Chui Lau Sinn @ Taman Maluri

I first got to know about this place after stumbling upon an article written by Fun N' Taste of the place serving up a good plate of Hokkien mee (since 1976) cooked by Aunty Helen.

From their humble beginnings of a hawker stall in Jalan Alor more than 4 decades ago, mother and son have gone on to open a proper restaurant, Chui Lau Sinn @ Taman Maluri, committed to serving you the same delicious fried noodles.

As this is a proper restaurant, the fuss-free, no-frills interior is clean and air-conditioned making it much more comfortable than eating at a hawker stall.  There's also a small alfresco dining area at the side of the restaurant.

Since this is the reputed fried Hokkien mee from Jalan Alor, it was a no-brainer that we start with an order of precisely that, Fried Hokkien Mee @ RM16.90 (for medium or 2 pax) complemented with ingredients of lean pork, prawns, cuttlefish, choy sum, cabbage....and crispy, fresh-tasting pork lard (you can add on more for RM1).  I thought the ingredients were slightly scarce though for the price paid....and yes, I would have been more ecstatic if there were some pork liver thrown in! ^o^

The dark sauce coated each strand of noodle lusciously and I would say, taste-wise, this was among some of the better fried Hokkien mee I've had.  Some versions are saucier while others are dry, the version here is cooked perfectly, not too wet and not too dry, my preferred consistency.  I did detect some wok hei though not a significant lot.

Another recommended noodle dish here (judging from the thumbs up sign on the menu) is the Cantonese Fried Yin Yong (a mixture of kway teow and meehoon) @ RM9.90 (for small or single portion).  I would have liked to see a bit more charring on the yin yong noodles to give it that added smoky flavour.

But what I liked most about this plate of Cantonese-style fried noodles was the eggy sauce.  Many of the versions I've eaten are usually too starchy at the start and then tends to thin out to become too watery as you continue eating.  This is because they used too much cornflour to thicken the sauce (and not enough egg) but this one I suspect has more egg than cornflour (so the consistency of the sauce stayed almost unchanged...and tasty throughout).

Other recommended noodles include their signature lou shi fun, moonlight hor fun, Hokkien mee (they even have prawn mee here?) and fried yakisoba noodles.  Soup noodles, loh mee and white meehoon round up the rest of the noodle offerings.

We wanted a rice dish and ordered the Yang Zhou Fried Rice @ RM9.90 (for small or 1 pax) which was fried with lap cheong (dried Chinese sausage), long beans and egg.

With the rice slightly clumpy and lacking any wok hei, it was the least impressive dish but, at least, it wasn't fried with the trio of frozen vegetables (of carrots, corn and peas) which I detest.

Also offered on the menu are some side dishes which include nam yue fried chicken wings or pork, smoked duck breast, Macau pork soup, bacon rolls, spring pork rolls, 5-spice pork rolls and Taiwan garlic sausage.

We went with the Nam Yue Fried Pork @ RM11.90 served with a Thai-style chilli sauce.  This nam yue (red-coloured fermented bean curd) pork was a slightly different version to what I've had in the past.

It's usually made with a whole strip of pork belly coated in nam yue before being deep-fried and cut into pieces but the ones here are pork slices (of a much leaner cut) marinated in nam yue and then fried.  I actually prefer this version of a leaner cut (though some will beg to differ) which was much crunchier (as the pieces were already sliced when fried).

I had the Kedondong Assam Boi @ RM5 which was decent and refreshing, perhaps a little sweet.  Other drinks include White Coffee (Cold) @ RM4.50 and Chinese Tea @ RM1.

My Personal Opinion

There's no doubt that this place does indeed serve up a good plate of Hokkien mee.  The Cantonese-style fried noodles weren't too bad either but could be better if the noodles had more charring to give it that in-depth smoky flavour.

The price of RM10 for a single portion may be seen as slightly higher than the norm and the portion a little small but this is understandable seeing it's in a proper restaurant and you get to eat your plate of noodles in a comfortable and hygienic environment.

The location is a big-plus for me.  I haven't tried all their noodles but their best seller and winning dish is definitely their fried Hokkien mee.  Now I have a place near me that I can return to repeatedly when I crave a good Hokkien mee! ^.^

Chui Lau Sinn

No 1 Jalan Jejaka 3

Taman Maluri

55100 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 03-9201 7698