Supper in Malacca

“Let’s go eat some more!”

Odessa

“I just had Wantan Mee! I’m stuffed!”

Me

“But you look good when you eat. I like watching you eat.”

Odessa

“Oh okay. What do you want me to eat now?”

Me

Another ton of pictures. I almost missed India and my broadband connection there.

Last night I left my inner hermit at home and met up with an old buddy for supper. She’s kind of particular about her name being exhibited on the internet so I took the liberty to disguise it. We’ll henceforth refer to her as Miss Odessa Van de Meera (she’s going to murder me for this).

We headed to my favourite supper spot somewhere near Bukit China – a Wantan Mee shop that, in my opinion, churns out the best noodles in the whole of Malacca;

Business is always good even on weeknights.

Kedai Makanan dan Minuman Hong Sheng is not located in the best of commercial spots. You'd only drive along the road in front of the shop or visit the area if you are;

1. Living in that general vicinity.
2. Invited to a wake in the funeral parlour opposite Hong Sheng.
3. Dead and is lying in the funeral parlour opposite Hong Sheng
   
4. Looking for Wantan Mee and knew exactly where to find this place.

But the lonely road suited the tauke of Hong Sheng just fine. It just leaves more room for his customers to park their cars - or to stop by to ta-pow. It's a natural drive-thru.

Deceptively simple.

Strangely enough, I'm not a fan of their Wantans (I think they are nice but aren't exceptional so I let Odessa eat all of them). Rather, it's the noodles that got me hooked to this place.

At first glance, you'd think that they have forgotten to put any sauce into your bowl. Take a bite - you'd be surprised at the amount of rich flavours that goes shlop on your tongue. Till today, I'm still wondering whether the 'fragrant' taste came from the noodles themselves, or from their rather thin, colourless sauce.

Also, I'm under the impression that they make their own noodles (as opposed to buying them) and the strips have absolutely perfect texture and consistency. Their 'chu-mien' ('rough noodle' which is flat like 'kuey-teow') however, seem to lack the mojo the standard ones do.

Whenever any of my KL relatives visit, they'd definitely come to Hong Sheng to ta-pow. I can't remember any one time that they didn't do so.

Somewhere in Bunga Raya.

But before the tauke opened this shop, he used to have a stall somewhere in the Bunga Raya district. In the weekends, his lip-smacking 'Wantan Mee' would cause terrible traffic jams here. I still remember sitting in my father's car waiting for almost an hour at times just to ta-pow his noodles when I was younger.

'Jiu Lo' (9-Floors).

After Hong Sheng, Odessa wanted to eat 'Yu Char Kuey' ('Yu Tiao') so we headed straight to the nearby 'Jiu Lo' district - named by my grandmother's generation because of the 9-floor flat located here. I imagined that 'Jiu Lo' must have been heck of a skyscraper back in her days.

Two uncles casting spells over the 'Yu Char Kuey' wok.

There had always been a 'Yu Char Kuey' stall here for as long as I can remember. I don't know what speshul magic powerz they fry them with but every time I pass by this place, the heavenly aroma of freshly fried 'yu char kuey' would waft to my nostrils - even when I'm in a car.

Supernatural.

Hot, crispy, and golden brown. Tempting, huh?

Actually, we visited Bunga Raya first for some 'Chai Tao Kuey' ('Kuih Lobak'/'Lo Bak Ko'/Radish Cake) but unfortunately, we got there a tad too late and the 'Kuih Lobak' Uncle had already gone home for some R&R.

But since this seems to be a supper edition of k0k bl0k, I'll show you some pictures I took when I went there three nights ago to ta-pow;

Mr and Mrs Smith 'Kuih Lobak'.

Lost Shaolin Secret Technique, Shadow Hands, resurfaced.

There's another 'Kuih Lobak' stall somewhere near Jonker Town in this old food court under a massive tree beside a Shell station. To be honest, both the places deals out equally superb 'Kuih Lobak'. I did notice some very disturbing similarities between the two places though;

1. Both the 'Kuih Lobak' Uncles were overweight/obese.
2. Both of them have harelips.
3. Both of them have a retarded speshul son.

They are not the same persons. I'm sure of that. Besides the body shape and harelips, they looked nothing alike.

Enough oil to power a Kancil.

It's worth the cancers and heart attacks. I keep telling myself that.

Anyway, we wrapped up the night sharing an American Brownie from the Secret Recipe cafe in Melaka Raya (right before it closes at midnight). Odessa was seriously a fun person to go out with. And it's always great to meet up with old pals.

If only I'd stop stuffing my face when I go out with her (while she practically takes only one bite out of every thing she orders and shove the rest to me). Honestly, I certainly don't need the extra kg's.


From overweight to obese,
k0k s3n w4i