I still remember very deeply, every weekend during my childhood, it means holiday for mum and her still single sisters. My dad will send me & my mum to my grandfather’s house at Bangsar in the early morning and my dad will come and pick us up when he finishes work in the evening, yes, he even works on weekends and till today, nothing change.
With a bunch of sisters, it means shopping trips to Chow Kit for the ladies. I hate to follow I must admit, why? Well, being the only kid around the ladies is horror, you watch them pick, try and buy. Secondly, nobody plays or talks to me and my best treat is probably just some snacks. My mum would scold if I’m one step away from her, so yea, you can imagine trailing the bunch of ladies covering Hankyu Jaya & Batu Road Shopping Mall with my stomach growling!
One of the highlights though, we always eat at this Pan Mee stall without fail. Not even a single chance in the history did the sisters want to eat anywhere else! So this little girl just follows cuz she can’t voice out or else, get scolded! Muahahaha!!
I’m still very fond of this Pan Mee till today and we try to visit as often as possible compared to last time. By chance, “H” and I would visit the Kuala Lumpur International Motor Show’2010 at PWTC today and I pestered him to bring me to this Pan Mee stall so I can blog about my very much loved childhood food.
The girl that grew up together with this Pan Mee is “TianYaKe Ban Mian”. It has been operating since 1975. Although it is located smack in the middle of the city, Pan Mee here is still very affordable! “H” and I ordered one Pan Mee each with extra egg in it and one Herbal tea to share.
Signature Lorong Haji Taib Pan Mee
"H" with his Herbal Tea
Ingredients for the Pan Mee have been the same all this while, one of the original of original. Their hand made Pan Mee comes with plenty of thinly sliced mushrooms, few slices of pork, lots of chopped “Choy Sum” vegetable and fragrant fried shallots. There is one reason why they gave you the lime, the trick is to add plenty of lime juice in it and add more few dollops of chilli sauce and chilli padi for that extra kick! I still remember how we requested for more limes way back then!
Look at the thickness of the soup!
Be prepared to sweat it all out as the area is quite warm, you know, all that polluted Malaysia weather doesn’t help either. There’s no fan nor air-cond, just the available big umbrellas to shed off the sunshine or you may choose to sit at those tables at the hallways. Parking is definitely a mess, you need lots of luck to get a parking right in front of the stall but double parking is allowed as long as you are sitting near to your car. Beware as DBKL officers would come with an advance X’mas gift so do not park your car if it is not within your watchful vicinity!
I had my first ever long conversation with the founder, Mr Yong when he walked by to ask why I didn’t order my drink. Hehe! I’ve always love my plain water, Mr Yong. I’ve told him I grew up with his Pan Mee and he has been very chatty! I asked if he has any other branch and sadly, there is none at the moment. He said his children are not interested to continue his business and hope to find somebody who sincerely wants to learn his noodle making art. If anyone of you out there is interested, hurry and grab this opportunity to learn from this “Sifu”. He did mention there is a company who is interested to make his business into a Franchise but the deal doesn’t fall into his expectation. To cut the story short, he will expand but with the right conditions and one of his main factors is to be able to have quality control over the soup and the noodle. His shop has been interviewed by Ho Chiak, Hong Kong, Taiwan and even Japanese food channel! Mr Yong even joked that too bad, he didn’t know how to speak Japanese but luckily there was an interpreter.
At the end of the conversation, Mr Yong gave me his name card! I guess this post can be considered my first ever successful post and I hope there is more opportunity to come for me to do it more professionally. BTW, I asked Mr Yong if I can shoot around and he’s more than happy to allow me to. The fierce and unfriendly look of the “Lady Boss” who cooks the Pan Mee even smiled and posed for me, blame it to my slow reflex I didn’t manage to capture it. All this while, I’m glad I knew them better today.
The actually playful and friendly "See Tau Poh"
Look at the price on the banner! Our entire meal came up to just RM 9.80!
To those who is confused to get to this place, simply follow the route towards KL Sogo on Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman. As you enter Chow Kit area from the T-Junction traffic light, just keep to your right. As soon as you spot this Hotel de First Inn, turn to your RIGHT! In less than 100m, you'll be able to spot the stall with colourful umbrellas all over.
Hotel de First Inn. Turn RIGHT immediately!
Address:
TianYaKe Ban Mian,
(or famously known as “Lorong Haji Taib Pan Mee”),
Lorong Haji Taib 4 & 5,
50350 Kuala Lumpur.
Mobile: 012-235 6666 (Mr Yong Chin Seng, Founder)
They have a Corporate Office:
TainYaKe Ban Mian Franchise System,
Lot 3.2, 3rd Floor, Plaza Sg Besi,
No. 831, Batu 5 1/2 Jalan Sg Besi,
57100 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 013-398 1044 or 03-7983 2137
E-mail: tianyake75@gmail.com
Business Hours:
7am – 5pm (Daily except Tuesdays)
If Public Holiday falls on Tuesdays, they’re open for business
P/S: Be prepared to feast your eyes with some Ah Kua’s if you happen to drop by at 7am. Haha! They usually finish work at this hour and have their breakfast.
