This coffee shop is filled with many customers (especially in the mornings) as they are located in the vicinity of the Pandan Perdana wet market.
They are made up of many hawker stalls selling "chap farn" (mixed rice), chicken rice, "char kway teow" (CKT), wantan mee, western breakfast, Hakka lor mee, fried rice, fried noodles and more.
For me, I come to Restoran TO @ Pandan Perdana solely for one purpose and one purpose only.....and that is to eat my most favourite CKT.
This Char Kway Teow @ RM4.80 is fried in pork lard with Chinese sausage, fish cakes, prawns, "see hum" (blood cockles), bean sprouts, Chinese chives and "chee yau char" (pork lard bits). This plate of CKT is fried with all the key ingredients that are necessary to make a good plate of CKT and has lots of "wok hei" (breadth of the wok) as well.
This produces an absolutely flavourful plate of CKT which I find is the best I've eaten (so far) and remains my favourite todate. That's why it's the busiest stall in the coffee shop and you must be willing to wait (anything from 15 - 30 mins during weekends) if you want to eat his CKT.
Even if you "ta pau" (pack) this CKT and eat it when it's already cold, you can still taste the fragrant wok hei.....that's how good it is!
Apart from the excellent CKT, the other stall I would patronise (when I'm here) is the Hakka "Lor Mee" @ RM5.30. Lor Mee is basically a Hokkien dish, made with thick flat yellow noodles, and is distinguished by its signature thick, starchy sauce made with egg and thickened with corn starch.
Although I do like lor mee but I don't like the "kansui" (alkaline) taste of the thick yellow Hokkien noodles but at this stall, their Hakka Lor Mee is thinner, flatter and does not have that kansui taste. The Hakka Lor Mee here comes with minced pork paste, fish paste and lettuce and is traditionally served with black vinegar and a spicy-sourish fresh chilli paste. The eggy broth was good and I particularly liked their chilli paste.
The "Siew Yoke" (roast pork) @ RM10 (for 2 pax) is not too shabby either. I like this because it comes with a finely diced spring onions and fresh ginger condiment (that is not commonly served at other chicken rice stalls).
This coffee shop also makes a mean cup (or in this case glass) of "Kopi-O Ping" (Iced Black Coffee) for RM2.00 (not cheap if you compare it to coffee shops) but they make it like a true 'old style' kopitiam should....not some 'fancy shmancy' Starbucks-like coffee (though I love my Starbucks too)!
Occasionally, I would "ta pau" some dishes from the chap farn stall for dinner. It's so easy and cheap and it sure beats having to cook and clean up....all you need to do is just boil rice and reheat the food. My fried "nam yue" (fermented red bean curd cubes) pork, 6 (rather large) pcs of yong tau fu, and a green vege of kai lan (see pic on bottom right) is enough for 2-3 persons....and all for just RM12...cheap leh!
My Personal Opinion
This char kway teow is currently on the top of my list of favourite CKT (until a better one comes along, of course).
Another 'good eat' here is the Hakka Lor Mee. The chap farn stall serves up some fairly decent dishes too like the fried nam yue pork and fried nam yue chicken.....good stuff!
Restoran TO
(behind Hong Leong Bank)
35 Jalan Perdana 4/5
Pandan Perdana
55300 Kuala Lumpur
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