Craving for another artery clogging entry guided and fueled by the desire to locate this one undiscovered stall, I found myself and two buddies back in Salak old town hunting down what claims to be the most mouth watering char siew (barbecued pork) anyone could find.
It all started when our friend Win-son was on his wedding shoot in a junkyard nearby and his photographer’s aide bought them char siew rice for lunch. Ever since that day, my friend Win-son has been craving for this particular char siew rice but yet again he does not know the location of the stall. The only information he had was this – Salak old town. So the last weekend on a Saturday afternoon, me and my buddies went around Salak old town hunting for this particular char siew rice.
The place was not hard to find since Salak old town is really a small town and there weren’t many stalls selling char siew rice. We stumbled upon this shop called Kedai Kopi Tian Hong (in direct translation to Cantonese it sounded more like Tin Fook Cha Sat) and they were hanging up these delicious-looking char siew for sale along with some grilled chicken. We stopped by this shop being only half sure that this was the shop until our order arrived and Win-son confirmed that this was the shop with THE mouth watering char siew rice. The shop was just located opposite the 7-11 in Salak old town with the coordinates of 03° 05′1.17″ N, 101° 41′46.65″ E.
Upon arriving at the shop, we were kind of surprised with the amount of people queuing up. The owners were so busy chopping up the char siew and chicken for take-aways and also serving the seated customers that they didn’t even have time to prepare drinks for the customers! The only drinks served were simple drinks like instant herbal tea and chilled Chinese tea as the lady in charge of the drinks was too busy helping out up front!
Seeing the crowd in this place made me wonder if the char siew was really that good. We were tempted to order everything which was hung up for sale but instead we kept to our sanity and ordered only 3 servings of char siew and grilled chicken. We were here for the char siew only and the best thing to compliment it would be grilled chicken. Having two helpings of pork would make it too sinful but having char siew with chicken would be just nice.
When our food arrived we quickly inspected the star of attraction which was the char siew. Indeed it looked scrumptious and seemed that it would melt once you put it in your mouth. Win-son confirmed that this was what he had the other day and instantly we dug in without even waiting for the rice to be served. The char siew was glazed with honey and grilled to perfection. And by perfection, I mean PERFECTION. The meat was so crispy on the outside yet so succulent on the inside and the thick slices it came in made the texture of the char siew better. Chewing down on the char siew would give you the impression that you were having char siew from some 5-star hotel. The only difference is the method of presentation where in restaurants the char siew would be arranged neatly as opposed to the scattered display of the ones we were having.
But that is what exactly we were after. Just like what Tune Hotel promises – a 5-star sleeping experience just with a fraction of the price, we were looking for food which tasted heavenly but still we would only need to pay the normal price for it. That’s the absolute satisfaction when we go for food hunts. No need for the classy environment, no need for all the bullshit service – just give us the good food.
Not being biased just to the char siew, we also tasted the grilled chicken which was surprisingly delicious as well! I was only expecting the char siew to be good but I did not expect the grilled chicken to be this good as well! The chicken skin was crispy enough for you to remove it whole from the meat and the natural juices of the chicken were still locked in between the meat and bones. Inspecting further, it seems that the owners had their own secret to the chicken which was to add a scoop of minced ginger sauce to the chopped-up chicken. The minced ginger sauce seeped into the the meat and complimented it so well making it one of the best grilled chicken rice I have had in a long while!
I’ll let you in on another secret of this shop that makes it even more special. The chili paste which they provide looks like just any ordinary chicken rice chili but one can tell that it tastes much better and is very different with the usual chicken rice chili paste. The secret is that lime has been added to the normal chili paste which you get usually and this automatically boosts the fragrance of the chili! One helping will never be enough! Trust me!
The meal came to about RM30 and that’s including drinks! Things couldn’t get better than this! Extraordinarily delicious food at a fraction of the price! Someone should start a no-frills food chain. It’ll be a hit for sure!
What Others Say
Though the Char Siu here is delicious, sweet and sticky with lot of caramel but I still prefer the one at Spring Golden, Shah Alam Section 25.
It lacks the melt-in-your-mouth texture. Hence, I have to say it rates second best but remains the best in this neighborhood. Try to come around 1230pm before the full lunch crowd and maybe you’ll be lucky enough to get the fresh-out-of-oven strips.
If char siew cuts were given a gender, Tian Hong’s char siew would be a MALE. It’s a “rugged” char siew! Hahaha….This ranks third on my list of fave char siew.
Although it had the pre-requisites of great char siu with it’s sweet, sticky and slightly burnt texture, it lacked the melt in the mouth sensation I look for.
The taste was not particularly sweet and it was not too salty either, which is probably a good thing. Though however, the meat was tad hard; probably because we took the lean part which had little or no fat at all
The meat is sweet and sticky and its not like any other. I mean, the reason i love char siew is because of the sweet taste, but this char siew is more than just sweet. Its sticky and once it entered my mouth, it melts like caramel. Its just so tasty.
At RM8 per plate, Tian Hong’s char siew rice mean serious business for roast pork lovers.
What say you? If you have been there do let us know what you think by dropping a comment and rate the place!
aiks, too bad the char siew wasn’t fatty *slurp* should taste heavenly good if it’s “boon fei sau” (half fat thin), where the fat part is visible as nearly transparent *slurp slurp*
hehe still ok la but if got half fat thin then maybe the skin wont be as crispy? ^_^
hmmm…30 bucks aint that cheap though…
hi zewt! thanks for dropping by.
yeah 30 bucks aint cheap but for KL standard you get a meal for 3 friends, drinks and a bloody good time. i guess its well worth it :)
10 bucks per person, can’t complain. but what about parking and petrol? :P
i am an accountant after all…
hehe luckily enough salak south old town doesnt really have a parking system :) so free parking! :P :P :P
the charsiew definitely worth the visit! To b honest, KL is definitely one place which really can gulp down your entire month pay if you are not careful with food and place selection…..but getting high “Food Quality : Money” ratio is something that not everyone can do. It’s not just eat, it’s the knowledge to eat….that differs the people in KL =)
datuk you are right and thanks to you and kahwei for showing me around!
My rating would be 3.5 of 5.0
Happy blogging.
Thanks Uncle Tai Lim :) Happy blogging to you too!
Voted…my best place for char siew is still Famous Seremban Favourites at Sunway Mas :o). Thanks for dropping by my blog.
wmw: Thanks for voting and dropping my site too :)
voted. thanks for the "quote" :)
epicuriosgirl: No problemo ;) Thanks for dropping by and keep those food posts coming!
omg….so many people queuing up…it has to be good! will try one of these days!
ohmywtf: Glad to know that you will give it a try one day and once you do don't forget to come back and rate it!! :)
I love siew yok more..LOL
jfook: Thanks for reminding me. There's a superb siew yuk stall nearby my house. If things go well probably I can get a review on that. Stay tuned! :D Any other spots to recommend?