Lok Zok Liu @ Pandan Indah

I stumbled upon this new restaurant in my neighbourhood (a week after its opening), Restoran Lok Zok Liu @ Pandan Indah when I noticed the many flower bouquet arrangements on the road.

I decided to visit as their display of roasted meat was plentiful which convinced me that if they're confident of selling that much of meat, they must be good.

The name of the shop is rather cute....'lok zok liu'...but since I don't read Chinese, I don't know what the characters mean in Chinese.  My first instinct was that the owner's surname must be Lok...haha!  I did ask one of them but I was hopelessly lost in translation...I only managed to understand the word 'lok' which he said comes from the word 'fai lok' which means happy.  But if I were to do my own translation of the sound of the words directly from Cantonese, 'lok zok (or zuk) liu' means 'put in plenty of ingredients'.  Well, I certainly like the sound of that! ^_~

On my first visit, I tried the White Curry Noodles (Drumstick) @ RM10 (with poached chicken drumstick, RM9.30 for other chicken parts) coz I just happened to see a bowl of it being dished out when I passed by their prep/cooking station at the entrance of the shop...and I know a good one when I see one! :P  It's listed in the menu as white curry noodles (but I'm not sure why they call it that) as it looks like a typical KL curry laksa to me, not to be confused with Penang white curry mee.  It came with chopped poached chicken, two pieces each of fu chuk (beancurd sheets) and tofu (beancurd) puffs and taugeh (beansprouts).

I was told by the server that they use la mian (pulled noodles) for their curry laksa (there's no option for other types of noodle like mee or meehoon here) but I was afraid that the texture of the la mian would be too soft to be eaten in a curry, so I opted for wantan mee instead as my choice of noodle.

And, as I suspected, the curry that looked absolutely fantastic (at their kitchen counter) did not disappoint one bit.  It had the savouriness and thickness I wanted with a good dose of santan flavour and just the right amount of chilli oil in the mix.

I can't gush enough at just how amazing the curry is and I'm absolutely ecstatic that I now have an excellent one in my neighbourhood.  Though it didn't quite overtake my favourite no. 1 curry laksa, it certainly did give them a good run for their money.

Let me show you again just how good the curry broth is.....before I drank (almost) every last drop of it up...wahahahaha!  You can see just how thick the broth is by the way the remnants clung onto the side of the bowl.

On another visit, I kept thinking what it'll taste like if I opted for la mian which the server highly recommended.  So, I went for it and asked for the White Curry Noodles @ RM9.30 to be served with char siew instead.  There are people who don't like poached chicken (and I can't fathom why, my spouse included), so you can substitute with the meat of your choice (but poached chicken is still the best IMHO).  This round, there were pieces of rehydrated pig skin too besides beancurd sheets and puffs.

And the server was right, it was good with la mian (something different from the usual meehoon + mee) and the noodles were cooked just right and it doesn't go soft even when it's soaking in the broth.  In fact, the wantan noodles I picked for my curry earlier turned out even softer.

The broth is pleasantly savoury (with a tinge of sweetness)....it's robustly thick...it's sufficiently creamy....it's suitably santan-ish.....it's just everything you can ask for in a great curry.  And the fragrant sambal and squeeze of kalamansi lime gave it even more zing.  Now, if there were some bloody cockles, it could have been perfect! ;P

If that's not a beautiful thing.....I don't know what is!  #SoGood  Sorry that I went on and on about the curry laksa but, as you can see, I'm thrilled to bits that I don't need to travel far anymore for an outstanding bowl of curry now. ^o^

As with any roasted meat shops, they're bound to offer wantan mee as well.  I went with the Char Siew Wantan Noodles @ RM7.30 to start.  The char siew was definitely praiseworthy with a good ratio of lean-to-fat, tender meat and just the right amount of smoky, not-too-sweet caramelisation.  The sauce was more than decent too.

It comes with only two wantans (not the usual three) but rest assured that these are bigger-sized wantans than the norm.  The minced pork filling of the wantans was tasty and juicy, pretty good wantans in a broth that's very umami flavoured...a stock that's too good to be true, if you ask me. *wink wink*

Their Char Siew & Siu Yuk Wantan Mee comes in at RM8.50 (you can choose from a selection of any two meats which include char siew, siu yuk, roast chicken or siew cheong (roast sausage) with an additional RM1 if you opt for roast duck as one of the two meats selected.  However, I don't think the siu yuk was nearly as successful (there are lots better siu yuk in my neighbourhood than this).

Condiments of fresh chilli dip and pickled green chillies to complement both rice and noodle dishes were competent too.  The fresh chilli dip had that appetising, zesty tang of lime (or kalamansi) juice but wished it had a thicker consistency.

Besides having two thumbs up for char siew and curry noodles (in their menu indicating what they're good at), the thumbs up also applied to their mushroom chicken feet noodles and roast duck.

So, I gave their Roast Duck Rice @ RM8.50 (RM11.50 for drumstick) a try (I asked for duck breast).  Even though you see a poster on the wall of hot oil being used to bath the roasted duck, don't be thinking that you'd be getting crispy skin coz there'd be none.  Hmm, presentation could be better too (seems like their duck chopping skill is rather haphazard).

The meat was tender (and tasty) enough but the sauce that was poured over the duck was very herbal in nature (not a taste I particularly fancy).  I'm not very familiar with Chinese herbs (since I don't enjoy them, so I don't take the trouble to familiarise myself with them) but if I had to guess, it's probably dong guai (Chinese angelica root)! >.<

Served with white rice, I had to douse the duck slices with lots of the fresh chilli dip to mask the strong taste of the Chinese herb (a bit too pungent for me but fragrant to others).  So, this would only appeal to those who like the herbal version of roast duck (and I'm not one of them).  In the end, it's not a duck rice I'd have again as I certainly prefer the other one near me in BBQ Kong Meng (with crispy skin some more!).

On yet another trip, I tried a mix of two meat combination, Siu Yuk & Roasted Chicken @ RM8 (a two-meat combo is listed as RM8.50 in the menu, not sure if it's because they gave me breast meat or because I complained about the rice...hehe!).  This time, at least, I was happier with the (shorter) cut of siu yuk I got which looked way better than the one I had with wantan noodles.  The siu yuk skin was suitably crispy but the meat isn't quite as tender compared to others I've had before.

I should have requested for my default (preferred) cut of chicken as I ended up with all breast meat...and yikes, some pieces of the breast meat still had bones (I think their fowl handling and chopping skill needs refinement).  The chicken was ordinary tasting.  I don't understand why some roasted meat shops like to dump chicken breast on people who did not request for that cut (I've encountered this in other shops as well).  The right rationale would be to give a combination of meat cuts instead of trying to get rid of all their chicken breast (as quickly as possible on one person just because we forgot to specify the cut we wanted)! >_<

I liked that the rice had a really good dose of chicken flavour in it but it was a shame that it happened to be cooked way too soft on this occasion.  I also found some mysterious green stuff within the rice (not something I've seen with other chicken rice) which I think were green onions (it was difficult to see as they were in a very softened, almost disintegrating state).  Hmmm, is this another secret ingredient (for making chicken rice) besides ginger? ;)

The thick and frothy White Coffee @ RM3.20 was very commendable too, certainly among the better ones, and my default order here every time.  I don't know when I'll get round to trying the other coffee variations.

My Personal Opinion

*Stop Press* I can't believe my luck...there's such a good curry laksa at my doorstep!!!  I'm not fully convinced of their roasted meats (other than char siew) but it'll certainly be a place I'd return frequently for curry noodles (first and foremost) and char siew wantan mee (second in line).  That said, the rest of the roasted meat is still decent by many's standards (but the char siew is still your best bet though)! ^.^

Though prices may be just a smidge higher than some of the other roasted meat stalls, do note that the portions here are pretty generous.  I can't even finish the rice at times.

It was truly unexpected that the supporting cast of curry noodles turned out to be even better than its main cast of roasted meats (oh well, it happens sometimes...even in Hollywood!).

It may not take the crown for the best roasted meats shop in my neighbourhood.....but it certainly can be crowned the best curry laksa (even if it doesn't come with cockles)!! ^o^

Update: The place has since closed (which was not surprising) seeing that ownership has changed hands twice (rumours) and the taste of the food/prices have changed drastically (my last taste of their curry laksa was no longer what it used to be (certainingly no longer deserving the crown of best curry laksa in my taman which I gave them previously)

Restoran Lok Zok Liu

No 29 Jalan Pandan Indah 1/22

Pandan Indah

55100 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 03-9202 9333