Hutong Food Court @ Lot 10 Shopping Centre KL

By now, most of you must have gone to or at least heard of this infamous foodcourt located at Lower Ground Floor of Lot 10 Shopping Mall. If you need any landmark, it's just outside of Isetan's foodmarket. If everything else fails, just ask and I'm sure many will point to you the same direction :P

Hutong is the brainchild of Tan Sri Francis Yeoh, Managing Director of YTL Group. If you still have no idea, just Google! Most (if not all) of the stallshere are handpicked by Tan Sri himself. It is said that Tan Sri himself loves to patronise all of the stalls that operate in Hutong at their respective original location before he came out with the idea of having them all under one roof. According to his marketing team, Hutong will be a gourmet’s heaven of street food vendors who have sustained their family recipes for no less than three generations, just like the YTL Group itself. Famous names like Honkee Porridge, Kong Tai from Singapore, Soong Kee's beef noodles, Mo Sang Kor's BKT & Kim Lian Kee's Hokkien Mee are just a few names that have set up the business here.

When I first came to this foodcourt, I was impressed by the selection of food & drink there. However, the set up was like a maze and I had difficulty in locating some of the stalls mentioned in the newspaper. It took me a while to locate Mo Sang Kor's stall which is located almost at the end of the food court. Oh did I mention that the ceiling was rather low??? Not a problem for me & Jenn though.. as both of us are not that tall anyway :P

I had Kong Tai's signature Hokkien Prawn Mee @ RM7.90. What I like about this Singapore's import is that the noodles have absorbed the flavours of the stock and yet retained its springy-ness without being too soggy. Not too dry nor wet. The presence of seafood such as fresh prawns and squids provided sweetness to the already lip-smacking gravy. It could be better if the wok hei is sufficient though! The accompanying sambal was not bad to be paried with the noodles.


Mo Sang Kor Bah Kut Teh @ RM16 - originated from Klang. Tan Sri himself is a big fan of their BKT. After tasting it for the very first time, we knew why. The BKT soup itself was packed with flavour and it was so intense that it left an aftertaste on our tounge. For RM16 which was quite steep IMO, there wasn't much soup for both of us to enjoy as part of the bowl was filled with spare ribs. Nonetheless, we love it to bits and when Jenn asked for more soup from the owner, he politely told us that they have no re-fill policy there in Hutong. Of course we were disappointed!!!

As for drinks, we had the usual Cham Ice from Kluang Station which got me wondered, is this kopitiam chain also in their 3rd generation?? Hmmm...

Leo's verdict - I wonder if all businesses are in their 3rd generation. Initially I wanted to try the Campbell Street Popiah and Kim Lian Kee's Cantonese yin yang but the former had not opened for business yet while the latter was in the midst of preparing ingredients. Word of advice... never go there too early as you might have to wait for a long time. I was there at 10.30 and most of them informed me that they start at 11am onwards! A BIG SIGH!!!

Ultimately, while Hutong may be a food court, it will not be just any other food court with the same old boring fare.

P.S: Non-halal :)

Disclaimer:1) I'm not paid to promote/endorse any particular event, restaurant or person in this blog. ALL are based on my unbiased personal opinion.2) My reviews are based on my personal taste and preference and therefore may vary for others.

Restoran Ahwa @ Jalan 222, PJ

So this is the famous hokkien mee that everyone is talking about. I'd been hearing rave reviews of a stall famous for its hokkien mee in Jalan 222 for a long time but I didn't know where, until Matt told me that he knew the way. It was already past dinner time, but the crowd seems to keep coming in. The whole place always look packed from the outside.

I noticed the chef diligently whipping out the famous hokkien mee and I couldn't resist taking a picture of him (without his knowledge too). By the way, he cooked using charcoal :)

Hokkien mee - at RM6 per pax, the price is considered to be affordable in PJ area. The "wok hei" is enough, making the mee so darn aromatic. Generous amount of pork lard and the gravy tasted just perfect!!! I noticed that every table has at least a plate of hokkien mee.

Fried lala - my friend couldn't stand spicy food, so he asked for the non-spicy version. The lala is stir fried with chopped garlic and some curry leaves... while retaining its original taste. Not bad!

Satay - they were still not feeling full, so another 15 satays they ordered. It came with ketupat... the meat was tender but I didn't like the peanut gravy which I thought it was quite water-y and peanut-y enough!

Leo's verdict - If you are coming from Federal Highway from the direction of KL, turn right at the junction into Jalan 222, drive straight until you see Shell Petrol Station on your right. Ahwa Restaurant is just behind it. Conclusion? It is actually a hawker style restaurant with other foods such as lobak, lala, taufu bakar, chee cheong fun, etc. Food was good, but it can get quite stuffy inside. Parking can be quite hard to find too... so be patient. I'd circled the area for 5 times before finding one at the other end of the road! Sigh...

Sentul Ah Yap Charcoal Fried Hokkien Mee @ Sunway Damansara PJ

Frankly, it was quite a long name :) one of my close friends had mentioned about this place and commended on their hokkien mee. My friend is quite a fussy eater and so when he praised the normally-hard-to-prepare dish, I knew that I gotta give it a try.

Like most hokkien mee restaurant, they fried hokkien mee outside...

The menu is a laminated A3 size coloured paper with some pictures, description and price... how simple!

Newspaper cutting and reviews on the restaurants were pasted on the wall...

Hokkien mee @ RM6 per pax - it requires skill to whip out a good hokkien mee, and I think that the chef had done a good job. Using charcoal, the mee was full of "wok hei"... more aromatic compared to when using gas stove. Generous amount of pork lard, small prawns and other stuff.

Yin yang bones @ RM15 - basically it was 2 types of cooking style... mayonnaise and marmite pork. The taste was so so only...

Leo's verdict - Well, all I can say is that the hokkien mee is good... better compared to Damansara Hokkien Mee which I think the quality has dropped significantly. Now I know where to go to satisfy my hokkien mee craving.

The Champion Duck @ Damansara Utama PJ

Fronting the LDP, this restaurant is easy to find as it is located on the same row with CIMB Bank in Uptown. So one evening while we were heading out for dinner in this area, Jenn & I came to this restaurant. Parking was relatively easy to find, and we parked in front of this place.

Tables and chairs were placed outside on the designated parking bays... similar to mamak stalls. The lady boss quickly attended to us and was rather hard-sell on her roasted ducks.. and claiming that the ducks were freshly made in the afternoon. So we asked for a quarter portion of her so-called famous duck. It was not to shout of, as it tasted rather plain and the meat was not too tender nor succulent... not a match compared to what I had in Kepong and Pudu area. Did I mention that the fat layer was quite thick as well?? In the end, I ate most of the ducks coz Jenn disliked the taste and texture. Wasted a lot of time getting rid of the fats before eating the meat!!

Hokkien Mee - there was one make-shift stall outside the restaurant. It was our plan to try their hokkien mee initially. It turned out to be quite OK... the gravy was not too thick nor thin, considerable amount of pork lard.

Leo's verdict - even though the duck meat was a disappoint, the Hokkien Mee turned out to be good, provided that you are not too fussy. conclusion... unless you are in the vicinity and looking for hokkien mee, there's no point to make any effort to come here. I have read a place with great Hokkien Mee in Jalan Templer area and Setapak. I'll write more once I pay a visit to the mentioned places OK??