Motormouth From Ipoh – Asian Food & Travel Blog

 Claypot Bak Kut Teh @ Ah Sang in Sungei Way, PJ; an old neighbourhood with an astounding number of foreign workers residing within; plus a few good finds that you might not have heard of.

 But still … Ah Sang Bak Kut Teh deserves the compliments and respect for doing what they still love and believe in after all these years.

A bunch of my ex-colleagues brought me here two years ago. The first bak kut teh restaurant in KL/PJ that managed to make a lasting impression …. not that I have been to many anyway.

Reservation is almost always a must during lunch hours, but you can expect almost God-like speed in churning out pots after pots of the famed Hokkien-style herbal broth laced with chunks of pork (almost every part imaginable) here at Ah Sang.

Look at those prized Chinese tea leaves in a compact packaging preserved for years. Maybe decades.

However, locating Ah Sang may take more than a few rounds. If you’re not familiar with the neighourhood of Seri Setia or Sungei Way. The multiple turns, small alleys and one-way navigation across the area might be frustrating. But once you chanced upon an Indian temple (Sri Sakthi Easwari temple) in SS8 area near to a Giant supermarket, then you’re somewhere there.

We chose lean meat (for the sake of a ‘guilt-less’ indulgence) that arrived in a relatively humongous portion; more meat than any of the other BKT restaurants around. For RM11 per person.

This was the first time I visited Ah Sang in the morning. The place was not crowded, the heat was still bearable and the wait almost non-existent. There were already a few tables marked with ‘Reserved’ cards, yet they had no qualm seating you at any of those tables. Go figure.

On weekends, they serve Vinegar Pork Trotters as well. But we gave that a miss since there were only two of us and the idea of gorging on pork early in the morning was not too inviting to begin with. So it was a pot of bak kut teh for two, plus enoki mushroom (also called golden mushroom) and a side order of ‘yau char gwai’ (Chinese fritters/crullers).

When you order a side serving of ‘yau char gwai’, they will provide you with an extra bowl of Bak Kut Teh soup. This is a pretty nifty idea as you avoid dunking the greasy fritters into the main claypot; subsequently unloading a layer of oil into the mix.

Comparatively, Ah Sang BKT deserves acknowledgement as one of the best BKT in the Klang Valley. Seriously. The purists will swear by Klang’s authentic versions without the beancurd sheets (foo chook), tau fu pok, golden mushrooms and even ‘choy sum’ (sawi/Chinese mustard greens), and some served in a bowl with nothing else (not even chopped cili padi and minced garlic!), but I won’t mind trading off the traditional taste for this.

The soup is a dark-toned, full-bodied flavour rich with the aroma and taste of herbs. The addition of various vegetables and other ingredients may seem like a jarring distraction from the natural flavours of the pork and the soup, but still did not affect the overall experience.

Minor grouse? The plain white rice was not the oiled version unlike Klang’s, and the pork tasted a little bland; a case of the flavours from the broth not permeating through the meat. Still, the soup won my vote and I won’t hesitate at the thought of another breakfast or lunch here anyday.

 If you ask me to compare this to the other BKT outlets in KL/PJ that I have tried before, only Ah Ping BKT in Subang comes close in terms of quality. But to be honest, I have yet to sample the ones in Kepong; another BKT heaven. The one next to Dynasty Hotel along Jalan Ipoh was far off the mark, in my opinion. What do YOU think?

AH SANG BAK KUT TEH (non-Halal)
No. 531, Jalan SS9A/12,
Seri Setia, Sg. Way,
47300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Tel No : +603-7876 2299, +6016-255 52335, +6016-304 7611
GPS : 3.089281,101.615472
Google Map
Opens from 7.30am – 2pm. Closed on alternate Monday.