Tan Kee Klang Bak Kut Teh @ Ipoh – Get Your Wet & Dry BKT Here!!
August 22, 2010 | 8,658 viewsDRY Bak Kut Teh @ Tan Kee Klang BKT – Chunks of pork cooked in a dark, thick and slightly starchy sauce with dried chillies, bird’s eye chillies (cili padi), lots of garlic and some halved button mushrooms. (A portion for one at RM8.00/USD2.40)
This supposedly “Klang-style Bak Kut Teh” on Gopeng Road (actually Jalan Raja Dr Nazrin Shah, though I seriously doubt one can identify the roads with their new names nowadays) has caught my attention since late last year when I went for a meal at Restoran Waritha. The restaurant was packed; almost overflowing with customers that evening, which surprised me because I never even knew about such a place before that.
Fast forward a good 8 months later (hehe, talk about being a slow poke … ), and we finally embarked on a maiden journey to Tan Kee Klang Bak Kut Teh; which is located a short distance away from the Ipoh’s famous Sam Poh Tong caves. Their specialties? Wet (Soup-based) & Dry Bak Kut Teh, Steamed Fish Head, Vinegar Pork’s Trotter and Thai-style Beancurd. Ready with the napkins? Here we go ……
Same old, familiar set up for a Bak Kut Teh feast; The Rice (lightly-oiled), The You Tiao (Yau Char Kwai or Dough Fritters) and The kick from Chopped ‘Cili Padi’ & Garlic.
They’re opened for late breakfast right up until supper (12 hours, non-stop!) daily, so you know where to go if you have a sudden hankering for something porky, herbal-ish and sumptuous. Traditionally believed to be heaty food, a bak kut teh dinner during this season (it’s rainy season here in Ipoh … a dastardly spell working against the traders at Pasar Ramadan) is almost too perfect.
Finally a place that serves the “Big Bone” (Dai Kuat) without being prompted. Soup Bak Kut Teh @ RM8.00/USD2.40 for a portion for one.
Ordering your food at Tan Kee Restaurant is simple. Pick your BKT, whether you like the common WETDRY or soupy version with your preferred cuts of pork (ribs, big bone, small bone, 3-layered meat, offal etc) in a herbal broth with sheets of ‘foo chook’ (beancurd) and leafy lettuce, OR you can pick their special version of BKT as depicted in the photo below.
Though not as robust nor flavourful as the ones in the Klang Valley, the dry BKT at Tan Kee was still passable and warrant an order if you’re curious as to what in the blue world is a DRY Bak Kut Teh.
If you’re wondering how this stacked up against Good Taste Chef or Tung Lok Hin (both places also serve the DRY version); my vote goes to Good Taste Chef’s. Tan Kee’s version lacked that oomph, maybe from the omission of (or lack thereof) dried cuttlefish, and an extremely oily base.
If you do not mind the distance, Yap Chuan in Puchong hands-down, serves THE BEST dry bak kut teh I have ever tasted. Though their wet version was a pale shadow of its dry counterpart. So you never get the best of both worlds at the same place.
Life’s unfair huh?
Thai Beancurd (RM6.00/USD1.80) – Deep-fried beancurd with toppings of julienned cucumber and onions with a dash of Thai sweet chili sauce.
The soup version of the Bak Kut Teh was good; thankfully not as diluted as Sun Tong Chew’s or even Tung Lok Hin’s (during my last visit in 2008). But they could have been a little more generous with the meat. The herbal soup was flavoursome and refillable, and a perfect dunking medium for the bowl of ‘you tiao’ served separately (RM1.00/USD0.30 per portion).
Restoran Tan Kee Klang Bak Kut Teh – Slightly out of the way for city folks but a short distance away from the Simpang Pulai’s toll exit.
On the whole I will not go all out and proclaim Tan Kee as THE BEST bak kut teh there is in Ipoh, but still above average even in comparison to some of the popular ones like Sun Tong Chew and Tung Lok Hin. Now it’s probably fine time for me to write about those places, and Soon Lee in Pasir Puteh, Yum Yum at Taman Boon Bak, and Chuk Yik Chin in Bandar Seri Botani (this one I knew from the All About Ipoh Facebook page).
TAN KEE KLANG BAK KUT TEH
No 51, Jalan Raja Dr Nazrin Shah,
Medan Soon Choon 1,
31350 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia.
Telephone : 6016-236 8196 (Alan), 6012-646 0046 (Ming)
They actually encourage you to call 45 minutes before arrival, to place your orders and savour your food without the wait. How convenient huh?
Business Hours : 10.30am – 10.30 pm daily.
Closes on a consecutive Monday & Tuesday; usually during the last week of the month.
Here’s a GOOGLE MAP to Tan Kee Klang Bak Kut Teh
Same row with Tan Kee Klang Bak Kut Teh is a franchise of Nam Chau Coffee Shop.

I wanna eat bak kut teh! 😀
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J2Kfm Reply:
August 22nd, 2010 at 9:02 pm
Should not be a problem since there are a plenty in Klang Valley. 🙂
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James.. which is actually the best bak kut teh in ipoh? my colleague told me that there is one shop near station 18 Tesco there.. one old man manning the shop.. very nice too, with vinegar pork as well… makes me drool when she described the dishes..
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J2Kfm Reply:
August 23rd, 2010 at 8:16 am
BEST ah? Used to be Tung Lok Hin for me, then I was fascinated by Good Taste Chef.
But the last visits to these places were not fruitful; quality dropped.
Maybe Tan Kee for the time being … for the taste resembles Klang’s version most.
Soon Lee in Pasir Puteh is another good choice, though they do not have the dry version.
Sun Tong Chew is not good either, but that’s just me. 🙂
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J2Kfm, the BKT looks great.. normally we had the soup version one a lot.. we now feel like trying that WETDRY version that you recommended^^
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J2Kfm Reply:
August 23rd, 2010 at 7:32 pm
Haha … not wet AND dry okay … they’re served separately.
Though the dry version is best described as a slightly different ‘kung pao’ version of the pork.
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The Dry BKT look different with Klang Valley version, ours is more dry with dry squid & lady’s finger.
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J2Kfm Reply:
August 23rd, 2010 at 7:29 pm
Yeah, somehow without the dried cuttlefish, it tasted different.
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Wah!!! Klang people went up North to tackle the market???
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J2Kfm Reply:
August 23rd, 2010 at 7:31 pm
Haha … I am not sure if this was opened by an Ipohan, or a Klangite. But there is a faint link somewhere, I suppose …. maybe the cook from Klang? Or worked there before?
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[…] Tan Kee Klang Bak Kut Teh @ Ipoh – Get Your Wet & Dry BKT Here!! […]
This is one of my family’s favourite BKT store….not bad at all!
There is another good BKT shop (used to operate in “makan selera yeh-fah-chau which located at the back of former Majestic cinema) now open at the shop-lot by the side of Pasir Puteh market. Not sure whether it opens at night. Worth trying !!
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J2Kfm Reply:
August 29th, 2010 at 6:23 pm
Side of Pasir Puteh market?! Eh … I used to stay at Jalan Prince before moving to my current home. You know the name of the shop?
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There are totally diferent with klang BKT,taste not good.
No 2nd time visit!
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J2Kfm Reply:
September 5th, 2010 at 9:12 am
Haha, indeed klang boy … can’t be comparing to those Klang versions.
But in Ipoh, this is still passable ……
Which one in Klang specifically that you’re absolutely in love with?
I like Mo Sang Kor @ Pandaraman, Seng Huat under the Klang bridge, and Teluk Pulai BKT for the claypot version.
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the soup was quite okay.I’m satisfied overall but…don’t ever try their oiled vegetable!!! so expensive…
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J2Kfm Reply:
September 10th, 2010 at 8:15 pm
Okay …. thanks. We went for the Thai taufu instead. Wanted to order another serving of vinegar pork trotter but did not want a porky-overload.
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this is the BKT that i mentioned last time. ^^
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