My top 10 breakfast and lunch places in Bandar Mahkota Cheras

I've been frequenting the Bandar Mahkota Cheras (BMC) and Sg Long (SL) areas on Saturdays for the last few years and have had the opportunity to try various breakfast and lunch spots. BMC and SL are predominantly Chinese areas so the food outlets are primarily Chinese with some Western, Indian, Mamak (a unique Malaysian cuisine actually) with only a spattering of Malay stalls (no proper Malay restaurant I believe). 

There are many coffee shops and cafes , but most produce (with a few exceptions) average or mediocre food for the masses. I personally prefer the shops which specialise in particular dishes as they tend to make them well.

Here's my list of favorites in BMC in no particular order. Follow the links for location and other details on Google Maps.

1. Family Pho (Vietnamese)

Run by a Vietnamese family, this place has been around for some time. Besides the ubiquitous Pho, their Bahn Mi sandwich is worth trying too. Full meals with dishes are available too and what I've tried so far has been good.  

2. Yeng Kee Noodle House 2 

This is a branch of a noodles house from Taman Yulek Cheras. Their various fish head noodles are good and regulars even store their bottles of rice wine at the shop, to be added to the noodles for extra aroma and taste. My favourite here however are the Tendon Pork Noodles soup. The pork slices have an extraordinary texture and the broth is light and refreshing. Highly recommended.

3. Restoran Wa Bao Zai Claypot Chicken Rice 

This is a recent discovery and the Claypot Chicken Rice ticked all the right boxes - slightly burnt crust, tender well cooked chicken, pork sausages and add-on salted fish. Their Chicken Soup in Coconut was good and is recommended as well. The owner's wife is Vietnamese and she sells fresh Vietnamese tea and cashew nuts at the counter. 

4. SK Pork Noodles

A branch of the famous Seri Kembangan Pork Noodles, this is another regular go-to places for pork noodles in BMC.

5. Rojak Stall at 63 Food Station

A hard working Chinese guy runs this stall single-handedly and manages to serve a very good version of the Mamak style rojak. 

6. Beef Noodles at 63 Food Station

The chef at this stall is pretty old but his expertise shows in the flavourful beef noodle broth which has been boiled for hours. All the meat and innards are tender, and the slices of melon melt in your mouth. Highly recommended. 

7. Hock Kee Ulu Yam Loh Mee 

Their signature Ulu Yam Loh Mee is good. But my favorite here is their Hokkien Mee. Cooked with hand made thick noodles with generous amounts of pork lard, this noodle might be even better than the other famous speciality Hokkien noodles place down the road. Give it a try and tell me what you think.

8. Nasi Kandar Pokok Cheri 

The most authentic Nasi Kandar or Mamak restaurant in BMC. It will not earn any points for the dark and dingy interior but the food, especially the curries, bring me back to Penang. Have your favourite dishes and don't forget to tell them to "banjir" the rice with "kuah campur".

9. Woo Pin Fish Head Noodles

Another branch of a famous fish head noodle shop from Taman Desa, this place lives up to the reputation of its original shop. Good fish head noodles which are well executed.

10. Ah Teo Pan Mee & Zhu Ro Fen

There are a few pan mee shops around BMC, some with queues for tables. But I personally like the pan mee here. Both the sop and dry versions are good. Also good are their Pork Noodles and Curry Mee. 

Do give them a try and let me know in the comments if you have any other favourites that are not on this list.

Lek Kee Chicken Rice @ Taman Kajang Utama

Here's the new location for Lek Kee Chicken Rice 

 

It's situated opposite the Hyundai service centre in Taman Kajang Utama.

 

Location :  Jalan Seksyen 1/19, Taman Kajang Utama, 43000 Kajang, Selangor

The best Loh Mee in town at Restoran Y, Balakong (CLOSED)

UPDATE AS AT JUNE 2014 - CLOSED
 Gone but not forgotten.

Once in a while, you come across a hawker stall with food that's good enough to make you take a 15 minute drive just to taste the fare. Such is the case with the Loh Mee stall at Restoran Y in Balakong.

 Located just behind the AEON (Jusco) Cheras Selatan, the corner coffee shop has many hawker stalls selling the usual stuff like wan tan noodles, curry mee, chap fan, Western food (which is popular) etc. From our first visit here, we were attracted by the sign reading "Ulu Yam Loh Mee".

For those of you who are not aware, Ulu Yam is to Loh Mee what Kajang is to Satay.

The Ulu Yam Loh Mee

The loh mee uses a hand made noodle which we understand from the stall operator, is sourced from Ulu Yam directly. The noodle has a nice texture and consistency which sets it apart from the usual machine made variety. The other tell-tale sign is the irregular size of the noodles, the result of being hand made. The gravy is thick and tasty with slices of pork, prawn and vegetable. You can also choose to add some "XO" wine to enhance the taste of the noodles but it will cost you RM2 more. The noodles are good with or without the XO wine.

The Spare Rib Noodle with Yam

Another good choice here is the Spare Rib Noodles with Yam. The spare ribs are cooked with the yam slices until both are soft and tender. The ribs practically falls off the bone whilst the yam will melt in your mouth. The thick gravy is good to the last drop and best enjoyed with a nice dollop of their pretty good sambal.

If you are ever at AEON Cheras Selatan and looking for something good to eat, take a walk outside to this place and I'm sure you won't regret it. Merry Christmas everyone and happy eating.

Location : Corner coffee shop behind AEON Cheras Selatan, Balakong.

Sup Power Ali

Sup Power Ali has been around for some time now, located along the Jalan Semenyih road near the interchange with the Silk Highway.

This is the place we go to for some local "comfort" food, steaming bowls of hot thick and spicy Mamak style soup with your choice of meat - chicken, beef, mutton, oxtail or various types of innards including tendons, tripe, 'torpedo' and bones. It's served with bread cubes, the perfect accompaniment to mop us the tasty soup.

There's also a stall selling nasi lemak with dishes but it's really not worth mentioning. The soup however is worth the drive there. Give it a try on cold rainy night (like today) and you'll not regret it. Be warned however that it's not for the faint hearted - the soup really packs the chilli and spices. Also be warned that picking too many meats may burn your pockets. We usually just order chicken, beef or oxtail separately. You tend to get more value for money that way ;-)

Location : 7-A, Jalan 1, Taman Maju 2, Jalan Semenyih, Kajang

Beef noodles at Zuan Kee, Bandar Teknologi (CLOSED)

UPDATE AS AT JUNE 2014 - CLOSED
Gone but not forgotten.

Once in a while, I get the urge to have a good bowl of soupy noodles. My favorite pork noodles with an extra scoop of lard and garlic is usually the first choice. The next choice would be beef noodles. Made with beef stock brewed for hours, it is a great comfort food.

You can have it with beef and tripe,

Or with just the beef slices.

It comes topped with fragrant fried shallots and spring onions. I'd recommend the slippery smooth kway teow (flat rice noodles) which goes very nicely with the soup. They also have the dry version, but that would be missing their star ingredient - the beef soup, which is good to the last drop. Possibly the best beef noodle soup in South Klang Valley ?

Location: No 1 Jalan 1/3, Seksyen 1, Bandar Teknologi Kajang, Semenyih, 43500 Selangor

Chop Tong Sing, Kedai Kopi & Makanan

Kedai Kopi Tong Sing is an old school kopitiam (coffee shop) that we have been frequenting for ages. Situated along Jalan Mendaling in a rather quiet part of the old town in a pretty run-down shoplot, it is the only surviving authentic kopitiam in Kajang town.

There used to be two kopitiams along Jalan Sulaiman and one on Jalan Besar, but they have long disappeared. Tong Sing managed to survive due in part to the popularity of a stall within the shop which serves a pretty good curry noodles and a decent pork porridge. Very popular on weekends and public holidays, it also has it's faithful daily regulars.

The coffee comes thick and is served in old kopitiam cups.

The roti bakar pairs a sweet kaya with thick slices of butter.

Half-boiled eggs are a energy boost in the morning! They use free range chicken eggs here.

The yam cake was so-so only.

The curry noodles were thick and not very spicy – you have to add your own sambal chilli for added heat. I usually add two spoonfuls. Slices of chicken and fried pork with some crunchy bean-sprouts make this a great meal.


Location : Along Jalan Mendaling, Kajang Town


 

Fish Head Noodles @Sri Kembangan

I've been wanting to write about this fish head noodles for some time now. Located just behind the famous Hee Lai Ton Restaurant at Taman Muhibah in Sri Kembangan, it's a normal corner lot coffee-shop place.

An unassuming coffee-shop

Restoran Hing Fatt serves about the best tasting fish head noodles in town. I was told that these guys are under the same ownership as the famous one in Taman Desa, off Old Klang Road. The uniform is the same and the taste is the same too. I was also told on weekends, you have to queue up to get your serving. My favorite time is weekdays, late morning or early lunch here, normally with my partner in crime.

Mouth watering serving, in milky soup, just how I like it

There are 2 choices for your serving, either the fried fish head or the fish paste. I always prefer the fish head - being able to nibble and extracting the goodness from the bones. The soup is very tasty and the fish head comes with ample flesh to nibble on. You may also call the fish paste as a side order, served in a bowl of soup.

Fried fish head served in bee hoon soup

My partner in crime prefers the chunky fish paste - so that he doesn't have to waste time nibbling on the fried fish or feel short changed on the wasted bones - so he says. Anyway, we all have our personal preferences and both taste equally good.

No nibbling or extraction needed, just bite on it!

The noodle is served with home made chili sauce and 'limau kasturi' (calamansi lime) for a blend of hot and sour taste. This certainly adds a kick to the overall serving. It must be consumed hot and spicy and while the sweat is pouring down. I would recommend a nice tall glass of Kopi-si-peng (iced coffee) to cool down the burning tongue. They make lovely Hainanese traditional coffee-shop type coffee here. A must have!

This is the best fish head noodles south of Kuala Lumpur that I have tasted, on par (cause they are related) with the Taman Desa Fish Head Noodles, and less crowded (on weekdays that is). Ample parking is available around the shop.

Porridge @ Restoran New Lucky (Sri Petaling)

An ex-colleague of mine introduced me to the porridge stall at this corner kopitiam in Sri Petaling more than 10 years ago. I've been hooked ever since and keep going back for my fix when I have the chance to be in the area in the morning. I was there recently and the stall is still very much the same. 

Fresh seafood and frogs are chopped up and put on ice every morning, for patrons to choose. There's ikan bawal putih, red fish, prawns and frogs. 

My favorite is to mix the fish with prawns. It's RM13 for 1 person and comes with a medium sized prawn and lots of fish slices. There's actually enough for 2 persons. 

The porridge is just the right consistency, watery enough to cook the seafood but not thick or starchy. It's pretty plain with just the addition of sliced ginger but has a slighty sweet taste from the fresh seafood. If you are lucky enough to get prawns with roe, it will lend a pinkish tinge to the porridge.

I must admit that I've never tried the frog porridge as I do not fancy the taste of frog without a strong accompanying sauce (kung po sauce would be ideal). The ikan bawal putih though is especially sweet with the plain porridge.

Breakfast is a better bet than lunch time and weekdays are better than weekends. On busy weekends, be prepared for a waiting time of more than 1 hour! The good news is that there's lots of other food stalls in the kopitiam to satisfy your hunger whilst waiting for the porridge. One worth mentioning is the you tiao (yau char kwai) stall located at the front of the kpoitiam. What better accompaniment for a bowl of porridge than a freshly fried and crispy you tiao ? Bliss.


Location : Jalan Radin Anum 1, 57000, Sri Petaling, Kuala Lumpur,

The Tic-tic Man (a.k.a. tok-tok man)

From a very tender age (i.e. as far back as I can remember), there used to be this guy on a bicycle with a payong top and a stainless steel container strapped to the back of his bicycle roaming the the streets making that unique tic-tic-tic sound. We've found him all over, in residential areas, the towns, the cities and the countryside - so many people knows this guy just at the mention of the word tic-tic (or tok-tok) man. I just read a blog, that this guy has been spotted as far as Muar. To name some of the places that he has been spotted at: Kajang, Balakong, Peel Road, KL City Centre, Muar, Seremban, Port Dickson, just to name a few. And all these places are apparently covered on his bicycle.

He pedals around peddling his tok-tok candy. My guess is it's a special home made verity. It certainly is unique with sesame seeds on it with a nice unique candy flavour. Its one of a kind. I don't even know of the proper name to call it.

Whats special is, its tasty and as he comes almost everyone just wants to buy some. I remember it used to be 20 sen to 50 sen a packet. Just 2 days ago in Balakong, I paid RM4 for a pack (and it appears smaller now). This pack of candy sent me back about 30 years, with nostalgic memories of this 'uncle' on the bicycle with that tic-tic sound. Besides making that sound (to attract us), the uses this 'chisel' to chisel away at the candy to hand us that packets of sweet goodness we used to crave for as kids. It was nothing like the candy we bought from the shops - it was just different.

I candidly asked him, how old are you uncle, since I have been buying from this you since primary school days. He told me he was now 70+, but I suspect he may be much older. He still cycles around in his trusted bicycle and peddles the unique tic-tic sweet, that sends you back in time.

It was really a trip down memory lane meeting him. Sadly it is perhaps a dying art of homemade candy, brought right to your doorstep. A Malaysian santa claus perhaps /

Restoran Mee Bandung Muar a.k.a. D’Muar (CLOSED)

UPDATE AS AT JUNE 2014 - CLOSED
Unfortunately, they had to move due to the MRT construction work. We're trying to track where they have moved to.

Muar food has spread far and wide, including to Kajang. And not only are the Muar otak-otak and assam fish now famous and available nationwide, the Muar Mee Bandung seems to have gained popularity too, as evidenced by this stall located along Jalan Cheras near Kajang town. 

 The stall has been operating here for at least 10 years, and has been growing in popularity all the while. Not only are they popular for their Muar mee bandung but they have an extensive menu depending on the time of the day which includes:-

Breakfast : Mee rebus, nasi lemak, roti canai and lontong
Lunch : Rice with dishes, ikan bakar, mee bandung (only available lunch time onwards), chicken rice and Western food
Tea time : Cucur udang, kerang rebus, various kuih, mee bandung, rojak sotong etc
Dinner : Rice and dishes, tomyam, sup ekor, mee bandung, Western food etc

The mee rebus is tasty and thick.

The nasi lemak is decent enough but not exceptional. The sambal was on the sweetish side. 

The mee bandung is pretty good – slightly sweet (the good people of Bandung are apparently pretty liberal with sugar, very much like our Kelantanese). For RM4.00 you'll find both beef and chicken slices, prawn and squids and a soft-centre egg in the gravy. Topped with some crispy fried shallots for a nice aromatic finish.

The cucur udang here is very good. It would give Malek Tauhu of Semenyih a run for their money. The cucur are nice and fluffy and the chilli sauce is tangy, sweet and hot. Worth saving any excess in a bottle. RM1.00 will get you 3 pieces.

 The remnants of the ikan bakar after 2.00 p.m.

Ikan bakar – I haven't tried it so far but if you're there during lunch time, you can't help being enticed by the wafting aroma of fish slowly grilling on the griddle on a bed of banana leaves. The banana leaves impart a wonderful aroma to the fish. I must try it some day. 


Location : Stall along Jalan Cheras (opposite the KPJ Kajang Hospital)

Footnote from Jon : I packed some cucur udang back home and tested it using Malek's chili sauce (I'd saved some in a bottle from my last visit). The result - D'Muar wins hands down. But the cucur at Malek's is still better. D'Muar's cucur is smaller and oily - and no sign of the elusive udang too ?

Malek Tauhu / Semenyih Cucur Udang

For us, living in Kajang for many years, Semenyih has been synonymous with Cucur Udang (fried prawn patties) since the time we were in school. Considering that we left school some 25 years ago, that's a pretty long time. And the place that put Semenyih on the food map is an un-named stall located near the Semenyih field (beside the Sekolah Kebangsaan China Semenyih) which is referred to by locals as "Malek Tauhu". We just call it the 'Semenyih cucur udang' place.

This is the famous Semenyih cucur udang stall

Malek retired from the police force many years ago and decided to try his hand at the food business. He got it right with his cucur udang recipe, especially the chili sauce that accompanies this simple treat. They also sell plain fried taufoo pieces, which explains the name, "Malek Tauhu". The cucur udang are tasty, light and fluffy, with sufficient air pockets inside to soak up the sweet and tangy chili sauce. The fresh prawn (with shell) tops the cucur and chives are added to enhance the taste. This contrasts with the plain taufoo which are dense and rather tasteless. Cucumber slices are added to the order which serve to soothe the taste buds of those who can't take the pungency of the chilies.

Freshly fried taufoo & cucur udang waiting to be cut and sold

Of late, Malek's has also become very popular with the locals for it's chicken rice. Come lunchtime, the queue for the chicken rice may be 20 deep. Everyone queues patiently for their pack and the diners are Malay, Chinese and Indian – truly a 1 Malaysia place! Diners who choose to eat-in can just place their orders and they will be served at the table. Be warned however that this roadside stall gets pretty warm, especially in the mid-day sun. So take-away is recommended. Also available are the kerang rebus (boiled cockles) which are served with the same tangy chili sauce. Most tables would have an order of cockles to accompany the chicken rice or cucur and taufoo. We've tried the chicken rice here and whilst it's pretty good, it's not the reason we keep going back here. The star of this stall is the cucur and chilli sauce.

I love the chili sauce so much that I save any balance in a bottle in my fridge ! Give it a try if you're in Semenyih. The stall is now run by Malek's daughter who handles the cutting and sales of the taufoo and cucur udang. The speed that she can cut these is quite amazing - something perfected over many years of practise (and clearing long queues no doubt).


Location : Stall beside the Semenyih field (near SK (C) Semenyih. Open from about 11.00 a.m. until about 4.00 p.m. Very crowded at lunch time.


 

'Longkang' Bah Kut Teh along Jalan Semenyih

The weird name comes from the big drain next to this Bah Kut Teh house (house turned into shop) which has no name. Since there was no name, we commonly referred to it as the longkang-bah-kut-teh.  It is a corner house under a big tree along the Jalan Semenyih road at the traffic light junction into the Bukit Mewah area. You can easily miss it as you drive by if you are not observant enough.

The taste of the bah kut teh here is nowhere near longkang water (which is what some of the other bah kut teh shops in Kajang serve - with the exception of the market-side - Da Chong food court's bah kut teh which commands some respect). The soup has a strong flavour - much like the better ones found in Klang, especially that one opposite Lembaga Tabung Haji building in downtown Klang.

What got my attention was the Quail's egg added in the bah kut teh, very different. Also, the person preparing the bah kut teh, is a lady!, just like the other good one in Klang. You have to taste it to appreciate it - it is hard to describe bah kut teh. I just love it and I put it as the best in Kajang, even on par with Klang. Frankly, I don't have to drive to Klang anymore, to enjoy good bah kut teh! Period!

Footnote from Jon : Whilst the BKT here is pretty good, we try to avoid the place on rainy days when they get more customers looking for a hot bowl of soup. The operators tend to water down (dilute) the soup to create more volume of sales. It's a pity because the quality suffers. Also, they put in the tau-foo pok  into the claypot soup which adds a peculiar alkaline taste. If you must have the tau-foo pok, as for it in a seperate bowl. Side dishes here include braised chicken feet served in the same BKT gravy, chicken cooked in claypot (fa diew kai) and leafy greens which are all done quite well.

Spare Parts Galore @Market-side

Once upon a time, up on a hill not far from the Kajang market, lived this old man and his wife, who opened their stall at 12:30pm every afternoon, to serve you the best spare-parts imoney can buy! And it really didn't cost much.

This elderly couple has been around since the Bazaar days, if oldies can remember them well enough. They now share the grounds of other equally famous - Curry Laksa stall and the Porridge Stall both found only in the mornings. This couple operate from 12:30 onwards till stock runs out - I was told quite fast too, so don't go late, you have been warned.

Simplicity in simpleton is what this place is about and it certainly won't burn a hole in your pocket. This is poor man's food but tasty if you care to indulge. First off, the base; I was out with my partner in crime and he went for the dry kway teow, me - mee hoon-mee. The gravy that goes on it is the secret to making it tasty - it takes hours of cooking to get the potent gravy.

Next up, the main dish - a collection of various spare parts - intestines - big and small, stomach, ears, liver sausage, meat balls etc. I should mention here that the roasted pork here is really good - remember to add that in too.

And the complimentary spicy soup is a must to wash it all down. You can even add it to your dry mee to make it a bit 'wet'. They have soupy base noodles too, if you wish so.

My Subang Jaya friend who drives down on Sundays just to have this claims it is very hard to find this type of meals nowadays, not in PJ or KL, therefore he drives down here to indulge in it. I don't blame him too, having this took me back 30 years to the good'ol days when my dad brought us out to appreciate these small things in life. Today, I look forward to having a bunch of friends sitting and indulging in this sort of meal! It is simply different. I call it the spare-parts-galore at simpleton! I don't expect this to last forever - it seems to be a sunset business.

Location:
Top of the hill, other side of the wet market in Kajang - the upper part of the car park, near Wisma Apex.
2 of us pigging-out (pun intended) - RM13
3 of us really pigging out big time - RM32 (we were absolutely stuffed!)

Warning: If you are adventurous, try it. If you are one of those who can't handle spare-parts, avoid it.
Also available, normal roasted pork & meat balls for the faint-hearted.

The best Pau in Kajang ?

UPDATE : As at mid-2012, the pau seller has changed his supplier and no longer gets the paus from the 'si-fu'. The fare has become mediocre and business has gone down.

When I was still in school, a tai pau (big steamed bun) used to cost 80 sen (hahahahaha I just revealed my age). Now it costs RM2.80 ! Then again, nasi lemak was 50 sen at that time, and my Dad used to recall the days when it was only 2 sen or 5 sen !

There used to be a pau stall beside the Tai Wah Restaurant (yes the legendary Kajang Tai Wah Restaurant - in the same league as Pudu's legendary Sek Yuen Resturant) where we used to get the tastiest hand made paus. A small 40 sen char siew pau was enough to fill me up and a tai pau had to be shared with my tai kohs (elder brothers).

Fast forward 30 years and the paus these days are production line or factory made. Soft and tasty no doubt - but without character and without a soul. Most are more flour and less fillings. Not worth writing about.

Then gd discovered this pau seller in Sg Chua recently. Located in front of a book shop called "All the best books" (no joke) situated close to the Old Town kopitiam. I had one tai pau and I was hooked. The taste took me back 30 years. The pau skin was white and soft and even remained soft when reheated in the microwave.

The filling was old school - large chunks of pork, half an egg and a delicious savory gravy. A cross section pix below reveals the generous amount of filling in the tai pau. The white part is the hard boiled egg (and not pork fat). It's actually less oily than most other paus available these days.We chatted with the pau vendor who advised that the pau is specially hand made by a 'sifu' (guru) who is hired just to make the pau. Besides the tai pau, they have the usual varieties - char siew, vegetarian and sweet lotus seed plus some dim sum varieties - siew mai, lo mai kai etc.

Imagine having a full pau meal; vegetarian pau for starter, tai pau for main and sweet lotus pau for dessert? Give it a try one day, and this place is the best place to get your supply.

Location : A vendor located in front of "All the best book store" book shop, Jalan Berjaya 10, Taman Berjaya, Sg Chua, Kajang
Open from 2.00 p.m. until sold out - which is about 8.30 p.m.

Additional Pix, post review