Best beef noodles in KL

Soong Kee is easy to find – spot the tinted glass door in Chinatown and you’ll find crowds crammed behind the entrance. The slurping sound is unmistakable; Soong Kee’s beef noodles are indeed, exceptionally toothsome. The fresh beef tripe and tenderloin meat undergirds the flavourful soup and the beef balls are meaty and firm, but it’s the juicy minced pork that leaves an impression.

Ngau Kee has been a KL lunch and supper food fixture for over four decades, making it one of the oldest beef ball noodle shops in town. All you need to know about the many noodle alternations (beef ball only, mixed beef, beef innards, soup or dry) is listed on the huge yellow signboard, with pictures and prices to boot. Ngau Kee’s signature thin, springy noodles and tender beef cubes will remain a culinary favourite for years to come.

A far cry from the starchy strands that pass for egg noodles in supermarkets, the noodles here are springy with a slightly rough texture that helps the dark soy sauce and minced beef cling to their surface. You’ll begin to wonder if the accompanying beef tripe, tendon and stomach – tender and soaked in a cloudy beef broth – actually matter when the noodles are this good. Soong Kee on Jalan Tun HS Lee still takes the crown in terms of consistency and flavour but this beef-centric bargain on Jalan Peel doesn’t lag behind.

With a large sign in English that reads ‘Lai Foong Restaurant’ facing the road, this decades-old coffee shop is hard to miss. The hawker-style restaurant houses a cluster of stalls that sells a variety of dishes including its signature beef noodles (which almost everyone comes here for). The springy beef balls give just enough bite, the beef brisket is tender, and the tripe cooked just right; add those to the savoury broth and you’ll see why there are bowls of beef noodles on most of Lai Foong’s tables.