The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.
(excerpted from The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost)

Taking the road less travelled is a good philosophy to live by if you want to have better stories, better pictures, a bigger and more exciting experience.. one different from all the previous travellers. However, it could possibly also mean more danger, peril and never coming back alive from uncharted territory.

Me, I live by a much simpler philosophy.

Two streets diverged in a town, and I—
I took the one most fragrant,
And that has made all the difference.
(with apologies to Robert Frost)

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It was the gorgeous aroma of BBQ pork that brought us to this shop.

Situated just further down from the famous Kelana Jaya Coffee shop at the corner of the road, we found ourselves drawn to the glistening meat hanging in the window. How much is that Char Siew in the window? The one with the sticky, black caramelized tail?

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Oh Desire of Desires.. This afternoon, I have a growing, ravenous and all consuming desire for Char Siu rice (chinese style BBQ pork). Sweet, slightly sticky BBQ-ed goodness, with them gooey addictive blackened edges. I am imagining eating this sliced up with some rice and steaming soup. But not just any old slab of pork, mind you… a really decent, tasty portion of the stuff.

 

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Whilst not as fatty as the Meng Kee Glenmarie or the Meng Shiang Taman Cheras pun-fei-sao (half fat half lean) nor as sweetly caramelized as the Toast and Roast PJ one, I have to say, this place does a fine Char Siew Farn (Rice). It has the right fat to lean meat ratio and tastes really good. Not too sweet either that you get a tooth-ache. The guy you see in the photo above is the cook and he was originally from the outdoor coffeeshop behind Istana Hotel in KL. No wonder he looked so familiar to me.

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Another one of my favorite lunches on earth is a plate of roast pork meat, drenched in the sweet black sauce. And my favorite part of that lunch is of course, the siew yoke i.e. – roast pork belly with layers of lambent fat, juicy meat, and skin that has bubbled and popped all over like Rice Krispies. This produces a puffed and crunchy counterpart to the meat’s succulent interior that I just die for. So, begs the question, what’s better than Char Siew Farn? Char Siew- Siew Yoke Farn of course! Here in KL where I live, Malaysians take pride in their siew yoke, and so they should. It tops any other Siew Yoke in the world if I may say so myself. A great favourite of mine comes from Restoran Wong Kee in Pudu. The Roast Pork “Sifu” (the meat expert who cuts the pork) is a riot. Grumpy, nasty, and with all the hallmarks of a cocky Sifu. I love him.

The Char Siew – Siew Yoke Farn here at Kopitiam 868 Kelana Jaya, is less greasy, less sweet, but still super tasty. Of course it cannot beat the Wong Kee Siew Yoke, or the Meng Kee Char Siew, but it will do as a replacement in the Petaling Jaya area, I suppose. We like this place because it is clean, and the wait for your food is way shorter than the busy Coffee-shop at the top of this street.

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Another great find at this place is the Lamb Wantan Mee.  The lamb is served in soup and comes with your Kon-low Wantan Meen (dry noodles in dark sauce). The Lamb meat is ultra soft and aromatic, with no traces of gamy after taste whatsoever. I really liked this as it made a change from your normal wantan mee.

A word on the cook. He used to work in Singapore but had to return to KL for family reasons. He got the idea about Lamb Wantan Mee from China, where lamb is commonly used as part of this popular chinese dish.

Kelana Jaya Lamb Wantan Mee

I do not know the address of the place but it is just by Giant in Kelana Jaya. Here is a picture of the street. Happy hunting!

 

Address:
Near Giant Kelana Jaya
Google Maps

 

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