Angcle Peoh @ Bukit Tinggi, Klang

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

Hawk and Fish @ Taman Tun Dr Ismail

Hawker Fare Meets British Pub Grub

Wow, it’s a first for me to devour our Malaysian favorite hawker fare on the same table as British pub grub. Hawk & Fish, which stands for hawker and fish (fish & chips that is…), is located at TTDI right beneath The Pound Pub and is set on bringing both gastronomical worlds of street food and pub food together under one roof. Sharing the same management as The Pound, which has been operating for 2 years already, Hawk & Fish is barely few months old but has garnered quite a reputation of its unique name and concept. I like the concept. In some ways, our street food is right up the alley along pub food where a mug of beer and some hawker fare may be the perfect partnership to unwind at the end of a long work day. Its comfort food for both in many ways where hawker is our Malaysian comfort fare as British pub grub is to the British.

Walking into Hawk & Fish, the ambience projected minimalist raw appeal. Lots of grey, slate and black are seen all over. A mural of Uncle Chee, the chef that whips up the hawker fare, is boldly displayed at one corner. The jovial chef prepares economical rice and dishes (local chap fun) for lunch and other hawker dishes for the regular a la carte menu served throughout the day. Diners can expect over 20 dishes for the chap fun and other street favorites like Bakuteh, Herbal Wine, Char Kway Teow and more in the menu. The pub grub side of the menu features fish & chips, burgers, pasta, snacks and more. Basically, diners can also order the menu from The Pound Pub as well if you are dining at Hawk & Fish.

Dinner commence with a cute named snack called Dogs in a Blanket & Quilt (RM25). Its Hawk & Fish’s own take at the western snack of Pigs in a Blanket which is sausages wrapped and baked in puff pastry. Dogs in a Blanket & Quilt is essentially one super large sausage wrapped in chive omelette and bacon, then fried till crispy and golden and served with yellow mustard. I swear my heart skipped a few heartbeats when I saw this awesome looking snack.

The savory and smoky sausage really paired up well with the oniony chive omelette and salty moreish notes of the crispy bacon. It is juicy and has an overall good bite. When dipped into the mustard, more flavours of the tangy hit of nostril-tingling sensation of piquant mustard worked extra wondrous on the taste bud. Damn shiok bar snack… I could easily wolf this down by myself and maybe order a few extra ones…

We were immediately attracted to The Pound Pork Balls (RM18) when we saw it in the menu. Meatball is such a universal favorite food all over the world. This one is oozing with cheese when we cut it open. I enjoyed the flavours of the juicy meatball as it is tasty. This one is also served with yellow mustard.

Spicy Wings (RM20) are not really spicy in heat but has lots of spices in its marinade. The wings are a good choice to order anytime. Crispy skin, juicy inside and delicious, sinking your teeth into a few of these wings are simply a no-brainer when you visit The Pound or Hawk & Fish!

I always enjoy a good recipe for fish & chips. Hawk & Fish Red Snapper Fish & Chips (RM30) had all the good intentions of a delicious fish & chips with its golden crispy beer batter, thick cut fries, tartar sauce and mushy peas but the snapper didn’t taste right. It was a little chewy for some reason. We did feedback and were assured that they will look into this. If the snapper was good, this would have been an awesome fish & chips as everything else was good down right to the batter.

The Pound Pork Burger (RM30) is quite a hefty dish. Half pound pork patty nicely seasoned and grilled is topped with melted cheese, ham, fried egg sesame seed bun and the usual suspects certainly make a full meal on its own. The pork patty is pretty decent with a nice moist note while I certainly attacked the thick cut fries happily as well as the burger.

After all the pub food, we were ready for the hawk part of the restaurant. Leading the pack was a delish Char Kway Teow (RM15). This version is different from my usual preference but nevertheless really scrumptious. It has a good wok hei and the kway teow is nicely moist and bursting with a lovely soy sauce flavour. The kway teow was adorned with seafood and sidekicks of chicken wings and fried egg. We asked for the normal heat version but were told that we could always amp up the heat level with the sides of cili padi sauce and a kickass dry chili sambal. That kickass chili is super-hot and rocks in flavours!

Homespun Fried Rice (RM20) has three variations from Pound Special to Thai style and Chinese style. We opted for the Pound Special and were delighted with it happily. The fried rice had nice fluffy grains with a good breathe of wok. I can taste lovely spices and heat as well as bits of bacon bits. I added the kickass dry chili sambal again to take this fried rice to another level of taste. Together with the chicken wings and fried egg, the fried rice makes a great single dish meal anytime of the day.

One of the house signatures of Hawk & Fish is Uncle Chee’s Ancestral Orinigal Bakuteh (RM15). Though it may not win any big ravings in my books, it is still sufficiently comforting. The hot herbal soup has a good calming effect while the cuts of pork belly are well braised in the soup. It has a nice balance of lean and fat, tender and yet has a good bite. The accompaniment of tau foo pok, enoki mushrooms, greens and coriander added more flavours and textures. It is still kudos to Uncle Chee for his effort in this favorite street food of mine…

I am also a huge fan of Dry Style Bakuteh (RM15). I am always on a look out for this version as I really enjoy the deep dark richness of the lightly sweet and caramelized notes of dark soy sauce with herbal soup and tainted with dry chilies and bits of ladies fingers. I felt that this one was missing an ingredient of dried squid to add more pungent flavours. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed this happily with my rice. I am glad Uncle Chee used a fatty cut of the pork belly because it really makes this dish taste even better.

Though the BKT & dry BKT was decent, the Herbal Wine Chicken (RM15) was super yum! Don’t be fool by this ordinary looking pot of chicken. It is gorgeously intense in flavours as the herbal wine is powerful in flavours. The rich herbal wine broth is what makes me lust after it as I keep spooning the broth for pure satiation. The chicken was decent together with the red dates and coriander but it was the broth that took center stage in this dish. A must order if you love bold punchy broth laced with strong Chinese wine like this one!

Apple Pie was nothing to shout about but it did make a nice ending with the crispy pastry and sweet apple pie filling.

Hawk & Fish has certainly more hits than misses. The concept of hawker and pub grub is pretty unique and they seem to nail it all pretty well. Price is decent as well. Head on over for their spread of Chap Farn during lunchtime to sample Uncle Chee’s dishes or during the evening for a spread of hawker favorites and pub grub. Highlights for me are the snacks of The Pound Pork Ball, Dogs in a Blanket & Quilt, Spicy Wings, Homespun Fried Rice and Herbal Wine Chicken.

HAWK & FISH

No. 50, Jalan Tun Mohd Fuad 1,

Taman Tun Dr Ismail,

60000 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: +60 11-3738 8993

Facebook: www.facebook.com/hawkandfish

Business Hours:

Lunch –11am to 2.30pm

Dinner – 6pm to 11pm