The Sea Park Ramen Stall, Oishii desu!

Like your fresh ramen with some BITE?

One fine day when Cumi was out and about, looking for a place to lunch, he met this nice old man who had just opened stall in Sea Park, three weeks ago. His place at Simon’s Delight Coffee-shop (kopitiam) is located in that popular lunch area of Taman Sea/Sea Park in Petaling Jaya (PJ). Simon’s Delight has always been overshadowed by the opposite coffeeshop which is regularly packed at lunch time. Most stalls at Simon’s Delight have come and gone. The trickle of customers have not been able to sustain their existence. Many years ago, there was even a nouveau Naan bread maker who used to make his Naan with different stuffings such as red bean, corn and other ingredients, to differentiate his offerings from the regular Naan bakers. Sadly, the great tasting breads also disappeared not long after the stall’s opening.

With that history of unsuccessful business owners in mind, we wanted to help keep this latest stall open so today, we’re adding a post on it’s specialty -freshly made ramen noodles! Cumi was impressed enough with the food to bring Ciki back in tow, to try these wonderful noodles. You probably would have guessed by now that the term Ramen Otaku also extends to Cumi. He is a ramen geek – a hardcore noodle enthusiast, whose love for ramen knows no boundaries..  So, it is with great delight that we blog about places we find out of the blue, worth blogging about.

There are 4 styles of preparation of these ramen noodles. Bak Kut Teh (we use BKT or bakuteh for easier typing), Har Mee (spicy prawn noodle), Dry noodles in dark sauce or Soupy noodles with pork/fishball. There are 2 versions of ramen, wider (flat and wriggly) or thinner (long and straight). They had another version called the Korean ramen but took it off the menu since there wasn’t sufficient business to sustain a larger variety of choice. A banner facing the road shouts “boric acid free, alkaline free and edible pigment free”. At the corner, the banner also states “environmental health” – I wonder if it’s because of the fact that those three chemicals are not being dumped into the environment. Hawker stalls are now adding Green to their “social responsibility”!

First, two types of ramen. The wriggly flatter sort.

And the straight sort.

Folks from PJ or Charsiew fanatics will probably recognize the shop on the left as THAT famous, ever popular Charsiew Farn (BBQ Pork Rice) stall in Sea Park. (Cumi: These guys wear really clean white crisp kitchen attire.. all the time!) Generally the BBQ pork comes REALLY fatty so if you don’t like it that fatty then make your voice heard. Cumi rates it above average for the PJ area but doesn’t come close to his secret favourite stall. Portions vary depending on who is chopping the meat but very often you get a fair amount. Generally most patrons who come to eat at at this corner shop order the BBQ pork or Roasted Chicken. We now hope to divert the traffic a little over to the Ramen stall!

Seafood and minced pork ramen (wriggly noodles) – RM5.50

A light tasting broth with a lot of sweetness coming form the pork stock, minced pork, crab sticks and fish cake. Great for those who enjoy a more subtle tasting soup. The noodles are springy, chewy and cooked al dente. Delightfully appetizing.

Bakuteh Ramen(Straight noodles) – RM8.50

The bakuteh dish is the best dish to order in Cumi’s opinion. The price seems high but once you slurp the soup you will know why. My bowl’s stock was sweet, bordering on bitter as the taste of the herbs were magnificently strong. The stall owner says its not about the quantity of soup but the quality. We agree. With a generous amount of Pork slices, button mushrooms, lettuce and tofu puffs boiled in a meaty herbal stock, this broth had a lovely pungent aroma that lingered on long after taking your last bite. This dish passed with flying colours. Again, lots of bite in the springy ramen.

A great little place. We highly recommend you check out this humble ramen stall on your next lunch run in PJ!

There are also 2 other stalls selling fried noodles and western meals.

Charsiew – RM5.00 (quantity & price ranges… depends on which person is chopping)

UPDATE : MAY 13th Friday – The ramen shop is no longer in operation. Sad but true.