Fish Head Noodles @ Ring Road Restaurant, Jalan Gelang KL

Once upon a sunny afternoon, as me and Cumi were walking around the Loke Yew area, we noticed this place which was packed with folks, all eating one thing.

Fish head.

The fish looked huge and fresh and the sauces looked amazingly varied. Steaming hot and reeking of a fishy freshness, we found ourselves drawn to the place.

The fish head dishes looked incredibly tempting, but since it was just the two of us, we opted for the restaurant next door which served fish head noodles by the bowl – smaller portions which we could more easily finish. Fish head eating is most fun, communal. You really need to come back with family or friends and dig into that huge steaming head to do it justice.

Anyway this restaurant called Ring Road restaurant, off Loke Yew Road, serves all sorts of fish, from Snakehead fish (Sek Pan/Ikan Haruan) to Pomfret, and Garoupa and depending in which fish you pick the price per bowl is different.

You pick the sort of noodles you want – from thick rice noodles to vermicelli, and the cook puts it all together. There’s also an option for Yue Wat (fish paste) or fish balls, if you like.

This restaurant also does Pork ball noodles as an option to fish.

The cook works quickly to churn out bowl of noodles.. 

Soon the bowl of noodles arrives.

The combination of smooth rice vermicelli noodles with loads of coriander, young slices of ginger swimming in a milky broth looked rather enticing. They serve it without the milk, so it’s thin and clean tasting.

The portion while not massive, was enough to satisfy one person. The pepper and ginger combo will have you sweating buckets in no time. Luckily the restaurant is air-conditioned. They were generous with the fish meat (I told the cook, less bones please) as they gave us the fleshy part of the head. I like the cartilaginous, wobbly bits better than the meat, which turned out to be a little hard. We had the Sek Pan which came to RM12 per bowl. The cook told us that the price usually varies depending on what the wholesalers quote him, when the deliver the fish.

Next door to this restaurant is another famous fish head restaurant called New Times Place Restaurant (Sun Tin Tei) or Foon Xiang Siang Steam Fish. This place is famous for their Chinese Style cooked dishes and especially their Shoong Yee Tau-steamed Big Head Carp fish with Tau Cheong, Garlic, Bird’s Eye chillies (Chili padi) and also their Kwang Si Tofu Puffs stuffed with fishpaste and Chinese Chives. We will be back to tackle this fish head soon, but with a couple more mouths for sure.

They do a decent Char Siew (BBQ Pork) Wantan Mee here. The noodles are the thin sort, but they are toss in a deliciously lardy, well-balanced dark & sweet sauce which I found, hit the spot. The Char Siew was chunky with lean meat, but soft and succulent, not hard. Loved the simplicity yet, addictive flavour of this wantan mee.

A Chart show’s patrons a list of all the fish & noodle permutations they can order here. Can’t wait to return for the Shoong Yee Tau fish head!