Kheng Heong Hainan Cuisine Restaurant (2nd Post), Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur

With the whole family down in KL for our marriage registration, going out for dinner meant we could order larger varieties and try out more new dishes. We were keen to share our discovery and so the 6 of us went to our current favourite, Kheng Heong Restaurant which serves really great food at very affordable prices (prices below are for portions meant for 6 people).

Top view of the Nyonya style steamed garoupa (At RM20.00/fish, it was a steal). It is scattered with bits of petai and pineapple, the sauce itself has a tangy, slightly sourish-sweet taste. Being a petai lover, I was busy scouring for all the petai bits.

Side view of the Nyonya style steamed garoupa.

Assam seafood in a pot. The taste of this dish is slightly reminiscent of assam laksa, with an almost tea-like aftertaste. It came loaded with squids, prawns, fish fillets and lala, costing only RM18.00.

"4 heavenly king" mixed vegetables fried with sambal belacan (RM12.00). The dish consisted of brinjal, petai, okra and 4-angle (wing) beans. Mom-in-law loved it, as she's always cooking these vegetables at home.

Steamed tofu topped with minced pork and scallions (RM10.00). This yummy dish was lighter compared to the rest of what we ordered, just to clear the palate a little.

We had to let everyone try the delectable boxing chicken (RM12.00 for 10 pieces). Everyone, especially mom-in-law, absolutely loved the chicken which was crispy outside but oh so tender and juicy inside.

The marmite pork ribs (RM18.00) were heavenly. Juicy bits of ribs, deep fried and coated with thick caramelised maltose + marmite sauce, for a sweet, sticky treat. Eldest bro-in-law polished off the last few pieces though we were all completely stuffed by the end of the meal. The very hearthy meal of 6 dishes for the 6 of us cost only RM102.00 (inclusive of rice and Chinese tea in a pot).

This dish we didn't order during this dinner session, but I am including it here anyway as part of the food review for this restaurant. It's the restaurant's trademark chilli fish which featured in a Ho Chak episode on tv. This dish is done using either fish head (for a large portion) or fish tail (for a smaller portion). We chose fish tail as it was only the 2 of us, and it cost only RM14.00 for the big plate you see in the photo above. Fresh water fish was used, but the fish was marinated in a type of orange peel (I think) which gave it a really tangy flavour and got rid of the typical fresh water (muddy) fish taste. At a glance, the dish looks alot like regular kung pao fish, but upon tasting the gravy, it had a really buttery, sweet, orange-lemony and yet savoury spicy curry taste (from the generous helping of chillies and curry leaves) which was very unique. This is definitely a dish that I would order again, and again!

For our previous post on this restaurant, click here.

Our rating system for overall satisfaction with what we eat and where we eat....

1-bam = don't even bother

2-bam = good enough to fill the tummy

3-bam = a very good restaurant in its category

4-bam = excellent cooking, worth a detour

5-bam = exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey

We give Kheng Heong a 4-bam rating, we are officially regulars here. The uncle with a cap who takes the food orders knows us pretty well by now.