

Another view for posterity... It's the mix of slightly salted fish paste and belacan, n really soft and tender noodles...adding a taste of crunchy fu-chouk... yummy, and then the spicy soup... marvelous! It hits the spot! Well, actually...nothing else taste like it, seriously!

Notice the greenish, chilli belacan that comes with your bowl of noodles. That's the best stuff! It's really got quite a kick so, beware! Don't overdo the chilly, lest u'd be running. *Note :- nearest, decent toilet is in King's Confectionary/Pak Hai Lam's Kopitiam... in cases of dire emergency!

My usual bowl which i'd order comes with chop chillies, do ask for a soup-bowl of panmee and tell 'em u want it "SPICY!". And you can gauge how much hair you'd want on your chest... I would recommend trying mild, 'cause my bowl of mild has this amount of chillies in it!!!

And that is only half the amount i'd take out while eating this! Of course, remember to bring tissues...lots' of it! Also, because i always order a big arse bowl, will get them to make the noodles thin (yao?!) instead of thick (chou?!), this ensure that the noodles gets cooked thoroughly as it's really a big bowl! Depending on the alignment of the moon, stars and air pressure... you'd get different sorts of vegetables, defaults being chinese spinach (yeen choi). The adventurous sorts would try chinese celery or parsley (kan-tsai. On a really weird day, you'd even get peppermint leaves in yours!  For those who don't eat vegetables...shame on you! Dear Mr. Wilson, the owner has this to share with them, for those pro-vegan (don't eat vegie, 'cause you duwan to kill 'em) :-

It's a seaweed version!! :) Brand new, never seen before, spicy seaweed panmee! Which really isn't that bad, but i'd have to kill my vegies n eat 'em too!! :) Eating all that spicy food... you'd definately require something to cool your burnin tummy! Here's a glass of the house milk-tea (nga-lat, teah). Best thing to have, a really hot cuppa....

Oh yeah, before i forget... It's actually known as a vegetable panmee stall! Well, vegetable it is! But it's got meat too! Do remember to try their dry spicy version too. Mixed with their house-speciality, the belacan... it's just heavenly! Oh and yeah, they've got none-spicy too... but once you've tried the really stomach burnin, sweat like you'd had a 10mile run,  good stuffs, there's just no going back! :) Erm, disclaimer. The really hot stuffs should be given to the Restaurant KinKin ChowKit Spicy Panmee, which i'd have to blog about on another day! Afterall, free-flow oily chilly-flakes... even the ever present msian flies won't go near 'em...standing ovation!

Maps to location found here! . The shop's really behind the Pak Hai Lam Kopitiam at the wet market, perfect landmark to finding this place!