KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 14 — The name “Old Kasturi Kopitiam” isn’t a familiar one.
But it’s been around for more than 50 years, under the name Restoran Zhing Kong (or Starlight Cafe), just below Starlight Hotel.
A change of owners about seven years ago saw the change of name, as it’s now under the watchful eyes of Tan Siew Chin.
Previously the proprietor of a nearby photo shop, Tan took over this coffee shop as the family who ran it wanted to sell out.
Despite its central location — directly opposite the escalators of the Pasar Seni LRT station — the corner coffeeshop was often bypassed by many.
It’s a different scene today. Bustling with customers — a mix of locals and mainland China tourists — tucking into local food like chicken rice, pork noodles and their famed beef noodles. There’s even a small stall in front that offers a variety of durians from Raub.
Old timers would have eaten the beef noodles before. It’s even listed in long forgotten food guides.
While it’s not as famous as the other beef noodle stalls like Lai Foong, Sin Kiew Yee Shin Kee or Soong Kee, this bowl of beef noodles definitely has its own appeal.
Tan explained that after the takeover, they continued to offer beef noodles and prawn mee, where they hired workers to manage the stall.
While I have not tried the original, I did track down a friend, Yeoh Kheng Leong, who used to patronise the coffeeshop before the takeover.
Back in 2012, Yeoh who once worked in the city centre would relish the beef noodles here. He visited about six months ago and even left a Google review to reminisce that it’s the same nostalgic taste from before.
For me, I found it to be an impressive bowl which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Firstly, the broth has just the right brownish hue, where time is the ingredient here, as one needs many hours of simmering beef bones. A spoonful of that broth infuses your mouth with its light yet distinct beefy flavours.
There’s also sliced pickled mustard greens in the broth too
As a testament to how much I enjoyed the broth, I was spooning every drop into my mouth till the bowl was empty.
In the bowl, there’s two beef balls, tendons, tripe and rough slices of beef brisket.
I expected those rough looking pieces of beef to be slightly tough. To my surprise, they were soft. And the best part was it’s not artificially enhanced softness from the use of baking soda.
The beef balls also have a good bite.
The tendons though weren’t the softer, jelly-like texture that I prefer but it came with a firmer bite. You also have pieces of tripe too.
What made it even better was the fire engine red chilli sauce on the side. It had a piquant tang, making each piece of beef I dipped into it so appetising that I wanted to order another bowl.
The stall does offer a dry version but Tan explained to me, it’s nothing like that at the other stalls as their version is just blanched noodles tossed in a mixture of soy sauce, rather than topped with a minced meat sauce.
It still appeals to customers, including Yeoh, who prefer enjoying his beef noodles in that dry form with a bowl of broth served on the side.
As I walked past the long queue outside Sin Kiew Yee Shin Kee, I was thinking, here’s a place where you wouldn’t need to wait for a satisfying bowl of bovine goodness, for just RM13.
Sure, it’s not the same apple-to-apple comparison since they offer minced meat as a topping for their dry version but if one has to endure sweltering in the hot sun for that bowl, I reckon I would prefer a less stressful option to get my beef noodles fix.
Old Kasturi Kopitiam, 90, Jalan Hang Kasturi, Kuala Lumpur. Open: 6.30am to 3pm. Closed every second Sunday of the month. They were closed on August 11.
• This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.
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