THE ‘black’ char koay teow is a noodle dish that is slowly disappearing in the Klang Valley.
Some ‘old school’ char koay teow connoisseurs who are aware of this may tell you that there were lots and lots of hawkers who sell them back in the 50s right through the 70s.
Having seen these stalls in Kuala Lumpur back in the days when I was growing up, it is sad to say that many of the char koay teow sellers have either retired or passed on.
Now, all good things said and done, I would like to thank readers J.S. Tan, Wong Kok Weng and Robert Phang for sharing their fond memories of the black char koay teow.
Okay, moving on, I once mentioned a char koay teow seller in Port Klang hawker’s centre.
There were mixed reactions to the rating I gave to the old-timer and ‘living treasure’ label I gave him.
Some readers wrote in to defend Penang’s char koay teow and said I should be transferred to the island to write about the food there.
But there were some good guys who agreed that Klang and Banting were the last bastions for the Klang Valley style of preparing the koay teow and mee.
The low-down: The shop’s price list.Well, that led to another discovery I made recently in Taman Melawis in Klang.
I made a couple of phone calls and found a shop behind the ACS Methodist school that serves the black char koay teow.
Now, I was told that the man who fries the noodles is well-known in the neighbourhood and some children who live there had literally grown up eating his noodles.
Besides catering to the residents’ needs, he is also successful in the business.
A small plate of char koay teow costs RM3.50. For a larger helping, just add 20sen to square it off at RM3.70.
Quiet spot: The Melawis char koay teow in the suburbs of Klang.And for taste, this is the first time I would give a 10 out of 10 on the Samo-scale for the Melawis char koay teow.
It was absolutely fabulous.
What made my day was the large cockles and a generous serving of chee yau char (pork cracklings).
A plate of char koay teow and two glasses of iced barley came up to RM5.70.
For me, it was money well spent and for the first time ever, Michelle my wife had concurred that the char koay teow was good.
She didn’t grumble or make any comparison to the dishes she had in Penang.
Melawis char koay teow (N 03 02 618, E 101 26 187) is located in a single-storey shoplot in Jalan Lintang Gangsa in Taman Melawis, Klang and is open from noon to 9.30pm daily except on Sundays.
