Worth the drive: Excellent beef brisket and lamb brisket noodles at Bandar Mahkota Cheras' Restoran 63 Food Station
KUALA LUMPUR, June 21 — The proverb "Old is gold" is an apt description for this unassuming beef noodle stall, solely operated by a veteran restaurant chef.
The friendly 76-year-old who is known as Oh — has an impressive 40-plus years' experience under his belt — was frying up dishes with his wok in a Chinese restaurant before his retirement.
About a year plus later, he came out to run this stall in Bandar Mahkota Cheras as it's near his home.
Keen eyes can spot a picture of a restaurant chef at the stall. However, Oh tells me, it's actually that of his brother who is also a chef in a Chinese restaurant in Ampang.
Those polished skills can be seen in the hearty bowls of noodles he ladles up at his stall.
The beef brisket noodles seem to be the crowd favourite, judging from the orders I see from other diners.
The affable Oh trained as a chef in a Chinese restaurant where he worked for 40 plus years before his retirement
As this is Cantonese style — the broth is cleaner — you get a light beef flavour and not too much spices.
It also makes the broth extremely drinkable with my choice of lai fun noodles. Before I knew it, I had happily slurped up almost half of the bowl.
What I felt was the star were the toppings, a mix of beef brisket, stomach and tendon.
I liked how the beef brisket may look chunky but once you bite into them, it's tender but most importantly, not mushy.
My favourite were the tendons. These came in varying textures, some with a slight bite. I lucked out with one piece that was almost jelly-like that slid down my throat in one gelatinous spoonful.
I also found happiness in the generous portion of braised white radish. It's cut into large chunks but they're soft on the tongue, as they're cooked perfectly.
For RM13, I reckon it's good value since the toppings are generous and that clean yet distinctly beefy broth was well prepared.
If you're game for more robust flavours, go for the Lamb Brisket Noodles (RM17). There's also a Lamb Pot for RM15, featuring just the stewed lamb.
For a more robust taste, go for the Lamb Brisket Noodles, like this dry version with 'wantan mee' served with soup on the side
Oh, who is Hokkien, explained to me, the style of the lamb dish is Hainanese.
This round, I ordered the dry wantan noodles with the soup on the side.
My egg noodles may look plain but I really enjoyed the fine, bouncy strands tossed with soy sauce.
The broth is full blast richness from the lamb. Definitely a broth you don't want to waste a drop of. And again, the meat is tender and the radish is perfectly cooked.
Tender chunks of lamb brisket with white radish will leave you satisfied
What gives this stall's noodles an edge, I feel, is the dips served on the side with the Beef Brisket and Lamb Brisket Noodles.
You have fermented white bean curd that is smooth, salty and almost cheesy, that seems to eliminate any gamey flavours for the lamb. Even the mellow chilli sauce did the same.
The lamb gets a boost from the fermented bean curd sauce and the mellow chilli sauce
I felt that flavour pairing worked better with the lamb than the beef.
And through a stroke of good luck, I even bumped into friends from around the area and they sampled both the noodles. Their verdict was a big thumbs up for letting them know of a place they can regularly visit since it's so near their home.
Look for this corner coffee shop inside Bandar Mahkota Cheras
Beef Noodles Stall, Restoran 63 Food Station, No.1, Jalan Temenggung 9/9, Bandar Mahkota Cheras, Cheras, Selangor. Open: 6.30am to 3pm. Closed every second Friday of the month. The next date the coffee shop will close is June 23.
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