Kuantan, Pahang – My Top 10 Eats, Kuantan, Malaysia

There’s something special about hometown cuisine – its originality is as close as you can get to a home-cooked meal while its timelessness ensures that nostalgia will never be lost from our vocabulary. It is no surprise that these local favorites are slowly making their way into Kuala Lumpur following the pattern of migration of the folks they have been serving all this while. I can be a bit of a food purist when it comes to hometown delicacies as I feel eating at the first or only joint connects me to the history of the place. It acts like a gateway where our forefathers once met after a hard day’s work and engaged in some “coffee shop talk” about issues of the day. Each of these place has a story to tell, be it old or new, and here is Kuantan’s story told through her food. 

Restoran Hoi Yin’s curry mee has been the staple of many state luminaries and some don’t even mind eating out at this breakfast joint. This hole-in-the-wall shop at Teluk Chempedak has no problems fending-off its fast food competitors like McDonald’s and Starbucks as it dishes out endless bowls of wholesome noodles from sunrise till high noon almost everyday. The mee is served in two sizes: “large” and “jumbo” but you’ll never be satisfied if you choose the former. The curry has a perfect level of heat and spiciness balanced with creamy goodness while the noodles are accompanied by a generous amount of chicken, cockles, tofu and fishballs. To top it off, make sure you have these noodles with the family-made chili sauce, as if the curry wasn’t hot enough. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).