Char Kuay Teow @ PJ Old Town

I have a love-hate relationship with char kuay teow. I love it so much, that I can have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner (only in Penang). Hate it, because it makes me fat and causes me to sprout pimples like a pimple farm. I’ve heard good things about the CKT in PJ Old Town, but it was only after a disappointing dinner that I finally tried it for myself. Expect to wait 30-35 minutes for a plate of noodles. I waited for almost 40 minutes that night, and by then, I started to get fidgety. This uncle fries the char kuay teows plate by plate, with a short metal spatula. As he fried the noodles, there was plenty of smoke in the wok, so I thought to myself, “Wok Hei….MmMmmm!” Tastewise, it was decent, but not as good as Robert’s. Despite the nicely charred bits, the char kuay teow only had a faint hint of wok hei. I reckon it could be because the noodles were wetter and slightly greasier, hence the muted wok hei flavour. They were pretty generous with the ingredients; my large plate (RM5) came with plump prawns, plenty of cockles, chives and beansprouts. rif, who shared the CKT with me agreed that Robert’s was better. I guess that’s probably because Robert knows just how we like our CKTs.

Ambiance: 4/10
Price: 6.5/10
CKT: 5/10 (non-halal)
Verdict: One of the few decent char kuay teows in PJ.

Char Kuay Teow
Restoran Soon Lee
Jalan 1/10
Petaling Jaya Old Town
(opposite Heng Kee BKT)
Opens from 7pm-11pm
GPS Coordinates: N 3 05.121 E 101 38.979