基叔云吞面家 | Kei Suk Wantan Mee — Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur

Life slows down waiting an hour for octogenarian paced cooking by his big clumsy heir at Good Friend restaurant, a corner shop by an alley behind Caltex. The old master hands have retired, but not the purposeful slow constipated movements here inherited from the taichi mentor. The much acclaimed wantan noodles (RM7) texture cannot match HK style bamboo egg noodles, well cooked at best, far from al dente. The light soya sauce gravy treatment reminds one of Penang style, slurpy, inadequate dry noodles with some redeeming pork lard, unrooted from KL's signature dark caramel strokes. The topping of desert dry roasted charsiew and pork mince obviously do not melt-in-your-mouth. Washing down a bite with soup is akin to a saltwater gargle. Choi sum has been replaced with cheaper cos lettuce. Both the two wantons and Suikow (RM1.50 each) had similar fillings of mince, shrimp, black fungus and water chestnut bits. ("Not carrots, stupid!"as the Gen-Y Penangite mistakenly attested to his female companion, displaying culinary ignorance). "Best" is such an overused word in the dictionary of young foodies, and certainly cannot be attributed here anymore. "Patience" and "Lazy" noodles are more appropriate keywords, but to each his own poison. A better wantan mee is found just a 5-minute walk down at 168 Wantan Mee & Curry Mee or Four Brothers Pak Lock. As surely as the sun sets, long live the legendary chef Kei Suk, may he be immortalised for his art of slow torture on this street. The traditional kopi here however is an...

Good Friend wanton mee - Jln Brunei off Jln Pudu

Reached shop at 0730 hrs as advised to avoid seating problems due to regular large crowd and limited seating.

All customers takes their respective seats as they arrive. At the opening bell, the coffee lady will start doing her rounds from table to table taking drink orders and noting down each order taken mentally. She just seems to know which table to approach systematically according to customer turn of arrival.

A short while later the wanton mee lady repeats the same process, this time taking noodle orders as she moves from table to table. By the time she finishes she would have taken orders non-stop from at least 08 -10 tables and noting down all orders taken mentally!

Thirty minutes into our wait the noddles arrived. Presentation was good with well tossed noodles drenched in glistening dark tasty sauce. Noodles were al-dante, char-siew tasted just right and wanton with familiar old world taste.

Go for the "kon-low" version which easily is the better choice. Don't waste time with "sui-kow" side order, as they taste exactly the same as wantons.

Our first attempt here the day before was a disappointment as the shop was closed. We found out that they could not prepare the bbq char-siew since it was raining that morning.

Be mindful that only wanton noodle is available here. Go elsewhere if you...

A corner coffeeshop that only serves, from what I see, wanton noodles. Story goes, the wanton noodles have been made and served by an old, old man, who's been there forever. The noodles are handmade, and speed of service is glacially slow. But the food... I've not tasted better wanton noodles anywhere else in Kuala Lumpur. The noodles were firm, cooked through and not soggy or bloated. The char siew was divine, just the right mix of meat and fat, tender to touch and succulent to taste. The noodles is served with minced pork, with fried lard mixed in. The wantons were served in a soup which was far more than hot water, MSG and floaty bits of spring onion. It had a strong white pepper taste and it was flavourful. Importantly - for those who care - both wanton, minced pork and char siew did not carry a strong pork "smell". Sold on the food? Good. Because we waited almost 40 minutes for it. The old man, when he was making the noodles himself, could take upwards to 45 minutes to an hour. This morning, his son was doing the business, so maybe that shaved off a few minutes of waiting time... But would I go back there again? Hell, yes. Pro-tip: go really early, and be prepared to sit on the five-foot way, imbibe the exhaust fumes of passing cars and trucks - you won't mind so much when you taste...