Nonya & Penang Hawker Food @ The Wok Cafe, The Strand, Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya

aromatic and slurp-licious till the last spoonful Prawn Mee (RM7)

I'm in love with this place!! Ever since I discovered it, I've been back two more times, once for a late lunch and recently this week, with friends for dinner. Packed during lunch and dinner, I reckon this is definitely THE place for great Nonya food (aside from homecooked goodies!). I've always been a fan of Hot Wok Cafe, having dined at the one along Tanjung Bungah during my visits to Penang. This new place opened by the same family retains the same charm with Nonya touches, antiques, kopitiam marble tables and chairs decorating the place. While ambience is always great, the best thing about this place is the food tastes awfully good.


1. dragon & phoenix tea cups for wedding ceremonies, 2. tangy assam prawns, 3. full of flavour kapitan chicken

Hmmm, where does one start? The menu is divided into items to eat with rice or one dish meals. These one dish meals consists of hawker favourites - assam laksa, prawn mee and char kuey teow. I love the aromatic prawn mee here, served the traditional way with a mix of yellow mee and beehoon. Topped with pork slices, sliced prawns, deep fried shallots, half a hard boiled egg, and spinach, it makes a fantastic tummy satisfying meal for RM7 per bowl. Char kuey teow (RM8) here is pretty good too with bits of deep fried lard and lap cheong slices. Seems to be the classic favourite too as I see quite a few tables ordering this for lunch.


1. fingerlicking good & crispy inche kabin, 2. perut ikan for those who dare, 3. gold coloured details on the panels covering the kitchen

Best to come here with loads of friends and families, so everyone can share the food. We did the mistake of overordering one night (we thought there was 4 of us eating vs 3 of us who ended up eventually polishing almost 80% of the food still!). I love the hong bak (RM14 for small portion) - tender braised pork with aromatic spices that goes so well with white rice. Heavenly stuff and definitely the ultimate comfort food for the tummy. Inche Kabin here is also good passing the crispy test (nice and crunchy on the outside) but juicy within.


the ever popular char kuey teow with deep fried lard bits and lap cheong

Perut ikan is not for everyone since most people don't like fish roe and stomach but I love this tangy tickling dish with loads of spices and herbs. Jiu hoo char here is served with the lettuce leaves and sambal belachan. Another thumbs up to the finely shredded yambean cooked with mushrooms and cuttlefish. Sambal paku pakis (RM10 for small portion) was also good, not too spicy and came with a few large prawns.


1. comfort food at its best, hong bak, 2. cendol packed with goodies, 3. sago gula melaka 4. antiques for anyone?

Assam prawns (RM20 for small portion) were also good (peeled partly so less finicky to eat) but then I'm always partial to tangy food flavoured with tamarind. I did find the otak otak (RM4 per packet) a little watery though but it was chockfull of fish and daun kadok leaves. While some dishes they do really well, like the kari kapitan chicken (RM14 for small portion) served with potatoes (another dish requiring loads of rice), I didn't quite love the lorbak (RM8) here. Felt the one at Little Penang Cafe is nicer since it is crispier (I love my lorbak with a crunch!) even though the taste of this lorbak was good. Kiam chye boey soup (RM9) was also a good tummy filler but wasn't earth shattering great stuff.

my fav way to end the meal, the refreshing sago nangka

Last but not least, we have the desserts. They serve ice kacang, cendol, sago gula melaka (RM3.50), sago nangka and etc. I've tried the cendol (RM3.50), which I thought was average tasting. Instead I prefer the not so common sago nangka (RM3.50) - sago pearls with mango puree and diced bits of nangka. Simply heavenly stuff especially to end a great meal with friends. Do go and give this place a try but be sure to bring a huge appetite with you as once you start eating all those dishes, you'll end up asking for extra rice. For more pictures, see my Flickr set.

The Wok Cafe

26, Jalan PJU 5/21

The Strand

Kota Damansara

Petaling Jaya

Tel: 03 -6142 7388

(Non Halal. Closed on Mondays. Open from 11am-1opm. To get here from the Kota Dsara NKVE Toll, after the toll gates, take the first left turn. Go straight and at the end of the road, take a left turn. Go straight until you hit a traffic light, take a left turn. Go straight and take a right turn and proceed straight again. You will see signboards to Giant Kota Damansara. On the left hand side is The Strand, while the right hand side is Sunway Kota Damansara. Take the first left, go straight and take the second left turn. The cafe is on the left hand side on the row behind CIMB.)

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. This review is time sensitive; changes may occur to the place later on that can affect this opinion. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from this place for writing the review.

Tagged with: Nonya Food + Kota Damansara

Others who have dined here:

• Food Point of Interest
• Malaysia Food Blog, Malaysia Travel Blog
• mimi's dining room
• Thule food quest ordered non-Nonya food and got a raw deal the fish