Springy noodles in a tasty broth at only RM4 a bowl

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THERE is some good food to be had in Petaling Jaya’s Old Town, and one of my recent discoveries is a pan mee stall near Jalan Railway.

To the regulars who know this part of the neighbourhood very well, it is a secret worth guarding.

Thanks to my fishing buddy Y.P. Chan, or Ah Pan, as he is fondly called, I found a coffee shop called He Pin housed in an old bungalow located in a corner lot.

This is a well-known landmark among both the factory workers and white-collar folk in the area.

The first thing I noticed was the muhibbah spirit in the makan places here.

Unpretentious: He Pin coffee shop is housed in an old bungalow.

You can find a Malay nasi campur stall in a Chinese coffee shop and the workers who take orders for your drinks are Indian.

“Eh Sam ah! This place ah, very famous for its pan mee,” Ah Pan said.

By the time we got to the shop, it was already packed with the lunch crowd.

We ordered two bowls of pan mee from Chun Kee pan mee stall.

While waiting for my lunch, I watched the lady owner of this stall at work from a distance.

I noticed a large basin filled with flour balls and to fill her orders, she picked up the balls of dough and started kneading them one by one.

The handmade pan mee here was unlike any I had ever tasted.

And, at RM4 a bowl, I thought I had struck gold because the noodles were springy and tasty.

What I liked most was the clear broth that came with it.

With its bare minimal presentation, I must say that its simplicity did the job of yielding a good taste.

Well-guarded secret: Chun Kee’s pan mee is a dish worth trying in PJ Old Town.

The pan mee was garnished with minced pork, deep-fried anchovies and some spinach.

If you love meat, you can ask the lady to add more yuk suei (minced meat), but this will jack up its price to RM6 a pop.

The sambal dip that came with the pan mee gave it the extra “kick”.

I ended up sweating buckets and satisfied with the meal.

Later, I asked the lady owner if her stall was open at night.

Her response was: “Aiyaaa! Chou sei ngor meh? Lei thing yat lei lah...” (Aiyaaa! You want to work me to death? Come back tomorrow lah...)

She told me that her stall opened daily from 7.30am till 3pm.

He Pin coffee shop is located near Jalan 51/200. To find it, take Jalan Penchala in Petaling Jaya and travel right to the end of the road.