Hong Ngek

Hong Ngek is the stalwart of KL’s Hokkien food scene. Those aiming to really tuck in will want plenty of rice to go with Guiness pork ribs (succulent knobs of meat in a complex russet sauce), the pleasantly tart, thickly battered sweet and sour fish, and the veggie special, a lotus leaf ‘bowl’ stuffed with strips of chewy fucuk, gluten, lotus seeds, baby corn, and three types of meaty mushrooms, all bathed in a rich sauce. End with Hong Ngek’s famous crab balls, juicy five spice-scented orbs of chopped meat, fish, and water chestnuts wrapped in bean curd skin and deep-fried to a crackly crunch. Eat here just once and Liew will remember your face, even if your next visit is more than two years later. Service like that is a rare thing indeed. Robyn Eckhardt