Whenever we have errands to run nearby Petaling Street, we will definitely drop by the street for its delicious foods. Besides being a place which some people called it Chinatown (especially the tourists) and filled with many yummy hawker foods, it is also a nostalgic place for the locals that grew up in Klang Valley. With over decades of history, I am sure that many locals have fond memories with family and friends at this street.
This time, we were not here for Koon Kee Wantan Mee or Hon Kee Porridge which is located at the main street of Petaling Street. We were here for the hidden gems (Curry Laksa, Chee Cheong Fun, Yong Tau Foo and ABC) located at Madras Lane (中華巷) which is an alley connected to a wet market (李霖泰菜市场) within the Petaling Street area.
This was my second time here since I didn’t manage to try out every single food during my first visit. With Mr. J with me this time, eating all the yummy foods here is not an impossible task.
The first food of the day goes to the Curry Laksa. Our favourite noodles combination when it comes to curry laksa will always be the mee (yellow noodles) and meehoon/bihun (rice noodles). We love this combination because the meehoon will absorb the curry making every spoonful more delicious. Having too much meehoon will leave your curry laksa too dried towards the end so half portion of meehoon is more than enough. The bowl of thick creamy curry with mild spiciness is filled with chicken, cockles, brinjals, long beans, tofu puffs and pork skin. The main highlight of this curry laksa is the texture of the chicken which is firm and tough suggesting that the chicken is of high quality.
Bear in mind that there are 3 different stalls of curry laksa and each of them may not be in good terms with one another. So, just pick your preferred stall, place your order and don’t forget to ask the stall owner where you can actually sit. To avoid being scolded or kicked off your seat, it would be wise not to find a seat near to the stall which you are not ordering any food from.
Meanwhile, we also ordered a small plate of Chee Cheong Fun (rice noodle roll) which is just a few stalls away from the curry laksa. It is just a simple dish with sweet sauce and sesame on top of the chee cheong fun. Being the only stall selling this dish, it didn’t impress us at all. The texture of the chee cheong fun is quite smooth but it isn’t difficult to get something similar from other chee cheong fun sellers elsewhere.
Since we were too early for the Yong Tau Foo (tofu, vegetable, etc. stuffed with meat), we walked around Petaling Street and came back to Madras Lane around 11.00am. By then, the stall hasn’t started selling yet but the queue is already building up. We quickly got into line and waited for the stall to get ready for business. We picked two of almost every item except for tofu, fish ball, foo jook (fried tofu skin) and chilli because sharing a piece of each item is definitely not enough for us! Each piece of yong tau foo costs RM1.40 which is reasonable considering its decent size (some sellers charged RM1.50 each for very small pieces). The yong tau foo is probably stuffed with fish paste only since we couldn’t taste any traces of pork or salted fish from it. Upon selecting everything that we wanted from the counter, we looked for seats at the back of the stall and waited for the foods to be served to our table.
As we were enjoying our yong tau foo, we noticed the queue getting longer and longer. We also noticed many customers ordering an awful lot of pieces as takeaways. If you ever hear any locals recommending the yong tau foo of Petaling Street, this is the stall that they are referring to. From what we heard, the yong tau foo can be sold out as early as 1.30pm on weekdays.
Both of us love eating yong tau foo and have tried the famous ones in Puchong, Jalan Imbi and even Ampang’s famous Foong Foong (I have visited this countless times since young). Their fried stuffs especially the foo jook is nice but we still preferred the fried dumplings from Jalan Imbi and Foong Foong. The rest of the yong tau foo choices are similar to other sellers and there is nothing outstanding about them.
With so many foods in our stomach, you might be surprised that we still have space for dessert! The ABC (acronym for Air Batu Campur meaning mixed ice) in Madras Lane is a must try. This was what we were told by most of the locals in this area. We were really curious what is so special about the ABC here.
The appearance is normal just like any other ABCs you can find elsewhere but if you look in detailed, the light green topping which looks like cendol (worm-like green rice flour jelly) is actually not cendol. With a bite, the flavor of the cendol-like topping tastes like pandan mixed with santan (coconut milk) and its texture is chewy with a bit of pudding texture. This special topping is simply amazing! Of course, it also comes with other ingredients such as kidney beans, corns and cincau (grass jelly) which are similar to other ABCs. The ingredients, milk, syrup and ice complemented each other well to create the perfect sweetness level.
Even though this small stall sits at a corner which might be a little hidden, there are plenty of locals ordering from the stall especially takeaways. The takeaway ABC comes in a small bowl or cup.
Having gone through so many nice foods, you might want to know where exactly this hidden place is. Madras Lane is actually located towards the end of the wet market (李霖泰菜市场). Just keep walking and you will surely see it.
If you are driving, there is actually an open parking space nearby Madras Lane if you are coming from Jalan Tun HS Lee. Once you see Public Bank on your right, turn left into Lorong Bandar 20 and you will spot the open parking space and Madras Lane
If you are taking the LRT/MRT, it is probably easier to get to Madras Lane. Just walk along Petaling Street and look for the old shopping complex (Bangunan Pak Peng). Then, walk through the building towards the back of it and you will arrived at Madras Lane.
Hawkers Foods at 李霖泰菜市场, Madras Lane
Address: Madras Lane, Off Petaling Street, 50000 Kuala Lumpur.
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