Fish Beehoon at Tong Lek Eight Cafe, Macalister Road, Penang
BY CK Lam
Tong Lek, the fried fish noodle stall previously in Yummy Cottage food court on Macalister Road has closed and the good news is the owner has shifted the business to a shop house further down the road.
The business is now officially named Tong Lek Eight Cafe. The owner continues serving the fish beehoon in pork broth with deep-fried fish fillet and fish belly, a house specialty.
Prices start from RM4 for a basic bowl of fishball beehoon while the bowl of koay teow thng is at RM4.50. For those wanting to add on a bit extra ingredients, there are choices of pig’s kidney, liver, intestines, minced pork, meat ball and fish ball. Many customers will upgrade to a combination meal that adds on pieces of deep-fried fish fillet.
There is a choice of koay teow, mee, rice vermicelli, porridge, and instant noodle served in clear pork soup or white tom yam. Condiments are basically sliced chili padi and soy sauce.
The traditional home recipe Pork Mix Noodle comes with many options to choose from. The Fried Fish and Minced Pork Beehoon priced at RM12 comes with a side of deep-fried fish fillet ( three pieces), besides thick pieces of pig’s kidney, liver, intestines, minced pork, as well as fried beancurd sheet and a couple of fish balls. Greens include leafy vegetable choy sum and finely sliced scallions.
The bowl of beehoon has a rich soup, drawing flavors from the many ingredients in it.
Fried fish and pork combo beehoon RM12
The freshly deep-fried fish is a great crowd pleaser. Marinated with house spices, the fish with a light coating is deliciously crispy. For the fish fillet, different types of fish are used, such as kalak, grouper and siakap. For the fish belly, the commonly used fish are kalak and grouper.
These delicious crispy deep-fried fish are available as a side dish too. The smaller plate of fish fillet is priced at RM6.50 (five pieces) while the larger plate is at RM13 (10 pieces).
Deep-fried fish fillet
The basic bowl of Fried Fish and Minced Pork Beehoon with choy sum and finely sliced scallions is flavored with a touch of ginger. It is priced at RM6 with three pieces of deep-fried fish fillet.
Fried fish (3pcs) and minced pork beehoon RM6
For spicy variations, go for the Curry or White Tom Yam bowls, with White Tomyam Grouper (fishhead) Beehoon (RM12), White Tomyam Grouper Beehoon (RM10), and the White Tomyam with Fried Fish Beehoon (RM7).
The White Tomyam Grouper Beehoon comes with slices of grouper in a spicy and sourish soup cooked with chili padi, tomatoes, onions, kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass. You can look forward to having the beehoon with either white fish or deep-fried fish fillet.
White Tomyam Grouper Beehoon RM10
The menu also included dry beehoon. Priced at RM5, the bowl of Dry Fried Fish Beehoon comes with three pieces of deep-fried fish fillet and a complimentary bowl of soup. The beehoon is served with black sauce, choy sum and a generous amount of deep-fried shallots. It could have been tastier if the amount of deep-fried shallots is reduced.
Fried fish (3pcs) and Dry Fried Fish Beehoon RM5
If you are looking for fish beehoon soup prepared with fresh quality ingredients, Tong Lek Eight Cafe is one of the places to go. The soup version is arguably more popular compared to the dry version.
Business hours run from 7.30am to 2.30pm daily except Tuesdays.
P.S. The owner has since shifted the business to further down the road to 156 Macalister Road.
Tong Lek Eight Cafe
87 Macalister Road
10400 Penang