PETALING JAYA, Oct 20 — Thanks to a tip from Alex Lye, a Malay Mail reader, we found Uptown Lam Mee.
After they shut their shop in Damansara Uptown more than a year ago, the owners planned to retire.
However, their retirement plans were put on hold when they opened this stall inside Ming Tien Food Court recently.
Rina Lau, the owner, explained that their son wanted to continue the business, which they operated for more than 30 years.
So far, not many know of this stall except some of their regulars whom Lau contacted.
The menu is more compact here. You have their signature lam mee, kai si hor fun (soup and dry versions) and chicken hor fun. There's side dishes like fried fish cake, Signature Fishball and bean sprouts.
As they are still adapting to the place and with limited space, they have only started with those items.
Lau hopes to add on more customer favourites like their fried sui kow and curry mee, so look out for those.
In Petaling Jaya, not many places serve the KL-style lam mee, hence this was one of the places to get your fix when they were located in Damansara Uptown.
The lam mee (RM12) here may look very similar to that at famous KL stalls, where they share family ties.
However I feel the taste is better here. Purely because I like how I can slurp up the dark, slightly thick gravy and not feel an overwhelming thirst.
The gravy is also not overly thick with starch. It's built from a chicken and prawn broth.
You can add a super spicy chilli sauce — a mix of green and red chillies with their seeds — to give the gravy oomph. As the gravy tends to mute the spiciness, two portions of that chilli sauce gives you a pleasant zing to the tongue.
Rounding up the dish, there's thick-cut fish cake, peeled prawns and shredded poached chicken.
If thick gravy with your noodles doesn't rock your boat, order the kai si hor fun (RM9). This version reminds me of the truly original taste with a distinct simplicity.
Nowadays, our tongues may be spoiled by those richer versions crowned with sweet tasting prawn oil and creamier broth.
However, I happily slurped down every smooth strand of the rice noodles and drank up the broth as it was comforting and not overly rich.
Do get their poached chicken on the side. It's superb with a silky skin and moist meat. What I liked was how it was kept almost pristine from soy sauce which tends to cloud the taste.
It sits on a bed of crunchy bean sprouts with a very light soy sauce.
My favourite is their Signature Fishball (five pieces for RM12.50). One look and you notice rough ridges that signal it's purely made by hand.
It's a mix of Spanish mackerel fish (kau yee) and pork, where dried cuttlefish gives it a savoury uplift. They painstakingly scrape the fish to make the paste for this fish ball.
At the moment, they prepare small batches of these fishballs, so it depends on your luck if you can score it.
If not, the fried fish cake (RM12) is pretty good too as a side dish.
The food court tends to be busy during lunch time with the office crowd. It's pleasant dining here with even an air-conditioned area if you're feeling the heat. Otherwise, visit during non peak time, where it's nice and quiet.
Parking is best within the compound otherwise you may get a ticket if you park on the roadside.
As it is still early days, if they run out of food by the end of the day, they may close before 8pm.
Uptown Lam Mee stall, Ming Tien Food Court @BU, Lebuh Bandar Utama, PJU1, Petaling Jaya. Open: 10.30am to 8pm or until food runs out. Closed on Monday.
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