food

Comfort food at its best at Sin Kee, Brickfields

BY YAP PIK KUAN
November 24, 2015

There's nothing like that perfect bowl of fried rice – tasty, fluffy rice full of 'wok hei' – and that's what we got at Sin Kee. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Yap Pik Kuan, November 24, 2015.I first found out about Restoran Sin Kee when I was still working in KL Sentral. The restaurant, with its faded signage, is easy to miss among all the loud, busy shops on Jalan Tun Sambanthan.

Sin Kee only opens for lunch and dinner but the humble corner is always packed, especially with the high density of high rise offices and condos in the Sentral area.

Still, I've never needed to wait for more than 10 minutes. Just flag down the friendly uncle to let you know you're waiting for a table and put in your orders in advance.

It used to be one of my go-to spots for lunch and we loved taking our foreign colleagues there for their one-plate meals and Chinese tai chow dishes. I no longer work in the area but I find myself coming back to Sin Kee for their home-cooked comfort fare.

One of the restaurant's signature dishes is the “mun fan” or braised rice (RM9) where white rice is steamed with slices of pork, Chinese sausage, onions, fish cake, lettuce and egg.

Everything is coated in a thick soy sauce gravy and served on a plate in an upended bowl a la lo mai kai (a dim sum dish of glutinous rice). When opened, the sauce would drip down the sides like delicious savoury caramel.

One of the joys of ordering Sin Kee's 'mun fan' is taking off the bowl to reveal a perfect mound of braised rice. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Yap Pik Kuan, November 24, 2015.The “mun fan” was a hefty portion, with plenty of ingredients to go with the mountain of rice. The sauce wasn't too salty either or it would prove too overwhelming.

The dish tasted like something my mum would whip up at home in a jiffy when she was too tired to cook, a simple yet satisfying dish that warms the belly.

If that doesn't tickle your fancy, another Sin Kee dish that you simply cannot go wrong with is their humble fried rice (RM9). What I loved about it was that it was moist and each grain was infused with plenty of smoky aroma from the wok hei.

Cubes of luncheon meat embedded in the rice provided bursts of savoury flavours and before long, you'll find yourself inhaling spoonful after spoonful!

Sin Kee's Hainanese pork chop is the closest to my childhood memories of having the dish in Taiping's Yut Sun Restaurant. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Yap Pik Kuan, November 24, 2015.The restaurant is also known for their Hainanese chicken and pork chops (RM13.50). We opted for the latter which was essentially a large pork patty.

Using minced meat instead of a pork steak yielded a more tender bite which soaked up the thick, brown sauce easily. The dish was served with onions, peas, baked beans and roast potatoes.

Sin Kee's rendition ticked all the right boxes and was one of the better ones I have tasted in KL.

Aside from these one-plate meals, Sin Kee also offers a la carte tai chow dishes. On a recent visit, we were recommended the nam yu (red fermented soya beancurb) fried chicken (RM22) which was the perfect snack to beer or liquor.

Who doesn't love a good fried chicken? – The Malaysian Insider pic by Yap Pik Kuan, November 24, 2015.Often called a Chinese cheese, nam yue has a unique, intense herb-like flavour with a hint of sweetness. It usually imparts a vivid red to the ingredients it's cooked with but Sin Kee's fried chicken was just a regular golden brown.

However, that did not mean we didn't get the nam yue taste, it just wasn't as strong. I wasn't complaining though, as I liked the subtlety of the taste. Most of it sat on the crunchy skin while the flesh was moist and tender. 

The long beans and siew yoke is a good way of getting carnivores to eat their greens. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Yap Pik Kuan, November 24, 2015.Our order of long beans and siew yoke (RM18) came with more roast pork than greens, just the way I like it! Caramelised to a glossy sheen, the siew yoke infused the beans with its savoury flavours making for a dish a meat-lover would easily approve of.

With a combination of one-plate meals and classic tai chow dishes, every meal at Sin Kee is different. You can opt for just their “mun fan” or Hainanese chops or a varied meal of home-cooked dishes. If you're like me and a greedy foodie, simply order the best of both worlds! – November 24, 2015.

Restoran Sin Kee | Address: 194, Jalan Tun Sambanthan, Brickfields, 50740 Kuala Lumpur | Tel: 03-22741842 | Opening hours: 11.30am-2.30pm, 5.30pm-9.30pm daily (Closed on Mondays) | GPS coordinates: 3.131083, 101.685960 | Non-halal

* All of The Malaysian Insider food reviews are incognito and reflect the personal opinions of our merry band of foodies. If you know of any restaurant serving awesome grub, share it with the rest of the world and drop us a line with details at [email protected].