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Monday, 27 July 2015

Win Heng Seng (Pork Noodles) @ Jalan Imbi

I used to come to Restoran Win Heng Seng @ Jalan Imbi to eat the sam kan chong (or pork ball) noodles but was given the heads up to try the other pork noodles stall here.

So, one Sunday morning, I came here with the specific intention to try the pork noodles (which I didn't notice on my previous visits).

When my bowl of Pork Noodles @ RM8 arrived, I immediately thought it was more expensive than usual although the portion did seem to be slightly bigger.  I then checked out the stall and saw the price clearly stated as RM8 for small and RM10 for big....definitely not the cheapest pork noodles around! :(

The pork noodles broth was more than decent and the crispy "chee yau char" (pork lard) is always a plus.  This bowl of pork noodles had lean pork slices, minced pork, pork liver, intestines and kidney....well, all the porky goodies you'd come to expect.  This is an equally good contender to the other pork noodle stall in the vicinity @ Mei Sin...but the standout of that one would be the thicker and barely cooked pork liver slices and the less fatty minced pork balls compared to the one here (and the cheaper price, of course).

My spouse decided to have the Wantan Mee @ RM6.50 with "char siew" (barbequed pork) and wantans.  Although the char siew looks lean, it was still very tender and not as sticky sweet.  The noodles were not the springy type, soft with a bit of a bite, which I preferred.  The sauce is not as flavourful but also not as oily as others.

The wantans, with minced pork and carrots, were ok but that cannot be said of the soup the wantans came in though.  Overall, the wantan mee wasn't among the best we've had but it wasn't half bad either.

We also ordered a plate of Teochew Char Kway Teow @ RM6 (small) to share.  But, we were in for a surprise at just how small the 'small' was!  It was so small it only occupied half the plate (the shot I took was more flattering than what it truly was as I had turned the dish around for an up close picture).  The positives...it had good "wok hei" (breath of the wok) and the fatter than norm flat noodles were well charred for that smoky flavour.  The negatives...I think I found only two tiny prawns and probably three (maybe four) fresh cockles (plus no chee yau char).  Overall, it could have been a better plate of char kway teow had it not been for the paltry ingredients! :'(

Of course, the post wouldn't be complete without including the "Sam Kan Chong" (or Pork Ball Noodles) @ RM8 which is probably the most famous stall here.  I only noticed one price on the wall and that is RM8, so I'm assuming that's the price for small since I requested for small.  The smooth "hor fun" (flat rice noodles) are cut thinner here and the dry version comes with minced pork in dark soy sauce, sprinkled with lots of chopped spring onions.  I used to eat this a lot in the past and it's still good, just not quite as good as I remembered.

For the steep price of RM8 a bowl, it had only two pieces of "siew cheong" (roasted pork sausages) but, at least, there were six pieces of pork balls.  The homemade pork balls and siew cheong were nice although I wouldn't mind a bit more Chinese rice wine flavour in the siew cheong.  The soup it came in was better than some that I've had...it was savoury, slightly sweet and peppery (hope it wasn't loaded with MSG) and I like that it was again sprinkled with a generous amount of spring onions.

To round up our meal, I ordered a small portion of Chee Cheong Fun @ RM3 just to try.  It was one piece of chee cheong fun (rice noodles) and fu chuk (bean curd sheet) with two fish balls.  It tasted decent, with a homemade taste, and the chilli (with a bit of a kick) and sweet sauce was what made this dish enjoyable.

My Personal Opinion

This coffee shop is insanely popular with locals and tourists alike (from the many hotels in the area) although the overall prices may be higher compared to the other coffee shops in the vicinity.

It's a good place with plenty of choices to satisfy any cravings.  My favourites...the sam kan chong and pork noodles...and that's probably why both these stalls charge outrageous prices of RM8 (for small) and RM10 (for big) since they know they're so popular...tsk....tsk!

Restoran Win Heng Seng
183 Jalan Imbi
55100 Kuala Lumpur

17 comments:

  1. hahaha...baru saw this shop listed in one of the FB makan kaki list. A bit too far for me. Otherwise would go and try out. I love pork noodle that have chu yau char

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    1. Hi 5....to another lover of chee yau char! :D

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  2. Ohhhhhh nooooooo!!!! You are killing me!!!! That soup with the liver, the intestines!!!!! My knees go weak at the sight of such beauty!!! Slurpsssssss!!!! Now I will have to hunt around for my fix to appease the craving!

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    1. Whose knees wouldn't go weak...the very thing that's not good for us, we usually love to death! ;)

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  3. I thought it is just me every time I go back to KL, have some food and thought "Hmm, this isn't as nice as it used to be!" where my friends would claim that my taste bud have just been altered by Penang food. That's not the case, right? Nowadays apart from charging more, they also use less "liew"... :(

    I don't think I have eaten in this coffee shop before. But I think I would prefer this over the one you prefer, because of the MORE FATTY minced pork balls :D :D :D ... RM8 is understandable kot, in a prime land area like Imbi, even in Taman Muda a bowl of pork noodles is RM6 now. But they surcharge RM2 for big, is really too much la.. tourist price!

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    1. I think RM8 is not understandable since the other stalls at the same coffee shop charge RM6 or RM6.50 for small....and RM10 is ridiculous for just a bowl of noodles :(

      I've eaten at some 'old' places that I felt didn't taste as good as before and I can think of 2 reasons...1) the lesser 'quality' of the ingredients used and/or 2) they could have done away with (or shorten) certain processes to make their dish (faster and easier) thereby resulting in a change of taste!

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  4. The pork noodles look good - I'm loving the organ meats yum! yum! But Jalan Imbi is out of the way for me so maybe no chance to try this :(

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    1. Never say never....Mun comes all the way here for these noodles too! ;)

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    2. I think I live nearer to Imbi than Phong Hong who lives somewhere near Uptown I would think.

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  5. you're quite specific in exactly what you like and don't like about each dish, and what you think could be improved ... that's great! looking at all these dishes, i'd think that i'd enjoy all of them! :)

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    1. Yeah, I like to tell it as it is....to my taste buds, of course. You'd probably enjoy the pork liver the most! ;)

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  6. Thanks for the mention. Wow! They have increased their prices. The pork noodles used to be RM7 only. I love the ckt there because by default it does not have lard pieces in it and the seller really do not put any salt for me when I asked him to omit the salt so the CKT will taste just right for me and I do agree that the quantity is minuscule but since we have been to Wah Cheong in Section 17 PJ, my spouse said to me, no need to go to Imbi anymore, just go to PJ will do for the Sam Kan Chong and CKT but don't know where he will go for the pork noodles since it is his favourite but not mine.

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    1. I'm glad you find the sam kan chong noodles in Wah Cheong to your liking. Maybe you can try the other pork ball noodles next to it (Lucky Coffee Shop) to see which one you prefer. This one also comes with peppery "chee tow tong" that your spouse might like.

      Hmmm, I'm not sure if they put any salt into the CKT, I thought they only use soya sauce for saltiness.

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  7. Definitely one of the more expensive kopitiam around, the pork noodle is one of my favorites too since they serve pork kidney as well. :D

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    1. Of all the pork innards, the kidney is my least favourite actually!

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  8. i used to buy the pork ball noodles whenever I go facial at this area but now I can go for their Kepong branch which is nearer to me. The price is consider quite steep for a bowl of noodle, do you think so?

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    1. Oh, I didn't know they have a Kepong branch...same price there as well? Yeah, RM8 or RM10 for a bowl of noodles is still considered pricey compared to others.

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