Red Leaf (Fried Rice & Char Kway Teow) @ Jalan Loke Yew

After finding a gem of a prawn mee stall here, we have since returned to Red Leaf Restaurant @ Jalan Loke Yew to give the other stalls a try chance.

Sometimes, after having tasted something so darn excellent, it becomes increasingly difficult to refrain from ordering the same thing each and every time I'm here.  But I told myself that I'd give the other stalls (at least some of them) a chance before I revert back to ordering the one thing I'm after....hehe! ;)

The first time when we were here to try the prawn noodles, we ended up packing home a one pax portion of Char Siew & Siew Yuk @ RM10.  We were pleasantly surprised to find out how delicious it was.

The char siew was those melt-in-the-mouth type with a well caramelised exterior that's sticky but not too sweet.  The siew yuk, on the other hand, was nicely savoury with a fragrant, crisp skin.

And because of that, on our next visit, both my husband and son decided to have the Char Siew & Siew Yuk Rice @ RM7.50.  Somehow, this time, both the meats just didn't wow us as much as they did the first time. Maybe because of the cuts of meat we got as the char siew wasn't the perfect lean-to-fat ratio while the siew yuk skin obviously looked different as well from a comparison of the photos.

I did wonder why the one pax portion of char siew and siew yuk was priced at RM10 while a similar plate of char siew and siew yuk (with rice) was charged at RM7.50 only (since both had the same five slices though the former did seem to be cut just a hair thicker).  I did raise the question to the stall owner and she confirmed that the meat for the RM10 was cut slightly thicker...so there (I guess I have to take her word for it since I can't see the difference actually :P).  Due to the inconsistencies in their meat, you could score yourself a nice cut of meat on some days if you're lucky.

The chicken broth-flavoured rice which came in quite a large portion was ok but the rice texture can be a little mushy.

The Roast Chicken Rice was also just acceptable.

The first time I had this Char Kway Teow (with Chicken Egg) @ RM6 (big, RM7) was a packed one and I thought that the taste was decent but could have been compromised a little since it was cold by the time I ate it.  

So, I had to have it again at the shop just to be sure.  This time, as I walked near the stall, I noticed the words 'Penang Char Kway Teow'...and saw duck eggs! ;)  Ok, my expectation of something good just went up a notch.  The Penang Char Kway Teow (with Duck Egg) was very decent indeed.

The noodles of choice (a combination of kway teow and yellow mee) was well fried and had a bit of wok hei going on...and, best of all, it came with fresh tasting fried pork lard ("chee yau char") besides three good-sized prawns, fresh cockles, fish cake slices, crunchy bean sprouts and Chinese chives.  The noodles were made extra decadent by the deliciously creamy duck egg (which are not often found in CKT stalls in KL).  If only it was a tad more salty (it needed a bit more soy) and had a few slices of "lap cheong" (Chinese dried sausage), it could have been perfect.

Yes, for CKT, I always go with a combination of kway teow and yellow mee (a preference of mine and probably many KLites) though I know many would swear by just kway teow alone as how a Penang CKT is usually eaten.  And oh, if you don't like your CKT spicy, remember to ask for less spicy coz I did (actually I always do as I like to taste the noodles in my CKT rather than just tasting the heat).  But I still could taste a bit of spice in there (so I'm assuming if you didn't ask for less spicy, this CKT would be spicier than norm).  The CKT fella is quite chatty.  When I ordered from him, he said to recommend friends to his stall if I find his noodles tasty (so I'm doing my 'job' here).  I guess he has to do everything he can to compete with such a well-known 'neighbour' (aka the prawn mee) where everyone who comes here just want to eat that...haha! ;D

This time, I noticed that they offer Fried Rice too, so we placed an order for that (both the dishes cost RM14.50 in total, so one is RM7 while the other is RM7.50).  Again, I was delightfully amazed as to how decent it was.  Just look at the colour...every bit of the rice grains seem to be nicely fried...and the biggest surprise?  There were fried chee yau char...which I've never found in a plate of fried rice before! O_o  Kids would love this version of fried rice to death coz you can't find a single piece of vegetable which children detest....lol (just remember to request for non-spicy).

We also tried the Curry Mee and Wantan Mee on previous visits but they weren't anything that deserved mention.  The curry broth was watery and lacked flavour while the wantan mee sauce and pale looking char siew weren't very exciting at all.  You can easily get better curry mee and wantan mee from many other stalls out there.

My Personal Opinion

OK, I'm done trying the other stalls already! :P  In the end, it's a place I would return over and over again just for the prawn noodles.  And if your family members aren't into prawn noodles, then their best bets would be the char kway teow and fried rice (and maybe try your luck with the inconsistent roasted meat rice).

Who knew that other than the gem of a find of an excellent prawn mee, we have stumbled upon yet another gem in this shop...and that's the Penang Char Kway Teow & Fried Rice stall.  Now that I have something else to look forward to here, I can see myself coming back repeatedly for these three items.....yay! ^o^

Kedai Makanan Red Leaf

No 61 & 63 Jalan Loke Yew
(corner of Lorong Loke Yew & Jalan Loke Yew)
Pudu
55200 Kuala Lumpur