Fish Head Noodles @ Medan Selera Pandan Indah

I got to know about this fish head noodles place near me when we first dined at the tai chow eatery next to it.  After two visits, we found the tai chow to be just passable but the dining environment (under a zinc roof) was not that conducive as it was hot and humid (even in the evenings).  Not only that but the eating area also looked old and unkept.

So, even though I heard good things about the fish head noodles here, I never returned to try it coz eating a hot bowl of fish head noodles under such hot conditions wouldn't be comfortable at all.  I later learned that they shifted to a new food court (even nearer to me) and that's how I ended up trying this Fish Head Noodles @ Medan Selera Pandan Indah finally.

Although this new food court is much cleaner than their old premises, it was still rather hot and humid.  It baffles me how the authorities can construct a medan selera but not install ceiling fans?! @_@  There are only wall fans and we all know that's not great at circulating air.  So, if you don't like to eat in humid surroundings (you've been forewarned), make sure you go in the mornings (like we did) when it's not as hot as in the afternoons.

You can find what they offer plastered at the front of their food station.  It's basically a choice or combination of fried fish, fresh fish, prawns, squid or fish balls that you can have with your noodles (of thin meehoon, coarse meehoon, kuey teow or yellow mee) with a price ranging from the cheapest (at RM7 with just fish balls) to the most expensive (at RM25 with everything ie. fried fish, pomfret. prawns and squid).  The menu (with pictures) is plastered at the front of the counter, so you order by just telling them the option/item no. you want.

The first time I was here, I ordered Option/Bowl No. 10 @ RM15 with a combo of fried fish and fresh fish and chose it to go with thick meehoon in a milky broth.  Although it's called fish head noodles, no fish heads are used, it only comes with fish meat (which many patrons prefer).

When my bowl of fish head noodles arrived, I saw that the fried fish pieces were served in the soup itself and not separately as some shops/stalls choose to do.  When I took the first bite, I found the fish pieces to be incredibly crispy, much crispier than the many I've eaten before (and they stayed that way too till the end). Googling later (viz a newspaper article), the trick to getting very crispy fish (according to the owners) is to go low and slow (ie. slow frying the fish pieces for at least half an hour on low heat).  The fried fish used was freshwater tong san fish (bighead carp) and they only use the tail portion.

As for the fresh fish, they use white pomfret (from Kuala Selangor it seems).  The pomfret is cut lengthwise, so you get only half a pomfret (though it may seem like you're getting a whole fish from the menu picture). They were fresh (by most standards), just not super duper fresh (by my standard..hehe), as I'm one of those people who can detect even the faintest hint of fishiness.  Since they don't use any shredded ginger or rice wine in their noodles, I can excuse a slight fishy hint.

You can choose to have your fish head noodles with either a milky or clear broth.  I tried the milky broth first and it was very tasty with a bit of sweetness from the milk.  The abundant fried garlic given added more fragrance (and garlicky flavour) to the soup (though they tend to fry the garlic till too well browned!).  To complete the bowl, there were some thin shreds of salted vegetable (ham choy) and chunky tomato wedges to freshen up the bowl.

When coarse or thick beehoon is offered, I always opt for that as I feel it's the best noodle for this as they don't absorb the broth like regular/thin meehoon would, so the soup stays intact (for you to drink) right till the end.

On my second visit, I went for Option/Bowl No. 8 @ RM14, a combo of prawns and squid, just because I overheard them saying they ran out of squid on my first visit there.

When my noodles came, I was very happy to see two fairly large prawns in the bowl...but was taken aback at just how big the slices of squid were (I'll tell you why in a bit).  The prawns (heads intact but the body shelled) were very fresh with its meat firm and sweet. ^.^

Coming back to the squid, when they're so big, they're usually tough...and it was.  Just look at how thick and huge the tentacles were, so you can imagine the size of the squid! :O  In my mind, I was not expecting such a huge-sized squid.

The thick squid pieces were so chewy and tough that I couldn't even chew through them and had to spit it out.  My husband had to finish them for me (even though he doesn't even like squid).  He said they weren't that tough when he had a piece (but, then again, my husband's definition of tender is different from mine) and encouraged me to try another piece.  In the end, I asked him to cut out just half a piece and though the piece was softer, it was still too chewy for my liking.

I had it with a clear broth this time (which I actually prefer) but found it lacking in flavour compared to the more fragrant milky version.  The clear broth (I read) is made from a stock of chicken bones and ikan bilis (dried anchovies).

After enjoying the crispy fried fish immensely, I stuck to ordering just that which is Option/Bowl No. 1 @ RM9, the best thing here (in my opinion), on my subsequent visits.

I can't believe just how well fried the fish was to yield incredibly fragrant and crispy fish pieces that stayed that way right till the end even when submerged in soup.  You don't have to worry even if there are some bones in your fish pieces as they're so crispy, you can eat them bones and all!  I say this is fish fried really well...others will say it's over-fried (until they can't taste the fish).   This is carp @ RM9 a bowl...not more premium fish like grouper, snapper, Spanish mackerel (kau yue) or threadfin (ma yau yue), so we shouldn't make such a comparison.

Two types of chilli dips (self-service) are provided...a sambal belacan and bird's eye chillies with soy.  Their own-made sambal belacan was rather spicy but also very good.  I loved the tang in the sambal with the freshness brought by the lime (or calamansi lime) juice.  It went very well as a dip for the fried fish, prawns and squid.  Even though it was spicy, it was very addictive and I found myself enjoying it so much that I went for a second plate (and that has become the norm on my future visits).

My Personal Opinion

I'm so pleased that this fish head noodles that I wanted to try all this time has moved to a better environment and somewhere closer and more convenient for me.

You can choose the toppings of your choice of either fried fish, fresh white pomfret, prawns, squid or fish balls and have it with either a milky or clear broth.  I prefer the milky version here....and I'd certainly forgo the tough and chewy squid.  I don't intend to try the fish balls as I'd normally not go for fish balls from non-fish ball noodles specialists as they're usually not made by them.  

If you don't like your fish fried until super crispy or you're not a fan of fried garlic (and garlicky flavours) or you're someone who wants (and needs) a dash of wine flavour in yours, then this fish head noodles may not be the one for you.

My top choice here would be the super duper crispy fried fish followed by the fresh and good-sized prawns (occasionally)...but no more squid for me.  I can foresee that I'll be a regular at this place which is now my go-to fish head meat noodles near me. ^_~

Fish Head Noodles Stall

Medan Selera Pandan Indah

Jalan Pandan Indah 6/12

Pandan Indah

55100 Kuala Lumpur 

Tel: 012-659 3003

Malaysia Boleh! 4 @ Shoppes at Four Seasons Place

Malaysia Boleh! @ Shoppes at Four Seasons Place is undoubtedly our current favourite go-to modern food court for its location, comfort, cleanliness, atmosphere...and, ultimately, the food, of course.  We visit on a regular basis.

But in our last visit, we noticed something different....the drinks stall right at the entrance was no more. Initially, we thought they had left as we saw bottled mineral water neatly arranged for sale at most of the food stalls.  I said to myself, "A food court without hot and cold drinks like coffee and tea?  How can?"

Before

That's when we realised the drink stall has moved next door and took over the entire space previously occupied by Encik Tan, a popular brand of halal-certified hawker fare chain restaurant from Singapore (oops, their first branch in KL didn't last very long!).  I took a photo of this place coz I wanted to try their food but they folded before I could. >.<

After

The drinks stall is now situated here with additional seating for Malaysia Boleh! customers.  I guess that's testament to how well Malaysia Boleh! is doing to have invaded the space next door (and they didn't have to do much to it courtesy of the previous tenant).  Food and drinks can now go in and out of both venues.

And the lot vacated by the drinks stall is now occupied by Yong Peng Xi Dao Fishball that sells fish ball noodles (soup or dry version) and deep-fried fish cake...and a Bukit Mertajam Rojak.

This was my order of Fish Ball Noodles (Soup) @ RM9 that came with fish balls, fried beancurd rolls and some lettuce.  My noodle of choice was kway teow, which was nice and smooth, while the soup base was very ching probably too subtle for most tastebuds.

The fish balls, like most fish ball noodle stalls, has the usual springy texture that most are accustomed to.  I, personally, like my fish balls less springy.  Eating this brought back fond memories of a fish ball noodle stall (from a long time ago) that I used to patronise that had these fish balls that tasted like all fish paste and not of flour.  The old man who manned the stall made the fish balls by hand.  When he retired, he passed the baton to his son who first started making them by hand but soon turned to machine-made ones.  They never tasted the same and he (the son) soon decided to 'retire' as he said the work was too hard.  That's the current dilemma faced by a lot of hawkers nowadays when the (lazy) next generation doesn't want to take over a business they deem too much work.  Sadly, I've never found another fish ball noodles that could compare or even come close to the excellent one I had before.

Anyway, back to the fish ball stall here.  The fried beancurd rolls, stuffed with fish paste, were rather tasty. For me, it was the best thing in the bowl.

This round we also got to try the Wantan Mee @ RM9 and I was happy to see pun fei sau (half lean-half fat) cut of char siew given without requesting for it.  Not only that, the noodles also came topped with crispy chee yau char...and that's why you can taste the fragrant lard oil in the sauce that's used to toss the noodles in.  It may not be among the better ones that I've had, but overall, still a decent plate of wantan mee.

Of course, no trip is complete without having our no. 1 favourite Curry Laksa @ RM9...and this time I was glad to see that they have finally decided to include top-up ingredients of yong tau foo (as they did when she was running the stall in a coffee shop in Jalan Imbi).

But these top-up ingredients don't come cheap...it's RM2 - RM2.50 per piece (I think it's double the price from what she used to charge at her stall).  She only offers 3 types here...stuffed brinjal, fried beancurd sheet and stuffed beancurd but my favourite yong tau foo of hers, some kind of stuffed beancurd roll, is sadly not available here....and her reason...mm sik hup (not suitable) here...don't know what she meant by that.  I guess I have to add that to her ever growing list of things that are not suitable here...cockles and chicken liver! :'(

The additional yong tau foo can easily bump up the price of your bowl of curry laksa by another RM6.50...can you imagine a bowl of hawker stall curry laksa costing more than RM15?  Not a pretty thought at all! >_<

If you don't do any add-ons, the default bowl of curry laksa do come with default ingredients of beancurd puffs, rehydrated pig skin, long beans and some pieces of poached chicken which should be pretty sufficient if you want to keep the price in check.

The one thing that makes this curry laksa stand head and shoulders above the rest is the savoury, creamy taste and thick consistency of the broth.

And that's because of that pot of gold there....that's what makes it so awesome!  She would ladle a small scoop of it over the curry laksa to give it that yummy thickness.  So good.  Although I have to say that on a more recent visit, the curry didn't felt as thick. :(  I immediately made that known to her.  I just hope the recipe will not be compromised in order to rake in more profits as it tends to happen when business is good.

The stall that sells chai kueh also sells various steamed buns (pau).  I got a Char Siew Pau @ RM3 and their signature Golden Sand Bun @ RM3.50 for later.  I re-steamed them at home.

The char siew bun was alright but not quite of the same standard as some I've eaten from dim sum shops. The filling wasn't too sweet but was a bit lacking in a soft but not overly fluffy bun.

The golden sand bun is probably so named because of the colour of the bun.  It looked like it had a skin made from pumpkin or sweet potato.  I asked the worker what the filling was and I remember her saying yam and salted egg.

I thought the filling would be purplish (since she said yam) but it was yellowish when I tore the bun open.  It tasted like sweet potato to me (so I'm not sure why she said yam) and the salted egg yolk taste was practically non-existent (if, in fact, there was any).  It was good but too pricey for such a small bun.

My Personal Opinion

It looks like Malaysia Boleh! is doing very well, so well that they 'chased' their neighbour, Encik Tan, away (I guess they weren't very nice neighbours, poor Mr Tan)...wuahahahaha! :D

My top favourites here...curry laksa, KL fried Hokkien mee, Ipoh bean sprout chicken rice and Penang fried carrot cake...and in that particular order (hehe!).

The food here has spawned four blogposts from me already (check it out here, here and here).  Am I done? Hmmm.....perhaps? ^_~

Malaysia Boleh! (Food Court)
B1-01B Shoppes at Four Seasons Place
145 Jalan Ampang

50450 Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia Boleh! 3 @ Shoppes At Four Seasons Place

Since reconnecting with our #1 sought after curry laksa here, we've been coming to this place on a fairly regular basis.  And oh, the curry mee now offers 3 types of yong tau foo (but no chicken liver) as add-ons at RM2 - RM2.50 per piece (rather expensive, I might add) that could see the price of your bowl of curry mee bumped up to more than RM15! >_<

While my husband continues to indulge in his favourite curry mee on each and every visit, I've had to put on hold my fondness of the curry mee so that I can try the other options available (and write about them).

I was gently reminded by choiyen (in my previous post) that I was supposed to try the Fried Hokkien Mee @ RM12 (regular, RM15 for large) and so I better made sure I did on my third visit (haha!).  At first glance, I was happy to see the sprinkling of pork lard crisps which is a super important ingredient in a plate of Hokkien Mee as far as I'm concerned.

It only had two good-sized prawns that were firm and sweet but (luckily) they made up for it with a generous amount of lean pork slices and softened cabbage...plus the freshly cooked sambal accompaniment, with its distinct fiery red colour and oil around the edges, is the hallmark of a well-made sambal that will hit the spot nicely.  

There's nothing better than digging into a plate of piping hot, freshly fried Hokkien Mee and get a free facial sauna at the same time...kekeke! ;D

And when the smoke clears, you'll be greeted with noodles that are deliciously coated in a thick dark soy concoction that's neither too dry nor too wet...and you just can't help but slurp up each delicious strand! ^o^ Overall, this was a really, really good plate of mall-executed Hokkien Mee I have to say, so much so that I'm willing to overlook the fact that their version didn't come with any pork liver.  Though the noodles were a hint on the salty side (for me personally) but considered well seasoned for most tastebuds in general.

Next, I tried the Ipoh Kuey Tiow Pork Noodles @ RM9 with minced pork, pork liver, lean pork slices, choy sum and the ever important but not so generous chee yau char.  The pork lard crisps I had that day didn't taste very fresh and weren't all that crispy or fragrant.  The soup base is the cloudy type and wasn't particularly porky-flavoured either.

My preferred bowl of pork noodles would usually be a combo of meehoon and mee but it'd be foolish to choose anything other than kuey teow since this wasn't just any pork noodles but specifically Ipoh kuey teow pork noodles.  The kuey teow was certainly slippery smooth, smoother and more thinly sliced than our usual kuey teow here, but probably not as thin and translucent like those Ipoh sar hor fun noodles.  Unfortunately, for this bowl of pork noodles, the kuey teow ended up to be the best part.

The previous Kuantan Nasi Lemak has since been replaced by the Pudu Nasi Lemak & Fried Chicken stall.  I was quite happy with the good dose of santan flavour in the rice.  The sambal for the basic nasi lemak @ RM3.50 also turned out better than I expected since this was a Chinese-style nasi lemak.

I thought I wouldn't like the sambal but I did.  It tasted more towards a typical Malay stall sambal than a Chinese one.  You can add on a piece of fried chicken wing @ RM4, thigh (RM4.50) or drumstick (RM5). However, the fried chicken wasn't all that great as I found the batter had a floury taste (it reminded me of those store-bought seasoning powder mix). ;P

From the Pudu Barbeque stall which offers roast duck (RM10 or RM13 for duck drumstick), roast pork (RM10) and char siew rice, we ordered the Char Siew Rice @ RM9 as it was the only meat that was in abundance (we would soon find out why).  There weren't any roast pork left and only a quarter of a duck was still hanging in the stall (we happened to be there for dinner this time).

The char siew turned out to be a disappointment as it was very meaty and didn't have that dark caramelisation.  Neither was it the tender, melt-in-the-mouth type of char siew.  Better to give the char siew a miss altogether (in fact they looked very similar to the ones at the wantan mee stall).  The other strange thing I noticed is that the char siew was sitting horizontally on a plate of dark sauce instead of the usual presentation of them being hung vertically on hooks where the caramelisation is obvious for all to see.

We ordered the Fried Carrot Cake @ RM9 again as we remembered it turned out quite well the last time we had it...but, sadly, this time we were massively disappointed (so it deserve a photo).  It just wasn't fried long enough to produce the crisp, caramelised edges and losing that bit of wok hei in the process.  That's because there were more orders to keep up during dinner time and the chap (maybe it was even a different chap) decided to fry a few plates at one time. >_<  Glad to report we had it again another time (in the morning) and it was cooked just the way we it should be.

Another thing I didn't get to eat in the mornings was the Chai Kueh as they're always not ready when we're there at 10am.  They offer 4 variations here...Chives, Sengkuang (Jicama), Yam & Pumpkin Chai Kueh @ RM2 each and I got all 4 types to try (do watch out for the chilli dip though which can be quite spicy).

All four types were fairly decent, with thin and translucent skins, but none stood in taste among the four.  It really depends on what filling you like to eat most and, for me, I like the sengkuang one the most.  The chives had a nice flavour without being bitter.  I was surprised by the yam and pumpkin ones which had dried prawns in them and not just yam and pumpkin paste like those I've eaten before.  Didn't like the yam one all that much as the yam paste wasn't very smooth and the pumpkin one turned out to be really cold (probably sitting on the tray for far too long).  Best to eat them when they're just out of the steamer.

The last time I was here I had Kopi-O-Ping which wasn't very good, so this time I tried the Teh Ping which also turned out to be meh.

My Personal Opinion

I'm slowly but surely eating my way through all the stalls here one by one! ;)  Of all the stalls I've tried so far, the curry laksa is still my undisputed #1 favourite followed by the hokkien mee and chicken rice.

Malaysia Boleh! (Food Court)
B1-01B Shoppes at Four Seasons Place
145 Jalan Ampang
50450 Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia Boleh! 2 @ Shoppes at Four Seasons Place

Since reconnecting with my favourite curry laksa on our last visit here, we've been back to Malaysia Boleh! @ Shoppes at Four Seasons Place more frequently to have our curry fix.

Love those cute hanging lights that look like chicken coops and decor of various bird cages hanging from the ceiling.

It's difficult to come here and not be tempted to have my no. 1 favourite curry laksa each and every time....but try out some of the other stalls, I must.

One of my first picks was the (Te Qi) Ipoh Buntong Bean Sprout Chicken stall as I got to see what they were serving first hand since they were just next to the Jalan Imbi Ah Yen Curry Mee.

What I saw was enough to convince me to try.  A plate of chicken rice costs between RM8 - RM12 depending on the cut of chicken you want.  If you want a bigger portion, you can order a whole chicken (RM60), half chicken (RM32), 1/4 chicken-upper (RM16) or 1/4 chicken-lower.  Since this is "nga choy kai", obviously "nga choy" (beansprouts) will be offered as a side dish.

We went for the Quarter Chicken (Lower) @ RM18 served with crunchy Japanese cucumber and Chinese coriander with a light drizzle of soy+garlic oil+fried garlic bits.  The poached chicken was irreproachably smooth, absolutely tender and garlicky fragrant.  I found myself eating the skin (which I don't normally do) coz it was really smooth without any fats.  Some might find the prices a bit steep but this is "choy yin kai", so the premium prices seem justified.

I had the poached chicken with an additional order of chicken rice @ RM2.  The rice (slightly broken) was alright but I loved the serving of the fresh chillies+garlic dip and minced fresh ginger that came with it.  The ginger paste here takes on a darker colour as I believe this one has been cooked down due to the layer of oil surrounding it.  It's less pungent than the usual fresh ginger mince but still very tasty.

In my first visit to Malaysia Boleh!, I noticed a guy that looked like he was running the place.  He looked familiar to me and I asked the curry laksa lady if he's the char kway teow fella from Mei Sin...and she says he is (I actually bumped into him at another coffee shop, Kedai Kopi Yuyi in Pudu, where he moved to briefly, and left the running of the original stall in Mei Sin to his son).  I did speak to him later and he told me that he takes charge of the food (while another takes care of the premises)...plus he owns one of the stalls here.

And that stall is obviously (Yong Kee) Char Kuay Tiao, so I ordered a plate of Char Kway Teow @ RM9 (the regular portion was rather small and gets you two prawns only, RM12 for large).  He has tasked the frying of the noodles to someone else, of course, but it's still a pretty decent plate of CKT with a bit of "wok hei" going on.  Personally, I prefer his 'touch' (maybe it's just in my head).  The other thing I noticed was that there weren't any cockles! >_<

The Penang Fried Oyster @ RM12 (regular, RM15 for large), fried with egg and green onions in a tapioca starch slurry, seems to be well-received by many but I found the oysters smallish (either that or there weren't enough of them) and not quite bursting with juices when I bit into them.  The tapioca starch slurry wasn't thin enough to be cooked till crispy and ended up slightly gooey.

The Penang Fried Carrot Cake @ RM8 (regular, RM10 for large) was more than decent with crunchy beansprouts and cooked with two eggs (yes, two!).  The "chai tao kway" was nicely soft and well fried with crusty bits around the edges.  I certainly wouldn't mind a bit more "wok hei" and caramelisation.

On one of our visits, I decided to try the Penang Hokkien (aka Prawn) Mee @ RM10 since it's one of my favourite soup-type noodles to eat.  They were quite generous with the prawn broth so much so that the ingredients were submerged in the broth.  I had to do a little 're-arrangement' for the photo op so that the ingredients can be visible.

The bowl came filled with the usual ingredients of prawns, half a hard-boiled egg, lean pork slices, fried shallots, kangkung and beansprouts (they forgot that I asked for the beansprouts to be omitted).  They aren't very good at customising what you want or remembering your specific request.

The broth (this was after I added two dollops of sambal in it) turned out better than I expected...full of prawn shells flavour and (as you can see) with a fairly thick consistency (unlike some of the clearer and lighter broths I've had at some places).  The taste of the broth was more savoury than sweet (so it will be preferred by those who like the soup base savoury).  Perhaps one thing that could be improved would be a bit more of that lovely prawn oil in the broth.  Luckily, the broth was good as the prawns weren't.  They were those translucent type with a crunchy texture (of frozen prawns) which I don't favour as much + they were missing the inherent sweetness of sea prawns that I love.

Of course, no trip here is ever complete without an order of Ah Yen's Jalan Imbi Curry Mee @ RM9 that never fails to impress.  Again, there was no bloody "see hum" (pun intended). >_<  I now wonder if Malaysia Boleh! is a cockles-free place...yikes & booooo!....since there weren't any in the curry laksa or the char kway teow! T_T

My Personal Opinion

Some are bound to say that prices are on the higher side compared to hawker stalls.  Of course it will but I think a satisfying meal + drink for just under RM15 is more than reasonable for the dining comfort, cleanliness and convenience (not to mention the background music) that we get to enjoy! ;)

The hawker fare here (at least the ones I've tried so far) can certainly hold their own compared to some of the real hawker stalls out there.  Personal favourites this round were the prawn mee, Ipoh beansprout chicken and fried carrot cake.  Definitely a worthwhile place to eat if you're working in the vicinity or just in the vicinity.

Malaysia Boleh! (Food Court)
B1-01B Shoppes at Four Seasons Place
145 Jalan Ampang
50450 Kuala Lumpur