Beef noodles in KL
It’s a verified fact among locals that piping-hot noodle soup can be enjoyed even on a blistering hot day in Malaysia.
While dishes like laksa and curry chicken noodles are the ones touted as being famous in Kuala Lumpur (KL), there’s the quiet presence of beef noodle shops, which have stuck around through the city’s many changes.
We went on a noodle-y trip, slurping bowl after bowl to bring you this review of the best beef noodles in KL with reasons for you to visit them. Just one word of advice: maybe don’t wear white on this food excursion.
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What are KL-style beef noodles?
Like with many Malaysian dishes, regionality and geography distinguish the various styles of beef noodles found and enjoyed across the nation.
In the capital city, a bowl of beef noodles is slurped two ways: a choice of noodles served dry and entangled with minced beef, or soupy and topped with various beef cuts. Both come with an aromatic brown broth that’s simmered for many hours, punctuated by beef bones, off parts, spices, and aromatics.
What typically sets one restaurant apart from the next is the distinctive broth, the additions of beef balls and cuts, and, if you like a kick, the chilli sauce that comes with the noodles. Excel in one or two components, and you’ll find a line of patrons out the door.
1. Sin Kiew Yee Shin Kee Beef Noodles
The line can get very long at Sin Kiew Yee Shin Kee Beef Noodles. Small and simply decorated with posters of recognitions earned and photos of notable diners – Michelin nods and celebrity chef Martin Yan included – this no-frills restaurant is highly popular by most standards.
Having served beef noodles in KL since 1949, Shin Kee, as it is known simply as, is now helmed by a 3rd generation owner who assembles bowls of beef noodles at the front of the shop like a maestro – think swift arm movements, chaotic but wholly intentional.
Several stacked bowls indicating orders at his side foreshadow the wait for food, but even with a full house, we were served in under 30 minutes.
The beef noodles at Shin Kee are prepared with mee hoon, mee, or hor fun, and served with fresh beef cuts and beef balls. Small bowls are priced at RM13, and slightly upsized versions at RM15.
The soup version with chubby yellow mee is a popular order. We understood why in a single slurp. There’s none of that alkaline taste associated with the noodles, which made the intensely beefy, no-frills broth – just minced beef and beef cuts – shine as it should.
The lean beef deserves a shoutout, too. Incredibly tender, generously portioned, and varied between tendons and lean meat, each slice stood out on its own.
As addictive as the broth is, don’t skip the dry noodle version. Deceivingly plain in looks, each bowl holds a tangle of noodles stained brown and flavoured deeply with tender, almost paste-like minced beef that clumps in an easily digestible mushy texture.
The dry version nails the beloved nostalgic flavours and texture of classic KL beef noodles.
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2. Cow King Beef Noodle
At the cornershop Kedai Kopi Hung San in Pudu, you can find your classic hawker food fare: chicken rice, curry noodles, and yong tau foo included. But one hawker stall here has been quietly serving beef noodles to loyal patrons for some time now. It’s Cow King Beef Noodle, or Ngau Wong (牛王).
This hawker stall once operated as a noodle shop with a bright red sign behind Pudu’s famous big tree. The shop has now settled in at the kopitiam just a stone’s throw from its former location, bringing with it the familiar flavour and decades of history its noodles are known for.
A restorative bowl of beef noodles, RM13 for a small bowl and RM16 for a large, comes with broth that is as translucent as a slightly tinted window. Loose coils of yellow noodles, thin slices of beef, a fistful of cilantro leaves, and knuckle-sized beef balls peek through the surface of the clear broth.
The soup is flavoured subtly, with punchy aromatics – the cilantro funk hits the nose before the bowl hits the table. It’s the only spot on this list that adds cilantro to the broth, which cuts through the beefiness of the tripe, tendons, and sliced cuts. If you’re not a huge fan of the herb, however, it can overpower the meaty flavours expected from an unadulterated beef broth.
As for the dry version, unending strands of our choice of pudgy rice noodles, or lai fun, are dotted and nicely flavoured with dark-sauced beef bits.
3. Lai Foong Beef Noodle
A trip to Lai Foong Restaurant to hunt out its beef noodle bowls will feel like a trip down memory lane. This old-school kopitiam near Central Market has remained untouched by developments in the area, wearing its time-worn look like a badge of honour.
Among the flurry of hawkers and waiters racing to meet the hungry demands of locals and tourists spilling into the semi-chaotic yet wholly charming coffee shop, piping-hot bowls of beef noodles are served from a stall known as Lai Foong Beef Noodle.
The beef noodles here come with kuey teow, lai fun, mee hoon, or mee. What you end up ordering will depend on what beef cut you want: meatballs, lean meat, tendon, tripe, or brisket. There are also special parts – intestines, tongue, spleen, torpedo, and testicle – but these are subject to availability.
A small bowl is priced at RM14, while the regular goes for RM17 and the large for RM20.
While the Signature Mix Beef Noodles has the thumbs-up on the menu, with its combination of beef cuts and parts, we decided to keep things simple on the scorching hot day with a dry version – lai fun noodles with tripe, tendons, and beef balls on the side to taste the purity of the soup.
However, there was nothing spectacular about the hawker-style dry noodles, which come sans the minced meat served by the other spots on this list.
The true star here was the soup, which shone due to its umami flavours and light sheen of oil pooling at the top. We were pleasantly surprised to spot chopped ham choy, or pickled mustard greens, in the broth and noodles – a standout topping in Seremban-style beef noodles – but they didn’t have a strong flavour presence in the overall dish.
4. Soong Kee Beef Noodle
Most locals would call Soong Kee Beef Noodle the OG spot for minced beef noodles in KL. This noodle shop has been around since 1945, operating first as a pushcart selling beef noodles and hearty broth, before settling at its current location on Jalan Tun H S Lee.
Today, the corner noodle shop has branches in Bukit Bintang and Petaling Jaya, but its original location still sees long queues close to lunch hours. Some advice, come early before 11.30am to get a table without the long queue that snakes out the door.
Soong Kee has expanded its menu over the years, offering chicken rice and protein-packed porridge in its current varied menu, but bowls of minced beef noodles still dominate tables.
An order of beef noodle here comes with a choice from four noodle types – egg noodle, mee hoon, kuey teow, and lou shu fen – and three beef offerings: meatballs, slices, or tripe. Whether dry or soup, beef noodles are priced at RM13 for a small bowl, RM14 for a medium, and RM15 for a large.
The bestseller order, which takes prime real estate on the restaurant’s menu, is egg noodles served tangled in a clear aromatic broth with an oil sheen. Fluttering cuts of beef, choy sum, and the signature minced beef meet the noodles in the bowl.
On its own, the broth was balanced and very aromatic, yet not overly exciting. We found that the overall flavours of the broth were overpowered by the strong alkaline taste of the yellow noodles, too.
The dry version, with the same noodles, retained more of those satisfying, not-complex, done-well flavours, thanks to the dark minced beef. Though we wanted more in terms of portion. The size of a small bowl was similar to the one with the accompanying clear broth with beef balls – just a couple of slurps in, and our chopsticks hit the bottom of the bowl.
We had to order a second bowl to fill our tummies, and decided on an order of dry lou shu fen without any meat additions – just a scoop of minced beef, which cost RM8. The noodles are plump squiggles that nicely textured the minced beef, which was ladled pretty generously into the bowl. It has nostalgic flavours that would be enjoyed even by fussier kiddos.
5. Yoong Kee Beef Noodle
Yoong Kee Beef Noodle is another Pudu noodle shop which is famous for its Hong Kong-style beef noodles in KL. Though it has since relocated to Jalan Changkat Thambi Dollah near LaLaport BBCC, under a slightly different name – formerly Yung Kee – the spot retains its famed aromatic broth that packs a fervid beef punch.
The noodle and beef options seem almost endless here. Seven noodle types – mee hoon, kuey teow, yellow mee, laksa mee hoon, lou shu fen, Thai mee hoon, or ramen – and over 20 types of beef cuts to build your meat-heavy bowl of beef noodles.
Prices are based on your addition of meat, starting from RM20 for short ribs and up to RM120 for boiled slices of angus beef.
We went with the restaurant-recommended Three Treasure Noodle (RM28), which comes with lean meat, tendon, and tripe.
Based on visuals alone, the broth of this beef noodle is rich and dark, hallmarks of a deeply simmered soup. And the taste held up to its stellar appearance. The soup is full-bodied and well-balanced, with just enough hits of aromatics and spices. It relies not just on that MSG-punch, but deep beefy flavours that linger on your tongue without the need for water.
While on the pricier side, the cuts of the beef were substantial and cooked down to tender perfection. Parts of the beef threatened to fall apart between our chopsticks on its way to being dipped in the chilli sauce, which, in itself, deserves an additional shoutout for its tart, sharp flavour.
Where to eat the best beef noodles in KL
While everyone will differ in opinion on the ideal bowl of beef noodles, one thing is for certain: when it comes to slurping up unending strands of noodles in beefy broth in KL, there is a spot that will satisfy your beef noodle cravings, whatever your preferences may be.
For us, the crown goes to Sin Kiew Yee Shin Kee. They’ve achieved flavours that appeal for their simplicity, and having a meal at their establishment feels like dining at a decades-old eatery in KL that has refused to bend to trends and threats from competitors, making it easy to understand their lasting popularity with locals.
Also read: We Tried 5 Of The Best Hokkien Mee In George Town, Here Are Honest Reviews From A Penang Lang
Cover image adapted from: TheSmartLocal Malaysia