Paramount Food Court

November 2008

I set out to review one and one item only at this popular PJ hawker centre, but those plans quickly turned to dust as I entered and beheld the sheer number of Malaysian tasties on offer from too many food stalls to count. The Penang Famous Prawn Mee stall was nearly as good as its namesake. Ask the vendor to add pork ribs and you’ll end up with a bowl brimming with chilli-oil slicked, shellfish-fragrant soup chock full of prawns and ribs so tender the meat just slides right off the bone. Bean sprouts, a few stems of choi sum, and yellow mee and beehoon round out the meal. The sambal that accompanies this prawn mee has got quite a kick to it and may just transport you to a certain Pulau Tikus-adjacent prawn noodle source in the former Pearl of the Orient.

Confirmed carnivores should head straight to the Albert Thun Famous Beef Noodles stall. I recommend you go with the thick round rice noodles, spring for an addition of beef fillet, and order the lot ‘dry’. Albert’s beef fillet has the texture of meat that’s been lovingly stewed for days (you could literally eat it without chewing) and the thin chilli sauce served alongside is punchy with garlic and lime juice. The beauty of a ‘dry’ beef noodle, of course, is that it enables you to savour the soup on its own. Albert’s is excellent: hearty, beefy and intensely fl avoured with a bit of an offal edge.

Paramount’s chee cheong fun with Penang-style dark brown prawn paste comes highly recommended, but by the time I sidled up to the stall they were sold out, and it was only half past twelve on a Saturday afternoon. Not to worry, I’ll be back, and for the curry noodles dished up by a stall at the front of the shop; they’re rumoured to be addictive and an order or three graced nearly every table in Paramount. Next time. Robyn Eckhardt

The Time Out Food 40 is our regular definitive guide on where to eat in the Klang Valley. Establishments will only appear in the TOKL Food 40 if they rank amongst the best and most satisfying dining experiences according to our team of independent, honest and experienced food critics.