We received an invitation to attend the Methodist Boys School (MBS) charity event where my nephew was part of the literary play providing music on the saxophone. We decided to leave home earlier and have dinner before the event. Our choices were either Sang Kee (生记酒家) or Han Kee (焓记), both of which were walking distance. Since we’ve already tried SK a few times, we opted for Han Kee, another chu char place which comes with an extensive menu ranging from fried noodles to seafood and meat dishes.
Han Kee is located along Jalan Sultan where the cluster of pre-war shop houses were. It actually shared the same owner/shop lot with the famous Kam Kee Hainanese chicken rice. (鸡荣海南鸡饭茶餐室)
This coffee shop may look just like any other kopitiam when you pass by during daytime, but come later hours of the day, you will bear witness to the growing crowd enjoying their fixes of chu char by the roadside in an old school alfresco style.
Once you get a seat, service is more often than not snappy, and piping hot food delivered to your table in a jiffy.
Wat Tan Hor (滑蛋河) @ RM 16.00 (M/中) ~ The wat tan hor was a sunshiny yellow, evidently a result of the generous number of eggs used in the gravy in which the Hor Fun and the crispy vermicelli swam. Prawns and pork added flavour to the base. My only gripe was that the sauce was thinner than what I’ve preferred it to be. Nevertheless, it was still highly, for want of a better word, egg-y, and should satisfy many out there.
Fried Rice (炒饭) @ RM 16.00 (M/中) ~ Fried rice was nothing great – just fried rice with some shrimps and char siew meat thrown in, not anything you can’t get at your neighbourhood chu char stall. The sambal served along side with the fried rice was pretty appetizing though.
Fried Hokkien Mee (炒福建面) @ RM 16.00 (M/中) ~ The thick and sticky fried Hokkien Mee has sufficient “wok hei” and plenty of fried pork lards thrown in. The oiliest and bestest — at least according to most of the gwei lo’s who is enjoying this dish with much gusto. However, I discovered there were a lot of small pieces of prawn shells in the noodle. Nevertheless, the whopping two pounds of greasy goodness made everybody happy.
When it comes to traditional Chinese food in KL, one has little doubt that Petaling Street, or Chinatown, is the best place to be. Amidst the walking, you will be spoiled for choice with a wide variety of classic Chinese food that has withstood the test of time.
- Restoran Han Kee
- N0. 42, Jalan Sultan
- 5000 Kuala Lumpur.
- Mobile – 017-207 4448
- Business hours – 1700-0100
- Closed – Every Tuesday Fortnight
- GPS Coordinates
- N03′ 08.586 N101′ 41.905
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