Hung Kee Restaurant — Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur

One of the most delicious, authentic, old-school, non-halal wantan-mee aka wantan noodle (云吞麵) offerings in Kuala Lumpur. It's located in a row of old shops fronting Jalan Loke Yew, occupying two adjoining intermediate lots, one of which is airconditioned that offers a decent level of dining comfort and cleanliness. 亨记or Hungkee's "old school style" operation has a long history of over 45+ years dating back to the early 1970s! In a sense, it is historical in many respects as wantanmee was and has always been a popular, inexpensive staple food for breakfast and lunch among Chinese, especially those living in predominantly Chinese-populated areas of the old KL such as Cheras, Ampang and Chinatown where it's an almost ubiqutous presence! Its taste normally revered by the generation of Malaysian Chinese over 40 who have lived their entire life in Klang Valley. Its provision as a form of convenient meal to the Malaysian Chinese workforce and populace, renders it a significant contributor to the Malaysian economy that many young Gen Y/Z and the millenials, who are more Western fastfood-inclined in demographic, fail to appreciate both in economic and gastronomic terms.

If you wanna taste the authentic, flavorful Kuala Lumpur wantanmee that gained its popularity in the mid 60s, in the likes of Kunkee (冠记) which has been in business in KL's Chinatown since '68; Funkee (芬记) in Jln Sg Besi since '69 or reminiscent of HorMingkee (何明记) and "Dongguangzai" (东莞仔) which had both since long gone, then consider HungKee (亨记) which serves theirs with awesome barbeque pork (叉烧) roasted to perfection. It's so tender, delicious with a sticky, sweet texture to the extent that often, folks would turn up just to sample this famed BBQ pork despite knowing that food with high fat content generally comes with pretty bad reputation these days! The wantanmee is springy without being soft in texture and when soaked up in the flavorful "konlo" soy-sauce combination, really makes your day with a most mouthful of awesome, mesmerising sense of “kou-gan" (口感)!

What many wantanmee lovers fail to appreciate is the fact that the dark "konlo soysauce" (干捞汁)is often the secret app deployed and it is unique among individual wantanmee restaurants as there is hardly a generic version of this that exists as a common recipe. It consists of a variety of soysauce from the salty (晒油) to the sticky, to the outright bitter (黑 晒油)variant, all concocted with some form of vegetable oil菜油, sesame oil 麻油 and oil of porcine origin 猪油 (hence, non-halal by definition) in different proportion, with a little sugar to appeal to the taste buds. Hungkee's success lies in their secret sauce that ticks all the right boxes!! As such, the non-soup based "konlo" is the absolute must-try dish here.

The "konlo" 干捞 term in Cantonese dialect, is often the norm as historically, wantanmee was and has always been the business domain of the Cantonese clan who brought this special brand of noodle from Dongguang district (东莞) of Guangzhou广州province in southern China during the heydays of "Nanyang" (南洋) migration frenzy in the mid-50s, following the end of WWII when life was a constant struggle in the whole of China. Of course, Dongguang being the food haven of the south offers arguably the best among all of Chinese cuisine till these days.

Other Hungkee's signature Cantonese dishes include their "kongfu horfun" (广府河粉), deep fried fish beehun (红烧鱼米粉) and their only expensive dish : "sanghar"/big prawn "yeemee" 生虾伊麵.

Pricing is aimed at the general public but getting a place to park your car on arrival poses as a great challenge. Hence, double parking is a perennial feature during lunch hour as Hungkee is opened daily from 8am till 10pm except during the week of Chinese New Year celebration. Being that the local convenient "Chinese restaurant" scene is changing so fast that you'll soon realise the legacy of great wantanmee may not survive the passage of time so do enjoy it while you are here before this great-tasting, gastronomically satisfying noodle becomes a relic of Klang...

19/11/23 Arrieved around 530pm, it was before the dinner period so plenty of parking and no customer yet in the air contioned hall. Food: Ordered 1 whole chicken, char Siew and 6 bowl of mix dry and soup wonton noodle. I don't like the thicken oyster sauce gravy pour on top, it is way too salty. The porched chicken was good enough without the sauce. May be good to go with or dip with soy sauce but definitely not thicken oyster sauce. Char Siew was rather a bit less than expected portion. However, the meat was great, fat and meat is at the right ratio, roasted at the right level, it was soft, tender, not too juicy nor dry, meat disseminated and melted right in the mouth, one of the best char Siew in town. Too bad I didn't ask for the sauce to be on the side, it was pour all over the meat, a bit too sweet and wet to my taste. I like to dip a bit instead drenching all over. Wonton noodle was good, the noodle didn't have weird chemical smell, that kind of never change old noodle rinsing water which is good. The noodle is chewy not rubbery, it needs your teeth to bite but broke once bite it, just at the right cooking texture, one of the best in town. Wonton is a the regular size, meat too bad is machine blended not manually minced. Minced meat was too fine instead of using hand manually to mince it that meat texture can be felt and good to bite in mouth. Wonton meat filling is way too fine to my preference but understandable, easier and faster to prep. The salted preserved green chili was a bit too yellowish, not the beautiful green with a bit of yellow, texture was rather on the soft side, may be the marinating sauce, may be oxidation, It didn't enhance the noodle. Service: Was greeted by the man warmly with smile from the cashier counter, may be the owner cause no one else will be allowed to collect money beside vip. Floor, table, chair and utensil on the table were clean and not oily, may be not yet. Environment: Entrance was hot, staffs were busy preparing food. Suggest to sit in the next shop that is air conditioned more conformable. Parking around is rather limited and tiny especially in the front of the shoplots, eventually can park at the back alley but normally is dirtier and tinier, also safety issue don't leave anything valuable visibly in the car. Overall: The total bill was rather acceptable at RM150+. Whole chicken was RM43, noodle was RM50+, char Siew was RM32. This noodle shop is one of the old school old time old taste KL that alway maintain their taste and food standard almost everytime, can't recall their hip cups all the while may be once long time ago bit not often. It is worth to give this...

One of the best places for sweet and sour pork. Love this place. Although its quality fluctuates every single time I return, I still come back because on its best days, it is really the best thing ever. Both its wantan mee and sweet and sour pork are must try dishes. They often recommend the sang har mee too but I think that is just so-so. On its best days, the sweet and sour pork is perfectly crunchy with meaty chunks and the sauce is perfectly coated on the meat (with not much of additional sauce on plate). The sauce can sometimes be too sweet but at the right amount, it is just perfect for that large chunk of meat. Fresh garnishing of spring onions leave you feeling like it is a humble version of the suckling pig 😂 For me at least. For the wantan mee, I would recommend to go with the sui gao (large dumplings) instead of wantan and to go for the siu yok instead of the char siew. The siew yok is perfectly crispy but their roasted meats are all a bit on the lean side. The noodles itself are not super impressive but its lard laden sauce really brings back some old school flavours that will leave you coming back for its memories. Don't be surprised by the bill because this old brand charges a hefty price for its age old dishes. I had once combo-ed my wantan mee up to RM17 and I am not even sure if that is the highest...