BM Eats

Hub's friend took us on an eating spree at Bukit Mertajam recently and we discovered a couple of gems that I'd love to share with you guys.

Yoong Kee Eating Shop is an old school, no frills eatery that serves simple, hearty Teochew dishes. It is a local crowd pleaser and has been in business for decades, as evident by the original 3-digit phone number displayed on its signboard. The place gets packed pretty early so it's best to go before peak time.

We left the ordering to Hub's friend, who quickly rattled out a string of its most popular dishes. The Teowchew style steamed white pompret was a must have with its tangy clear sauce. Hubs, who is a proud Teochew nang, loved all the dishes and kept wolfing down bowls of piping hot white rice.

I only had a small portion because I was saving my apetite for supper, which was ...

That's right, the famous duck egg char koay teow in BM. Hub's friend directed us to this stall, which is right next to the Fresh Food Court. It only starts at 8pm but opens well into the dark of night. During the day, it operates as a car wash but come night fall, it dishes out fragrant platefuls of charcoal stir fried noodles with creamy duck eggs. Even before the proprietor starts his business, a steady stream of customers lined up patiently awaiting his arrival.

Ok, time for a lil confession. I was taken aback at how young the char koay teow seller was. And he was unbearably friendly to all the customers! With a pleasant smile on his boyish face, he was chatting to nearly all of them. He took down special requests with a quick grin as he deftly hefted his wok over the blazing sparks of the burning charcoal stoked fire.

What was this madness? I was accustomed to grizzly old sellers with surly looks that snapped at you if you so much as to request a slight variation. Most of them had ready phrases like "if you can't wait, don't eat!" rolling off their tongues.

And so with bated breath, we drove back with the hot packets of char koay teow as our suppers. I requested for an extra duck egg fried sunny side up at the side even though I know my cholesterol levels will be protesting.

My goodness! It was one of the best char koay teow I'd ever had in my life. The special soy sauce that I saw him splash added oomph to the flavour. The duck egg stir fried into the noodles was deliciously silky-salty and even though Hubs initially complained that the extra egg on the side was overkill, he quietly sneaked a few extra bites from my portion when he thought I wasn't looking ;)