Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Lee Tong Kee Beef Hor Fun



Really?

Apparently so, and just to provide that extra assurance that you'll get a good meal, allow me to cast away any doubts you are harbouring in your unbelieving mind.

Lined in the midst of painting, art, calligraphy and figurine shops, a humble restaurant on the bend facing a newly built Chinese temple blends in perfectly into the setting, a developing fusion between rustic faces and drastic changes. But as time forces on its perpetual charge, changing and modifying and moderning everything standing in its path, people and cultures get absorbed into a whirlwind of change where thinking becomes liberated and cultures start to become obsolete. In the midst of it, food have taken the harsh brutal swipe of reality, losing its tradition, culture and ultimately, the passion that made it unique and with it, taste. Hawkers become food courts, markets have been transformed to tourist attractions and people, instead of cooking for passion, have begun cooking for money to survive in the unrelentless economy as traditionalists deperately cling on to the ways of old.

So as I stood outside this little eatery called Lee Tong Kee which claims to promise the taste of 1948, the ultimate question looms deep, "Has its taste survived the test of time?". That's what we're about to find out.



I certainly do not know the taste of its hor fun in 1948 but right here, right now, its beef hor fun ($5.50) tastes pretty damn good. Made from the silkiest strands of rice noodles, its softness lets you slurp it up and slide it down with the least effort. Really, the hor fun is the softest and silkiest I've eaten! The sauce is uber duperly good! Similar to Guangdong Braised Beef Noodles at Maxwell FC, this one is a thicker, richer, and more potent interpretation. Its hard to put the taste onto paper [or to type into my keyboard] but it coats every strand of noodle so well, the taste fills your mouth as it slides down your throat.



The beef is equally tender and moist, with sporadically spaced portions of melt-in-your-mouth fats. Theres certainly a good flavour in the beef also.



One other item to note is the Lee Tong Kee tender chicken ($8 for small) which is literally, super tender chicken! Unlike those served at chicken rice stalls which are slapped with the cleaver or done with whatever, this chicken is truly tender. So good that I felt the "jelly-ness" as I bit into that succulent piece of chicken. The accompanying sauce compliments the meat and the chilli sauce they provide is a more unique (and better version) of normal chicken rice chilli and brings out the flavour in the chicken and hor fun.

This is one beef hor fun I will recommend to my friends. Heck, its number one on my list now!

Address:

Lee Tong Kee Ipoh Sar Hor Fun
278 South Bridge Road
62260417
www.ipohhorfun.com

11 comments:

Lee Ping said...

That much beef and for the price of $5.50. This is almost unheard of in the US!

p/s I have a link to your old ban chian kuih posting. When I clicked on your banner, it doesn't bring me to your latest posting. I don't if it is something that is easy for you to fix.

Sammy said...

Yup! Quite a few large pieces. Can you pass me the link? Maybe I can try to fix it or at least figure out what's wrong.

Anonymous said...

How come the name sound so much like Bong Tong Kee ? *lol*

Anonymous said...

where's this located at? Looks like i have to try it someday! haha

Sammy said...

Maybe they are brothers... Hmmm..

The address is up!

Anonymous said...

The food seems good. Too bad I don't take beef, but I'm definitely going for the chicken. :)

Sammy said...

What a waste! They have chicken ipoh hor fun too but I haven't tried their normal hor fun yet. Is that website yours? Its good!

Anonymous said...

I went to try the beef horfun just yesterday. haha. Had a hard time finding it! LOL. The beef horfun sure is good. Leaves behind a very nice special after taste. My bf loves the beef. haha. He tried the KL ipor horfun with chicken prawns beansprouts and some special sauce. Not too bad but i felt that sth was lacking and i dont noe wat. Beef hor fun was better. haha Thanks for the recommendation! =)

Hungry Hamster said...

Looks delish!!! I miss authentic hor fun and chicken rice soo much!

Sammy said...

I'm really glad you tried the beef hor fun, its really nice isn't it? I agree that theres something lacking in the normal ipoh hor fun too, something is just not right, so I didn't blog about it :)

Hungry hamster where r u from??

Singapore Hybrid said...

The hor fun cannot be beat! So is the chicken and bean sprouts dish. Everything is so home-style here that you feel right at home.

You have great pictures of the dishes on this blog!