Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Kung Fu Smooth Ban Mee @ 紅茶館

No, they are not the masters behind one of the best discoveries this year. But I'm guessing that they are fans of the ban mee as well.

Measuring about 3 X 30 cm, the ribbons of flattened flour dough look as ordinary as any ban mee can get. Take a bite and you'll understand the kung fu (or skill) involved in perfecting the texture of this pappardelle lookalike. Most stalls would've been satisfied with just the machine-finished product. Here, from what I observed, the rolled strips were pinched before blanching. Perhaps it's this technique that somehow relaxes the stress in the compressed dough and makes it extra smooth and soft and tender at the same time. I had the dry version which came with some shitake mushroom, fried anchovies, minced pork and sweet potato leaves; all the flavourful complements there were. The dressing consisted mainly of lard oil which gave a wonderful aroma and lubrication. This may be the turn off factor for many but to me, it's good stuff. Well, once in a while, of course. The chilli paste with lime dip provided an appetizing, sharp contrast. It also came with a bowl of soup with some pork balls.

I can't say the same about the screw pine (pandan lah) leaves wrapped chicken though. Although the portion did justify the rather exorbitant price, it's perhaps best to keep it dainty, like how Thai eateries would. Tastewise, it was commendable.

For one of the best ban mees I've had this year, I have Precious Pea to thank. It was really nice of her to take some time off her busy schedule (as it was just weeks before she moved to Australia) to organize this gathering (there were 14 hungry bloggers that morning!). We've been planning for this crawl for a while but somehow, our schedules just didn't mesh. My bad. And who could've thought that a supposedly simple farewell karaoke session for her would turn into a fantastic food crawl too!

Oh yes, a food crawl. Which means there'll be a sequel!

Kung Fu Smooth Ban Mee @ 紅茶館
28, Jalan Seri Sentosa 9A/133
Taman Sri Sentosa
Batu 6 1/2, Jalan Klang Lama
58000 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: (+6016) 288 3911

We, the hungry bloggers:

Precious Pea
WMW
Boolicious
Jason
SC
MotorMouth
Simon
CityGal
TanKiasu
Serene
TheNomadGourmand
UnkaLeong
Kusahi Keat

22 comments:

homeladychef said...

My god!! so yummy looking!! I think this will be my best ban mee if i go there too. Thanks for sharing! I miss KL already.....

qwazymonkey said...

i know which one this is. I remember waiting forever in line when i was a kid. But the bowl of ban mee was a glourious! Worth every effort heading down there and waiting.

Anonymous said...

ask me to seek this place again, and 80% i'll falter. LOL.

ai wei said...

i have yet to try this!!!
their ban mee looks super smooth... gonna ask my makan kaki to head this place together :P

minchow said...

I've been on the pan mee trail for a bit now and nothing, NOTHING, not even Kin Kin can compare to this. This is in a league of its own! I might head over this weekend - thanks for the reminder!

UnkaLeong said...

as per j2kfm, I think I vaguely remember how to get there...vaguely. Heh ;)

Ciki said...

aiiyoh.. PAN mee izit.. read until i bodoh.. haha :P

nice place.. why never call me:O

Selba said...

It actually simple but my goodness... the way you captured the picture of the ban mee and also , it looks so amazing and very mouth-watering! :)

Btw, the first pic, the bald ppl, are those monks?

Kenny Mah said...

*standing ovation for the 1st pic*

Gosh, how many bloggers could get a shot like to fit with the theme of the post? Perfection. :D

~Christine~Leng said...

how to get to this place yea? we r so interested to try ;P Kung Fu Ban Mee... so movie like.. haha

Rebecca Saw said...

ehh..this is out of topic but rmbr the foie gra mooncake u posted last year? I cant find the post...can tell me which one it is?

Paranoid Android said...

Wah... Eat already can do Shaolin Kungfu steps or not? Looks really good, except for the lardy oil. Never mind, I'll bring some cholesterol pills with me.

Food For Tots said...

Nice-looking ban mee! I miss it so much. Btw, your shots are great!

choi yen said...

oh, u were slow.....hehe ^.^

ToyGirl said...

why is it call ban and not pan ah? u know..everytime i read your blog on food, i scroll down to the bottom to check the add first (to check if its within driving distance..:p)

And yes!! why neva call me? must organize to go again ah...

HairyBerry said...

homeladychef, thanks for stopping by! :) do drop by kl more often! lotsa good stuff here. :)

qwazymonkey, oooh, i didnt know this restaurant has been around for a while! i think the best time to go is around 9 am when the crowd's still small.

j2kfm, haha, that's why i insisted on driving there myself that day. luckily i managed to find that place..haha!

ai wei, u must go check it out! the texture is really, really good. gosh, i'm salivating again..haha!

minchow, AGREE! AGREE! AGREE! i think kin kin is all about the egg and the chilli wherelse it's about the noodle here; the essence of ban mee!

unkaleong, eh, how come? u managed to get there quite effortlessly last time, right? niways, no worries. GPS! :D

cumi & ciki, it was written as ban mee mah. i just follow..haha! in fact, it's pronounced that way in canto, i think. harlow, u were invited la. just that u were busy that saturday. :P

selba, glad u liked the pics! :) i was so restless that day cos the noodle looked really nice. so, snapped some and attacked the ban mee right away. haha.

HairyBerry said...

kenny, AIYOHHHH! now i'm officially malu. thanks so much for the compliment, bro. am always aiming to do better. and eat better as well..hehe.

christine, email me if you need direction! :) u can check out masak-masak's post too. she included a very detailed description. i used that as well..hehe...yeah, i think stephen chow should do something about ban mee soon..hehe

thenomadgourmand, haha, sent u an email d. :) it was the foie gras dumpling la. not mooncake. having said that, i wanna try foie gras mooncake, if it's available.

paranoid android, bring me some of the pills too! haha! i guess it's ok to indulge once in a while. the smell of lardy oil is just too tempting lah, if i may say so..hehe.

food for tots, hey, thanks for stopping by. :) and thanks so much for the compliment! i'm missing it too. hope to revisit soon.

mimi, slow? ya lor, i think this was eaten in may. too many backlogs la. must eat less d...haha!

toygirl, i copied from their banner. i guess they are cantonese la..hehe. haha, i usually alternate between kl and sg posts. so, next one will be sg food la. :) no problem, i can go there with y'all again. there's a prawn noodle stall nearby also. i'll blog abt it soon. :)

Simon Seow said...

Damn, I might have forgotten how to go there already lol.

sc said...

waahhhh...i've already (almost) forgotten about this food crawl..dude, quickly clear your old posts! :p

The Hungry Cow said...

The ban mee is calling out to meeeee. :)~~

Anonymous said...

Great pan mee, but the flies are really offputting!

Singapore Food Photographers said...

it looks ma ma mia! e pandan chicken looks too good already!

all the photos are very nicely taken! u really put your camera to good use!