The Roast House, Kuchai Lama

Thanks to OpenRice, I was invited to another food review session in Kuchai Lama area. Remember I mentioned that I hardly venture into this area? Well this is another good opportunity and let me talk about the food through this humble blog post.

The setting of restaurant was simple, nothing artsy or fancy but comfortable enough for decent dining experience. Behind this eatery is two young man, one of them was an ex-IT programmer that I know of since 4 years ago. With the quality of food served, I would say they are doing good job so far.

Barbeque Pork ‘Ngam Yin Siew Wan’ Rice (approx. RM12 including a bowl of soup)

Named after a popular comedy movie starring Stephen Chow, this rice dish also deserves to be a popular item in the menu and among dining customers. The attractive-looking pieces of evenly sliced char siew, a sunny-side-up and vege, it definitely offers balanced diet as a whole. Not only the glistening char siew instantly levels up our cravings instantly, the slightly crispy and savoury sweet outer layer paired with pun fei sau meat texture is worth the rave and calories. Hehe. I am not a person who likes fatty meat, but the fat layer is just right at the same time meltingly tender. I also loved the homey bowl of lotus root soup served along with this dish.

Barbeque Pork with Wantan Noodles (approx RM10)

The barbeque pork here never fails to meet our expectation as well. Eventhough slightly differs from the char siew in the previous dish mentioned in terms of shape , satisfaction level was there and just hit the right spot. Notice the small part of fat layer, it does not have hard texture that bothers your dining pleasure. The wantan noodles are easily one of the best around- springy and snappy textured evenly coated with mixed soya sauce. I believe this will be close to Hong Kong version in terms of the thin noodle strands compared to thicker versions in KL. Not the best tasting soya sauce but good enough to provide right amount of saltiness and fragrance to the noodles.

Roast Meat Platter

Meat lovers rejoice! This meat platter boasting with varieties are perfect for sharing among friends and family members. Consisting roast pork (siew yuk), char siew, roast chicken and roast duck, I loved roast pork the most. The skin was crackling crispy, furthermore melting fat layers made up basic criterias of outstanding siew yuk. One piece is never enough. The others were decent enough to pair with rice or noodles. I was expecting the roast duck to stand out among the rest but it was nothing to shout about. The black dipping sauce served together added savoury sweet taste to the meats but we did not care much about it as the various meats are already good on its own. For RM48.90, you can get 3 combo consisting barbeque pork, crispy roasted pork and roast duck.

Another chilli dipping sauce that adds spicy kick to your selection of roast meats worth mentioning. Thick consistency with finely grounded chillies that does not contain bothering fibres or residues. Would be better if sourness level can be reduced.

Ipoh Chicken Hor Fun (RM7.90)

The soup looks concentrated presumably cooked with lots of chicken bones for long hours, topped with prawn oil that added reddish-orange colour to overall appearance. But to my disappointment, it did not taste well as it looked. It was rather bland, definitely could be done better with more apparent chicken consistency in the broth. On the positive side, the kuey teow noodles were smooth and well blanched to maintain QQ texture.

Shrimp and Pork Wantons in Soup (RM9.90 for 6 pieces)

Reasonably sized wantons filled with juicy and well marinated minced pork, but the presence of prawns were rather vague. The soup is different from others that are usually ladened with loads of MSG, this is little thicker from chicken bones I suppose. Definitely better flavoured but if I were to nitpick further, the addition of salt can be reduced. The wanton skin could get soggy after staying for quite some time in the soup, so remember to enjoy them as soon as possible when served.

Traditional Hakka Noodles (RM6.90)

A simple dish that can be easily ruined if not executed properly- mostly too bland for the tastebuds. The noodles had satisfying bite to it, bland by itself but saved by the generous minced pork meat on top which is salty on its own. Therefore, they complemented each other well. A downside of this was the small pool of oil at the bottom of the bowl towards the end of our meal. I understand that the chef needs oil to moisten and separate the strands of noodles, but it can be reduced further to avoid the oily aftertaste.

The Roast House

(same row as Snowflake)

30, Jalan Kuchai Maju 8,

Off Jalan Kuchai Lama,

Kuchai Entrepreneurs Park,

58200 Kuala Lumpur.

Facebook page: Shao Wei Dian

Phone: 03-7971 5887