Pages

Monday, 10 October 2016

Revisit: Uncle Meng @ Taman Shamelin Perkasa

Restoran Uncle Meng @ Taman Shamelin Perkasa is from the same family who brought us the infamous, most delicious Meng Kee "char siew" (barbequed pork).

Situated adjacent to our neighbourhood, this coffee shop has been our go-to place for our usual brekkies but more specifically for the most divine char siew.

I've blogged about this char siew previously (you can read it here) but it's so good, I think a reminder is justifiably deserving.  A plate of well charred and caramelised Char Siew Rice @ RM6 here has the perfect balance of fat-to-lean ratio for the most tender and melt-in-the-mouth experience.  Get here by 10.30 am (sometimes a bit later) when the first tray of char siew makes its awaited appearance...to its awaiting customers! ;)

But on a recent trip here, I noticed a new stall in operation selling "Kai See" Sar Hor Fun, a famous noodle hailing from Ipoh, which is a bowl of smooth, ultra-thin rice noodles with shredded chicken and garlic chives. I ordered the Prawn Wonton Hor Fun @ RM7 which came with three huge and fresh prawn wontons (as well as some smaller prawns).  I'd say it's a very good deal for the price.

Each prawn wonton was filled with one whole prawn (of decent size) in it.  The prawns were fresh and firm with a crunchy bite in a good way.

Typically, like any good Ipoh sar hor fun, the noodles have to be thin, translucent and slippery smooth....and it was...though not as smooth as those from Pau Kee).

You can also enjoy a bowl of hor fun with shredded chicken (breast) @ RM6 (or RM7 for chicken thigh) but I prefer to have chopped chicken pieces instead, so I asked for additional poached chicken with (as in) my bowl of prawn wonton hor fun.  There must have been a miscommunication somewhere, coz my additional order of Poached Chicken @ RM4 came separately with bean sprouts at the bottom.

Nevertheless, I absolutely loved the poached chicken as the meat was incredibly smooth and tender with crunchy Ipoh-like fat bean sprouts.  You don't call this "wat kai" (smooth chicken) for nothing....hehe! ;D The soy sauce with flavoured oil just added that bit of extra savouriness to the meat.

On another occasion, I finally got my order right and got served a bowl of Hor Fun with everything (in it) @ RM9.40....poached chicken, prawns and 3 pcs of additional prawn wontons @ RM0.80 each.  Everything was enjoyable in this bowl and if I had to nitpick, the soup could be better.

Another stall we'd sometimes patronise is the one selling Char Kway Teow and Fried Rice.  Both are decent but this time I decided to try the Char Kway Teow (with duck egg) @ RM6.50.  Although the difference between duck egg and chicken egg isn't all that obvious,  I think I like it better with duck egg as it gives the noodles a richer taste and a more robust flavour.

Whenever we are here, at least one of us will order something from the Western Stall as this is our favourite stall for breakfast...and our favourite dish is the Fried Spaghetti with Luncheon Meat @ RM7.30 which comes with a fried egg and 4 pcs of (quartered) luncheon meat.  Although the pic at the stall shows 6 pcs (that must have been before coz I've never been given 6 pcs) and the pic here shows 5 pcs (I added 2 pcs but one went straight into my mouth...kekeke!).  The spaghetti is wok fried (our local twist on spaghetti...hehe!) before a choice of black pepper (the one here) or mushroom sauce is added.  I'm also glad to report that you can safely pack this home as the spaghetti doesn't stick together even when eaten later.

The other dish that I tend to stick with here is the Western Breakfast @ RM6.80 with (commercialised) chicken burger meat, ham, sausage, a sunny side-up egg and two slices of buttered toast (the 2 pcs of luncheon meat is again additional, so it'll cost extra).  I don't what it is about the luncheon meat here but the brand he uses is very fragrant and nice.  One day, I hope to ask the stall owner the brand of his 'secret ingredient'! ^.^

The Toasted Sandwich @ RM6.80 is a triple decker sandwich with ham, egg, cheese, cucumber, tomatoes and lettuce, served with fried crinkle-cut fries (of the frozen kind).  This one is value-for-money for the large portion size that may prove too much for one to finish.

My Personal Opinion

Still a good place for breakfast and lunch options if you're in the area.  My favourites are still the meltingly tender char siew and the western stall...but a new favourite has been added to this list and it's the kai see hor fun (or, in my case, poached chicken hor fun) ^_^

Restoran Uncle Meng
Corner of Lorong 6A/91 Jalan 6/91
Taman Shamelin Perkasa
56100 Kuala Lumpur

10 comments:

  1. Oh Gawd, you food photos are so yummy and I am so hungry now. I have another 25 minutes to my lunch hour. I had to google where exactly is Taman Shamelin Perkasa. It is such a happening area in this part of Cheras which I am not familiar yet. You have lured me to go there soon. The Hor Fun and Char Koay Teow are caling me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Then you better answer "their" calls! Hehe :D

      Delete
  2. the chinese food here is quite up my alley (though not the western section, heh) ;D i like the eggy look of the ckt ... but no cockles in it, right? i don't think i've ever visited any outlet at tmn shamelin, so maybe this is the place to start :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Probably have but so negligent you don't even notice...cockles are so expensive these days. There was once I was having curry laksa and the stall owner forgot to put cockles in and when I reminded her about it, the cockles were served to me in one of those plastic soy sauce plate with just 3 pcs! T_T

      Delete
  3. Lucky you, this place is in your neighborhood. As you know, I cannot resist char siew with fats on it. Another weakness of mine is poached chicken, love that tender smooth feel especially the skin. Can't seem to get that effect at home :(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. At home, we'd probably poach just a chicken leg or something. I think you have to do it with a whole chicken for it to work. And I heard you have to simmer on very low heat (or poached in hot stock) for long hours and dunked into ice water to tighten the skin...or something like that! ;)

      Delete
  4. Yum, yum! I have not had such cha siew for a long, long time. The Western brekky is ok. It's fuel! At that price, one cannot complain.

    The food prices have not given me the 'shakes'.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. These are coffee shop prices, so they're still considered relatively cheap :)

      Delete
  5. Ok u make me crave to CKT now =.="
    The price for the western breakfast definitely a good deal, portion is big for that price.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. But minus the 2 pcs of luncheon meat. The price of this is the killer...used to be RM1.50 for 2 quarter pcs (now I think it's about RM1 a pc)! :(

      Delete