Thursday, November 11, 2010

Mo Sang Kor Bak Kut Teh, Taman Berkeley, Klang

We love bak kut teh (literally "Meat Bone Tea") but we rarely venture out of our home to satisfy our cravings. However, when The Unc was home, he wanted to renew his love affair with the bak kut teh from Klang. At one point during his college days, Klang bak kut teh was a weekly staple; sometimes as often as 2 times a week.

When it comes to choosing where to go for bak kut teh in Klang, you will be spoilt for choice. There are hundreds of restaurants there serving bak kut teh; amongst them are Seng Huat a.k.a Under the Bridge Bak Kut Teh, Teluk Pulai Bak Kut Teh, Mo Sang Kor, and Pao Xiang.


The variety in taste a bowl (or claypot!) of bak kut teh that different eateries can invoke is certainly astounding; many of the aforementioned famous restaurants have their own unique bak kut teh taste, owing to secret recipes which have been passed down through the years. In the end, it boils down to personal preference; whether you like the thick herbal soup or the clearer, more diluted ones.

Since we were impressed with the bak kut teh we had from Mo Sang Kor in Lot 10 Hutong, we decided to go to its branch in Taman Berkeley for some porky goodness. I was surprised as to how much we liked Mo Sang Kor's version as their bak kut teh is the exact opposite of what we usually like.


We arrived early (before 8.00am) only to find that the restaurant was already packed with diners with just a couple of tables available. There are various pork cuts one can choose from, and we finally settled for 4 different cuts.

We have met this gentleman before at Lot 10 Hutong. Here, he is busy dishing out bowls of bak kut teh for his customers. By 9am, he left his station, possibly to supervise proceedings at the Lot 10 Hutong branch.




Bak kut teh is best eaten with lots of garlic, and then washed down with hot Chinese tea. Chinese tea is served with the belief that it dilutes and dissolves the copious amount of fat consumed in this pork-laden dish. Being the impatient diners that we are, we do not swear by the tea preparation ritual practiced by many other bak kut teh aficionados i.e. washing the tea leaves with boiling water several times before serving.


The bak kut teh here is served the traditional way, in porcelain bowls and not claypots.


We ordered the sai kuat (small bone), yuen kuat (soft bone), chu tou (pork stomach) and chu sau (pork knuckle). The meat was well infused with herbs and tender. All the different cuts had its merits. Of the lot, we find the chu sau (pork knuckle) outstanding. The gelatinous meat combined with the soup enhances the whole eating experience. The chu tou (pork stomach) though was slightly disappointing; the meat was harder than we were used to. A piece of Chinese mushroom is served with each bowl of meat.

Sai kuat (small bone)

Yuen kuat (soft bone)

Chu tou (Pork stomach)


Chu sau (pork knuckle)


Served with oily rice


Special mention has to be given to the soup here. We loved the herbal pork concoction. It was thick, hearty and flavoursome... "ada oomph" is the term we Malaysians would use to describe this soup.

I am sure most of you have read stories about vendors refusing to give soup refills. No such problem here, they happily gave us refills when we asked for it. Furthermore, you get a small soup refill everytime you order an extra rice. That being said, people who do like to drench their rice in the soup will most likely be dissatisfied with the amount of soup given. As long as you are willing to sacrifice quantity for quality, Mo Sang Kor's bak kut teh definitely ticks all the right boxes.

Awesome, delicious soup


Even my young daughter appreciates the tasty soup here. In fact she liked it so much, she drank it all in one go and asked for more.

Mo Sang Kor bak kut teh sachets are also sold here for those who want to recreate it at home. I've tried it and sadly, the taste cannot be replicated at home. Not even close to what you get here. Want to know why?


Check out the amount of pork they put into each pot to produce that thick delicious soup! There is no way you would use so much pork at home, unless you were cooking for 50 pax.


Chock-full of pork goodness


For us the whole experience made us realise that bak kut teh's charms lies in its down-to-earth old-school roots. The steaming hot soup ladled from those big steel pots, the surroundings where big kettles are placed on a gas stove beside the table for convenience sake, the sounds of loud old men conversing to each other in Hokkien, and the fact that even if you've travelled a thousand miles or crossed the seven seas doesn't get you any extra bits of pork. This is local flavour at its best; stripped off the glitz and glam. Perhaps that is why the bak kut teh experience in Klang trumps the one we had in Lot 10 Hutong by miles. If you're willing to travel to Klang, I would recommend you do so, as we felt the bak kut teh we had here was better than what we had in Lot 10 Hutong.


Opening times: 6am t0 3pm daily.

Price: RM7.50 per bowl. Our bill came to RM37 that day. At Lot 10 Hutong, we paid RM16.20 for a bowl of bak kut teh, oily rice and Chinese tea. It's double the price at Lot 10 Hutong, but double the experience here at their Taman Berkeley branch.

Location: Restoran Bah Kut Teh Mo Sang Kor, 41 Leboh Bangau, Taman Berkeley, 41150 Klang, Selangor. (same row as Fatty Mee Hoon Kueh and Pao Xiang)

Tel: 019-272 7728

GPS Coordinates: 3.058239, 101.465113

11 comments:

  1. i love their soup but Kepong branch which near house had closed down :(

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  2. choi yen: Closed recently? Such a pity..

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  3. You went all the way to Klang from KL? But for good food, it worth the hassle :) I prefer bak kut teh with clearer soup and stronger herbs flavour. Oh, there is one BKT shop in Klang that is famous for its springy enoki mushroom (one of the ingredients in the soup). The next time I go, I will surely take photos and get their name and address :)

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  4. Berkeley is where I grew up, and this BKT joint is legendary. Can't believe they are now in Lot10 as well!

    Anyway, you may miss a good UK fry-up, but I miss ... BKT!

    Julian
    Abu Dhabi

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  5. The last time I came to Klang for Deepavali. My cousins took me to the one at under bridge next to Mydin. It was a bit dingy but the the Ba Ku Teh was awesome.

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  6. zoe: Actually I feel going to Klang for BKT is really far! But my brother wanted to go there to eat. Anyway it's worth the travel cos the BKT turned out to be really nice :) Look fwd to your blog abt the shop you mentioned.

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  7. Julian: Then you must know where all the good shops are :)

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  8. Mutusamy vellu: I've heard a lot of good things about the "Under the bridge BKT" before but have never tried it. Maybe it's time.

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  9. I heard so much about this BKT. Thanks for the recommendation

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  10. I just want to say not all Mo sang kor shop is good!!! Be careful of the Mo sang kor in TAMAN SENTOSA KLANG! Had my worst bakuteh experience in 20 years!!!

    I politely comment that my bowl's meat smell very strong, maybe spoilt ady bcz my friend's smell OK. They almost sound like scold me. So embarassing!!!! I also din't make noise.

    Then they charged me and my friend so expensive! RM 35 for 2 people!! I asked them but no one reply me! I think bcz they wanna take revenge.

    The service is super lousy too. All the staff also like boss! no one care about anything!!!

    First & LAST!!!

    ReplyDelete

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