[Non-halal] Restoran Boston Baru in Klang is known for its xiong tong lala (steamed clams in superior soup).
With its modest beginning as a roadside stall in 1989, Boston Baru has grown in acclamation over the years.
In fact, the restaurant has become so popular that patrons have to queue and wait hours for the food to arrive.
We finally checked the place out last weekend.
Restoran Boston Baru in Klang
Restoran Boston Baru is open daily from 4 pm to 12.30 pm daily (with random closing days announced on their website).
We arrived at 5.55 pm on a Saturday evening.
The process is simple: get a number from the boss at the main counter. When a table is available, your number will be called (just like at the bank) and you will be ushered to the seats.
After a 20 minutes wait, we were seated at 6.15 pm. We then had to wait for the boss to come to take our order at our table (don’t bother asking the other staff and just be patient).
Restoran Boston Baru’s signature dishes
There are six signature dishes on Restoran Boston Baru’s menu:- steamed lala, Nestum prawns, Nestum mantis prawns, Hokkien Mee, Moonlight Koay Teow, and Three Kingdoms.
As it was just the both of us – we decided to order the Signature Boston Steamed Lala, Nestum Mantis Prawns, Hokkien Mee, and a plate of stir-fried veggies.
Hokkien Mee with decent wok hei
After an hour’s wait, the Hokkien Mee was the first dish to arrive.
While Boston Baru is not a Hokkien Mee specialist stall, we were really surprised by how good it was.
While not as good as the ones in PJ (we like Tiong Hokkien Mee in Damansara), the noodles here still have decent wok hei with excellent char and flavours.
The only thing missing is some sambal on the side.
A friend does prefer the Moonlight Koay Teow to this Hokkien dish, so you may consider that if you visit Boston Baru.
Vegetables with whole garlic cloves
For fibre, we decided to go with the Stir-fry Cabbage Shoots (Choy Tam) with garlic.
No complaints about this dish as it seasoned well, not oily, with some lovely charred whole garlic cloves.
The main event – Boston signature lala
The third dish to arrive was the main event – Boston Signature Lala (RM20 for small)!
The small portion comes with 18 clams steamed in Chinese wine-based broth with ginger and cut chillies.
First impression: we really liked that each clam actually had meat in it. We believe the staff had to painstakingly ensure each clam on the plate is edible – so the customer does not feel short-changed. We liked that.
Second impression: the clams were big, fresh and juicy! None of the clams was muddy or “sand-y” – thus, we could really taste the freshness of the morsels.
Third impression: the broth is really “gao”!
The broth is spiked generously with Chinese wine for a lovely kick, with enough spicy bite from the cut chillies and ginger. Compared to the clam dishes we’ve eaten elsewhere (and vs. our own recipe) – the broth here stands out for its strong Chinese wine flavour and really fresh clams.
Nestum prawn mantis
Finally, the last dish to arrive was the Nestum Prawn Mantis.
No surprises on why this is a signature dish – the portion is really good with lots of mantis prawn pieces.
The dish was very fragrant with lots of crispy fried Nestum flakes and was not too oily either.
Summary
Overall, we really enjoyed our meal here.
The steamed lala is definitely one of the better ones we’ve tried, and we really enjoyed the broth and the freshness of the clams.
However, we did wish we had ordered a bigger portion. After we were done, we finally understood why some tables actually ordered two or three plates of the morsels.
While we really enjoyed the food – the waiting time is still something to consider. Note that the queue had reasonably grown when we left at 7 pm, which suggests a longer waiting time for the food to arrive.
We think the long waiting time is not necessarily justified – and recommend either coming early for dinner or on weeknights when there is less crowd.
RECOMMENDED!
Restoran Boston Baru Klang
Address: 1E &, 1F, Jalan Kapar, Kawasan 18, 41000 Klang, Selangor, Malaysia
Hours: 4pm-12.30am Daily (Closed on random days)
Website: https://www.newbostonklang.com/
Phone: +60 12-674 3993
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