Hot Mom Kitchen (@ Restoran Bai Li Men) @ Pudu

I first tried this place (relocated here from Pandan Jaya) when they were located in Pandan Perdana but their stay there was also shortlived (less than a year).  Luckily, I had their contact number since they're in the habit of changing their daily specials (and we had to call ahead if we wanted to know what's on the menu for the day).

Hot Mom Kitchen have now moved to Restoran Bai Li Men @ Pudu and I've revisited a couple of times already (hopefully they can make it here although the place doesn't seem to be busy each time we visit).  Not sure why is that (coz the food is really good) but, if I were to make a guess, I'd put it down to the prices (that's more premium than your standard hawker fare) and the fact they don't have social media presence (they do have Facebook but there are no active updates).

After trying twice when they were at their previous location, I brought my extended family here on my third visit since my brother-in-law likes Penang food as this place specialises in food from up north (rather obvious from the word "Penang" in all their dishes).  He has been looking forward to eating Penang Kway Chap @ RM12 for a while now.  This was where I first learned that the kway chap noodles actually come in dried form and curl up into rice rolls when they're cooked.

The bowl of kway chap arrived looking really authentic with its darkly coloured broth (that tasted quite light and not too herbally) filled with pork innards (not a lot of variety, just intestines and stomach), thick-cut pork belly slices, duck meat, firm fried tofu pieces, braised hard-boiled egg with authentic flat broad rice roll noodles (not kway teow) and finished with a good sprinkling of crispy fried garlic and Chinese celery leaves (daun sup) served with a chilli dip.  Both my sister-in-law and I got a small bowl before he devoured the rest (and at the rate he devoured it, I'm guessing he found it pretty good).  I, too, thought it was one of the better kway chap I've had in recent times.

I ordered the Penang Assam Fish (again) @ RM25 as I thought it was excellent the first time I had it.  The fish of the day was not stingray (or pou yue) this time but grouper (sek pan).  I also added a prawn @ RM5 (wehich was cheaper coz it was ming har this time as she's still waiting for her supply of fung wong har to arrive, she told me) for my dining companions to try.  The fish was easier to divide as there were 3 sizeable chunks.

The sauce was as good as before, thick and well balanced between sour and spicy though my brother-in-law thought it was a bit too sour.  Well, if it's not sour, then it's not quite the flavour of assam as people would say.  Of course with a sauce like that, you need rice to go with it (rice was RM2 a plate, used to be RM1)! ;P

 

Seeing that my brother-in-law enjoyed the kway chap, he got an order of Penang Braised Duck @ RM18 later which arrived with the same dark looking sauce as the broth in the earlier kway chap noodles.

I prefer to eat roast duck over braised duck (coz I'm not a fan of soft, fatty skin and prefer crispy skin obviously) but this was still a pretty good rendition if you like braised duck.  I just thought the duck was a little bony for me but that's just what braised duck lovers like...getting at all the bony parts! ;)

We just can't leave without trying their Penang Char Kway Teow @ RM10 and when it landed on our table, I was a bit disappointed initially.  What, no siham (cockles)? O_o  It was promptly divided into 3 portions and I was the last to take my share revealing all the cockles hidden at the bottom of the plate which were left behind.

When I returned with family on another day and ordered this again, I knew this time to dig right to the bottom to reveal the good-sized cockles so that a proper photo can be taken.  As you can see, the cockles were fresh, bloody and plump ones at that.  The rawness of the cockles led me to believe that the cockles were probably scooped onto the plate before the fried noodles were put on top or they were laid on top of the noodles in the wok before plating up (and not fried together with the noodles).

I do like my cockles a little rare but also not as raw as this (I know some will beg to differ).  My ideal cockles in a plate of char kway teow would be one that is thrown in at the last minute, just for a quick stir with the already cooked noodles (not fried with the noodles).  This way they won't be overcooked and it takes that bit of raw edge off.

Flavour wise, it's a very decent plate of char kway teow as they pass the test with their big, juicy prawns (check), fresh, plump siham (check), fat, crunchy beansprouts (check), crispy pork lard (check) and wok hei (check, but only a hint and not all the time).  The only thing lacking is a bit more charring on their noodles.  They probably need to be cooked a little longer but with the lady boss being the sole cook, the cooking can be a bit inconsistent if she's rushed with other orders. >_<  Our (both me and my husband) gold standard char kway teow is still the one from Restoran TO in Pandan Perdana while my son prefers the version by Piau Kee Kopitiam (formerly Red Leaf) in Jalan Loke Yew but this is an equally worthy contender.

On one of our visits, they had Pork Innards Soup with Salted Vegetables @ RM18 (if my memory serves me right) with yam rice on their rotational menu for the day.  It's something my husband loves to eat and he had it with white rice instead.  There were pork belly slices, stomach, intestines, liver and meatballs with softened salted vegetables and silken tofu cubes.  Not quite the authentic bowl of innards soup since it was missing some crucial innards like tongue, spleen, heart and blood.  This is more towards something you'd find a pork noodles stall dishing out.

My husband thought it was just ok as we found some of the innards weren't cooked soft enough (and that's because they were cooked to order).  He says it's not good enough if it's not made by a pork innards soup specialist (and by that he wants to see a big pot of simmering pork innards) made the traditional way.  Made that way, I've to agree the innards steeping in the broth are much more tender and the soup has time to develop a deeper flavour but this is a dying trade as not many people (especially the youngsters) want to eat innards these days (other than the older folks), so it's more common to see them made to order nowadays (as in cook the innards a la minute with a ready-made stock like how pork noodles are made).

That same day, Sambal Stuffed Fried Fish @ RM12 was also on their special menu, so I packed one to go.  This is one of my favourite things to eat and it has to be hardtail mackerel or ikan cencaru.  Of course, other fish like Indian mackerel (ikan kembong) or barramundi (ikan siakap) can be used but it just won't be as good. My late mother-in-law makes the best sambal stuffed ikan cencaru....my mom's version was not too bad either (but she has not made this since she stopped eating spicy stuff). :'(

A lot of them can't compare to the ones made by our moms coz the sambal that's stuffed inside is always cooked not long enough.  You have to cook this over a low fire so that the paste inside has enough time to darken.  Either that or you saute the sambal first until well caramelised before stuffing into the fish.  Both methods take extra work and time which the hawkers will not choose to do obviously.  So, for me, this was an acceptable rendition (like most sold outside) where the sambal paste inside is still a little raw.

I was lucky enough to try their Thai Laksa @ RM12 on one occassion and it turned out very satisfactory as well.  Thai Laksa is like a cross between assam laksa and curry laksa (you don't find this being sold at many places).

It's like an assam laksa because of the similar ingredients used...thinly shredded onions and cucumber, Indian mackerel (kembong), chopped torch ginger flower (bunga kantan) and mint leaves (which I picked out later) in a light sourish broth served with the same type of laksa noodles you'll find in assam laksa.

It's also like a curry because of the santan used with the resulting flavours of a curry that's lighter with a sourish tang but also contains some sweetness and creaminess from the coconut milk.  And then, my bowl of Thai laksa took a turn for the better...got kar liew (additional ingredients) when the cockles from my husband's plate of char kway teow ended up in mine.  Happy days! ^.^

But, of course, the noodles I eat the most regularly here is none other than their Penang Prawn Mee @ RM12....the standout of which are the fresh prawns, intestines (not many places include this in a standard bowl) and their own-made fried shallots.  But the most impressive is their thick and robustly flavoured prawn broth.  This is now my gold standard prawn mee (my husband still prefers my previous gold standard prawn mee which is the one in Piau Kee Kopitiam).

I once had add-on intestines (I can't remember how much but probably RM3 - RM4 extra) and the amount given (as you can see) was quite substantial.  Although I love intestines to death, I felt they weren't soft enough so I think I'll stick to the standard bowl from now on (which would still have a few pieces of intestines in it) rather than chewing through so many.

My Personal Opinion

I would say this shop is a bit off the beaten track unless you've eaten their food before or someone recommends the place to you.  If you pass by, you probably wouldn't even give the place a second glance as it's always quite empty when we're there (even on Sunday mornings).  If you aren't 'famous' and have no social media presence (I say that coz I've not seen any written reviews other than my own on the place except for one video), are not always crowded and don't have long queues outside, it's hard to get the interest of passersby or customers/foodies.

But the food they put out actually deserves a lot more credit (and crowd than what I've seen) if they were 'properly marketed', especially their Penang specialities of prawn mee and kway chap.  They also kinda shot themselves in the foot by not having a fixed menu (except for the kway chap which is available daily) but one with rotating specials for different days of the week.  Customers are very demanding these days, when they visit they want to eat a specific thing and won't like it when you tell them it's not available.

There are many eateries/hawkers out there purported selling Penang food that are more famous but...you heard it here (again).....this one is clearly flying under the radar with their Penang specialities that can rival some of the best out there.  Give them a chance and come try....but only if you have patience as the lady boss runs a one (wo)man show, she's not well managed like a famous shop with a perpetual crowd.  Though her prices are slightly more premium than standard hawker fare, she compensates that by using better quality ingredients.  So, if you're in this part of town, don't miss out on this! ^.^

Hot Mom Kitchen

@ Restoran Bai Li Men

1 Jalang Gelang

Off Jalan Sungei Besi

Pudu

55200 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 012-709 1181