[Non-halal] Let’s go, Frankie! We checked out Frankie Char Koay Teow at Restoran 8888, Damansara Perdana earlier this week.
Frankie is touted to serve one of the best CKTs in town, as he is said to be the nephew of the famous Ah Leng CKT stall in Penang.
So did it meet our expectations? Read on to find out more.
Frankie Char Koay Teow
We arrived at 11.30 am on Merdeka Day and promptly placed our orders at Frankie’s stall.
Interestingly, Frankie provides the options to serve CKTs in both duck or chicken egg – the former being a popular choice in Penang, and not too commonly found in the Klang Valley.
We ordered a plate of CKT with the duck egg (RM9) and chicken egg (RM8).
An hour’s wait
Due to the busy morning, we waited for an hour before our two plates of CKTs arrived.
First impression: the two plates of CKT had a beautiful caramelised, copper colour that is similar to the ones we had in Penang. It also looked sufficiently moist.
Let’s start the duck egg CKT. This plate had plenty of wok hei with a strong peppery taste.
We enjoyed the prawns (three of them!) as they were fresh and succulent. However, the cockles were tiny. However, Ming felt it wasn’t salty enough – perhaps overpowered by the amount of pepper on the plate.
As for the chicken egg CKT, we found the noodles to be rather bland in taste, as though Frankie had forgotten to add salt or seasoning. Otherwise, the prawns and cockles were quite similar to the other plate.
Ming did not taste much difference between the duck and chicken egg options (compared to the duck egg versions she has tried in Penang), but Max thought the duck egg CKT had a bit more caramelisation/tasty, but this could just be the case of more seasoning in the noodles.
Decent rojak
While waiting for our two plates of CKT to arrive, we ordered a serving of Fruit Rojak (RM10 with additional crackers) from Aunty Diana’s stall.
We thought the rojak was decent with tasty crackers (although we found some crackers to be rather hard) and a generous amount of jicama, guava, apple, pineapple, and mango bits in the mix.
We still find our favourite to be Fajar Rojak in Damansara Uptown, which Ming has eaten since her childhood days when Fajar Supermarket was still around.
The curry noodles stall here seems popular with the crowd as well.
Summary
Overall, we thought both CKT plates were underwhelming.
While it had enough wok hei, we found it a bit lacking in taste (no umami) and the cockles were a bit too small as well for a satisfying finish.
It was not worth an hour’s wait but could be serviceable if you’re in the area looking for CKT on a weekday (and with a shorter waiting time).
Our current favourite CKTs in the Klang Valley remain at Penang Lang Cuisines in Kota Damansara, and Robert’s CKT at Section 17 PJ.
Frankie Char Koay Teow, Restoran 8888
Address: Jalan PJU 8/5c, Damansara Perdana, 47820 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Hours: 9am-2pm Daily
Phone: 012-345 6789
Follow us on Instagram
Follow us on Instagram for the latest food adventures and recipes.
