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I’ve dined at Hong Ngek many times but since all of my visits were work lunches, I never got around to blogging about this place. Now that I work far away from KL, I miss this place terribly. I miss the crab meatball, fish fillet curry, herbal chicken and BBQ pork ribs (that is REALLY good).

Here are pictures of most of the dishes I’ve eaten at Hong Ngek – except the noodles because I was too hungry and forgot about the camera. I’ve taken travellers (including Brian from Adventurocity) and friends here, and they’ve all enjoyed the food. Unfortunately, this place is only open for lunch from Monday to Saturday and I rarely have Saturday afternoons free anymore.

What I do when I get to Hong Ngek is to order the BBQ pork ribs; before I even get my table. This is a limited dish so after 1pm, chances are, you just missed a great finger-licking experience. Even a colleague, claiming to be on a diet, ate a whole large rib by herself.

Fish fillet curry is one of my must order here. The fish is boneless and deep fried till crunchy before curry gravy and vegetables are added inside. It is aromatic and thick with a good oomph from the spices. Terribly addictive with white rice.

If you’re big on yam baskets, Hong Ngek does a pretty decent version with stir-fried chicken and vegetables in the centre. When I’m done with the yam, I like to nibble on the fried noodle bits used as a base and decor.

My colleague loves the herbal chicken here, but it’s not my kind of dish. That aside, Hong Ngek does it quite well. rif has popped by for lunch several times, and when he does, we order a bit more than the usual. Hence the deep fried pork knuckle with Mongolian sauce and braised pork knuckle on a subsequent visit.

I like the fried pork knuckle better. I can’t quite describe the taste, but the Mongolian sauce tastes like a cross between curry sauce, BBQ sauce and butter milk sauce. I’ve also tried the Hakka pork belly with yam slices and rice vermicelli fried with pork belly. The latter is bad for you, but also so good to eat.

My food orders have always been the same when I go to Hong Ngek. This is how I get when I’m comfortable with a place and happy with the food; I never try anything else. rif thinks I’m missing out on the possibility of discovering tastier dishes, and I know he’s right. Let me get past the crab meatball and fish curry, and we’ll see. ;)

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Ambiance: 6/10
Price: 6/10
Food: 7/10 (non halal)
Verdict: Old school cooking done well.

Hong Ngek
50, Jalan Tun HS Lee,
50000, Kuala Lumpur
Tel:03-2078 7852
Business hours: 10:30am to 7pm (Mon-Fri), 10:30am to 5pm (Sat)
Closed on Sunday
GPS Coordinates: N 3 08.903 E 101 41.849

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