Malaysia Boleh - Penang Chendol and KL Wanton Mee

We had originally wanted to visit the Power Nasi Lemak at Boon Lay, but it was closed for the day. Well, funny how some things turn out, but we eventually ended up at Jurong Point's Malaysia Boleh and was thrilled to find some gems there.

For those who are not in the know, Malaysia Boleh is a new food court concept started by the people behind Fei Siong, and while you may have some reservations over their other offerings, Malaysia Boleh is an altogether different proposition.

As the name entails, Malaysia Boleh is made up of the street food that originates from Malaysia, and the hawkers and cooks behind these stalls are largely Malaysians.

The idea then is to provide a very authentic taste of Malaysia's street food, which in all honesty, is every bit as good as anywhere in the world. I will not dwell into which country's street food is best, for that is quite ridiculous, but rather, celebrate the greatness in each culture's street cuisine. And boy, I tasted 3 stalls here and they were all excellent.

But I was informed that it was not all rosy in the beginning. And probably due to the fact that coming here to a new foreign place and a new environment, the initial quality of Malaysia Boleh was quite debatable and had its fair share of criticisms.

Since then, I presume the hawkers themselves have settled down and even new blood were injected to get things right. Today, even on a 3pm Monday afternoon, the place was utterly crowded and showed how popular this place has become.

Chendol

Speaking of the food, let's get into this wonderful chendol from Penang. Whilst I have savored Malacca Chendol at Jonker itself, this Penang variant looked very similar. The chendol itself seemed to be made from natural ingredients and had that natural more faded green look as opposed to the bright green ones you find in most stalls here.

The red beans were large and almost resembled kidney beans and the ice shavings were really fine and well mixed with the equally shaved coconut bits underneath. And of course, the brown sugar or gula melaka just brought everything together.

All said, I did really enjoy this bowl as it is rather hard to get a chendol this close to the really great Malacca ones in Singapore these days.

Wanton Mee

There is this wanton mee that hails from KL that came highly recommended and it was not difficult to see why. Just looking at the stalls, you can see freshly roasted char siew hanging there and you know there is some authenticity to the efforts here.

Delicious Noodles

The other thing you realise is that you will have to wait longer than usual for your bowl of wanton noodles. And the reason is clear, they take their time to cook their stuff well.

The noodles themselves were al dente and springy, and possesses none of that soggy stick together texture you find in a lot of wanton mee places. And the char siew, is thick yet succulent and had a nice roasted aroma to it. None of that thinly sliced and artificially colored redness about it.

And the wantons themselves were well seasoned and beautifully textured, and coupled with a broth that was rather flavorful, this was certainly a very well made plate of wanton mee and certainly trumps the Pontian franchises popping up everywhere these days.

Oh yes, the dark sweet sauce was also nicely mixed with a good balance of sweetness and savory and just enough texture to coat the noodles really well. Simple and tasty is the order of the day here, and I guess that applies to many other stalls here.

For sure, I will want to savor more food here the next time I am here. But for now, the wanton mee and the chendol has certainly won me over.

Malaysia Boleh
KL Wanton Mee
Penang Road Chendol
2nd Floor opposite Starbucks
Jurong Point