Tom New Ocean Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur was our next stop after our sunset cocktails at the nearby rooftop bar – Heli Lounge Bar (aka Helipad). One of the reasons we dropped by New Ocean Restaurant was because the Imbi Road Fatt Kee Hokkien Mee was not opened this evening. Hence, we continued along Jalan Barat (Imbi) and visited New Ocean Restaurant instead…
About New Ocean Restaurant KL
New Ocean Restaurant (aka Restoran New Ocean) exudes an old school vibe. There are seats on the outside and inside (air-conditioning). The round tables with table cloths are the ones that really signal that they have been around for a long time – and are proud of it. Seldom do new restaurants be decked out in this manner, not especially in this purplish hue. After sitting down, GST wasted no time before putting down our orders this evening…
What We Had at Restoran New Ocean Kuala Lumpur
We started with the order of KL Hokkien Mee – the reason why we were here at Restoran New Ocean in the first place. However, GST had a twist to this dish. He ordered KL Hokkien Mee with bee hoon in the mix, which turned out to be really really good! The idea is that yellow noodles, also known as Tai Lok Mee, is able to be coated with the fragrant dark soy sauce of the Hokkien Mee quite well. But this smart twist of adding bee hoon to tai look mee, allows the bee hoon to really soak in the gravy while tai lok mee offers the texture that is synonymous with Hokkien Mee. As for the dish itself, it was exactly what we had been looking for. Fragrant, shiny and lathered with the lardy goodness. An excellent rendition of this KL specialty. However, according to GST, Imbi Road Fatt Kee Hokkien Mee does it even better! We’ve got to try it the next time we’re in KL!
There are actually several versions of “sang mee” in Kuala Lumpur. After being educated by GST, we were made known that besides the Sang Har Hor Fun that we had at Restoran Pan Heong yesterday, there’s the sang har meen which uses the sheng noodles (生面) and because it is a “fried noodles”, it adds a different dimension to the gravy. This time, we had the Duck Stew Yee Meen. Yet another taste presents itself because of the use of Yee Meen (伊面). We actually enjoy this rendition because the duck stew has a spring onion, ginger taste with a sweet dark sauce to it. Tasty as well, just that some pieces were rather boney so one has to be careful while slurping in the yee meen.
Having tried the Sang Har Hor Fun at Restoran Pan Heong, we sort of knew what to expect for the Sang Har Meen. In terms of both the gravy and noodles, we definitely love the version at Pan Heong. The smokey and aromatic wok hei from the hor fun, coupled with the rich prawn-roe infused gravy – what’s not to love? But we also get it that if you’re a Sang Meen fan, sang har meen with its slightly crisp texture would be something that would be alluring as well. Also, the prawns here at New Ocean Restaurant is not as chunky and fresh. 😅
As for the Stir Fried Royale Chives, it was a surprising find. Fragrant and crunchy on each bite. The garlicky and salted fish tastes (we think) brought the entire taste together quite well. Yum!
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A satisfying supper this evening at Restoran New Ocean. We loved the sang mee and of course the KL Hokkien Mee. The Stir-Fried Royale Chives was a suprising find which demonstrates the skills of the chefs behind the scenes – probably a reason why Restoran New Ocean with its old school vibes, continues to thrive in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. Keep up the good work!
