Decades on, the best char siu is still found in Soo Kee, a simple local restaurant in Kuala Lumpur. Located further down Jalan Ampang just before turning off to Ukay Heights, Restaurant Yuen Soo Kee is a family owned operation where patrons mainly come for the barbecue pork (chinese style or “char siu”). This is Malaysian style char siu which is nicely caramelised and fattier than Hong Kong style char siu. Besides the char siu, the tofu, fried spring roll, steamed fish among other dishes are all very good.

I mainly come here for lunch and the char siu does sell out so it’s best to come early. Char siu is available at dinner but I think you need to pre-order. Regulars will be lucky enough to reserve some. If you don’t want the rest of the cooked dishes, a simple char siu with rice is available. But, I think it’s most satisfying to come for the other dishes too.

The restaurant made an attempt to look better a number of years ago so there are table cloths but it’s still plastic chairs, plates and bowls. The air con and standing fans in the restaurant help to cool down the place so it is comfortable but not a place to linger in given a certain grunginess. I used to live nearby so this was pretty much my neighbourhood “bistro” or coffeeshop in local terms. But hey, table cloths or not, the food is the best and pricing remains reasonable. Our meal for four here cost MYR150 or just SGD50, which includes a double helping of the char siu and additional take away of the spring roll.

The cuisine is essentially cantonese but localised. This is home style cooking. I always end up ordering the same things when I come though give or take one or two seasonal changes. There is no menu – just name what main ingredient you want and they’ll suggest some cooking styles.

Sometimes we’ll try something different. After deciding that we wanted sautéed chinese chives as our vegetable dish, they suggested doing it with pig intestines. We didn’t quite understand that that was what they were recommending (somewhat lacking in our cantonese vocabulary) but it was still good but perhaps not something we’d order again since none of us are big fans of offal.

I ordered an unglamorous fish – the “wan yu” or a local version of the buffalo fish – steamed with lots of finely chopped ginger. This is a freshwater fish that does have a somewhat muddier taste but is masked well with the ginger. Because it’s just the stomach of the fish that is steamed, the texture is really nice – smooth and not too firm. Soo Kee does have more expensive, higher quality fish available but the ginger sauce this fish is cooked in is great with rice.

As with most coffeeshops in Malaysia, we didn’t stick around for dessert. Firstly, we were too full and secondly, I don’t recall much in the dessert offering. They may have fresh fruit but this tends to be the item that some coffeeshops or simple restaurants overprice.

Soo Kee is located near the Ampang Mini Market (Jalan Pesiaran Ampang) on the row of shoplots that face Jalan Ampang.