Mention Hokkien Mee (also known as Hokkien Char) and you’d probably be dragged into a debate on which stall or frying method offers the best result. Some will pledge their allegiance on their favourite stall while some with wider acceptance would have two or more stalls to choose from. And in a very rare case, you’d find someone loathe it to the max for unknown reasons.
Mention Restoran Aik Yuen and the experts will agree that it serves good Hokkien Mee. I’ve actually heard of its legendary place from peeps I know and it was recommended to me long ago. But I didn’t exactly know the place nor did I take the trouble of finding out where’s the place. All I know was it’s somewhere around Tawakal Hospital in KL. That’s it.
To locate this shop is easy. Just make your way to Tawakal Hospital and it’s located somewhere behind it. Or just look for Jalan Sarikei and you’ll be able to locate the shop easily. Still doubtful? Then just follow the GPS coordinates given below for easier solution.
I’m not sure what’s the opening hours but I reckon it opens from dinner till late night as I was there pretty late for supper on Sunday night. The restaurant was still packed with customers happily indulging their sinful yet delicious meal. The kitchen is located outside (opposite of the shop) for customers viewing pleasure. There are a few cooks handling the dish while others were preparing the raw materials.
My friend and I chose to sit outside since there were no empty tables inside. Besides, we could do a lil fresh air since it was raining earlier in the day. But be warned as you might have ‘uninvited guests’ passing by your table while you’re eating. Ordering is a breeze as long as you know what you want. We opted for 3 dishes with each dish a small portion for 1.
Fried Pek Kueh was the first to arrive. A common Hokkien dish, it’s essentialy a stir-fry sliced white rice cake in dark soy sauce. This was done nicely with good amount of sauce coating the chewy bouncy dough.
Thank goodness there was no ‘kun choy’ (a type of Chinese celery) in it as I’d usually pick ’em out one by one.
Up next were Cantonese Fried Kuey Teow (Wat Tan Hor) and Fried Hokkien Mee. To get an idea how Wat Tan Hor is prepared, the broad kuey teow is first fried with oil in high heat to give it brownish colour with slight smoky aftertaste. Then, the thick eggy sauce is crafted separately with ingredients such as broth, corn starch, an egg or two, sliced meat and seafood before pouring on top of the noodles.
The one by Aik Yuen wasn’t superb neither it was bad as I’ve had better ones before. The eggy thick broth was alright but I’d love it to be slightly darker (with the help of thick dark soy sauce). The broad kuey teow was fried nicely although it wasn’t crisp on the outer layer.
The superstar of the day was of course the Fried Hokkien Mee. I opted for a mixture of thick yellow noodles with kuey teow instead of just thick yellow noodles as I’d know they would have to prepare mine separately.
The noodles were braised nicely – al dente, smooth, slippery textures. The dish was adequately wet with limited dark sauce accumulated at the base of the plate. There’re decent amount of seafoods such as prawns and squids, vegetables and sliced meat to go along with the noodles. Oh yes… The oh-so-important crispy pork lards were well hidden within to give extra flavour. The smoky aroma was there but not the point of overpowering the dish.
Now… they might not be the best out there but they are definitely one of the better ones in KL. The bill came to about RM20 (including 3 cups of iced chrysanthemum tea). It’s affordable and good but I guess clean freaks will skip this due to below average cleanliness. But heck, not all good scrumptious sinful food come from clean kitchen, right? Next up… to try out another stall nearby which is said to use charcoals!
Address :
Restoran Aik Yuen,
Jalan Sarikei,
Off Jalan Pahang Barat,
53000 Kuala Lumpur.
Map :
GPS Coordinates : 3.177935, 101.699452
