IN 64 years, Kwong Wah Ais Kacang has grown from a stall selling ice kacang, cendol and beverages in PJ Old Town to a thriving shop in Section 17. Now it has another outlet in spacious new premises in Pavilion Bukit Jalil.

I have only been once to its Section 17 shop where, of course, I enjoyed its ice kacang with gula Melaka and some snacks.

At the Pavilion Bukit Jalil outlet, a wall mural depicts its founder Chong Yok Wah making an ice ball at his stall (circa 1958), and his daughter Swee Eng continuing the business at the shop.

Her daughter Teng Wong and her sister Mun have since taken over, keeping to the family’s time-honoured recipes, while developing new ones with their mother’s help.

It’s hard to resist Kwong Wah’s signature ice kacang with gula Melaka (RM8) and cendol with red beans (RM7).

You dig into the mountain of shaved ice drizzled with gula Melaka and santan and turn up red beans, corn, black jelly, red agar-agar, cendol and peanuts, and you are in ice heaven.

It stands out with the aroma and taste of pure gula Melaka, the cendol fragrant with pandan and the red beans cooked in-house and not from a can. It’s a similar treat with the cendol with red beans.

Naturally, we had these at the end of our tea at Kwong Wah. We had started with snacks – fried corn fritters, gula Melaka coconut bun, grandma’s fried popiah, nasi lemak bungkus and chee cheong fun with red sauce.

The corn fritters (RM9.80) are like crunchy cucur udang without the prawns, but just as yummy, with a house-made chilli dip.

The same zesty chilli dip came with grandma’s fried popiah (RM10.80). The spring rolls were served hot, their thin crispy skin plumped up with a tasty bangkuang filling.

I would go back again for this superb gula Melaka coconut bun. Grated coconut had been cooked in gula Melaka and butter for the filling, giving it a rich buttery flavour, blending marvellously with the gula Melaka.

It’s a bestseller here; we wanted some to take away, but they had all been sold out by early evening.

The mini gula Melaka chiffon cake (RM5.80) turned out well, too, with its slightly moist, soft, spongy texture and a lovely aroma.

I thought the sauce for the Ipoh-style chee cheong fun (RM8.50) was a little too sweet and it lacked pickled green chillies.

The nasi lemak bungkus (RM4.80) was served hot, and I liked that the flavour of santan was in the rice and it was generous with the tangy sambal. Crispy ikan bilis, peanuts and egg complete the nasi lemak.

Kwong Wah at Pavilion Bukit Jalil has additional menu items.

There is Ipoh hor fun (RM16.80), topped with prawns, chicken meat and Chinese chives, with a sweet prawny stock you would want to slurp up. The smooth kwayteow is from Ipoh. Prawn mee (RM17.80) would have done better with a more complex broth and a pungent sambal.

Mee Mamak with sotong (RM15.80) is fried Penang style, to a family recipe.

The noodles are well spiced, slightly moist, with potato, chicken, tofu pieces and sotong in it. I liked its Hailam chicken chop (RM22.80).

The chicken is fried upon order and doused with a lightly sweet and savoury sauce made with chicken broth, HP sauce, Lea & Perrins and tomato sauce. There are peas, corn and carrot in the sauce, and the chicken is served with potato chips. It’s a worthy meal for lunch or dinner.

Kwong Wah Ais Kacang is pork-free. It is located at Lot 3.104.00 & E3.104.00, Level 3 Pavilion Bukit Jalil, No 2 Persiaran Bukit Jalil 8, Bandar Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, tel: 012 550 0975. It is also at 627 Jalan 17/8, Petaling Jaya, tel: 012 550 0975. – September 3, 2022.

* 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.