Poppo Kanteen at Sri Petaling - Affordably priced good food (Halal)

I was in the mood for local, kopitiam food and usually, I’d go back to my usual favorites. This time however, I decided to try something new. For the longest time, my friends have been mentioning Poppo Kanteen. Apparently at this eatery, they serve good food that is affordably priced, generous portion size. It sounded like a good deal to me, so off we headed to Poppo Kanteen. If I am not mistaken, they have four branches around town and I went to the Sri Petaling branch because it was closes to me.

As you can see, there is both indoor and outdoor section here. There was also conveniently placed sockets/ plug points around both sections and a strong wifi too. This was a plus point for us as we could get some work done while waiting for food to arrive and after too. Customer service was good. We certainly required some assistance in ordering because there were soooooooo many choices and all looked good. Food arrived quickly, surprisingly. So far, I’ve got nothing to complain about.

That being said, I wasn’t really expecting the food to be that good or rather I kept my expectations on the food low to avoid being let down. Sometimes, my friends do have a tendency to hype things up, more than it actually is. Besides that, we are not always wowed by the same dishes … so. a little apprehension was good.

Nasi Lemak Mutton Curry, RM 18.90

Ooo my lord. This was delicious, it went beyond my expectations, wayyyy beyond. What Poppo Kanteen is popular for is their range of Nasi Lemak. Rather than doing the usual Nasi Lemak Ayam Goreng Berempah, I opted for the one with Mutton Curry. Yup, it blew my mind.

First of all, I like my nasi lemak with lots of sambal and peanuts. While I almost always request for an extra serving, less than half the eateries I’ve visited so far has got it right the first time around. Usually, I’d have to call the waiter back to the table, reiterate my request … it more often than not, is a waste of time. Here however, they got it right the first time around and if you request for more, you’d get more, a whole lot more than expected. I was over the moon.

For RM 18.90, this dish was the bomb. Affordably priced for what it was. The peanut and anchovies were crunchy and fresh. If you noticed, it came with a good sprinkle of orange colored flakes? I have no idea what that was but elevated a basic serving of peanut into something more. The mini prawn crackers were fresh too and tasty, a nice tidbit to munch on. The sambal was slight thick, spicy with a dash of sweetness. I was a fan. It certainly was perfect to eat with coconut milk rice. The mutton curry was made in rendang style. So, you would get thick, flavorful gravy with two large pieces of mutton served with bone marrow. Ooooo man, it was good. The texture of the meat was just right, it wasn’t too hard or soft. It was not over the top chewy and neither was there the distinct after-taste that usually accompanies this particular meat.

Fried Mee Hoon, RM 10.90

One of us was in the mood for some fried noodles and he was very specific in what he wanted. Rather than Char Kueh Teow, he wanted the same style but Char Mee Hoon instead but it wasn’t available in the menu. When asked, the waiter told us that is was possible, that the cook accommodate his request. We all thought that it was a nice gesture.

The noodles were pretty good. It tasted more like you regular ol’ mamak fried noodles and it was ‘Char’ enough for my friend. The Char Mee Hoon came in a generous portion, tasty noodles with lots of fishcake, prawns, egg, fishballs and vegetables.

Eggplant Sambal, RM 6.90

This too exceeded my expectations. For RM 6.90, the portion was a lot more than expected. So much more. There was a good 10 – 15 pieces in there, with plenty of sambal. In all honestly, I was in brinjal heaven. It was perfectly cooked and the sambal was spicy but not over the top. I have nothing else to say except that it was so darn good.

Ayam Goreng Kunyit, RM 10.90

I do not know about you guys but when I order this particular dish, it usually comes with just the chicken alone. Here however, it came accompanied with vegetables. Some of us were okay with it while the others were a tad let down. It tasted pretty good but they would rather have a whole lot more chicken than vegetables instead. The chicken were fried in small strips and so, it was barely enough. Me, I did not mind. I liked the vegetables. It consisted of couliflower, long beans, red and green bell pepper as well as carrots. It was quite the mix.

Overall, I had quite the experience here. The food served exceeded my expectations. I think this might just be my new favorite kopitiam. Of course, I’d have to give it several more tries but I have high hopes. I would be back, for sure. I am looking forward to giving their other dishes a go.