Nuromen Café Uptown PJ – Sarawak beef noodles from Kuching

I went to check out Nuromen Cafe with my housemate Mandy last night. I saw a video on Facebook and told her about it. To my surprise, she said she’s been there many times! I was puzzled coz she just arrived in KL 3 weeks ago and I’ve been out with her almost every time. I know I haven’t been here. It turns out that Nuromen Café in Uptown PJ is the official branch of Nuromen in Kuching. It serves Sarawak style beef noodles and Mandy’s a regular at the Kuching outlet.

As an illustration of how small the Sarawakian community is, a friend tagged the artist who drew this mural (also from Kuching) when I posted it on Facebook yesterday. Both Mandy and I are from Sarawak too. I guess Sarawakians just have an incestuous tendency to stick together.

I miss Kuching style beef noodles. I believe Open Air Central Market in Kuching serves one of the more definitive versions. That was my first experience back when I was living in Kuching as a kid. My sister was actually born in Kuching and our family lived there for the first 7 years of my life. I was born in Sibu due to an accident – my mom went into labor when they came to Sibu for Ching Ming. That’s also why my birthday is in Ching Ming. Haha.

Nuromen Café also serves a few Sarawak classic drinks like Teh C Special (RM 4.50) and Teh C Pandan Special (RM 4.50). This drink was created by a coffee shop in 7th Mile, Kuching. We got both to try. It was diluted, not the best representation of Teh C Special.

The interesting thing about Nuromen is the way they do hot pot style beef noodles. You’re given a simmering bowl of beef soup a la hot pot and you cook your own beef slices inside. It’s a cross between hot pot and beef noodles. Mandy told me she usually orders this to eat with rice. You can also pair it with noodles.

We ordered their signature Premium Sirloin Beef Platter Special (RM 42) – it’s a set for 2 pax with 160 gram premium sirloin beef slices, stewed beef, assorted vegetables and beef stock. Nuromen claims all their beef is sourced from Australia and NZ. It’s not local beef or Indian buffalo. This set comes with the more premium marbled sirloin cut. The beef slices are ultra thin so it cooks in just a few seconds.

There’s a separate bowl of cooked stewed beef. We didn’t quite like this. I think my buffalo stew is way better.

I also made a separate a la carte order for 100 grams beef slices (RM 11.50). This is a leaner cut of beef. I wanted to see the difference between the sirloin and regular beef. We preferred the sirloin.

Of course, it’s not beef noodles unless you have noodles. You can order their garlic tossed kolo noodles for RM 3. This is the classic beef noodle pairing. I love the strong scent of garlic and the familiar smells and aromas. This is my kind of comfort food. The noodles are the proper kind we use in Sarawak too.

The staff gave us free ice cream when they saw we’re finished with our meal. This happens in Kuching too according to Mandy. It’s a nice touch.

The food at Nuromen Cafe is pretty good – some misses on the drinks and stewed beef but their signature noodles and beef slices are legit. The bill came up to RM 68.50 for two with drinks. It’s an authentic Sarawakian taste that we’ve both missed. We’ll be back for sure.

5 popular street food we ate in KL over the weekend

Lot 10 Hutong

Hutong Lot 10 has some of the most established and famous stalls from all around Klang Valley located in one convenient place. If I recall correctly, the criteria for getting a stall here is very high – your street food stall needs to be a household name and it has to be in operation for at least 2-3 generations.

Famous Street Food KL

This is the best of the best street food KL has to offer, and we ate here *every meal* during our staycation (our hotel was right beside Lot 10). Here’s five of our favorites:

1. Cheras Woo Pin Famous Fish Head Noodles

Cheras Woo Pin Famous Fish Head Noodles Stall

This is the distinctive fish noodles cooked with fresh milk that’s famous over here. The broth of the fish head noodles is almost white in color, due to the addition of either fresh milk or evaporated milk. It offsets any “fishy” taste and to top it off, the fish is fried, making this a very friendly dish for people who don’t like fish.

Cheras Woo Pin Famous Fish Head Noodles

Woo Pin Cheras Fried Fish Noodles (RM 10.85) comes with a few pieces of fish head and part of the fun is digging out the flesh from it. There’s also an option where you can add more fried fish slices for RM 21.30. My better half ordered this, I actually prefer a clean broth and blanched fish to fried fish – the latter destroys the taste but I know a lot of people like it and I’m trying to get over my discriminatory thinking. smirk

2. Pin Qian Klang Bak Kut Teh

Pin Qian Klang Bak Kut Teh Stall

This is one of the best BKT or “pork rib tea” I’ve had. There are a lot of Klang Bak Kut Teh outlets around nowadays but not all of them do the dish justice. Pin Qian has been operating since 1986 and they also have an outlet in Hutong Lot 10 (at ridiculously high prices).

Pin Qian Klang Bak Kut Teh

I had a small mixed bowl of fat and lean pork belly with a side of rice for RM 18.20 (over RM 20 after tax and the mandatory tissue packet). There’s always a long queue to get this though coz it’s absolutely fantastic – the meat is fork-tender and the herbal soup is so thick, it’s divine!

3. China Town Seng Kee Claypot Chicken Rice

China Town Seng Kee Claypot Chicken Rice Stall

This is the sister outlet of the famous place in Petaling Street. It was actually the first place I ever tasted “KL style” Claypot Chicken Rice as a kid. We were living in Sibu and came to KL for a family vacation and my dad brought us here since he missed eating this from when he was himself a university student.

China Town Seng Kee Claypot Chicken Rice

I love the crispy caramelized rice at the bottom of the sizzling hot claypot which you have to dig out! I ordered it with an extra egg cracked on top for RM 14.25. It’s delicious but China Town See Keng in Petaling Street is more famous for their Claypot Loh Shu Fan, which they also serve here in their Hutong Lot 10 branch.

4. Imbi Road Original Pork Noodle

Imbi Road Original Pork Noodle Stall

This is an awesome place to eat if you love pork although I still think the original outlet in Jalan Imbi is better. The RM 9.90 bowl of pork noodles here is made by foreign cooks and although the same process and recipes are used, as you can see in this video:

It somehow tastes better at the founding outlet.

Imbi Road Original Pork Noodle

This isn’t my taste buds playing tricks with me or ambiance issues, there is also another famous noodle stall at Hutong Lot 10 – this time dedicated to our bovine instead of porcine friends – Soong Kee Beef Noodles, and it tastes the same as the first outlet.

5. Tai Lei Loi Kei Macau

Tai Lei Loi Kei Macau Pork Chop Bun Stall

Yup, the wildly famous Macau establishment which everyone goes to for the esteemed Macau Pork Bun has an outlet at Hutong Lot 10 too! They had a loop of Anthony Bourdain visiting their original Macau outlet in Tai Lei Loi Kei Taipa playing on a TV in an episode of No Reservations.

Tai Lei Loi Kei Macau Pork Chop Bun

The RM 13.90 Choapa Bao (Pork Chop Bun) here is decent, but not as good as the one I had in Macau. We ordered one to share and found the pork chop itself to be slightly overcooked and overseasoned. I did find one inch of juicy meat though but unfortunately the rest of the (rather large) pork chop was dry.

Sabah Kampung Beef Noodles (Kah Hiong Ngiu Chap)

beef brisket noodles

I remember eating the absolutely fabulous and rightfully famous Inanam ngiu chap in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah when I was based there a few years back. Ngiu chap is the local Hakka dialect for beef noodles, prepared in a distinctive way. The traditional Inanam style consists of a semi-clear broth but there’s another preparation which has a darker soy sauce tinged soup. This is the latter.

sabah kampung beef noodles

I was pleased to see an outlet for Kah Hiong Ngiu Chap open up near my place in Kota Damansara. It’s just been open for a couple of months and we wondered what shop will pop up there. I’ve been to Kota Kinabalu several times – sampling the local delights, climbing Mount Kinabalu and even stayed there for 1 ½ years so I’m quite familiar with their food.

sabah beef noodles

Their signature Ngiu Chap Soup Noodles (RM 13.90) is a hearty bowl of beef tripe, beef stew, beef slice, and beef balls in a rich broth. There’s HUGE chunks of brisket inside and the meat portions are *very* generous. There’s three types of noodles to choose from – yellow oily noodles, rice vermicelli and ho fun and I personally think the first choice is the best way to enjoy it.

ngiu chap kota damansara

You can also add on a portion of the following to your bowl of noodles starting from RM 2 onwards:

  • Beef tendon
  • Beef intestine
  • Beef heart
  • Beef liver
  • Beef tongue
  • Beef omasun
  • Beef tripe
  • Beef stew
  • Beef slices
  • Beef ball
  • Beef spleen

ngiu chap kolo mee

The Ngiu Chap Kolo Mee (RM 14.90) is similar to the above but separates the noodles from the soup. The waiter got our orders wrong and thought this is what my better half ordered so it took a while for me to realize that and send it back (she doesn’t like beef).

chicken kolo noodles

My dear ordered the Chicken Kolo Noodle (RM 9.90) which comes with pieces of chicken cooked with soy sauce. It’s an afterthought in a beef joint and it tastes just like that – dismal. The chicken offerings are for people who don’t like or eat beef and they’re not good at it. It tasted pretty awful.

ngiu chap soup

However, I loved my order of their flagship Ngiu Chap Soup Noodles. Sabah Kampung Beef Noodles are good at what they do best – which is beef. I strongly suggest you eat beef noodles when you go or not go at all. This is strictly a place for people who love our bovine friends…in their stomach! smirk

ngiu chap us

Kah Hiong Ngiu Chap is actually a true Sabah chain that came over to Peninsula Malaysia. It takes up a large corner shoplot and you won’t miss the bright signage. It’s always pretty empty though, it seems like it didn’t really take off here but their beef noodles are really good. I’ll recommend it if you like bowls of hearty beef noodles with lots and lots of beef!

kah hiong ngiu chap

Sabah Kampung Beef Noodles (Kah Hiong Ngiu Chap)
No 2-1, Jalan PJU 5/7
Dataran Sunway
Kota Damansara

Soong Kee beef ball mee

soong kee beef noodles

Soong Kee beef ball mee is another legendary beef noodles place in KL. Some people prefer Ngau Kee beef noodles but after having eaten both, I vote for Soong Kee beef noodles. It’s all in the beef balls!

soong kee beef noodles uncle

Soong Kee beef ball noodles is located at Jalan Tun Tan Siew Sing. I don’t know how to get there but if you have a GPS device and and you’re near Petaling Street – go to Food and it’ll appear on the list. That’s how I got there anyway. smirk

soong kee beef ball noodles interior

Soong Kee has both air conditioned and al fresco seating and the noodles are prepared by a nice elderly gentleman which looks like he’s been doing this for ages:

The beef noodles I went for is served dry and comes with a topping of minced mystery meat which you mix into the noodles.

soong kee beef noodles mee

This is the large portion. I like the springy texture of the noodles and the black sauce (don’t know what it is coz I’m brain dead right now) is really awesome. It’s salty enough to saturate the entire bowl of tossed noodles – always a good thing.

soong kee beef ball noodles

The beef balls is served with soup on the side and according to my count there are six balls in total. It tastes better with a dash of pepper but it stands alone well enough with the spring onion infused broth. The texture is also something to be reckoned with – it’s juicy, yet firm to the bite, a feat many aspire to but few achieve.

soong kee beef ball noodles mee

Eaten together with the minced meat noodles, it’s hawker food at it’s best – neither the most hygienic nor will it win any awards for presentation – but it’s so good that it practically deserves a Michelin Star.

soong kee beef noodles large

Soong Kee beef noodles is my current favorite beef noodles. My only beef with it is that it’s so far away.

Okay, that was lame.

Seremban Beef Noodles

seremban beef noodles stall

Ask anyone what Seremban is famous for and you’ll get a unanimous answer – beef noodles. Seremban beef noodles is unlike any I’ve ever had, it’s made using different noodles and has a lot of frills to it (the down-to-earth kind of trimmings).

pasar besar seremban

The penultimate (wah, damn a lot of hyperbole in this post) Seremban Beef Noodles is located at Pasar Besar Seremban.

seremban beef noodles

It’s unfortunately numbered 748 which translates to “go die la” in Mandarin. This is the original stall – the Genesis of Seremban Beef Noodles, if you will.

seremban beef noodles caydence

This photo fake one. Caydence doesn’t eat beef (or anything else for that matter) so I ended up eating both bowls.

seremban beef noodles soup

There are dry and soup versions of Seremban beef noodles. This is the latter. I like the broth but it doesn’t have the oomph of the former.

seremban beef noodles dry

The dry beef noodles on the other hand is fucking awesome. It contains generous portions of beef (various cuts and even innards) mixed with noodles and topped with a special black sauce sprinkled with sesame seeds and peanuts.

seremban beef noodles macro

I think the brilliant bit about Seremban beef noodles is the texture of the assorted offal of beef combined with the noodles and the Crunch Factor (TM) of the peanuts.

seremban beef noodles caydence me

I highly recommend you detour into Pasar Besar Seremban when you head down (up?) to Seremban. The beef noodles alone is worth the 40 minute drive.

Of course, if you have *cough* other incentives *cough* to drive there, then all the better. 😉

The Dumpling Teahouse

the dumpling teahouse

The Dumpling Teahouse is an eating establishment specializing in beef noodles and dumplings. It’s located near Mitsu Shabu Shabu and the interior is not air-conditioned despite the split units visible from the exterior. I’ve been there twice and they never bothered to switch on the air-conditioning, probably due to a lack of customers.

the dumpling teahouse sign

The good thing about The Dumpling Teahouse (besides the cute name) is the relative privacy of the place. It just doesn’t draw a huge crowd although the beef noodles are pretty good. I’m not sure if it’s due to poor advertising or just plain bad feng shui, but the place never really took off. 😉

teahouse interior

Geomancy Sifu: Your walls not good. Bad for luck. Money all flow out like water in the river. You should turn on air con. The ceiling fan blow all your money away!

teahouse fan

Geomancy Sifu: OMFG! You got a big fan as a decoration some more! No wonder la. Money all fly away.

teahouse beef noodles

Geomancy Sifu: Nevermind, I eat your Beef Noodle (RM 5). Payment for services rendered.

teahouse beef

Geomancy Sifu: Your beef chunks very big. Soft and tender too. Soup very spicy. I like. Increase man’s vigor. Noodles also curly, flat type. Good for longevity.

teahouse dumpling fried

Geomancy Sifu: Bring some Chives and Pork Dumplings (RM 4.50) for the leng lui here. Can choose fried or steamed izzit? I want fried. Eh, wait, Chiew Fong (Autumn) doesn’t eat pork. Nevermind. I eat. Quite tasty.

teahouse dumpling steamed

Geomancy Sifu: She half vegetarian, so give her Mushroom Chicken Dumplings (RM 4.50). What la, you guys all pork and beef one. Steamed, not bad. Had better though.

teahouse chiew fong

Geomancy Sifu: Your beef noodles good but your dumplings so so only. I suggest you rename the place to The Beef Noodle Teahouse.

teahouse bulb

Geomancy Sifu: Hmm…your 9 mm (bulb) is like a guiding light in the night shining bright. Eh, sorry, I rap.

Aho Mee Sapi Nasi Ayam Restauran

aho restaurant

Aho Mee Sapi Nasi Ayam Restauran (Literally: Aho Beef Noodles Chicken Rice Restaurant) is one of the best places in town to have beef noodles. It’s a halal establishment operated by Malays and as the signboard suggests the two flagship dishes are the beef noodles and the chicken rice.

aho interior

The place tends to be a bit packed during lunchtime and parking can be a bit of a problem. I went with Autumn, who doesn’t eat beef (or pork for that matter). I’m not a big fan of chicken rice but I love beef noodles. Aho does a very good version of beef noodles, Malay style. I just love the chicken shaped menu for chicken rice and the cow shaped version for beef noodles. Heh!

aho beef noodles

I had the mixed beef noodles (RM 4) which can be ordered with the noodles in a separate bowl (dry) or mixed into the soup (wet). Soupy dishes during lunch isn’t really my thing, not just coz of potential Splash Damage (TM), but coz it increases the body temperature at the warmest time of the day.

aho noodles

Thus, I ordered the dry version with the noodles on the side. The noodles are mixed with Essence of Cow (TM) – it’s so full of mooing goodness, you can taste the beef in the noodles. It’s delicious!

aho beef soup

The soup is even better – you can opt to have certain parts of the cattle or a mixed bowl, which has everything except the genitalia (that part is reserved to make Sup Power). Aho does a very good beef noodle soup. It’s hearty and has that elusive umami taste to it.

aho chicken rice

Autumn had the other specialty of the house – fried chicken rice (RM 4). Aho serves fried chicken instead of the usual steamed or roasted chicken.

aho chicken

However, they do a very good version of fried chicken – it’s not over fried, so the skin comes out crispy but the inner parts are still tender and juicy.

aho us

Aho Mee Sapi Nasi Ayam Restauran is a great place for beef noodles and chicken rice. The restaurant name can a bit of a mouthful though (pun intended) so we just call it Aho. 😉

Moo…

Lam’s Place – from Menggatal, Sabah

lams place

Lam’s Place is the new eating establishment in Chong Lin Park
specializing in ngui chap (beef noodles). It just opened a couple of
days ago – it’s located right beside Waterworld. The place has a banner
that says: From Menggatal, Sabah’s “Ngui Chap” (Beef Noodles etc) & others available now!
I have a juvenile sense of humor so I didn’t really get over the
“menggatal” reference. Menggatal can mean ham sup or horny…a rather
unfortunate name for a town.

lams place interior

This is what the interior looks like. It’s pretty packed,
considering I arrived late. Their opening hours are from 8 AM – 2:30 PM
and 5:30 PM – 8:30 PM. The seating arrangements (a pretentious word for
tables and chairs ;)) consists of perfectly square wooden tables meant
for 4 people.

lams place thingies

They have a variety of condiments on the table and this place
operates by writing down your order into a bill, which is then
tabulated and placed in an ornament on your table. You take it to the
cashier and pay the bill when you’re done.

lams place beef noodles

Here’s my order – Raw beef & beef balls with noodles (RM 5.50).
The wet (soup) version is basically the same thing, but they combine
the noodles in the big bowl of soup instead of in a separate bowl.
Lam’s Place serves beef noodles as its staple (both the wet and dry
version), though you can opt to have rice to substitute the noodles if
you want. I’m not a big fan of soup dishes, so I went for Raw Beef and
Beef Balls noodles (dry).

lams place noodles

This is a closer look at the noodles. The noodles taste absolutely
great! I can’t remember having a more delicious bowl since this beef
noodle stall in Sibu shut down. It was infused with a variety of tangy
and salty flavors.

lams place beef soup

Here’s a photo of the soup, served separately. There are beef balls
floating on the top (don’t think they’re home made), with beef slices
at the bottom, flanked with veggies and bean sprouts. The soup was not
as salty as I like it to be, but the salty noodles more than makes up
for that. The main portion was very generous too, though I would have
liked a larger bowl of noodles.

lams place beef slice

This is the raw beef slice that’s put into the bowl before serving
to slowly cook. I love it – the beef doesn’t get overcooked this way.

I highly recommend this place if you have a hankering for beef
noodles. It’s their specialty and they have great service. I’m not sure
if the service is the type typical of newly opened eateries or they
really do have good service, but that hardly matters considering the
food. They apologized for my order taking so late to arrive (I didn’t
even think it was that long of a wait) and I was asked whether I
enjoyed my meal and how my food was when I paid the bill. I told them
it was good. 🙂

I’ll reply all the comments later, I’ve got to head out now. Cheers!

Shin Kee Beef Noodles Specialist @ Petaling Street

shinkee.jpg

We went to this place after mass on Sunday for their beef noodles.
It’s called Shin Kee and it’s supposed to be famous for their beef
noodles. The location is somewhere around Jalan Petaling, it’s within
walking distance of Kota Raya. Anyway, I had the dried beef noodles and
I thought it was alright, but I’ve had better in Sibu. Remember the old
Chopsticks in town (not the new one in Pedada)? Yeah, those beef
noodles were the best I’ve ever had. 🙂

skbeefnd.jpg

Anyway, back to Shin Kee, you can ask for a mix instead of pure
noodles eg noodles and hor fun or noodles and rice vermicelli and so
on. I just had the pure noodles one. It came with some concentrated
beef sauce (with beef meat) on top of the noodles and a bowl of soup
with beef pieces (cooked just right, slightly on the rare side), beef
stomach (there’s another word for this, but the term escapes me right
now), and fish balls. The soup was bland compared to the beef noodles
in soup.

Here’s what the beef noodles with soup looks like:

skbeefns.jpg

The soup is much tastier than the dry beef noodle’s soup.

skinside.jpg

This is a photo of the cooking area – the place is clean and looks new, a nice place to eat and the beef noodles are good too.



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