Old Favourites At Coffee Shop

FOOD TRAIL
By SAM CHEONG


THERE are plenty of good makan places in Jalan Imbi and let me start with a corner coffee shop located at the intersection of Jalan Walter Grenier and Jalan Imbi.

Called Win Heng Seng coffee shop, this landmark makan place has been around for decades.

But before I continue any further, let me tell you that this particular neighbourhood in Kuala Lumpur’s city centre was once plagued by crime.

The backlane where this particular coffee shop stands, was the scene of a fatal shootout between the cops and some robbers back in the mid-90s.


A well-known landmark: The corner coffee shop in Jalan Imbi.

And not long ago, a prominent businessman was shot and killed at a popular restaurant located two doors away.

So, if you are a fan of gangster movies that romanticised thugs and tough guys, Jalan Imbi is one of those places where you could still find some shady characters.

The neighbourhood’s violent past aside, Win Seng Heng coffee shop is well-known for three things. First, for its chee cheong fun stall on the left side of the shop’s entrance that’s said to be one of the best.

Then, the yuk-yeen fun (meatball noodles) is said to be one of the finest around and lastly, there is a Chinese confectionery shop that specialises in mini egg tarts.

One of my acquaintances who became a full-time ‘foodie’, Johnny ‘The Mouth’ (he never stops talking) Cheong concurred that the stall serves the best chee cheong fun.

Cheong added that the coffee shop had been refurbished with a new paint job since Jalan Imbi is within the proximity of the Bukit Bintang area.

“Eh Sam ah! When I was a rookie management staff at a bank in this neighbourhood ah, the Win Seng Heng coffee shop is my regular place lah. I eat there every morning.”


Egg-licious: These mini egg tarts are tasty!

Since relocating to Rawang, Cheong said he regularly makes a trip to the outlet on alternate weekends with his wife.

“Ah, this is also the place I met Rose, my wife lah. We use to share a plate of chee cheong fun lah.” Taking the cue from Cheong the romantic, I took Michelle, my wife to this coffee shop after making her walk nearly 1.2km around the Bukit Bintang area.

We arrived there on a late Saturday morning to savour the good hawker food here and lucky for us, there was a empty table in this packed eatery.

I ordered a bowl of yuk-yeen fun while Michelle went for the chee-yuk fun (pork noodles). Regretfully, I did not order the chee cheong fun as my bowl of noodles became the main order of the day.

Right at the far end of the coffee shop, I could see the stall owner of the meatball noodle working at a break neck pace - filling his orders as his Myanmar workers moved quickly to serve the waiting customers.

Back in the 80s, I patronised this coffee shop a couple of times and found that none of the old hands are working there anymore.

Chinese stall hands had been replaced by Cantonese-speaking Myanmar workers who are efficient and skillful in their trade.

Here, a bowl of meatball noodles costs RM5 per serving. I asked for a small bowl and my meal came complete with six pieces of meatballs including a few slices of siew cheong (roasted stuffed pork intestine) and yuk sway (minced pork).


Tasty: Win Seng Heng’s meatball noodles.

On a scale from 1 to 10 on my ‘Samoscale’, I’d say Win Seng Heng’s yuk yeen fun would come in at 7. Basically, I used my favourite stall in Lucky Garden, Bangsar as the benchmark.

Michelle on the other hand, wasn’t that lucky because her bowl of mee suah was lousy and expensive. At RM6 a bowl, all I can see was soup and a few strands of noodles.

So, lunch for two person including drinks was at RM13.80. I can’t complain because around Jalan Imbi, this is still one of the cheapest makan places around.

After our meals, Michelle went to the confectionary stall to buy two pieces of mini egg-tarts for RM1.20. Now, the best kept secret in this coffee shop - is the lady that sells siew pau (baked pork buns) and tann-tart (egg tarts).

By far, the tastiest confectionary that I’ve come across, we rounded up a dozen tarts before making our way out of the coffee shop.

Apart from the meatball noodles, chee cheong fun and egg tart, there’s also a couple who sold roasted pork and chicken rice.

They come highly recommended and to make up for the missed chee cheong fun session, I am planning to make a return trip to the neighbourhood because there is a famous stir-fried beef noodle shop around here.

Win Seng Heng coffee shop is just a 10-minute walk from the Bukit Bintang and Imbi monorail station and is open for breakfast and lunch daily.