This will be my shortest blogpost ever! ;D In fact, I wasn't planning to post this but thought I'd put my two cents in seeing how this Penang curry mee is the rave. Restoran Station 8 used to be known as Restoran Okay which I've visited a few times before. But that was before I read out about the existence of a good (and legendary) Penang curry mee here at Restoran Station 8 @ SS2 PJ (from reviews of prominent bloggers). Since then, I've been wanting to try but by the time I get there (which is usually before 10 am), I find them already closed.
That was before I knew that the stall (photo courtesy of my husband) is reputed to sell out quickly...sometimes within an hour after opening or as early as 8+ am! >.< So if I've any hope of eating this, it's to ask my husband to
tapau (when he's in the vicinity) and he attempted to do that one morning only to find them sold out when he got there. So, he tried again another day and made sure he got there even earlier.
And this time he was successful. This is the bowl of
Penang Curry Mee filled with all the essentials a good bowl of Penang curry mee should have and that's prawns, cuttlefish,
sihum (clams), (the ever requisite) blood cubes,
tofu pok (beancurd puffs) and beansprouts. I'm not sure if this qualifies as
Penang white curry mee (though a lot of people refer to it as such) as the broth was certainly not white when served/packed.
The
prawns and
sihum were fresh and of a decent size. I've never cared much for the chewy, crunchy texture of the rather tasteless
cuttlefish (the same ones as those you'd find in a dish of
Cuttlefish/Sotong Kangkong) that has been pre-soaked in alkaline water nor the
blood cubes which others swoon over.
For me, a bowl of good curry me has to pass the all-important broth test even if all the vitally essential ingredients are there (especially the blood cubes for some)...and for me, it was a real letdown! >_< The
broth was much too thin with the
santan (coconut milk) barely detectable. Even the
tofu puffs were disappointing as they didn't seem to have soaked in the flavours of the broth...probably not submerged in the curry long enough.
Luckily, it was made better by the
sambal (but unfortunately only slightly!) which looks more darkly coloured than those I've ever encountered before...signifying that this chilli paste has been cooked for a long time to achieve such dark caramelisation. It was certainly one of the better
sambals I've had.
This coffee shop is also known to house a reputable
wantan mee and
(James Bond) char kway teow, both of which I've tried before but thought nothing of it. The one I ended up liking turned out to be the one that's
flying under the radar (the one that no-one speaks of) and that's the
unique fish ball noodles that comes with
Hakka char yoke (stewed pork).
My Personal Opinion
The sambal, though very good (and different), wasn't enough to save this legendary Penang curry mee entirely in the end as the curry broth was much too thin and light (for my tastebuds)...to the point of being bland, if I've to be honest. Is Penang curry mee supposed to taste like that? Hmmm.....perhaps this curry is not my kind of curry.
I'm not sure why people would be willing to get to the stall so early and wait so long only to be served a bowl of rather underwhelming curry mee. Now that I've tasted it, I know I wouldn't need to purposely wake up early to get it...and I can safely strike it off my list! ;) People mention an elderly uncle manning the stall but (from the photo) that's clearly not an old uncle, so I'm not sure if the food standard is still the same.
Restoran Station 8
No 2 Jalan SS2/10
47300 Petaling Jaya
Selangor
