Kedai Kopi Makanan Hong Lai 蓬萊茶餐室 — Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur

Hong Lai is a Setapak institution for its famous Hokkien noodles and Moonlight kway teow. We were stoked to try their signature dishes but that required a wait of close to 40minutes on a Sunday evening at around 6pm. There were not only many tables of patrons to serve but many take-away orders to be fulfilled. And yet, there was only 1 cook with 1 wok frying away hectically in front of the shop, which we find quite baffling and honestly blasphemous.

We were served quickly with their fried-on-the-spot fish cake, which was nice and tender. A longggggggggggggggggg wait of 40+minutes later, we were served by a somewhat begrudging uncle of a ?Shanghai-nese fried meehoon which he recommended. It was a simple fried mee hoon with some lean pork meat, eggs and fish cakes. It resembles very closely to Fish Sauce meehoon (without the Sabah vege, fish sauce etc).

Hokkien mee despite its fame here was mediocre to say the least. Nothing to shout about at all, nor was it worth the wait. The belachan that should make a fantastic sidekick was an upsetting bitterness that was really quite a let down.

Luckily the moonlight kway teow saved the somewhat sad show, it was rather alright, but would I come back for the same food with the same waiting time? Nah, I'll pass. (Teck Kee's moonlight kway teow is still superior but...

This seems to be a popular fried noodle place in Setapak besides Aik Yuen behind Tawakal Hospital. The restaurant was crowded when we visited at about 9:30pm with the shop verandah filled with tables. The noodles are cooked in front of the shop with two charcoal stoves. So it’s not so comfortable sitting at the verandah where the heat from the charcoal stoves makes it hot and humid outside. The inside tables and seatings are limited. Not suitable for big groups as most tables fit 5-6pax max. We ordered the popular dishes - moonlight hor fun, Hokkien mee & fish cake. The wait for the noodles was about 30-40mins minimum as each plate is cooked separately and in between there were plenty of take aways. The deep fried fish cake came first and it was pretty good. The next was the Hokkien mee which had good wok hei and plenty of pork meat slices but was missing the crucial crispy pork lard. Moonlight hor fun came shortly after and although the texture of the hor fun was smooth & good, there was an under taste of burnt wok. Plenty of pork meat slices though. Overall I would rate the two fried noodles a 3/5 with the Hokkien noodles probably a 3.5/5 As a Cheras resident I reckon it’s not worth the travel and wait. But for Setapak residents craving a supper of Hokkien mee, this probably the place to go as...

Environment 3 out of 10 Hot environment espcially if you are sitting nearby the cooking station ⁠Limited tables max only 4 people per table ⁠crowded but mostly are waiting for the orders which I think the shop should have a better way to manage it

Food 3 out of 10 a little overrated with lots of comment “good” comment ⁠Moonlight Kuey Toew smell charcoal but no “Wok Hei” at all ⁠Hokkian Mee same as the above ⁠Bihun pork soup too greasy ⁠Pork lard, prawns & veges very little, I would say barely see them other than noodles ⁠Pork toufu is good

Obviously the shop prioritise the delivery orders first then walked in guests which is a big no no, if they cannot managed, they should have stopped the delivery first and priorities the walk-in guests first. Waited for 45 minutes and come with these quality of foods really disappointed me. Not worth for waiting if they serve with this quality, you can easily get same foods but better taste than this restaurant honestly. Price...