Tasty La La Noodles @ Pandan Indah

I was driving around my neighbourhood one morning when I stumbled upon a signboard that said....tasty la la (clam) noodles.....and unknowingly stumbled upon a gem of a find.  It's situated next to a Mazda showroom or in the row behind the one and only bread and pastry shop that serves western meals (formerly Fougasse, then Ficelli, now Maison Boulangerie).

The interior of Tasty La La Noodles @ Pandan Indah is a bit dark coz it's painted in tones of black and grey, more appropriate as a place to drink than a place to eat, in my opinion.  When I'm eating, I prefer the place to be cheery and bright so that I can see what I'm eating clearly...lol.  But I did venture here on my own many times to try out their noodles and got hooked.

The very first thing I wanted to try was a bowl of their tasty La La (or Clam Soup) Noodles @ RM12.90 (after all, that's what their signboard claims).  When it arrived, I was totally flabbergasted at just how the bowl was totally covered with la la so much so I couldn't even see the noodles! O_o

First and foremost, the la la clams were fresh, plump and juicy...and there were plenty of them, probably between 30 - 40 in a bowl! ^.^  Omg, I've never gotten this many la la in all my previous bowls of la la noodles I've eaten...there's usually only half the amount (of say 15 - 20).  I did commend the lady boss (when paying) on the plentiful la la she gave (although some days the la la can be much smaller).

As for the broth, you can taste two flavours distinctly....the Chinese rice wine and ginger taste.  When I was waiting for my bowl of noodles to arrive, I was regretting that I didn't go for the add-on rice wine for RM2 but apparently I didn't need to.  The ginger is so finely julienned (almost grated-like) that the soup base takes on a spicy note (not chilli-spicy, but ginger-spicy, though I did find a few slices of red cili api).  I love the taste of ginger, so I was fine with it but I think they should still dial down the ginger just a bit so as not to overpower the soup.

As for the noodle of choice, if cho mai fun (thick rice noodles) is offered, that's always my first option.  It goes really well with soup noodles as the noodles don't absorb the soup quickly like thin meehoon.  The portion of noodles given was also quite a lot which I couldn't finish as I had to make sure I ate up all the clams.

They give you a separate bowl to store your eaten la la shells.....and you can clearly see that the aftermath was quite a mountain of shells.  Watch out for those fiery red bird's eye chillies too as they bring some serious heat if you bite into them. >.<

On my second visit, I went for their Grouper Fillet Fish Noodles @ RM20.90 featuring truly fresh, thick slices of grouper (sek pan or kerapu) fillet.  This one was garnished with loads of really bright and springy Chinese parsley (which I adore like in the earlier bowl).  Not only that, but it was topped with a good spoonful of crispy fried garlic and a few leaves of sang choy (lettuce) too.

You get 7 - 8 good-sized pieces (of at least 1/2 an inch thickness that's about the size of a soup spoon) of very fresh and sweet tasting sek pan yue.  The fish slices were so flaky and delicate that it broke the moment I lifted it up with a chopstick...signs of a fish that's really fresh (I had to scoop it into a spoon to be able to take a photo).

The soup base is more ching (clear) and subtle in flavour compared to the earlier la la noodles.  You still get the taste of Chinese rice wine in the soup but the wine is not as strong as the one in the la la noodles.  Even less prominent is the taste of ginger but you do bite into a few thin slivers of ginger at the bottom of the bowl.

I chose the Big Prawn Ginger Wine Noodles @ RM22.90 on my third visit.  Not only were there big prawns, the noodles were served with fried egg shreds that have been stir-fried with lots of finely shredded ginger.  

Athough the menu says "big prawns", the prawns weren't super big-lah but I'd say decently big for the price paid.  You can see these tiger prawns were cooked just right (their bodies have not curled up completely).

I noticed the menu pic showed 3 prawns but the bowl came with only two.  Oh well, I thought, it's ok as long as the prawns were fresh, firm, juicy and sweet tasting....and they were indeed all that. ^o^

I was about half way through the bowl of noodles before I realised that there was a third prawn hidden at the bottom of the bowl.  Hmmm, I think the presentation needs a wee bit more attention to ensure all 3 prawns are showcased distinctly for the diner to see immediately...lol.

The fact that I could peel these tiger prawn so effortlessly and properly, with the tail still intact, is a sign that the prawn were indeed at its freshest.  The soup base of this bowl had the strongest smell and taste of of rice wine and ginger of the three I've tried thus far.  That's probably the reason why the words "ginger wine" were included in the description of this dish on the menu.  So, brace yourself for the heat effect you'd get at the end of this meal.

What was interesting was noly only did I enjoy the prawns, I found myself enjoying the fried egg bits just as much, if not more.  There was plenty of it, so I'm assuming two eggs were used.  I also noticed the egg bits had lots of orangey yolk, a sign they were kampung eggs...and indeed they were coz there's also an option for Ginger Wine Kampung Egg Noodles (RM10.90).

Yet another variation they offer here is golden (or fried) fish puffs (RM12.90) and pure fish paste (RM10.90) noodles.  I decided to go for the Golden Fish Puffs + Pure Fish Paste Noodles @ RM12.90 so that I can sample both in one go.

The pure fish paste patties were bouncy with a denser texture due to the flour in them.  If you've been a follower of my blog, you'd know that I'm not so in favour of bouncy fish paste although most places make them this way.  

The golden fried fish puffs, on the other hand, had a much softer texture which I was told was due to the combination of tofu and fish paste used to make them.  They were downright delicious. ^o^  Although not in the menu, you can order both the fish paste and fish puffs separately (without the noodles) and you'll be charged accordingly.  I was told it's quite popular as a side dish with diners.

When it comes to noodles, they've 4 choices here...bee hoon, kuey teow, rice noodle (aka cho mai fun and my favourite) and mee sua. Mee sua is something I never order as this noodle tends to become super soft and mushy when steeped in soup.  I also don't fancy kuey teow with seafood-based noodles for some reason.  It's only either thin beehoon or cho mai fun for me when it comes to seafood noodles.

On my first visit, unaware of the good portion size of the noodles here (which I always struggle to finish), I asked if they had anything else other than noodles and was told they serve their inhouse made sai to yue paeng (fish cake) too.  So, I got myself a side dish of Fish Cake @ RM9.90.  I would say it's a fairly decent fish cake but not my favourite as I've eaten lots of better fish cake than this.

It's quite surprising to see a shop specialising in seafood noodles also offer poached chicken rice.  If you didn't notice it in the menu, you get a not-so-subtle hint with two poached chicken hanging at the front of the shop (they're fake by the way...lol).

I ordered their Poached Kampung Chicken (Thigh) Rice @ RM10.90 since someone told me it's good.  First impression, the meat is lean but flavourful and the skin a little fatty and thick.  Note that this type of skinny kampung chicken, you get a rather thin layer of meat only.

But alas, the soy sauce mixture wasn't my favourite and the chicken is for those who enjoy the slightly firmer texture of kampung chicken (which is different from the smoother, softer choi yin kai).  Obviously there are fans who swear by the extra flavour in these yellow-skinned kampung chicken.

The rice though looking like it was made with a good chicken stock was unfortunately not.  Other than the smell of ginger I got and the rice was certainly not oily, there was just not enough flavours in the rice to make it stand out as a good chicken rice. 

Also got a portion of Blanched Beansprouts @ RM6 as a side order.  Though crunchy, the soy sauce for the beansprouts wasn't even near the good tasting ones.  I could also taste a hint of sesame oil in the mix which I'm not particularly keen when it comes to vegetables.  Beware too of those tiny fiery red cili api which lends quite a bit of heat to the dish.

You get three types of dipping sauces served with the chicken rice...a fresh blended chilli paste, a ginger paste and sliced red bird's eye chillies in soy sauce that's served with the noodles (the fresh chilli paste is served with the fish cake as well).  The spicy note in the blended fresh chilli comes through first and it isn't as oily or tangy as some of the chilli dips that come with chicken rice.  The ginger paste which has a much darker colour (probably from being sauteed in oil) was just ok.

Mind you, for a shop that's not predominantly a kopitiam known to serve coffees, eggs and toast, they sure make a mean cup of coffee and tea.  I was taken aback at just how thick (kaw) and good their Signature Hainan Kopi Ais @ RM4.80 and Signature Teh Ais also @ RM4.80 were.  The final one is Kopi O Ais @ RM3.80 but this one is a bit too strong to have without milk.

My Personal Opinion

I was pretty stoked at the overly generous amount of la la this place gives for their la la noodles.  If la la is your thing, then you must make your way here.  Perhaps they should call themselves Plenty La La instead of Tasty La La! ;D  I'm glad to have found such fresh seafood + soup noodles (two things I'm very fond of) so close to home.

Usually for a shop to offer various types of noodles or various variations of the same type of noodles, there are bound to be some good and some not so good.  As I've always said, not everything on the menu is good in one place but this one really bucked the trend as I can't fault any of the noodles I had, so it's difficult to say which one I liked best (I like them all!).  Their secondary offering of chicken rice and beansprouts are probably there just for those who want rice.  These two (which aren't their speciality), I won't be having again.  So, with that, I've practically tried every item on their menu except for their Fresh Fish Head Noodles (that's because I only like fried fish head version) and Seafood Noodles (which is just a combination of all the seafood which I've already tasted individually).

There'll be those who wish for a more robust tasting soup or even more wine taste but I believe the subtlety in the taste of the soup base further highlights the freshness of the seafood even more...though I do feel that there's still room for improvement in their broth.  But that does not stop me from coming here to enjoy their seafood noodles.  I'm pretty sure I'll be a regular here (actualy, I already am)! ^o^

Tasty La La Noodles

39G Jalan Pandan Indah 4/6A

Pandan Indah

55100 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 018-353 1101