We were at this almost newly opened bak kut teh shop. The menu has quite an extensive offering of pork cuts. There were ribs, meat, trotters and intestines, as well as braised sea cucumber and stir fried vegetable dishes. The waiter told us that each bak kut teh portion costs RM10. As Wuan and I do not fancy eating too much meat, we ordered one portion of sam chang (belly pork) and two servings of rice and a pot of kuk po (Pu-erh and chrysanthemum tea) to wash down the greasiness from the meat.
It took a while before our order came. It was dinner time. The shop was quite full. We thought it was unusual, despite the customers on the tables around us tucking heartily into their food, that our olfactory senses did not detect any hint of the herbal aroma unique to bak kut teh. The arrival of our order confirmed that. There was none of the aroma that would usually permeate from the soup and meat. Perhaps, that was another style of bak kut teh that we have not savoured before.
The serving came with a very economical portion of soup as is synonymous with Klang bak kut teh which I assumed it was. Bak kut teh from elsewhere came with a generous serving of soup. On the first bite, I detected a whiff of peanut. Maybe that was just my imagination. The meat was tender, very tender. I liked it. That was the only thing I liked about the entire meal.
We both agreed that the soup was unappealing, bordering on being watered down. The taste of the meat was mild, to say the least. We had to dip it into the soy sauce to make it more palatable. What a waste to fritter away my protein quota for dinner on a meal as lacklustre as that. The bill came to a shocking RM22. The kuk po alone cost RM8! One thing for sure, I will not be caught eating there again.