Restoran Do Re Mi 123 美食中心 — Restaurant in Petaling Jaya

Update 28 Nov 2018 - The Sam Kan Cheong/Hakka Mee stall has closed/relocated. I would bump the score for this place down to about 4.25 stars now as it loses a very good stall.

A popular spot for lunch, this coffee shop has a good variety of the usual suspects. For most stalls, prices range from RM 6-9 depending on size, but most serve generous portions in comparison with the typical serving sizes of Petaling Jaya stalls.

The Kopi Ping Kau has a deep earthy flavour with a smooth moderate acidity and barely any dairy richness - suitable to those who want something in between regular milk coffee and kopi 'O'. Order the larger takeaway portion at RM 2.50 for more value; they will even give you a plastic bowl to park your drink on the table. The Kosong variant amplifies the bitterness a notch without the sugary guilt. Edit: Recently they started using disposable plastic cups with lids instead of the larger plastic bag which reduces the value somewhat.

The stellar dish here is definitely the Ipoh Curry Chicken Pork Noodles stall. The Siew Yuk Curry Mee + Mee Hoon is flavourful and sinfully rich with barely any flaws. My only complaint is that the noodles tend to absorb much of the broth before you even finish half of it; do ask for a bowl of additional curry broth if you are a curry fan like me.

The Sam Kan Cheong dry pork noodles are also stellar (I always order with Hor Fun noodles), possibly a worthy contendor to even the excellent one in Kampung Chempaka. The noodles are moist and light, and tossed with black sauce, pairing well with a mountain of minced pork, chinese blood sausage slices and a peppery clear soup. The same stall also serves Hakka Mee. I always find most places serve small portions for this dish but this stall doesn't disappoint and is worth every cent. The noodles are bouncy with a nice bite; it's not as springy as other places, but I prefer it this way.

The Wantan Mee I ordered came with the flat noodle with a nice chew. The Char Siu is acceptably good in texture and size, and they give you 4 Wantans albeit being slightly smaller than usual. Overall, an acceptable dish.

The Dry Pan Mee features chewy and bouncy noodles with a slight doughy centre signalling a slightly undercook method; request for longer cook times if you prefer softer noodles. The sauce is much more umami than the Wantan Mee and liberally coats the minced pork and friend anchovies - not for those who are watching their sodium levels. The soup is garnished with fish cakes, a small meatball and the usual green leaves.

The Char Kuay Teow is a little of a letdown, mostly from the choice of noodles used. The flat noodles are thicker than most places, making the dish feel more doughy than necessary. The spicy version has a nice heat but it overwhelms the savouriness of the dish.

The Nasi Kukus Ayam Berempah serves a gigantic platter with your choice of the spiced fried chicken with steam rice, lettuce, cucumber, 2 types of sambal, curry gravy, and a sunny-side up egg. You can also request for some 'habuk' (leftover spiced fried batter) on...

This is the second oldest kopitiam in Dataran Ara Damansara which opened 18 years ago. First being N-Kee, which opened earlier than Do Re Mi by a month.

This is a spacious kopitiam with a large extended area on the side (larger than the shop itself) with about 20 stalls offering a good variety of food.

Among those stalls, only a handful are from among the pioneering stalls that joined this kopitiam when it first started almost two decades ago, that have survived till this day.

One of which -- stalls that have survived till this day -- is the Ipoh Curry Roast Pork Mee stall run by Mr Yap (Ah Hoi). To some folks, this is a hidden gem unknown to many.

And that curry mee is the focus of this review.

I may or may not have eaten it a long long time ago.

Went to try it (again?) today and came away with mixed feelings. The dry curry mee I had was decent and so-so only. Nothing like the good ones in Ipoh. However, Ah Hoi did give me a bowl of curry laksa soup for me to sample. That I must say was really good and flavourful - far better than the dry curry.

Roast pork being sourced from PJ Jalan Othman wet market, was disappointing -- not crispy and not exactly delicious.

Price is reasonable. RM10 for a bowl with poached chicken, roast pork, taupok and garnished with generous mint leaves (clearly Ipoh-style). Cockles available upon request as an optional add-on.

Ah Hoi actually paid a very substantial sum to the owner of the famous Ipoh Quan Fang curry mee to learn his hainanese-style curry recipe. Quan Fang is more popularly known as Ipoh Balai Polis curry mee.

Obviously and quite naturally, Ah Hoi has over the last 18 years tweaked that original recipe he learned to what it is today to suit the local palate. So, the taste will not remind you of Ipoh Quan Fang's (now called Xin Quan Fang at the new location across the road from the original shop).

Nevertheless, Ah Hoi's version of wet curry is still very good in its uniquely own way. Worth giving it a try if you're in the area.

By the way, Ah Hoi is a very friendly and cheerful person. Positive personality with a very likeable disposition. Someone you'll enjoy chatting with.

Ah Hoi's Business Hours: 730am-2pm daily. Closed on alternate Sundays.

Iced coffee @ RM3.00 was mediocre - lacking in richness and creaminess.

Toilet Score: Usual kopitiam standard. Senior folks may find it challenging as one has to step up onto a higher-than-usual split level. Fortunately, they have installed hand rails for support.

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Update

It had been ages that I visit my favourite curry mee stall at Do Re Mi Ara Damansara. This morning we decided to kill our curry mee obsession.. 😅😂😁... When I got there the stall owner introduce me his new braised fried pork mee 'jah yuk mien'... I like the taste and texture of the thick noodle used, great biting texture and the sauce was good. The pork fat was good but the pork meat was slightly dry. This curry mee came with chicken and roasted pork is as good as always, 👍👍👍.... This Ara Damansara a lot coffeeshop just mushroom a lot recently and competition between stall can be truly stiff. Great to endulge this curry mee. ❤️

Restoran Do Re Mi 123 美食中心, Jalan PJU 1a/20b, Dataran Ara Damansara, 47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor Ipoh curry chicken pork noodle at Do Re Mi, Ara Damansara always keep its best in taste and flavour. Very persistence. Love it. This round I had mine in dry curry with a small bowl of curry soup, topped with chunky white poached chicken and roasted pork and lots of mint. Beancurd sheet and dried beancurd added to glorify the eating experience. I had kuey teow and rice vermicelli and beansprout. My better half had a bowl of vermicelli rice noodle and yellow noodle in curry soup. Total RM20.00 for two bowls, a very fair...