Listed as one of the top 10 Hokkien Mee in the Klang Valley is this Sentul Ah Yap Hokkien Mee which started as a humble stall in Sentul and now has a number of branches across the Klang Valley. Having started their business in 1960, this restaurant has definitely gained it's market share and is a strong player in the Hokkien Mee industry in the country.
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| Sentul Ah Yap Hokkien Mee Restaurant in Jalan Sentul |
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| Outdoor and Indoor Seating Available |
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| Indoor Non-Air-conditioned Seating Area |
I used to follow my Uncle and Dad for dinner here in the late 70's and early 80's. At that time, this was just a small stall on a peddler concept. The owner used to cycle from Sentul Pasar where he stayed then, come up to this place and open his stall at nights. I can still remember very clearly how the stall used to look like then. It has been years since then and after almost 35 years, am visiting them again today. I deliberately wanted to re-visit this restaurant in Sentul for nostalgia sake and my God, it looks so different now. It is a huge restaurant with both indoor and outdoor seating. There is also an air-conditioned dining hall for customers comfort. The owners are nowhere to be seen except on the posters that adorn the walls. As there is so much advertisement and write ups about these guys, there were a number of European tourists too seen dining here tonight. I took a peek into the kitchen and all the cooks were hired staffs but it is good to see that they still use charcoal stoves like those days.
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| Chinese Tea @ RM 0.80 |
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| Coca Cola @ RM 2.50 |
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| Us At The Restaurant |
The moment we arrived, the Captain came up to us and took our drink orders. He didn't seem like that he had the time to give personalised attention to customers and hence just layed the menu on the tables and walked away. Must be the price that a customers pays when they dine at a famous restaurant. Anyway, we were fine with it.
Their menu was very comprehensive and not just limited to what it was those days. Nowadays, they have also expanded into seafood and other dishes which would be available at any other Chinese Restaurant hence the adjustment to their restaurant name is justified. If you observe, they have now included the words 'Hokkie Mee and Seafood Restaurant'. Prices seem like a slight premium but I am fine as long as the food is good. We have to bear in mind that this has now become a tourist restaurant and not the every kind of Hokkien Noodles restaurant.
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| Service Bell |
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| Cutlery |
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| Bird Eye Chilies in Soy Sauce |
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| Sambal Belacan |
After going through the menu and having decided on what to have, I tried pressing the Call for Service Bell a number of times but then there was no response. Then I tried pressing the other buttons and found that the others too have been disabled except for one.....the Call for Bill Button and therefore I pressed it. Immediately, someone went looking for the bill and having not found one, came up to our table. Of course he would not find it as we have not even ordered in the first place. When I tried raising my hand and calling the staffs a little earlier prior to pressing the buttons, no one bothered to attend to us even when they saw us, but when the Call for Bill button was pressed, there was immediate action. Funny and pathetic but true. In a way, I felt hurt as they only wanted to be interrupted when someone wanted to pay. Otherwise, aren't customers important to them?. Anyway, that aside, we finally got our orders through. Their homemade Sambal Belacan which is supposed to go with the noodles was quite nice, but not as great as the one that we get at Damansara Hokkien Mee Restaurant. For me, this would only score a rating of 7/10 .
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| Fried Tung Fen @ RM 9.00 |
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| Fried Tung Fen @ RM 9.00 |
I wanted to try a number of dishes and therefore ordered each dish good for one pax only which we ended up sharing among us to get a taste of all the dishes ordered. This dish of Fried Tung Fen (Glass Noodles) for one pax was priced at RM 9.00 which is almost double of what you pay for it outside. Taste wise, absolutely nothing great, in fact it was quite flat. For me, I would rate this at 5/10 only. A disappointment!
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| Fried Pak Ko @ RM 9.00 |
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| Fried Pak Ko @ RM 9.00 |
This dish too was ordered for one pax and again it was priced at RM 9.00 per small plate. As for this dish, I did not mind paying the price as Pak Ko which is a kind of short, flat and thick noodles (often mistaken for meat slices) is a rare item as is not easily found out there. This dish however, tasted good, in fact very good. Very balanced taste and it was delicious. For someone who is not used to Pak Ko, you may not like it the first time you try it as it is thick and chewy but as you get used to it, one would love it. For me, I would rate this dish at 9/10 .
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| Hokkien Mee @ RM 8.00 |
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| Hokkien Mee @ RM 8.00 |
The Hokkien Mee too was ordered for one pax and surprisingly, this was priced at RM 8.00 for a small plate, RM 1.00 lesser than the previous two. Taste wise, the Hokkien Mee was nice. If you ask me to compare this with Damansara Hokkie Mee and Tiong Hokkien Mee, I would say that they are all good in their own way. Despite them all being Hokkien Mee, the recipe differs slightly and none taste the same. As for this preparation, I would rate it at 9.2/10 .
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| Steamed 3 Kinds of Eggs @ RM 10.00 |
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| Steamed 3 Kinds of Eggs @ RM 10.00 |
Wanted to try something else besides the noodles and so we ordered this Steamed Three Kinds of Eggs which comprised of Century Eggs, Chicken Eggs and Salted Duck Eggs. The combination was explosive! Fantastic! That is all I have got to say. No complaints whatsoever. Need to try them yourself in order to understand what I am trying to put forward. I have never tried this combination before and it was a taste to remember! This would score a perfect 10/10 . Must try for steamed egg lovers.
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| The Bill |
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| Outlets and Address |
Generally, the food was good except for the Fried Glass Noodles which could have been very much better. Service can be bad when they are busy which is like most of the time but if you're patient, then you'd enjoy your meal. Pricing is a premium. For me, this is a place that I may come once or twice a year, not the usual Hokkien Mee restaurant that I would go for a quick fix. If I am not mistaken, their outlets in Kota Damansara and the one in Damansara Utama has been closed down. Not sure about the others. Best to come to their Sentul outlet as it is quite centrally located with easy access from all directions.
Address: No. 744, Jalan Sentul, 51000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Opening Hours: 1100 - 0100 Daily
