Unbeknown to me, I’ve actually passed this restaurant many, many times. This is one of those situations whereby “you have to pass the front to reach the back.” Yea, I hang out at the back row quite a bit, which is home to La Risata, 28 Fireplace, The Daily Grind, to name a few. The front row, faces a busy road – one reason why I failed to notice Soo Kee. The road is almost always busy and it also is a road that merges, the point of meet where 2 roads join into one – imagine the amount of traffic? Sometimes, it does get hectic. Often, I am caught in the rush to just get out of that bottleneck as fast as possible. Another reason why I failed to notice Soo Kee. No time to look left and right.

So, how did I know of this eatery? Well, firstly, as I browsed through blogs, Soo Kee seem to be a regular mention when it came to Best Char Siew in town. Secondly, my friend mentioned the same thing during one of our meetups and suggested we head there for dinner that night.

and that was how I ended up at Soo Kee ….

It certainly is one of those old school eateries. The kind that as soon as you enter, you know they have been around for decades. The way they operate, the way the eatery looks and even their customers, it simply oozes old school. Walking through the front door was like discovering a well kept secret. Why? Well, you cant really see much from the outside and from the ol’ school look of things – I kindda lowered my expectations … and then, once I slide those doors opened though, I was like ‘Wow!” It was bustling with people. Families, friends, couples – you name it. Almost every table was occupied and it was loud. Chatters going on at every table,conversations. Boisterous, it was.

The eatery has no menu. It was basically – you arrive, you order ( this is where the inquiry takes place, you can ask what they have/offer) and wait for the food to arrive. Based on what I’ve observed – they offer rice and noodles, vegetables, and a range of meat – pork, duck, chicken, fish and etc. Basically – it is a perfect place for a get together, be it family or friends. The kind where you can order loads of dishes and enjoy it all together.

Char Siew (2 people), 20 ringgit & Kangkung Belacan + Japanese Tofu, 34 ringgit

The food was tasty. Just for the Char Siew alone, I’d head back here anytime. It was utterly delicious. The outer later was slightly blackened, sweet, crispy and chewy and the inside was oooo tender and succulent, with just the right amount of fat. It was hands down, one of the best pork meat I’ve tasted in a long time.

Of course, nothing else could outshine the delicious pork but the Tofu and the Kangkung were pretty good, at least the Kangkung was. The tofu came with some soupy egg broth, green pepper, crab meat and mince pork. It was not bad but it certainly was not high up there with the char siew. I most probably will give this a miss the next time because it did not blow me away. It worked as a good substitute for gravy though or else the white rice would have been rather dull and dry. The Kangkung was good, as kangkung belacan should be. Both my friend and I gulped down almost half the content on the plate before the other dishes arrived. It was good.