Char Kuey Teow Burger: Grub by AHong, PJ

I first met AHong in 2013 during one of myBurgerLab’s rat lab events (meaning you get to eat good and sometimes not so good creations from their geeks) and his burger creation was one of the most memorable ones that night.

In fact, it was the only one stayed in my memory until today.

Fast forward a few years later, the same AHong resurfaced but this time with his own kitchen! Well, he had a place somewhere in a hospital for a while already but somehow this 2-storey outlet in Section 17 PJ felt more “accessible” to me.

Known for his dry wit, Ahong possessed an audacious personality and belief in food that I find refreshing in this day and age. In character, he can be loud with no farks given and he does says as he pleases. Food-wise he clearly favours honest, unpretentious food. But honest and unpretentious can mean hawker food slapped on a plate but for Ahong he went a mile forward by serving quality ingredients prepared with skill which are nicely presented yet priced at quite an unbeatable value. Judging from the crowd at Grub on a weekday night, he had amassed a following that clearly appreciates his efforts.

Images of his dishes with princely portions at fair prices circulated the internet and there were positive reviews all round. I’ve made plans to visit but by some stroke of luck, my first visit turned out to be for his controversial char kuey teow burger instead.
Controversial because it either garnered utter disbelief or outright aversion at the mere mention of it.

However adventurous folks like me found the idea intriguing. In fact I would try anything edible, but whether I like it or not would remain my personal opinion.

While this char kuey teow burger did hit the right notes on the wok-hei (aroma) and the fillings did mimic char kuey teow flavours, I had to admit that having it in a bun didn’t work for me.
I could imagine myself stuffing char kuey teow into a plain bun and eating it, but just not for this without the noodles. So yea, I felt that the kuey teow is essential somewhat.
Oh no, I’m not going into the whole argument of what is nasi lemak burger without nasi ok! I’m going to leave the topic as it is here.

Back to the char kuey teow burger.
I am positive that there will be fans for it. I reckon many will try it for the sake of curiosity, regardless of what they say on social media. Trust me, it is extremely instagram-worthy too, for you can count on many comments and tags. LOL!

Last but not least, hats off to both Ah Hong and Razif for conceptualising this.
Just remember this, it’s easy to talk (oh, this or that should be done, it should taste like this/that) but can YOU do it? 🙂

BELOW: The Char Kuey Teow Burger – a lot of eggs, some taugeh (beansprouts), fishcakes and chives. 3 large prawns and a slice of homemade chicken bak kwa lined the bottom of the egg wrapped ‘patty‘.
The top bun had mayo (now that was weird for me).

The essence of the CKT is definitely there but if there was supposed to be salted egg and cockles, mine was definitely missing both.

The char kuey teow burger isn’t available for order for now. If you really want to make that happen, bug Ah Hong at fb.com/hongmasterchef.

PS: Ah Hong was in Masterchef Malaysia 2012.

** This char kuey teow burger is made possible by Razif Hashim, founder of local internet food channel FungryTV and Grub by Ahong & Friends.
Thanks Fungrytv for letting me try this. Follow www.fb.com/fungrytv/ for more makan adventures k! 😀

LocationGrub by ahong & friends
Close: Mondays.
Hours: 11:00 – 15:00, 18:00 – 22:30
Address: 608, Jalan 17/10, seksyen 17
Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.
Waze: “Grub

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