CHEF Lee’s Noodle House is the place to be whenever I have a craving for Taiwanese spicy beef noodles or its signature pork noodles. Chef Lee Weng Eng is Malaysian, and Jeanie, his wife, Taiwanese and together they have created a comprehensive menu of noodles, one-dish rice meals, appetiser dishes and desserts like bubur cha cha, ayu jelly, barley fu chuk and sweet peanut broth, among several others.

The couple were owners of the New Formosa Restaurant in SS2 in Petaling Jaya for 38 years, until they decided to do something “easier” in their retirement.

I have been there five times and I don’t think I have tried half their dishes yet. I like it that you have a bowl of hot noodles, slurping up the soup in air-conditioned surroundings. And the prices of the food are unbelievably cheap, too.

The spicy beef noodles sit in a zesty, beefy stock aromatic with spices. It’s hot and tangy, with salted vegetables in the broth, together with tender beef brisket and beef balls.

Fancy pork noodles? You can go the whole hog with the roasted pork noodle soup with roast pork, pork slices, pork balls, liver and intestines, and of course crispy lard bits. It carries a clear sweet stock whose flavours are derived from simmering pork bones, chicken and other ingredients.

A pleasant diversion from meat lies in the vegetarian noodles, a new offering at Chef Lee’s. There’s pumpkin, fu chook, black fungus, snow fungus, choysam, vegetarian char siu and egg on top. (Yes, some vegetarians eat eggs). The soup is all the essence of vegetables used to boil it. I felt quite healthy after eating it.

I like the bitter gourd noodles here too, topped with minced pork balls and slices of the gourd. Tomato wedges contribute a little tartness to the soup. These are served with a plate of delicious fried nam yue pork slices.

I love anything with yam, and the pumpkin yam fried rice which used to be served in a bamboo container is now available at Chef Lee’s. Cubes of sweet pumpkin and powdery yam are buried in the rice, infused with fried dried prawns and garlic. It’s so yummy.

Herbal whole chicken leg slow cooked with herbs like red dates, wolfberries and tongsum make a wholesome, flavourful meal with brown rice and vegetables. The meat is embraced with herbal goodness in the soup.

They make a mean black sugar ginger tea that is pungent and fragrant and the Ipoh coffee is excellent even with milk (I like my coffee black). As for the cold drinks, the aiyu roselle is delightful – sweet and sour, with blobs of slithery aiyu jelly in it.

I like the bubur cha cha here which brims over with sweet potato, yam, black eye beans and sago. The barley fu chuk ginkgo is generous with ginkgo nuts in the creamy tong sui. Then there is the peanut and sago sweet soup which has every peanut handpicked and boiled to perfection.

The restaurant also serves an array of cold desserts like creme caramel, macha jelly with red beans, mang jelly and herbal jelly or kwai leng ko.

Prices range from RM5.90 for the pumpkin yam rice to RM7 for the vegetarian noodles, RM11.20 for the spicy beef noodles and RM12.50 for the roasted pork noodles. The herbal chicken leg is RM13.90. The ginger drink and coffee are only RM2.20 each. Overall it’s cheaper and better than eating in a hot and stuffy coffeeshop.

Chef Lee’s Noodle House is at 97, Jalan Mega Mendung, Taman United, 58200 Kuala Lumpur. The number to call is 03-7496 5394. It opens daily at 7.30am to 9.30am. – December 1, 2018.

* Eu Hooi-Khaw has been writing about food for the longest time, covering all aspects, from restaurant reviews to cooking and recipes, as well as the healthy side of it. She has written for major newspapers and magazines, published the cookbook Fresh Ingredients, and also writes for her website hooikhawandsu.com.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.