Ah Koong Restaurant @ Pudu

My family and I have been going to Ah Koong Restaurant @ Pudu, the original (and only) non-halal branch and not their other halal branches (known as AK Noodles) on a fairly regular basis, at least once a month for its fish ball/seafood noodles(+ a side of yong tau foo) although I've to admit theirs is not my no. 1 favourite fish ball noodles.  My all-time favourite is still the one at Yin Kee which my family isn't into since their speciality (and best dish) is their true fish ball noodles (only fish ball and fish paste related stuff).

They prefer to come to Ah Koong and it's down to a few reasons.....1) their fish ball noodles is not the typical fish ball noodles + it's available in a dry version (which is critical to my family), 2) their dining environment is much more comfortable since it's air-conditioned (especially conducive during this hot spell we're having) and 3) well, they do make one of my most-liked white coffee (this one only applies to me-lah).

I like it so much that I would buy their instant 2-in-1 white coffee (not theirs lah actually but one used by them at their restaurant which is manufactured by Yee Kong in Ipoh) which they sell at their restaurant (this is now the only white coffee I drink at home).  I used to buy it from them at RM20 (for a pack of 20 sachets) but recently found that I can get it from Shopee for much less with discounts, so there's where I get my stock now.

When we dine here, our default noodles have always been fish ball noodles in soup (for me) and fish ball noodles dry-style (for my family) with the same standard but loaded liew (ingredients) of boiled fish ball, fried fish ball, meat ball, fish cake slices, fried beancurd roll, fried fu chuk (beancurd sheet), seaweed, lettuce, spring onions, coriander (yin sai) and finally finished with tiny bits of fish paste (you'd find floating in the soup).

But, truth be told, my family would always complain about the overcooked wantan mee (for their kon lo) but still gobble it up anyway.  I used to like to add-on their fish skin wantans but (sadly) they no longer make them.  So, apart from the missing fish skin wantans (one by default used to be given), the three boiled fish balls are now also down to two (albeit with increased pricing!).

They also offer noodles in a curry or tom yam soup base but I always stick to the clear soup version.  Some days I would eat my default noodles with a premium add-on...like prawns for instance.  You'll be charged according to the weight of the prawns.

I chose one prawn and it was pretty large and it was really fresh on the day I had it.  Additional cost of this one added prawn was RM10 on top of the price for a bowl of fish ball noodles.  Since the prawn was super fresh, firm and sweet tasting, I was ok with the RM10 price tag for one knowing how pricey prawns are these days.

If you like, you can add-on slices of abalone (the canned kind-lah).  I tried that once and you get 4 thin slices for RM6.  Besides that, you also have a choice of canned scallops.

On another visit, I had add-on oysters for RM10.  Quite a good portion given for the price.  These are not the western-type oysters (that you find at buffets, shucked and ready to eat with lemon juice or Tobasco sauce) but the type of oysters similar to what you'd get in a bowl of Taiwanese oyster mee sua or oh chien (oyster omelette).

I've to say these type of oysters is an acquired taste.  I'm not crazy for it but will eat it from time to time.  Why I say it's an acquired taste is that when you bite into one, there's a tremendous burst of juice which can or may taste fishy to those who are not fans of oysters (sometimes it can be really fishy if they aren't fresh enough).

There's also a selection of fish as add-on though it's not available every day (it probably depends on the price and freshness).  I've seen white pomfret (chong yue) and grouper (sek pan)...the latter of which I had before (some years back) but didn't tickle my fancy as it wasn't fresh enough (that day).  These days, fish is so expensive that add-on fish can cost in the region of RM20 (it's best to check the prices with them first before commiting).  More than RM30 for a bowl of noodles is not something I'm willing to pay on a regular basis though.

Probably another reason why we patronise Ah Koong is because we can have a side of yong tau foo to accompany our meal.  Although I can't say their fish paste stuffed yong tau foo is excellent (as I've eaten better ones elsewhere), I do like their unique and tasty fried stuffed beancurd puff (which is what my husband enjoys eating the most).

They stuff their beancurd puffs (tau fu pok) with minced pork and Chinese parsley (yin sai) though (sometimes) they substitute it with daun sup (Chinese celery leaves) or even spring onions when yin sai is pricey.  The fact that it's filled with lots of yin sai is the very reason why this beancurd puff stands out from the rest (and the very thing my son dislikes about them....lol..but will still eat them by choosing one with less noticeable yin sai), the other being that it's a filling of minced pork instead of fish paste.  The beancurd puffs are turned inside out before stuffing the yin sai-fragrant minced meat filling and when deep fried, the exterior gets really crispy and delicious.

Of course when one is a fish ball specialist, you'd always find fried fish cake offered as well.  Again, this is not my favourite fish cake as theirs have that bouncy texture but that's what most people adore.  I'm not the biggest fan (neither is my husband) but we do accept a slightly bouncy texture since that's how most fish cakes are made anyway.

The fried fish cake and beancurd puffs are two of their most sought-after yong tau foo items and, if you look around, you'll see them on almost every table.  These two items are always our default order along with some other yong tau foo.

Besides the availability of their white coffee for sale, a number of their fish balls (and fish paste related stuff) are also for sale which can be handy if you're having steamboat at home (they even sell their soup base).  I usually pick up two of my favoured items (when I'm there) and they're their signature fish cake (RM13.50 for 2 pcs) and fried fish balls (RM10.90 for 18 pcs, 250g).

Their signature fish cake is already cooked, so all that's needed is to pan-fry them in some oil to get a nice browning and a light crisp on the skin.  Great on its own as a snack or as a dish to accompany your meal of rice.

It's also ideal as an added ingredient into a bowl of your homemade made-from-scratch soup noodles or (if lazy) simply in a bowl of instant noodles is what I usually do.  Other than that, I cut them into slices and fry them with vegetables (veggies like cabbage, broccoli, choy sum and green beans would work well).  You can also make use of them in fried rice or fried noodles.

This fish cake tastes loads better than those commercially produced fish cake you get at the supermarkets (or even wet markets) as some of them can taste really fishy (especially the lower quality ones).  Since discovering the availability of this, I've stopped buying those commercially prepared fish cake.

The other thing I always pick up when I'm here is their fried fish balls...the same fried fish ball you'd find in their fish ball noodles.  Of course the one you eat during dine-in is nicely round-shaped, the one you cart home is not as they've been vacuum packed and pressed out of shape...lol.

Again, I would add them to my bowl of instant noodles or, sometimes, I would even use the extra soup left over from any tapau-ed soup noodles and drop some of these fried fish balls in to accompany a meal.  The only thing they don't sell is their crispy stuffed tau fu pok.....coz if they did, you bet I'll be carting them home to fry too.

My Personal Opinion

I've blogged about Ah Koong a few times already (you can check it out here, here and here) and it remains a regular haunt of ours to dine in as it's a place where all of us can enjoy something (our usual orders) that we like even though it nay not necessarily be the best.

It's also a place where I can go to get my hands on their fish cake and fried fish balls to use at home.  Get them from the restaurant (if you're there) or through their online shop to try and you'll know they're much better in quality and taste than those fish cakes you'll ever get from the supermarkets.

Decent enough for a comforting bowl of fish ball noodles with a side of yong tau foo that you get to eat in an equally comfortable environment. ^_~

Ah Koong Restaurant

172 Jalan Changkat Thamby Dollah

Pudu

55100 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 03-2143 3477