Lot 10 Hutong, Malaysia's first Gourmet Heritage Village opened its doors in November 2009. Boasting 27 eateries, Hutong is comprised of low chiu pai (heritage brands) street food stalls handpicked by YTL Corp's Tan Sri Francis Yeoh and non-heritage Western/Asian stalls. The heritage brands are family enterprises in their second and third generations, inheriting their skills and age-old recipes from their parents, grandparents and even great-grandparents.
Celebrity food critic and TV host Chua Lam used his calligraphic skills to write the characters "Lot 10 Hutong" in Chinese for the brand's logo.
The beauty of this place is that you get to sample several famous hawker delights at one time without having to drive to different parts of town (or country even). And all in the comfort of an air-conditioned and clean environment. The rustic-looking food court was even designed by an award-winning architect, Yuhkichi Kawai of Japan.
Featuring famous local Chinese cuisine such as bak kut teh, wantan noodles, beef noodles, roast duck, Seremban siew pau, and Hokkien mee, we knew we were in for a real treat when we finally made it here. The food court also have other stalls such as German Cafe, Kissaten (Japanese) and Thai Corner.
Swanky new rooftop at Lot 10 "Forest in The City"
Mo Sang Kor Bak Kut Teh from Klang
Out of the 200-odd bak kut teh shops in the Klang area, Mo Sang Kor was singled out to set up shop in Hutong. The owner, Lee Ah Sang, insists the actual cooking must be done by a family member to ensure authenticity of their bak kut teh. The bak kut teh served in Hutong is actually cooked off site in one of their Klang kitchens. Lee's son, Alvin delivers pots of bak kut teh daily and supervises the running of their stall in Hutong.
We enjoyed the thick, robust bak kut teh soup. Alvin recommended a mixture of pun fei sau (Half Fat Half Lean) pork cuts and they were good. I would have liked more soup. Also, one must finish off the bak kut teh quickly as the air-conditioning tends to cool the food down relatively quickly and bak kut teh is best enjoyed hot/warm.
Prices are slightly expensive; we ordered the Set B which came with a bowl of soup with pork cuts, oily rice and a chinese tea for RM16.20.
As we found out later during a visit to their branch in Taman Berkeley, Klang, one can get the same for half the price (more on this in another blog). However, the convenience of getting to eat this in the city makes up for the high price.
Ho Weng Kee Wantan Noodles from Petaling Street, Kuala Lumpur
Ho Weng Kee was opened in 1935 by Ho Weng, using a family recipe he brought with him from Guandong, China. Currently, it is run by his son Ho Chan Tong.
A plate of wantan noodles dished up with utmost efficiency
Rows and rows of glistening char siew (BBQ pork)
My favorite in Hutong, the char siew wantan noodles
Low Puay Hong, the lady boss of Campbell Popiah still makes her own thin egg skins for the popiah.
As we arrived at Hutong pretty early, we were fortunate not to have to queue for these delectable morsels. They only make 2 types of popiah here, the vegetable or egg skin popiah. Let the owner know which skin type you want and whether you like it spicy or non-spicy, and the guy sets off to work.
We loved the popiah here as the filling was very flavoursome. Minimum order is 2 pieces, at RM2.30 per piece for the vegetable skin popiah.
Soong Kee Beef Noodles from Jalan Tun Tan Siew Sin, Kuala Lumpur
The owner's grandson ladling beef balls into a bowl
The beef noodles here uses thin egg noodles (the wantan noodles variety), which are generously topped with minced beef. A bowl of this along with a bowl of tripe/beef balls, oyster sauce vegetable and chinese tea will cost you RM8.50. The beef noodles were tasty, but it did not quite do it for me. When it comes to beef noodles, I still prefer the Seremban beef noodle version.
However, I did like the beef balls here as they were nice and bouncy.
The Hon Kee name spans three generations starting from their late grandfather Wong Yu Wah, who started the congee business 60 years ago in Petaling Street, Kuala Lumpur.
The workers slicing the raw fish for the porridge
The porridge was really delicious with a thick and smooth consistency. They were generous with the ingredients, a mixture of pork innards (chee chap) and fresh raw fish slices (RM7.80). Perfect eaten with the yu tiao (fried dough stick) (RM1.40).
Yummy porridge
Kong Tai is most famous for its Singapore Hokkien Prawn Mee and Fried Oyster Omelette (or chien).
Cooking plate after plate of or chien
We spotted lots of people carrying plates of or chien back to their table. So, we ordered a plate too. At RM9.90 per plate, it is not cheap. We found the omelette to be a little too starchy for our liking. However, they do use very big and juicy oysters in their omelette, which I guess justifies the price. For us, the Penang version trumps this.
This is by far the most popular stall in Hutong during our visit. Throngs of people queue up just for a plate of the their famous charcoal wok-fried Hokkien Mee. A glass vestibule was even specially constructed at their Hutong stall to keep sparks and ash from the charcoal at bay as they believe using gas fire will compromise the taste of their noodles.
The workers were busy plating up dish after dish of Hokkien mee. I observed that they cook only 1 plate at a time (which is good). They also proudly displayed a sign letting customers know that they will still be using charcoal instead of gas fire here to cook their noodles.
The Hokkien noodles (RM8.90) were definitely fragrant, flavoursome and full of wok hei. There was definitely no shortage of lard fritters (chee yau char) in this dish. Some people love it so much, that everyone in the family had a plate of Hokkien mee, EACH!
Luk Yu Tea House
A non-heritage stall, Luk Yu Tea House serves dim sum and Chinese tea.
The lady pushes the cart of dim sum around the food court
We were too stuffed to order any dim sum, however we ordered 1 char siew pau for Baby C as she loves them.
And that concludes our food adventure at Lot 10 Hutong.
Non-halal.
Opening times: 10am to 10pm daily, although it is advisable to come early as some stalls run out before dinnertime.
Opening times: 10am to 10pm daily, although it is advisable to come early as some stalls run out before dinnertime.
Verdict: We were able to enjoy delighful hawker fare in a comfortable environment. While some may argue that the prices are too high for hawker fare, bear in mind that you are in a shopping centre and for the price you pay, you get delicious tasting food.
Location: Hutong Food Court, Lower Ground Floor, Lot 10 Shopping Centre, Jalan Sultan Ismail, 50250 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Location: Hutong Food Court, Lower Ground Floor, Lot 10 Shopping Centre, Jalan Sultan Ismail, 50250 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
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