I have heard of this famous Koay Teow Th’ng (flat rice noodles soup) stall from friends several times over. I’ve friends who’d go there for breakfast or lunch all the time without tiring of her food. And I wondered why.
You know I am not all that crazy about koay teow th’ng. It is more of The Food Critic’s thing than anything. Still, I was curious.
So, to satisfy my curiousity, I tried out the food there.
The Koay Teow Th'ng stall along Magazine Road
The stall itself is unassuming (except for the Chinese newspaper write-up plastered on the stall front) and handled by an auntie. Alone.
It is one of two stalls in a dinky little coffee shop along a row of dreary shophouses
This coffee shop is often ‘overlooked’ since it is tucked amongst other shophouses along one of the busiest roads in town. Still, this stall has its own regulars especially in the mornings and sometimes, even lunch time.
The lone stall owner aka chef cooking up her specialty
She only has two types of soup, clear soup or tomyam soup. The soups could go with flat rice noodles (koay teow), plain instant noodles or maggi mee, plain noodles and vermicelli (bee hoon).
Naturally, we ordered both types of soup. Mine is tomyam with instant noodles while The Food Critic goes for his all-time favourite, koay teow th’ng.
What we ordered...
I like it that she sprinkles some greens on top for garnishing
Another unique thing about her noodles is that she puts eggs in it. How strange is that? I’ve never tried koay teow th’ng or tomyam noodles soup with eggs in it!
Here's a closer look at the tomyam instant noodles soup
She added some instant noodles seasoning into the soup and though the tomyam soup looks kinda pale, it is pretty tasty. It’s not as sour as I hoped but it is good enough and has an interesting flavour due to the addition of the egg and the seasoning. Fortunately, it is not too salty and I’d have to say, it tastes like homecooked noodles. You know, the ones you’d make in the middle of the night where you only need to heat up some water, dump the contants of the instant noodles in and within 2 minutes, you get a bowl of noodles! Of course, hers is much better since she did add some extra ingredients to it.
Now, on to the Koay Teow Th'ng
Just like the tomyam noodles, the koay teow th’ng also has the addition of some instant noodles seasoning. So, instead of your usual koay teow th’ng taste of clear, sometimes oily, soup, you get one with additional flavours and yes, the egg do add a touch of difference to it.
Here's a closer look at the Koay Teow Th'ng
Although most people would consider it ‘cheating’ for her to add the seasoning to the soup, I think it is perfectly alright since the combination of the added seasoning and her own soup concoction makes great flavours and this has kept her regulars happy.
Take a look at the brown bits on top, these are deepfried lard
Like many old-style hawker food, she also sprinkles some crunchy deepfried lard on top of the noodles as part of the garnishings. I know how artery-clogging these are but I have to say, it sure do contribute to the flavour of the soup.
My verdict: If you are looking for something fantastic, you can forget this stall but if you wanna try out a different type of koay teow th’ng or tomyam noodles soup, then you should try this stall.
She has an ingredient that you will either love to bits or hate. It really depends on your taste and whether you like the added instant noodles seasoning (which may contain loads of MSG). It’s not exactly healthy but hey, most of our hawker foods aren’t all that healthy! As for me, I may think of this stall if I have a sudden craving for koay teow th’ng with egg in it or a simple bowl of tomyam without all the jazz.
Yep, this stall offers simple bowls of soupy noodles and though it is not lip-smacking fantastic, it is still much better than some other places I’ve tried before. Do note that the portion is really small, two mouthfuls and then some and that’s it.But then I’d say it is value for money since it is RM2.80 per bowl. This is for a stall smack in the middle of town where prices of normal hawker foods could go from RM3.50 and higher.
The coffee shop is only open for breakfast and lunch during weekdays. It is closed on weekends.
Rating: 7/10
Price:$
Here’s the map to the coffee shop (along Magazine Road):
Location map
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Love your pictures as always!! I recently had some Tomyam soup from our local Chinese Takeaway and it was delicious but it would have been great with noodles in it!
Freya’s last blog post..And Is There Such a Thing as a Healthy Chocolate Cake?
Hmmm, I’m not much of a fan of koay teow th’g – I feel the ones in Malaysia somehow lack the substance of Thai rice noodle soups and Vietnamnese pho – but I can see how this one can fix a soupy craving fast and good!
This looks good…even comes with tom yam too. Will like to try it out but I can’t get the map location. There seems to be a page error.
Freya: thanks. Over here, it is pretty common for us to have tomyam soup with noodles in it.
550ml: heheh..same lor, I am not much of a koay teow th’ng fan too but I still gave it a try for the heck of it.
cklam: Don’t know what’s wrong with the link…I couldn’t fix the problem (after linking and relinking and relinking…) so I just embed the map instead! It’s the one along Jalan Magazine.
i lurrrrve my eggs in maggie to be cooked like that
yummmm
Foong, you SO make me want to hop on a plane and go adventuring around with you! What a great little food stall. The soup looks really good.
+Jessie
a.k.a. The Hungry Mouse
Jessie’s last blog post..Simple Bacon and Cheese Omelet
oh wow does that ever look wonderful! Yum!
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xin: I know, eggs in maggie is GOOD. but in tomyam or koay teow th’ng it is certainly a different taste altogether.
Jessie: heheh…you can come over here anytime and I’ll take you on a food adventure you’ll never forget. Penang is known as the Food Paradise for a reason.
Jo: Thanks.