Wong Mei Kee: Charcoal roast pork so juicy & crunchy it sells out in 3 hours
Once in a while, I come across a humble meal that shakes me to my very core and fills me with an indescribable pleasure. And no, it’s not a 10 course meal at some Michelin-starred restaurant. This was a plate of roast pork at a little restaurant in Kuala Lumpur which is only open for three hours a day. Yes, you read that right.
To be honest, I was a little hesitant about the trip to Wong Mei Kee for their roast pork. It was situated smack in the middle of Pudu and if you’re from KL, you would know that meant scarce parking spaces. To add to the misery, Wong Mei Kee only operates from 12pm to 3pm which meant braving the lunch traffic and queuing for at least 30 minutes. Was this worth all the effort?
Call it fate or what you want, I managed to find the only empty parking space available in the surrounding area. Feeling slightly encouraged, I joined the already long queue to place my order. And there was Datuk Wong toiling away behind the slabs of gleaming roast pork. Fun fact, the restaurant is colloquially known as Datuk roast pork as its owner has been conferred a Datukship. Datuk Wong is the man behind the show— he does almost everything himself from marinating to roasting and chopping the meat.
What I tried at Wong Mei Kee
After what felt like an eternity (to be precise, I waited for 35 minutes), the much-awaited fare arrived. Rice, char siew, roast chicken and the highly-coveted roast pork which amounted to a hefty RM40. The roast pork was on a plate all by itself— after all, the King should have his own throne, no?
But for the first time in all my roast pork adventures, I was bewitched by the roast pork instead of the other meats. The first thing that caught my eye was that the roast pork wasn’t your usual long, scrawny cuts. Instead, the owner sliced the roast pork into large square cuts, which meant you would get more of that crackling perfection.
The only way to describe the wonder of Wong Mei Kee’s roast pork would be this— it was as though my taste buds were cuddled and pampered by a beautiful pig whispering sweet nothings. Where do I even begin? The golden crust was simply an exquisite layer of shattering foodgasm and the crunch was endless. The pork belly meat was extremely tender and juicy and the luscious fat practically melted in my mouth. It wasn’t extremely salty either. This roast pork was truly the food of the Gods and I was truly humbled by its porcine presence.
Having experienced what felt like an ethereal sensation, I shook myself back to reality before adding the homemade chilli sauce to the roast pork and rice. The chilli sauce had a generous twang of refreshing zestiness and spiciness which helped to cut across all the greasiness of the roast pork really well. I didn’t mind that my tongue was burning— I kept on spooning more of the spicy chilli sauce onto my rice. So addictive!
Pulling myself away from the roast pork, it was time to judge the other two meats: the Roast Chicken and Char Siew (which honestly now seemed inferior to the earth shattering roast pork experience I just had). I must admit, the portion of roast chicken is extremely generous (I was already beginning to feel full now due to all the roast pork) so you’re definitely getting your money’s worth. The roast chicken skin was glistening and the meat was tender and juicy. Every bite of the fowl was as satisfactory as the roast pork. There were no issues finishing the fowl, that’s for sure.
Lastly, the Char Siew. One glance and I immediately knew that it wouldn’t live up to my expectations. Having dined at the likes of Char Siew Yoong and TNR by Sean & Angie, I knew when a char siew was set to impress. As expected, the char siew despite being crunchy, was slightly on the lean side and tasted extremely sweet. I prefer my char siew to have a fatty texture.
Final thoughts
As I eyed the last four pieces of roast pork on the plate and the leftover char siew— I knew I had over ordered. It was almost 2pm and yet there was still an ever-existing queue and very few empty tables in sight. In front of me were folks happily tucking into a very large portion of roast pork and roast chicken. There were smiles and happy chatter all round— no doubt from Wong Mei Kee’s tasty roast pork magic.
If you were to ask me— is Wong Mei Kee really worth the long queue? Yes. Is Wong Mei Kee really worth the price? Yes, especially the roast pork. Will I be returning again to Wong Mei Kee? Yes, yes and yes. The taste of the roast pork will continue to haunt my taste buds and my dreams, that’s for sure.
Expected damage: RM15 – RM45 per pax
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