Delicious Penang Street Food
Whenever
someone mentions Penang street food, I am always up for a taste. Growing up
from the island, it’s only fair to be a bit bias when it comes to Penang food,
especially street food. A few weeks back, when I first saw a plate of Char Kway
Teow on a few foodies’ FB page, I was practically salivating. And the best part
of this was that these foodies had it in Klang. It looked so good and it
certainly had me yearning for it. At times I am quite a picky eater. I usually
prefer Char Kway Teow from Penang as there is a different taste to the dish
compared to the ones here in this city. So it’s hardly an order I would call
for unless it says Penang Char Kway Teow.
So
when I was told that Angcle Peoh is
serving up Penang street food in his little café in Bukit Tinggi, Klang, some
of us foodies snagged an invite to try out what Angcle Peoh has to offer in his humble café. With anything or
anyone in life, there is always a story behind the existence. With Uncle Peoh,
it was poverty that had him growing up helping his mom who makes a living to
support his six siblings by selling homemade Fried Bee Hoon and Asam Laksa
during 1950s. Starting from lugging a rattan basket with ingredients for her
ware on a 4km journey each day to Ayer Itam in Penang, Uncle Peoh who was only
seven years old then, help his mom on often because it is a truly hard and
physical job.
While
other kids grew up with education, Uncle Peoh decided to drop out of school at
the age of 14 years old to assist his mom full time. The life-changing decision
was hard but he has never regretted it as it was crucial for his family’s
survival and also to lift his mom’s burden. Soon, business improved and Uncle
Peoh and his family was able to purchase a bicycle which made the journey
better and easier. Then later on, they could afford more and business took off
when their Asam Laksa became one of the most popular Asam Laksa stall in Ayer
Itam.
Fast
forward to current, Uncle Peoh has decided to semi-retired now and lives in
Klang with his daughter and son-in-law. Forever grateful to his mom for always
striving to give him everything, he hopes to continue his family’s legacy of
their Asam Laksa through the help of his daughter and son-in-law. Angcle Peoh was then born with the
combination of the Ang family name and the word uncle. At Angcle Peoh, it is not just Asam Laksa one can savor but a list of
other classic Penang street food.
That
said, we visited Angcle Peoh one
Sunday for lunch and looks like word sure got out fast as the crowd filled in
the café real quick! The simple no-frill café was comfortable. Walls are
plastered with Angcle Peoh’s history
and menu. The dining room was spacious and set with tables made for small or
big crowds. It was cool and comfortable for a quick bite of street food. There
is an open kitchen in front of the café where the noodles are whipped up plus a
small al fresco area for dining.
The
menu is a large two-sided laminated card. It does seemed to have quite a good
list of street food available together with drinks though I saw most diners
came specifically for his Asam Laksa and Char Kway Teow. With our orders locked
in and beverages served, service is brisk and courteous. Uncle Peoh together
with his family is seen running around as fast as they can together with some
helpers in serving up the dishes. Generally diners do not linger so just wait a
few minutes and tables would be freed up pretty quick.
Our
Hot Honey Lemon (RM3.80), Winter Melon with Sea Coconut Basil Seed
(RM4.90) and Passion Fruit with Basil
Seed Popping Jelly (RM4.90) was pretty decent and satisfying.
Lunch
took off with a great start of Pork
Noodle Soup (RM6.90). Though I ordered this for my little fella, hub and I
enjoyed this so much, we had to reorder another bowl because we kept stealing
bites of this from the little fella bowl! The Pork Noodle really evoked home
cooked comfort. Good porky broth with simple yellow noodles and smooth kway
teow noodles topped with tender sliced pork, homemade pork meatballs, pork
liver and topped with fried garlic and spring onions. It’s a hearty bowl of soothing
flavours!
I
never expected to enjoy the Prawn Mee
(RM6.90) since I thought it wasn’t their main signature but I did. It’s got
decent prawn stock that is nicely flavoured. The other essentials were there as
well such as the pork slice, egg, prawn, kangkung, fried shallots and the
noodles. It’s a decent bowl with good prawn essence balancing up other spice
flavours.
The
Curry Mee (RM6.90) looked rich and
red at sight but it is not as spicy as it looks. Penang style curry mee has a
light sweet coconut stock with delicate hints of spice paste and it needs the
heavy pungent chili sauce and oil to give it its signature curry mee style.
This one was mediocre at best as it was not quite the same as the Penang style
or the KL style here. I would say it’s somewhere in between Penang and KL style.
That said, it’s good to try this yourself as you may enjoy the style of this
curry mee at Angcle Peoh.
The
Fried Kway Teow with Duck Egg
(RM8.90) is as good as it looks. This is pretty near perfect to the Penang
flavours. Good hit of breathe of wok in the kway teow. Nice spicy savory with
hint of sweetness in flavours. Lots of crunchy beansprouts, chives, cockles and
prawns in the noodles. We had this with duck egg which is more prominent in
eggy flavour but you can also order the chicken egg version. Extra points goes
to the banana leaf as it added a nice aroma to the dish. Faultless and pretty darn
good!
Asam Laksa (RM6.90) is what we came for and
sure enough, it is super yum and addictive! The laksa broth is sourish and
moreish and filled with loads of fish flakes. It also has a good balance of
herbs, spices and aromatics in the broth. Laksa rice noodles, shredded
pineapple, onions, cucumber, mint leaves, torch ginger bud, chili and a heavy
lashing of their special shrimp paste sauce (har koh) summed up the bowl. The
har koh is a tad sweeter than I like but luckily the broth is so tangy and
piquant that it balanced out the sweetness of the har koh.
The
har koh is specially made to a secret recipe for Angcle Peoh so it explains the sweetness. Uncle Peoh is bent on
making sure his mom’s recipe is just as before and this is how they have been
serving up the flavours for years. I find myself polishing off this bowl
happily. No laksa gravy was left… only pure satisfaction of a darn good bowl of
Penang Asam Laksa!!
Make
sure to order this and sharing is NOT recommended… hehehe!
Rojak (RM6.00) was the only dish that didn’t
work for me. It went well with others but I found it a tad too watery in the
har koh sauce and again here, it was a tad too sweet. I love the super pungent
heavy har koh where it literally sticks to the cuts of fruits type. The rojak
has good cuts of mango, cucumber, jicama, pineapple, crunchy fried dough and
crushed peanuts.
Our
lunch ended with Ais Kacang (RM5.00)
and Cendol (RM5.00). Both were
decent and good enough to cool us down after all that bowls of hot soupy
noodles. I prefer the Cendol better than the Ais Kacang just as a matter of taste
preference.
I wished Angcle Peoh was located nearer to my
home. It’s going to be tough to get my regular fix of Asam Laksa and Char Kway
Teow. Maybe one day they might open a branch near my place if I am lucky. Service
is brisk and decent. Prices are very affordable and definitely good value for
money. Visit Angcle Peoh for a
delicious taste of Penang street food in KL… and yes, make sure to order their Asam Laksa and Char Kway Teow ok!
ANGCLE
PEOH
42, Lorong Batu Nilam
21B,
Bandar Bukit Tinggi 2,
41200 Klang, Selangor
D.E.
Tel: +6017 – 936 2223
Facebook: www.facebook.com/restoran.angclepeoh
Business Hour: Mon –
Sun: 9.00 am to 9.00 pm
