IN this week’s edition of Food Trail, we take a look at a char koay teow stall in Section 11, Petaling Jaya.
But before I proceed, a big ‘Thank you’ to readers Molly Wong, Teddy Chan and Buzz Tan for recommending the Hakka Lui Char stall in PJ Old Town.
I will follow-up on this makan place in my next endeavour.
Popular neighbour hood shop: The coffee shop near Lorong Utara in Section 11, Petaling Jaya.Okay, back to Char Koay Teow, now, my buddies Juliet Romeo, Echo Charlie and I have been trying to makan at Chuan Lee coffee shop near Lorong Utara in Section 11, Petaling Jaya.
Our early attempts to try out the fried noodles there had failed miserably.
Now, believe it or not, this stall is packed on weekdays and weekends.
If you are late, you get no Char Koay Teow.
Why? Because the uncle that runs it will tell you this: “Oye sek, oye thang ah!” (you want to eat, better wait).
And if you are one of those impatient guys, chances are, you would never get to eat the Char Koay Teow.
So, with everything said and done, I manage to squeeze one lunch session with my buddy Echo and ordered two plates of Char Koay Teow.
Before I start describing of the food, let me say that this stall is in no way comparable to the Penang version of the fried noodles.
I say this to appease all the taikors who believe that Penang is the centre of the universe when it comes to Char Koay Teow. There is no other place like it.
All right, with that aside, here’s the lowdown: the stall in Chuan Lee’s coffee shop is manned by one guy.
He can be grumpy and if you pressure him, the guy would scold you.
These are the hazards of eating in a coffee shop.
More than often, I get complaints from readers telling me that the hawkers they patronise are rude and rowdy.
I agree with them wholeheartedly. I can tell you how good the food is, but the hawker’s behaviour, well that I have no control of.
Okay, how would Chuan Lee’s Char Koay Teow fare on the Samo-scale?
Based on flavour and taste, well, it is only fair to give this uncle a 4.5 out of 10 on the scale.
I found the noodles to be quite salty.
But the saving grace here is the good-tasting noodles. The portions for a RM5 single serving are generous.
And if you love eggs, you can add RM1 to make your Char Koay Teow experience complete.
The GPS coordinates to this coffee shop are: N 03 06 576, E 101 38 674.
