COCONUTS HOT SPOT — Kota Kemuning used to be a quiet enclave, more of a residential area with wide roads shaded by ancient trees.
Then commercialisation seeped in and there’s no stopping since. In the past year or so, the commercial area around Aeon Bukit Rimau has been developed at a rapid pace and with it, many eateries mushroomed.
One such gem that sprouted there is Uncle Vincent’s. The place is simple, nothing fancy and photos of their 4 signature dishes are pasted on the wall and they all turned out to be pretty amazing.
On the top of the list is Uncle Vincent’s Prawn Mee. Scooping a whole spoonful of the soup first, I can see that it is thick and cloudy — that’s a good sign. It tastes as it should be: brimming over with porky and prawny goodness, plus a host of spices chucked in by Vincent.
Prawn Mee
To me, a good broth for prawn noodles should not be made solely from prawns — it should have a good balance of porky flavor as well. The rest: noodles, sliced lean pork, boiled egg and fresh succulent prawns all add on to that bowl of the best Prawn Mee I have tasted in this part of town.
Next, the sambal, a very important accompaniment to Prawn Mee. I can actually discern freshly-ground dried chillies (not the preservative-laden chilli boh), belacan and dried shrimps compounded with sweet fragrant pounded shallots. Yes, that’s my kind of sambal.
Vincent used to head the kitchen of Champs in Centrepoint for many years. That explains it as we all know that the signature dish of Champs is none other than Prawn Mee.
I catch a whiff of the Pork Noodles’ delicious porky aroma even as the bowl is placed on our table. The broth is cloudy, having been boiled for hours with pork ribs and “toong choy” (a kind of pickled vegetable) and swimming in it were sliced lean pork, chunks of minced pork, intestines and liver.
Pork Noodles
The kwayteow is slippery smooth as it’s specially supplied from Ipoh. Chinese cabbage enhances the sweetness of the piping hot soup… another winning item from Vincent.
The Char Kway Teow does not disappoint. In fact, it’s one of the best I’ve had. Full of wok hei, Vincent personally fries every single plate.
Char Kway Teow
Every single plate is fried individually so you have to be patient if you order this at Uncle Vincent’s. He doesn’t believe in frying several portions together. Vincent is very generous with the ingredients – I can see 6 medium-sized prawns in my plate of CKT, together with cockles, Chinese sausage and lots of taugeh.
Cantonese Fried Noodle
Vincent’s Cantonese Fried Noodles (known as “yin yeong”) is another must-order item. Crispily pan-fried beehoon and kwayteow line a deep plate and on top of these, a thick eggy sauce with pork, shrimps, squids and pork liver is liberally poured over. The delicious sauce has general lashings of Chinese wine lacing it too.
The menu at Uncle Vincent’s is currently kept to these few signature items and a handful of other options. It’s always better to focus on a few very good items than to offer a wide variety of mediocre dishes. Other items listed on the menu are Fried Rice and Tau Yew Bak (Braised Pork in Soya Sauce) with Rice. During weekends, Nasi Lemak is offered. All dishes are priced at RM8 and drinks start from RM2 (Chinese tea @ RM0.60).
Technically, this place is located in “Bukit Rimau” but it’s still within the Kota Kemuning vicinity.
Uncle Vincent’s Restaurant
21 Jalan Sungei Burung Z32/Z
Bukit Rimau
Selangor
Tel: 012-3766071; 016-9555948
Opened from 8.30am until 3.00pm
Closed on Mondays
Chris Wan also blogs at Pure Glutton.
