I swung by Funan Centre to visit Hai Kar Lang, Malaysia‘s famous seafood noodle establishment that just opened its first overseas outlet on our shores. My Ipoh-born colleague had said to me, “My girlfriend and I love this place and we eat it in KL pretty often!” I also had another friend who asked if I had dined at their JB branch. “It’s that popular eh?” I thought to myself.
If I’m being real, Hai Kar Lang with its 3-year Michelin Bib Gourmand status doesn’t sway me. Why? The thing is, food from Michelin-recommended spots often doesn’t quite live up to the “mind-blowing” expectation — at least, not for me. It’s not as if the same chefs have simply hung up their aprons and relocated here, is it? As a first-timer, I shall just allow the food to speak for itself.
We headed there after peak lunch period at 2.45pm, and business was still brisk with more than half the seats occupied.
While waiting for our order to be prepared, we caught a glimpse of fresh whole fish lying snugly in ice. Hai Kar Lang translates as ‘people from the sea’ in Hokkien, meaning that the team behind this restaurant doesn’t joke around when it comes to its seafood quality.
What I tried at Hai Kar Lang
As I browsed the menu, I raised my eyebrow at the prices. It was, indeed, on the pricier side. We sparked things off with the Signature Sauce Mix Seafood Dry Noodle (S$20.90++). I became kaypoh and Googled the Hai Kar Lang outlet in Malaysia to find out how much it costs there. I learnt that it’s RM26.90 for the same dish, which is equivalent to about S$8.50. Woah, that may be less than half the price for us but it’s still considered pricey for the Malaysians. Wait till they dine here, their jaws will hit the floor.
We were recommended the wantan mee, which is supposedly more suitable for a dry-tossed preparation. The noods were crowned with 2 decent-sized peeled prawns, squid, scallops, mussels, and a pair of fishballs.
After tossing everything, the texture of the noodles was exactly like stir-fried Hong Kong mee that you’ll find at zi char stalls. The signature sauce was similar to XO gravy, but contained tons of garlic. The strands that were bathed with the sauce were full of flavour, but those without fell short, giving me a bland and dry experience — what a pity!
However, the dish’s secret weapon was the array of seafood. The prawns were firm and fresh while the squid turned out beautifully tender. The scallops and mussels were also cooked to perfection. My only gripe was with the fishballs; they were too dense and lacked that satisfying bounce.
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We then moved on to something soupier — Fish Head Milk Soup Noodle (S$12.90++). Let me first rave about the bowl of appetising thick bee hoon soup. Besides being creamy, the soup also had tangy notes coming from the preserved mustard greens, robust hints of Shaoxing wine, and the generous toppings of fried shallots and garlic. Each sip revealed four intertwined dimensions of taste — real complex and delish!
Though the thick bee hoon was slightly thinner than what’s usually served in laksa, it felt more refined and was much easier to manage in each mouthful. The satin-like strands of rice noodles caught hold of the tomato bits, salted veggies, and coriander, delivering a textured bite and a whole medley of flavours. With the soup by its side, this is a taste that sticks with you.
The fried fish head pieces had crispy parts that were shatteringly crunchy. Yes, there were lots of bones and cartilage, but if you seek the correct areas, you’ll be rewarded with flavourful and fluffy flesh. Remember to pair it with the sambal belacan which was phenomenally umami and vibrant.
Last but not least, we ended things off with the Wild Caught Leopard Coral Grouper Soup (S$14.90++ without rice). There are 5 types of soup for you to choose from, and we went for the Tomato. I was expecting a rich red soup to arrive, but the colour was slightly translucent, containing fish slices, fresh tomato, preserved mustard greens and coriander.
The flavour of the tomato in the broth wasn’t robust, and I had to really focus before I noticed its existence. Instead, the soup reminded me of pickled vegetable soup.
Like the first dish, I was blown away by the freshness of the fish. The flesh was naturally sweet with a good bite.
Final thoughts
As expected (hope I don’t offend anyone), the experience at Hai Kar Lang with its Michelin Bib Gourmand status didn’t sweep me off my feet. Yes, there were some things that I liked, but at that price point, I arrived with a slightly higher expectation. If you’re a seafood fan, please do visit, as the quality of the seafood here is top-notch, That being said, I don’t think this will be a place that I will crave to return in the near future. But that’s just purely my view, go try it for yourself!
Expected damage: S$16 – S$27 per pax
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