I’ve been hearing about this spot in Kuchai Lama where they are touted to serve the best fish head mee hoon and the best clay pot low she fun in the whole of Klang Valley. Curiosity got the best of me and I eventually ended up in this shop lot on Jalan 3/115c in Kuchai Lama. You wouldn’t expect an eatery to be part of these flats. I didn’t either until my friend pointed it out to me one day.
You won’t miss it if you look out for a row of semi-rundown shop lots with clothes hanging out the windows on the higher floors. Goon Wah Restaurant is right smack in the middle flanked by workshops on both sides. Plastic chairs and tables are set up all along the walkway, patrons enjoying their lunch while the workshop mechanics go about their repairs less than 5 feet away.
Getting there was an easy task as I stayed nearby, passing this area almost daily but for the benefit of all here are the coordinates – 03° 05′ 25.52″ N, 101° 40′ 59.84″ E. There are 3 seating choices – inside the shop, the left walkway or the right walkway – and I heavily recommend sitting along the left walkway as this area is shielded from the external heat. The inside is filled with air circulating from the kitchen while the right walkway is directly exposed to the heat, therefore both are not recommended.
Their first signature dish, the XO fish head mee hoon comes in the sizes of large, larger and largest so if you really plan to give it a try, make sure you bring a friend or two. A 3 man (or woman) crowd will be just nice enabling you to order one serving of the XO fish head mee hoon and another serving of the claypot low she fun.
The XO fish head mee hoon is abundant with ingredients. What I observed was that they used salted vegetables, onion stalks, slices of tomatoes, ginger, yam and chunks of fish head.Yes CHUNKS. They actually add in pieces of fish head so huge that when I was done, the bones piled up to the size to fit a whole bowl! Imagine the amount of meat on the fish head!
The soup was slightly spicy, I am guessing they mixed it with some dried chilies but I could not find any in the pot. Probably they removed them upon serving? Not quite sure about that but what I am certain is that if you leave the noodles to soak up the soup for a while then asking for a soup top-up, the dish would be heavenly as the newly added soup heats up the heavily flavored noodles. I found myself finishing the soup and noodles to the very last drop. The hint of spiciness was just nice to give the dish the flavor it needed. I couldn’t make out if this version had any milk in it (most likely not because the cloudy soup should be a result of the yam slices) but what I do know is that it tasted really good!
The sizzling claypot low she fun at Goon Wah is slightly different than the ones I usually have. The infamous TTDI claypot low she fun comes together with some egg-like gravy. This one however, the eggs come scrambled and are mixed together with the minced meat. Upon serving do remember to mix it up well just like when you have claypot chicken rice else the low she fun and all its lovely ingredients would stick to the hot surface. I kinda neglected my claypot low she fun because I was too busy attacking the XO fish head mee hoon and I ended up with some charred low she fun instead.
Upon closer inspection, I noticed that there were traces of fermented beans in the claypot low she fun. That would explain the salty taste which did not resemble the taste of normal salt! The slices of onion and onion stalks also added some sweetness and fragrance to the dish. The minced meat was crispy on every bite, not soggy as the ones with the gravy. Each and every bite was accompanied with the sound of the minced meat crackling away as if you had fire crackers in your mouth. But then again maybe it was just me leaving the claypot low she fun to burn for too long!
The XO fish head bee hoon and clay pot low she fun at Goon Wah was different in their own unique ways. What won over me was the size of the fish head chunks and the slightly spicy soup of the XO fish head mee hoon. As for the claypot low she fun the winning point was that the eggs were scrambled first and then mixed together with the minced meat. This gave off a fragrant aroma of scrambled eggs as the spoon of low she fun passes right below your nose.
If I remember correctly Goon Wah Restaurant is open from 9am to 4pm on weekdays only. If you do plan to give Goon Wah a visit during lunch, do try to make it before 12pm as it would be packed and parking is quite limited. I wouldn’t say that Goon Wah has the best XO fish head mee hoon and claypot low she fun in the Klang Valley but what I would say is that it could be one of the best so far. Let me try out more varieties and I’ll let you know!
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