Little Sifu Bentong Hainan Kopitiam @ Pandan Indah started out as a single shoplot selling roasted meat rice and later aded wantan mee to their menu. They were known as
Little Sifu Famous Roast Meat then and were one of the better roasted meat stalls in our neighbourhood.
Fast forward a couple of years later, they expanded and moved to occupy two shoplots next door to their original lot. Their old lot was later snapped up by
Thong Kee next door (who expanded to three shoptlots from two). Both businesses must be doing well. In fact, these modern
kopitiams (there are four within close proximity to each other) seem to do better than the old, traditional coffee shops as the former is preferred by the younger generation.
The first stall that attracted me to try was the
Fried Char Kway Teow @ RM8 and that's because I'm always on the lookout for a good (I would settle for decent)
char kway teow in my neighbourhood as the ones we have are all underwhelming, to say the least.
When the plate of char kway teow arrived at my table, I was sold at first sight as the colour was right and the noodles (and prawns) seemed to have a bit of charring on them. Cooked with decent-sized fresh prawns, fish cake slices, cockles, chives, taugeh (beansprouts, fat and crunchy on some days) and a good dose of (chilli) heat, it was a rather tasty plate of char kway teow with a slight wok hei (on some days).
Only letdown were the scarce +
teeny-weeny cockles (
sihum), missing
chee yau char (pork lard) and dried sausage (
lap cheong). Even so, it'd still be my go-to
char kway teow for now due to its flavours.
From a stall that specialises in
Kampar Fish Ball Noodles, I ordered their
Curry Laksa @ RM9 even after confirming with the stall owner that theirs was Ipoh-style. When I saw it on other customers' tables, the curry didn't quite look like the Ipoh version to me.
And I was right when I took the first sip of the broth. Yes, it had different ingredients from our KL curry mee and the presence of mint leaves was distinctly similar to Ipoh's style but the similarity stops there. The ingredients used are not what we'd find in our usual bowl of curry mee for sure (in fact, they're ingredients you'd find in a bowl of
Kampar fish ball noodles).
Although you can taste the
santan (coconut milk) in the broth, it wasn't as creamy or thick like some of our KL curries but had a lighter and slightly tangy taste to it. I'd say it's a cross between Ipoh and KL's version, not overly curry powdered-taste (like Ipoh's) but also only lightly savoury and creamy (like KL's). I was ok with this lighter taste (since it didn't have that strong spice taste) but it was a no for my husband.
On another visit, I decided to order what they specialise in, and that's their
Kampar Fish Ball Noodles @ RM9 that comes with fish paste stuffed fried
fu chuk (beancurd sheets) and tofu, fish balls and a meat+fish paste patty/ball served with a fresh sambal that was meant for this noodle (incidentally, we got this same sambal with the curry noodles which was kinda weird as it's obviously not for curries).
The better items from the bowl were the fried fish ball and the fish paste stuff fried
fu chuk as the beancurd sheet had a extra savourty taste to it. The others like the boiled fish balls and tofu I didn't care for much for as the fish paste had a dense texture. The soup base is subtle (
ching) in taste bordering on bland. I would order the curry mee over this and have it with just the fried ingredients next time.
Next, I tried
Uncle Lee's Stall selling
Beef Noodles @ RM13 opting for dry
lai fun not knowing how strong tasting the soup is. The beef noodles contained goodies of tender slices of braised beef brisket (
ngau lam), beef balls, beef tripe/stomach (I omitted beef tendon) and a chunk of super soft radish.
The beefy soup base wasn't too strong in herbal taste, so I found it more suitable for me as I prefer a lighter tasting soup that's also lighter in herbal taste. Like that I can definitely go for the soup version next time. The beefy goodies were served with a fresh chilli dip which was super spicy but good.
I've never tried this stall when
Chang Kitchen was still around as I would always eat theirs due to my loyalty to the super friendly lady boss. Maybe that's why
Chang Kitchen folded with this beef noodle giving them stiff competition...
haiz (this one has an even lighter herbal taste than
Chang Kitchen's). Anyway, I've not eaten enough (soup-style) beef noodles (to be a good judge of it) as I'm not a big fan of it and would always choose some other noodles over it.
The roasted meat stall is operated by the same owner as before who now also runs the
kopitiam. Their
Char Siew Wantan Mee (S) @ RM9,
Char Siew Rice @ RM9,
Roasted Chicken (Thigh) + Char Siew Rice @ RM12 and
Poached Chicken (Thigh) Rice @ RM12 (inclusive of RM2 for the added
chicken liver) still taste decent (
char siew is your best bet here).
Their drinks of
Kopi-O Ping,
Iced Hainan Tea,
Teh Ping and
Hot Kopi-O are alright...but they only come in one standard size (XL for the cold drinks which costs RM4+ and in a metal mug for hot drinks which cost in the region of RM3).
Outside the kopitiam, I noticed a stall selling Kee Mei Siew Pow (supposedly one of the big three names in Seremban baked BBQ pork buns), the other two being Empayar Seremban Siew Pow and Asia Siew Pow Master. I bought a couple of stuff (Siew Pau @ RM2.40 & Wife Biscuit or lo poh peang @ RM2.40) but none tasted good. I should have known seeing the stall is a distributor who use their ready-made, supplied paus that they can bake and sell (I didn't see any baking on site, so not sure if the stock they got was already baked). If it was already baked, it showed in the freshness and texture. Either way, it was missing that just baked, fresh-from-the-oven taste that I'm hoping for.
My Personal Opinion
In the end, Little Sifu Bentong Hainan Kopitiam is just an extension of Little Sifu Famous Roast Meat where the owner expanded his little roasted meat shop to a full-fledged kopitiam to include more food choices along with traditional toasts, eggs and coffee as well.
The
char kway teow stall is probably my most visited stall when I dine here (since I can't find a better
char kway teow though there used to be a very good one but that one upped and left) followed by the roasted meat stall. I feel the roasted meats aren't as good as before coz it's now helmed by his foreign workers (I seldom see the boss manning the stall unlike the old days where he used to be very friendly, approachable and chatty even while preparing your orders).
But now he has
bigger fish to fry, I suppose...
lol. That said, it's still one of the better roasted meat stalls in our neighbourhood.
I see a couple more food choices here like pork ball noodles (sam kan chong), claypot noodles and pan mee. It's a possible spot to satisfy one's daily breakfast and lunch needs.
Little Sifu Bentong Hainan Kopitiam
23 & 25 Jalan Pandan Indah 1/23E
Beautiful Pandan
55100 Kuala Lumpur
This post is interesting and eye opener to me. Firstly, the Feng Shui must be good until the 2 businesses expanded so well over the years. I often compared their minimal costs of those restaurants in shopping malls which come and go after investing heavily in renovations and upfront rentals.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that I have been eating various types of curry laksa/noodles in KL. I did notice the slight differences in those santan, broths and mint leaves but didn't know there are versions of Ipoh, Kampar and KL. I will pay more attention from now.
Regarding the Wife's Biscuits, I have never eaten a good one here like the famous brand in Hong Kong. I was even more disappointed that I found most Wife's Biscuits stalls around HKG to be below expectations. My relatives there told me that they only eat the famous brands and not from any random stalls.
Ya, those restaurants that spent a bomb in renovations can't even recoup those costs when they fold. Even a simple kopitiam can easily spend RM100K on renovation costs.
DeleteYeah, there are many different types of curry noodles in KL depending on the State where they come from but some similarities (in terms of ingredients) do overlap. We have curries from KL, Penang, Ipoh, Kampar, Melaka, and more...my undisputed favourite is still from my hometown of KL...lol!
You're right, the wife cakes here cannot compare to the ones in Hong Kong (I also have never eaten a good one here). An ex-employer of mine used to buy for us staff when they return from their business trips to Hong Kong and I thought the one they got was very good. That was until a neighbour's son brought home even better tasting wife's biscuits. I wonder which brand your relatives eat. I wonder if you've had the chance to try the ones from Kee Wah Bakery in Hong Kong (a long standing brand since 1938)? I found them to be excellent (even better after a light toasting in the toaster oven).
You are right! Kee Wah Bakery and Hang Heung are the top 2 in Hong Kong. Only sold at Yuen Long. The others I ate are not even close to these 2 brands.
DeleteOh, thanks for your info that I ate one of the top two brands. No wonder I found the Kee Wah one so good. Hopefully, I can get to try Hang Heung some day.
DeleteWah there are lots of choices at this kopitiam. I can't seem to remember how char koay teow taste like. LOL! It's a pity that the roast meat stall standard dropped after the boss left the running to his foreign staff. That's usually the case I find at eateries but it can't he helped. The boss can't be there all the time as they have other ventures to take care of. Now I understand why some of these siew pow don't taste that good - they are ready made ones hmmm....
ReplyDeleteOh, the boss is still there...every day...he's just got other things to focus on other than his roasted meat stall. He has the kopitiam to run and his stall also provides a couple more choices than before. I remembered the char siew (hanging at the stall) to have a more caramelised look and the poached liver is always cooked just right (the one I had recently is a bit overcooked)...little things like that but it's still a better roasted meat stall than some others.
DeleteI can't differentiate curry noodles from various places, I just know how to eat, haha! The one you tried looked pretty good (thick broth with curry oil). The CKT looked legit too and I always get Kuey Teow + yellow mee too when I order CKT . Kee Mei Siew Bao not bad one wor, those I tried never disappointed.
ReplyDeleteSome of the curry noodles have subtle differences while some are "hybrids" with a"fusion" of ingredients from different States (lol), so it's difficult to differentiate them at times. So I see you eat your CKT like me, always a mix of kway teow & yellow mee (more KL-like...lol). In true Penang style, CKT is always just kway teow alone. As for the Kee Mei siew pau, I think these are procured already baked as I didn't see any baking on site (so probably not as good as freshly baked ones).
Delete