Chang Kitchen Beef Noodle @ Pandan Indah

This place used to house my favourite chap fan shop but one day they just upped and left without a word. Since then, they were replaced by another coffee shop selling a few types of noodles.  I went once and didn't like the food or the place and never went back after that.

But that folded up within months.  Recently (in early January), I noticed a beef noodles specialist, Chang Kitchen Beef Noodle @ Pandan Indah opened up in its place.

The menu is short and sweet offering mainly beef noodles, mutton noodles, fish ball noodles and nasi lemak.

Since they specialise in beef noodles, I started with the Mixed Beef Noodles @ RM10 in soup without any request to omit certain parts just to see what components the mixed beef actually comprised of.  Well, it came with beef balls, beef brisket (ngau lam) and beef tripe (but no beef tendon).  If you want tendon, you have to get the one listed in the menu as beef noodles mix and tendon priced at RM13.

I had the beef noodles mix with hor fun and it was rather nice as the kway teow was thinly sliced and slippery smooth.

On another occasion, I ordered the Mixed Beef Noodles @ RM10 and opted for dry-style with wantan noodles.  The noodles came with some crispy pork lard bits and the sauce was fragrant (probably laced with pork lard oil) and quite tasty.

The beef mix came with generous amounts of beef brisket and two beef balls but I requested for beef tripe to be omitted this time (since I don't really fancy beef tripe).  I initially thought the beef brisket were thickly cut beef slices as they weren't as fatty as I thought they'd be (but I remembered the guy telling me it comes with ngau lam).  If beef brisket noodles is referred to as ngau lam meen, what do you call beef tripe (the edible lining of the cow's stomach) in Cantonese then?  I used to think that was called ngau lam.  Well, a helpful reader of mine was kind enough to tell me that it's call ngau pak yip (so, thank you for clarifying that).  Now I know what omasum (an option on the menu) is too after googling.  It's part of the beef tripe...and it comes from chamber 3 of a cow's stomach (the first three chambers make up the beef tripe, it seems there are 4 chambers in total).  Well, we learn a new thing every day.

The thick cut beef brisket slices weren't fork-tender....they were chopstick-tender...hihihi! ^_~  They were literally fall-apart tender when I tried to pick them up with my chopsticks, so I made sure I picked them up gently.  I also like that the beef brisket here is much leaner.

Meanwhile, the darkly-coloured soup base, sprinkled with lots of daun sup, was slightly beefy and not overly herbally in taste.  I liked that the soup was subtly flavourful without being overly beefy or overwhelmed with herbal taste.  I prefer a lighter version like this one (though some will not fully agree with this).

I also tried the Beef Raw Meat Noodles @ RM10 with meehoon this time as my choice of noodles.  For this one, I finally got to eat thinly sliced beef meat instead of beef brisket.  From the description, I would take it that they're served somewhat like Vietnamese beef noodles where thinly sliced beef is placed on top of the noodles before a ladle of hot soup is poured over the noodles to cook the beef.

That probably explains why the the beef broth looked different from the two earlier ones that I tried as it didn't look as darkly (or black) coloured.  I believe the slightly reddish hue of the broth was the result of spooning hot broth over the raw beef slices.  So, the broth of this one is more subtle and slightly sweeter in taste.  Unfortunately, the bowl was filled with too much broth which cooked the beef instantly, so you can't really see the raw beef slices but they were super tender though.  How else would it be if not tender seeing that it was sliced so thinly until it curled when cooked.

The condiments of a fresh chilli dip and pickled green chillies are available on the table for you to help yourselves to however much you want.

I really liked the freshness of the slightly thick chilli dip which has quite a kick to it.

Basically, you can have your beef noodles with just about any combination of beef parts you want, be it mixed beef with beef balls, brisket and tripe or with additional tendon, or with just beef balls (if you're not into beef innards) or slightly raw beef slices.  I think the nasi lemak and fish ball noodles are there for those who don't eat beef or if you fancy mutton noodles, that's also available.

When the Iced White Coffee @ RM2.80 arrived looking all frothy at the top like that, I instinctively knew it was going to taste good...and it certainly did, it was thick and good, definitely among some of the better ones I've had.  The Iced Black Coffee @ RM2.20 on the other hand weren't as successful as the white coffee.

Check out a more recent post on the place here.

My Personal Opinion

I welcome a proper beef noodles place here, I think the first of its kind in Pandan Indah.  The other beef noodle shop we that have here (Yang Mooi), I consider that more of a beef ball noodle shop rather than beef noodles.

It looks like I've 'covered' all sorts of beef possibilities here...brisket, tripe and balls (I don't eat tendon) as well as both soup and dried version, so there's nothing else left to try.  Of course there's mutton noodles (but I don't like mutton), fish ball noodles and nasi lemak (now why would I want to try the latter two when this is a beef noodle specialist!). ^_~

If you like a more subtle beef and herbal taste in your beef noodles, this one may well suit your taste buds. But if you're looking for a more robust beefy taste, I'm afraid you may be sorely disappointed.  I actually don't like an overly beefy (or overly herbal) taste in the soup, so this one suits me just fine.

Chang Kitchen Beef Noodle
14 Jalan Pandan Indah 1/18
Pandan Indah
55100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-9201 7059