KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 23 — Food and beverage owners are quick to pick up on the flavour of the moment with diners.

Following in the footsteps of super popular Hai Kah Lang, an uptick of similar places have popped up.

The latest is Yu Kee Seafood Noodles.

Normally I would dismiss it as a copycat but a deeper look into their operations revealed a hybrid model.

Yes, it’s Teochew-style seafood, offered with your choice of noodles or "porridge” which is actually cooked rice grains combined with soup. And the offerings are familiar items like grouper, pomfret, threadfin, lala, prawns and crabs.

What makes it different is one can pick-and-mix their condiments from the counter. I get hotpot vibes with this concept, like how I can concoct my personal dipping sauce from an array of items.

That buffet-like concept extends to their drinks. Fork out RM3.50 and it’s like you walked into a fast food joint where free refills for a mix of cold and hot beverages are on tap for you.

One item stood out among the sea of typical seafood items—the Fried Baby White Pomfret.

For RM13, it’s a plate of crunchy goodness with a salty kick.

As they’re deep fried till they’re golden brown, the tiny bones shatter once you bite on them, leaving a trail of sweet, savoury flavours popping in the mouth.

It’s a mixed bag of sizes, so be careful with the larger sized ones. As the bones on those may still be intact, proceed with caution.

Their mainstay is piping hot bowls filled with your choice of seafood. What defines it is that clear broth.

The taste of this broth can be highly divisive. It can swing both extremes of the flavour chart. Wagging tongues may proclaim it to be tasteless or laden with MSG.

Here, they take a clever way to address those fussy eaters.

Sip on the seafood based broth first to see if you like it. Unhappy with it? Hit up the sauces section to conjure a flavour you prefer.

Feel it’s too light? Just add a big spoonful of ShaoXing rice wine from the bottle. There’s also soy sauce and white pepper powder to enhance it further.

Or go the route of adding coriander and spring onions with some chopped garlic (fresh or deep fried). The path you choose is all yours.

My personal preference is a broth that’s clear, slightly sweet and most importantly free from MSG. For me, the broth just on its own hits the brief and it didn’t give me any thirst after drinking it.

The next test is the seafood selection. They’re fresh but I would say portions could be a little more generous, probably because the Hai Kah Lang model is hard to beat in terms of value.

I started with a bowl of Leopard Coral Grouper Noodle (RM26.80), where the slices of fish were tender and without any fishy odour.

One can add on items like their Lala clams for RM11. They’re using the white sabak clams, where you get plump molluscs.

And if you cannot be bothered to think, the simplest is to order the Mix Seafood. There’s flower crab, prawns, clams, grouper fish slices, cuttlefish and fish balls.

My bowl of Mix Seafood Porridge (RM26.80) was a satisfying one, ending with me struggling with the crab at the end. My reward for all that work was sweet crab meat.

The various bowls range from RM9 for the fishball noodles or porridge to RM26.80 for items like the mixed seafood.

The choices for fish are quite vast, going beyond the usual grouper, threadfin and red snapper. Even the pomfret has two types, namely white and golden and the higher end dragon and leopard coral grouper is also found here.

For snacks, there’s also the Fried Fuzuk Roll (RM9). It’s a little thicker than the ones I usually prefer but it still makes a good snack to nibble on.

Skip the Fried Fish Cake (RM8.50) though, as it’s smooth without any springy texture.

And if you hate looking for parking, you’ll be happy to know they’re located directly opposite the entrance of Metro Prima MRT station.

Restoran Yu Kee Seafood Noodles, 63, Jalan Metro Perdana Barat 1, Taman Usahawan, Kepong, Kuala Lumpur.

Open daily: 11am to 10pm. Tel:012-3802535. Facebook: @olylifekepong

*This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.

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