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
Business
Hours:
Lunch –11am to 2.30pm
Dinner – 6pm to 11pm
