Friday, August 7, 2009

The Hunt in the Valley

I am intent on hunting all my options down in fish head noodle valley. Armed with critical reviews and handy directions from food blogs, tips that I picked up along the way, and a keen sense for where the fish head's at, I am setting off on a systematic trail.

Latest stop: SS20 Fish Head noodles, in Damansara Kim, across the road from our very beloved rickety Online Pub.

The choices are straightforward - clear or milky soup; fish head, fish slices or fish paste; lai fun (laksa sort noodles) or beehoon. As the lai fun being the highly applauded draw factor, we all went for that.

Mixed fried & cooked fish slices, clear soup - I like the combination, and I LOVE the use of lai-fun in this but I found the soup lacking the robust flavour I've come to expect, from Woo Pin and even at Tai Choong.

My fellow noodle fiends ordered fish paste in milky soup and fish head in clear soup. There was nary a whisper as they ploughed through the big bowls, a stark contrast from their usual vocal tendency to bellow enthusiasm and praise. Clearly, the more subdued concoction wasn't quite the hit with them either. Food4Thot also shared the same sentiment!

This is not to say that I didn't like this. I think it's a different way to appreciate this fine bowl of noodles, particularly on days when I'm after lighter, more nimble flavours.

There is also a stall that serves decent cendol and ABC. The flavours are decidedly more intense than the fish head noodle's. Great finish!

And so the Hunt continues!

9 comments:

UnkaLeong said...

Hmmm..this place has been blogged about a lot hor? Must go try for myself and see :)

backStreetGluttons said...

Some time ago we tried this one and O Dear , it got only a below par performance. No flavor
like 2 of 5
the Kuchai Lama KL one is still No 1

Sean said...

this might sound sacrilegious considering i haven't tried woo pin or any of the other established names in fish head noodles, but i really like the version at grandmama's in pavilion. it's the milky sort with lai fun ... very robust in flavour!

J2Kfm said...

hmm, sounds promising, but really wasnt eh?

but seriously, KL's version of fish head noodles is addictive, esp those with milky, sourish (tomato) base soup.

ck lam said...

I tired this on my trip and I like the spicy milky version which is recommended by the uncle.

Little Inbox said...

Yours is clear soup? But why the soup looks like laksa soup base?

Rebecca Saw said...

seems tht u got to try the kuchai lama one alrei..have u? Me havent tried any cos me not a fan ;)
but hey..curiousity gettin piqued here...hmmm..kuchai lama..

minchow said...

UnkaLeong, yes, blogged about a lot and also dissed as overrated by equal number of people :-P Probably shouldn't be the first on your list!

BSG, yes, it was like a punch in the stomach when I sipped the first spoonful of soup. Like, HELLO, where's the flavour in this?

Sean, yes I have Grandmama's firmly in my list too! Lai fun really does make such a huge difference for me... almost worth tolerating subpar soup for!

J2Kfm, I tend to skip the milk as I like it extra sour, extra acidic!

CK Lam, the uncle manning the stall? I didn't have mine with milk but the others did and they were unimpressed too. Maybe you got a special bowl! :-)

Little Inbox, eeps, maybe it's just bad photography! Well mine's technically clear but it came looking murky.

The Nomad Gourmand, def Kuchai Lama FTW!! I think OK to skip this place, particularly if you're not planning to do a Tour de Fish Head Noodles, just wanting to sample the best of the best!

sc said...

guess all of you find the soup rather pale? :(