The sibling of Tangkak beef noodles in Puchong

I can’t really remember the exact time I have ever eaten Tangkak beef noodles in my hometown at the very first time. I guess it was probably 10 years ago. Before Tangkak beef noodles set up their restaurant in Kluang, my parents and brothers used to tell me that they had a toothsome beef noodles when they passed by the town of Tangkak from my Gemas which is my dad’s home town. They told me the portion was big and the price was reasonable which literally means a perfect food for me. I have tasted this beef noodles in my hometown so many times. Here I came to find out whether they keep the quality to another branch in a big city near Kuala Lumpur.

The location of Tangkak beef noodles I visited was in Puchong which is located at the busiest town----Bandar Puteri. Now, I have not seen any people complaining about the location but only the seat size. Due to the growth of its reputation, there are more and more customers travel for enjoying this 40 years bowl of beef noodles from southern peninsular to the Kuala Lumpur area. That is the reason why they opened in this Puchong area. This family business started from a small stall serving Tangkak people with their herbal and spices broth beef noodles until today’s 8 outlets in total and all these outlets are still managing by Mr. Hon’s sons and daughter. This branch remains their typical red color for the entire outlet.

front of the shop

When I stepped in to the shop, the decoration was a bit modern comparing to the Kluang branch and it still gave me the same nostalgic feeling. Unlike Kluang branch, the preparation station is hided at the back of the shop and only the beverage station is at the front. It is very classic way to do so. With the extra board they put on, it has indicated the story behind the bowl of beef noodles you will eat later. Beside the story board, the owner also put up the parts of beef they use and their benefits to human body. It is a great advertising strategy for someone who is the first time to try. It would be perfect if they add on English translation to all the explanation board

The dining area is cover with wooden wall paper plus together the slightly dim lighting, they are trying to create an old times atmosphere to the customers. At the same point, the ventilation system and the fans they installed give you a pleasantly cool feeling while waiting for your food. Of course, there are air-conditioning while competing with others in this urban city. And then the menu board, it is quite different from the Kluang version but consist of all the products they sold at the top of the beverage station instead of a big board at the corner of the shop. When talking about menu, they provide two types of menu. One is a book version and the other is a hard card with fully use both pages. this shows their concern about the old people when looking at the normal menu. This made me add some points in my evaluation.

This area customers prefer more selection in both food and beverages. Why did I say so? From the menu, I knew that the owner purposely added in 2 non-beef dishes and also some snacks such as deep fried mean rolls. Also, the different beverages are added such as fruit juices and some tendency drinks like cincau soya, honey lemon and plum lime. For attracting diversified customers in this urban area, the extra selection I saw in the menu was the handmade noodles in the noodle selection and also the beef tenderloin. These are the two things that they can charge for higher price and the customers are willing to pay for them too. These extra things had surprised me, and you might not find it in other branch as other things remain the same as usual for instance traditional lai fun (thick white noodles), yellow noodles and vermicelli.

As a culinary student, I could understand the prices are higher between this outlet and Kluang outlet. The pressure of the rent, salary of worker and ingredients have fully reflected on the RM 2 or 3 differences in the menu. Unlike Kluang branch, here only can choose either large or regular size for the portion of noodles while there are extra-large and small in Kluang branch. In here, the large size costs you RM15.90 to RM 16.90 depends on the parts you choose. Therefore, all the possible prices are listed down in the menu no matter what combination of beef parts you choose. I think this is a very honesty vendor because customers don’t have to calculate themselves when they mix-up the meats together in a bowl of noodles.

These don’t lower down the rating from me as long as the quality they keep. The taste doesn’t have any difference and same goes to the portion hence there isn’t much thing I can complain about the value issue. Another thing I noticed during this food testing journey, the porcelain bowl for filling the noodles has the name of brand and also the logo on it. I was freaked out to their pride of own business. For me, they deserve to mark up their price in this area.

After asking the staff there, this is the 5th year for them to survive in this area. Due to the intensive competition, the business wasn’t that good compare to other branches at the Southern Peninsular Malaysia. This is what I can see from the number of staff working during lunch time. They provided me a prompt service when I was dining in there. I have asked them for taking photo, the staff doesn’t hesitate to do so. After knowing me from Kluang, they also wanted to know how I feel about both restaurant and any improvement that they could do. On that day, I had chosen beef and stomach with lai fun. Overall restaurant, I would rate them 8.5 for the first time to be there. (1026 words)