45 minutes wait for this Hokkien Mee....
The longest I’ve ever waited for my food was 1 hour and 10 minutes, at Fatty Mee Hoon Kuih in Taman Berkeley. I found the long wait ridiculous and while the noodles were tasty, it wasn’t worth the 70 minutes wait. Another place that requires you to wait a long time for your food is Seng Yuen in Kepong. A friend of mine recommended the Hokkien mee here so I decided to give it a try.
The uncle takes his time...
Locating the shop was difficult as the signboard was old and faded. If you’re not familiar with Kepong, just know that Seng Yuen is along the main road (opposite Masjid Amaniah). The shop opens at 10pm onwards and by 9.45pm, there was already a crowd waiting for the old man to start cooking. I was told to wait 45 minutes for my noodles which felt like forever to me.
Hokkien Mee
The Hokkien Mee (RM9) was first to arrive and upon digging in, my excitement was quickly replaced with disappointment. There was little or no wok hei in the noodles and it tasted very ordinary. Also, I found the kan sui smell quite strong. It tasted slightly better with the sambal provided, but I wasn’t impressed. Oh well, at least the crunchy pork lard cubes softened the blow.
Wat Tan Hor (Cantonese Fried Kuay Teow)
I also ordered the Wat Tan Hor (RM9) which was very average. The uncle spent a long time cooking this, especially the rice sheet noodles but the outcome didn’t reflect his effort. For starters, the noodles had no wok hei and the gravy, filled with pork slices, prawns and vegetables, lacked flavour and aroma. Luckily, some chilli padi and soy sauce was its saving grace.
Average at best
My meal at Seng Yuen was disappointing. Both the noodles I tried were average and the wait was too long for such mediocrity.
Ambiance: 3/10
Price: 6/10
Food: 5/10 (non halal)
Verdict: Average at best. Unless you’re around the area, I wouldn’t recommend driving all the way to Kepong for this.
Kedai Makanan Seng Yuen
19E, Jalan Besar,
Kepong 52000,
Kuala Lumpur
18 comments
yikes, since it would take me at least an hour to drive to kepong on a regular weekday, it’d be nearly two hours before i’d get any food if i tried eating here! errmm, and i know this might sound like a terrible thing to say, but i wonder if the food takes so long to arrive cos the man is old & unable to move fast enough…
Hahaha…the uncle is actually quite active. He’s frying skills are quite aggressive. :P
I used to love hokkien noodles ..but now kinda not into it so much ..
Have you tried d wat tan ho in ipoh?
in KL they fried the keow teow and then put some gravy in it.
In Ipoh they cook together with the gravy.. The wat tan ho is more like Loh Mee …. Nice …
Hmmm…no wor. Now only you tell me! I just came back from Ipoh. -_-
mana la saya tahu…
there is always next time … (just 2 hours drive frm KL)
if u want u can go tonight…. LOL
d shop name is Tuck Kee (same row as Lou Wong) and the other is Good Taste Restaurant (but taste a bit not good coz convert to pork free)
Thanks for the tip! Open at night only ah?
I think this used to be good before the old man take over ~~
Really?! I thought the old man was the pro!
RM9 !!!! why so expensive?? was it for 2?
i still find the Hokkien Mee at Petaling Street the best…..
Yup. For 2 pax. But the Hokkien Mee at Petaling Street jatuh standard already… :(
really ah? how disappointing!!!!
the last time i ate there was like 1+ years ago….
i hope the opposite ikan bakar still good though….
Just had it for lunch earlier. The kan sui smell very strong and the liu quite little de…
Expensive too! RM8 for one portion.
WAH 45 minutes. I’ll be enraged!
Try 70 minutes for pan mee… :P
As far as I know, the chef is kinda slow if you ask me. However the food there means a lot to my former high school friend since he visited this place very frequently when he was young.
If you come here 15 years ago, then it will taste very good. I think the uncle old already cannot cook up the same taste. We were also dissappointed when we did a Kepong food crawl.
Waaa…he’s been around that long?!
Come to this page and I think u shd try Jln getting kelang setapak peng lai hokkien mee.. Charcoal way… It beats Jln 222 hokkien mee though the place is old school…