CRIZ BON APPETITE

If you are seeking for cheap and good food around the central region of Malaysia, you should not miss out this simple and yet fulfilling food stall located within Rawang, Selangor, Malaysia. Goes by the name of Gerai Makan Fei Kee, this little corner lot food stall is just at the main road of Jalan Batu 18, leading to Kampung Dato’ Lee Kim Sai. Although quite secluded within the housing estate, their unique and down to earth dishes have not stop people from all walks of life to frequent their stall.

The husband and wife team, Lau Lian Kee and Lai Tsuey Ngoh, started this food business a few years back. Their signature dish which comprises of steam freshwater fish head had attracted many people due to its freshness, non-muddy taste and lastly its cheap pricing. Instead of the usage of Tilapia (非洲魚) as served by many restaurants within the KL/Selangor regions, they used another fish species known as the Chinese Carp (Tongsan/Song Yu). Thus, you have their signature Steamed Carp with Salted Black Beans (RM20 for a 10” long fish head). I have a phobia in taking muddy-taste fish but this dish turned out to be fine. Mr. Lau sure knows how to get rid of the earthy smell in the flesh. The dish had some salted black beans (douchi/豆豉), lots of ginger strips, sliced red chilies, mildly sprinkled with some quality soy sauce and shaoxing wine, followed with chopped coriander and spring onions as garnishing.

Another of the home cooked dishes that I like was their Steamed Pork with Salted Fish (RM16). The balance in the fatty and lean parts of the pork slices, mildly marinated in some pepper, soy sauce and corn starch, mixed with some quality salt fish slices and topped with some ginger strips and red chilies did impress me. Each bite just melted into my mouth. It was delicious indeed.

With such a big fish head and a pork dish, we needed some vegetables. We tried out their Fried Sambal Belacan Kangkung (RM9). The kangkung (water spinach/water morning glory/空心菜) were young and crunchy. The sambal belacan had the right combination of pounded chilies and toasted shrimp paste and it was not too spicy for us. I found some dried shrimps being used in this dish too. It was a refreshing dish for us.

We also had some Stir Fry Bean Sprouts with Salted Fish (RM9). I found this dish to be a bit pricey since bean sprouts were supposed to be dirt cheap but I’m not complaining. The bean sprouts were stir fried just right while maintaining their crunchiness and the usage of deep fried salted fish was just right.

On top of the above dishes, we also did order the Steamed Tofu with Garlic (RM5). It was just one of those boxed tofu you can get easily at the supermarket. I could easily cook that at home with the exact amount of fried chopped garlic, soy sauce and chopped spring onion garnishing but I was again fooled by the chef as there were some deep fried dried shrimps added too. This was another of those simple and yet delicious dish to go with our rice.

Overall, the total bill came out to RM70 for the 6 of us, excluding the special tea leaves we brought in for our beverages. I expected the meal to hit the RM100 mark for such a big fish head and dining in the central region where the cost of living is higher but it ended up so cheap. Unbelievable! No wonder The StarMetro and Dong Fan Ri Bao (東方日報) wrote about them in 2009 and 2008 respectively.

For those without a GPS or are not familiar with the Rawang area, you might get lost. But no worries, you could always ask those around the area how to get to Kampung Dato’ Lee Kim Sai. From there it would be real easy to find the food stall. If you are using the North-South Highway, turn into the Rawang Interchange. Drive all the way until a T-junction and turn right into Jalan Bakar Arang. Drive on all the way passed Jalan Ciku (right) and Jalan Kuala Garing (left) until you see a sign leading to Stesen KTM Rawang. Ignore that and drive straight until you see a cross junction below a flyover. Turn right into Jalan Rawang and take the first right turn into Jalan Batu 18. The food stall is just on the right, diagonally opposite Jalan Batu 18/3 (leading to Kampung Dato’ Lee Kim Sai). You can see a big Hino signboard at the left corner shop lot of the small lane and Poh Huat Auto Air Cond Service/Yik Lee Motor at the right side.

Name: GERAI MAKAN FEI KEE
Address:
No. 1C, Batu 18, Jalan Besar Rawang/Ipoh, 48000 Rawang, Selangor, West Malaysia.
Contact: 012-203 1938, 016-694 7309
Business Hours: 11.30am-8.30pm (Closed Wednesday)
GPS: 3.314804, 101.577191

RATING:
Ambience: 6/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 6/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 7.5/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 7/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 7.5/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

Note: Please refer to http://www.crizfood.com/1019/siongho/ for the update on the relocation of the stall effective 18 March 2010.

If you are thinking of having some fresh seafood noodles or porridge (especially during this humid and contagious flu and fever season), you can always head over to the newly open branch of Siong Ho Fish Head Bee Hoon (Sg. Tiram, next to Shell petrol kiosk Bayan Lepas) along Weld Quay, Georgetown, Penang. The owner, Mr. Teh (Ah Ho) had more than 20 years of experience in cooking up fresh seafood noodles and porridge just for you. If the ingredients were not fresh as it should, they will definitely not pass the regular QC check of the boss.

There are two types of soup you can choose from on top of the different arrays of seafood and meat. One would be the clear soup broth which was boiled with lots of chicken bones, dried shrimps with their secret recipe. The other would be a spicier choice with tom yam paste.

Firstly, you have 5 options for your bowl of hot steaming meal. You can either choose thin rice vermicelli (bee hoon), thick rice vermicelli (cho bee hoon), wheat flour vermicelli (mee sua), instant noodles (maggi mee) or porridge (moey).

The next step would be choosing your main ingredients such as large white prawns, grouper fish head, grouper fillet, fried bass fillet, minced meat, frog, pork kidney, meat balls, fish ball and dried bean curd. More ingredients such as crabs, squids and so on would be available at a later date.

One of the most sought after dish would be the fresh Frog Porridge (RM6/100gms). One look at the color of the skinless frogs, you will know that they are real fresh. Those frogs may look rather gross to some but their flesh can be as smooth and tender as chicken meat. That’s how the frogs got the name “Water Chicken” as in “水雞” in Chinese.

Here’s an inside peep at what are the other ingredients that they would use make each bowl of the dish delicious. The best part is that the meals served here are MSG free, thus you won’t feel thirsty after consuming.

Since this is a “pick & choose” what you like concept, the pricing might be different for each individual bowl of order. Basically, a bowl of minced pork related noodles/porridge would cost you as low as RM3.50 to “God knows how much you love seafood” type of order which would cost you tens of dollars. Just to be on a safe side for those budget food hunters, let me share some of the basic pricing with you.

Majority of patrons over there would order fried bass fillet meals. All types of noodles or porridge with only fried fish fillets with vegetables would cost you RM5 per bowl.

I managed to try out both the clear soup as well as the tom yam noodles. Let me share with you my experience on each bowl of the noodles. Firstly, it was the Tom Yam Bee Hoon without any fresh seafood. My bowl consisted of only fish balls, meat balls and dried bean curd together with bee hoon. It was priced at RM5. The color was fiery red but it was not chili hot at all for me. The soup was thick, sweet and tasty with the fragrance coming from the added Kaffir lime leaves and mint leaves but somehow it lacked some vegetables such as tomatoes, young corns or abalone mushrooms. I had suggested these additional items to the boss and hopefully he would have them during my next visit.

The next was my “pick & mix” items for my instant noodles with clear soup. I had picked fish balls, meat balls, dried bean curd with fresh grouper fillets. Although the bowl cost me RM10.50, it was worth the amount spent considering that there were a generous amount of grouper fillets inside the bowl. The taste of the soup was amazing. It has the sweetness from the fresh fish fillets with a hint of preserved vegetables (Dong Cai/冬菜 – salted dried cabbage with leeks and sea salt water). On top of the added ingredients, this bowl of noodles was rather fulfilling.

Here’s a rough summary of all the possible combination of ingredients and prices (either with noodles or porridge in clear soup or tom yam):
Grouper Fish Head: RM9
Grouper Fish Fillet: RM7.50
Prawns (3 pcs): RM8
Frog: RM6/100gms
Fried Bass Fillet/Fish Head: RM5
Minced Meat: RM3.50 – RM5
Miscellaneous items such as pork kidney, fish balls, meat balls and dried bean curd: RM3+ per item or combined

If you are coming from Prangin Mall along Jalan Dr. Lim Chwee Leong, drive straight pass the Lebuh Carnarvon traffic light. You will reach another traffic light (Lebuh Pantai). Drive straight again until you have reached the Weld Quay (Pengkalan Weld) traffic light. Turn left and drive on until you have reached the first left junction (Lebuh Melayu). The shop is just diagonally opposite the newly constructed building in brown color.

If you are coming from the ferry terminal, keep a watchful eye on the landmarks on your left, especially those Jetty signboards. You would pass by Lim Jetty (temple), Chew Jetty (hawker area), Tan Jetty (Xen Teck Café), Lee Jetty and Mixed Surname Jetty. Immediately after the Mixed Surname Jetty, slow down your car. The shop is just after signboard maker, Chuan Advertising and next to Chun Heng Auto Repair. You won’t miss it as the boss and his workers are all dressed in chef uniforms and cute Bermudas. 😛 You may find parking a bit hard along the heavy trafficked road as it’s the main road leading to the Jelutong Expressway/Penang Bridge. Try driving a bit further up to Yeoh Jetty. You should be able to see some open space there. If not, you have to drive a bit further up to Lebuhraya Merdeka where Ghee Seng Seafood Restaurant is located.

Name: SIONG HO FISH HEAD NOODLES AND PORRIDGE @ VILLAGE CAFE
Address: 107-A, Pengkalan Weld (Weld Quay), 10300 Penang, Malaysia.
Opening Hours: 12.00noon-11.30pm
Contact: 019-458 8693 (Mr. Teh/Ah Ho)
GPS: 5.411414, 100.336897

RATING:
Ambience: 7/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 7.5/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 8/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 7.5/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 9/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)