Toast & Roast — Restaurant in Petaling Jaya

In 2009, hardly anyone ever ventured into this far-end of Jalan SS2/72. It was a cul-de-sac that turned into a short row of shop houses. Nothing interesting, but the old Yamaha Music was based here, plus a car repair shop and some import/export business, whose doors were perpetually shuttered. Nevertheless, Sean and Angie, chose this location and opened their “Toast and Roast” restaurant, a one stall type of kopi tiam serving Hakka noodles, rice with luscious char siew, siew yoke and roasted chicken. Sadly, after nursing their “baby” through its difficult years, they were unceremoniously “kicked out” by Sean family members (also shareholders) and they had to start anew with anther signature outlet (T&R by Sean and Angie). The outlet is now run by Sean’s sister and her husband, Ong, while the toasting and roasting of the meat is still being watched over by the father. Basically, the consistency and tastiness has not changed over the years. First of all, the roast pork and chicken are nothing out of ordinary. The one that brings in the crowd is the Hakka noodles – dry version served with minced pork, topped with crispy fish flakes, spring onions. You can opt for the Original Hakka Noodles with minced meat and then add char siew as additional toppings. The noodles itself is cooked al dente, moist and bitey and not soft. The char siew is cut into larger chunks than is usually done in most outlets. It is sweetish, but not overwhelmingly so, melts into your mouth literally (more so if you prefer the half-fat cuts). It is so good that whichever way you choose to eat it, it will turn out great. The noodles, mixed with the sauces, flakes and spring onions is already a good mix and good to eat by itself! The vinegared green chilis that is available on the table only adds more bang to each bite. You can tell they are careful even with the way the chillis are chosen, cut and vinegared. Service is not always top class, but tolerable. Payment is made at the counter at the end...

The restaurant is unassuming and is located in a row of shops that are at a dead end of a road. Most people wouldn't give Toast & Roast a second look and if you are one of them, you'll be missing out on one of the best char siew places in PJ.

If you look closely at the stall in front of the shop, you'll notice loads of succulent char siew hanging in a row. And they're constantly being replenished.

The char siew has just the right balance of fat and lean meat plus that wonderful combination of sweetness and BBQ char that is the signature of great char siew.

They also serve quite decent siew yoke and roasted chicken but the big attraction here is definitely the char siew.

You can have your choice of meat with either rice or Hakka noodles. The latter is pretty good and a popular choice of the patrons. On certain days, there are special offerings from green curry pork to hickory smoked chicken.

I guess the best part of the spartan looking establishment is that the prices are below average. Prices range from RM8 for just plain Hakka noodles with mince meat to about RM15 if you want to glutton out with all 3 meats.

I would say the only truly negative thing about the place is that...

It's a simple establishment located remotely from the row of shoplots, yet it sees a usual crowd of office workers during lunch time.

The focus is mainly about the Hakka noodles and the charsiew/ siu yok combo. Serves rice variants and some snacks (e.g. wantan, dumplings).

On to the food, I'd say serving is a tad small despite a bowl costing around RM8 at the time of writing and drinks are not that cheap either.

The taste of the meats are better than most of the other typical overly sweet tough char siew. In other words, this style is caramelized and slightly tender. But the rice texture was somewhat hard to chew and dry.

Also, I liked the inclusion of the crispy pork lard that complemented the noodles.

However if you are looking for some super tender caramelized char siew, I would highly recommend the Tian Tian Kopitiam's variant @ USJ 20. You could just check the reviews there as they speak...