Chan Meng Kee: Test-driving a barbecue pork institution in SS2
Date of visit: 18 June 2023 | Updated: 30 August 2025
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Today, after almost seven weeks in KL, I finally ate like a local.
My former Airbnb flatmate Noelle, who is Malaysian, suggested brunch in SS2 - a foodie district so famous even I had heard of it. Far from the bright lights of KLCC and Bukit Bintang, SS2 is an inner suburb of Petaling Jaya ('PJ' in local parlance), a commuter hub that has long been a cornerstone of the Klang Valley food scene.
Our destination was Cantonese eatery Chan Meng Kee. It stood in a row of shoplots, cheek by jowl with a hair studio, a drone specialist and a moneylender. Shoplots, also known as shophouses, are typical of urban architecture in Southeast Asia: low-rises with commercial spaces on the ground floor, and residences, offices or other shops on the upper floors. These ones had none of the charm of pre-war designs, and as I surveyed their gritty, utilitarian otherness, it suddenly hit me - in a delicious way - that I wasn't in Kansas anymore.
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| Photo credit: Chan Meng Kee |
On cue, a lorry ground to a halt beside me and released a flood of alien fruit onto the pavement, filling the air with a rich, sweet scent.
This was cempedak. Like its larger cousin the jackfruit, it's green(ish), elongated, covered in blunt thorns, and filled with large seeds encased in yellow pulp. But cempedak is creamier and more pungent than jackfruit - a bit like durian, in fact - and locals often eat it battered and deep-fried. That's how we had it too: five scrumptious fritters for five Malaysian ringgit (RM) - just 84p.
We arrived at the restaurant around 11 am. It was simple but clean, with long metal tables and brown plastic chairs. But what really caught my eye was the hanging display of meat: crispy pork belly, whole roast duck and glistening strips of the barbecue pork Chan Meng Kee is famous for.
Back when it was a humble stall in a coffee shop, Chan Meng Kee built its reputation on char siew wonton mee - barbecue pork with meat dumplings on egg noodles. Although founder Chan Yok Pui was forced to sell the business in 2022, due to overexpansion and the effects of the pandemic, the new owners are still serving up his signature dish.
I let Noelle take charge of the ordering. Our drinks came out very quickly: Lemon Tea for her, and iced Honey Lemon for me, priced at RM5.50 (93p) each (now RM6/£1.06). My drink had a perfect balance of tartness and sweetness.
Our Signature Barbecued Pork Rice and Signature Roasted Crispy Pork Rice arrived shortly afterwards. These were meal sets that included rice, a bowl of broth and a dipping sauce - though in our case the kitchen assumed we were sharing, and combined the meats on one plate and the sauces into an extra-large portion. The prices were very decent at RM11.50 (£1.94) each (now RM14.50/£2.55).
The char siew was the fattiest I've ever seen - and I mean that as a compliment of the highest order. It was beautifully caramelised, with alluringly charred edges, and tasted just like Mum's, with a perfect balance of sweet and savoury. I did find the lean meat a tad dry, but when paired with the fat, it became meltingly tender.
The siew yoke (as crispy pork belly is called in Cantonese) was never going to be the star of the show for me. I'm Team Char Siew all the way. But the crackling was satisfyingly crunchy and the meat was quite juicy. I did find some of it slightly dry - but I thought the same of the siew yoke at Pudu's legendary Wong Mei Kee (post to come), which even has a Michelin Bib Gourmand designation, so maybe I'm just too picky!
The broth that came with the meal sets was extremely good, and I also liked the sauce, which tasted like the chilli-ginger-garlic dip you get with Hainanese chicken rice.
As a side we got a bowl of Dumpling 'Sui Gao' Soup, which was RM12 (£2.03) (now RM13.50/£2.38). It's a traditional Cantonese dish that's similar to wonton soup but has larger dumplings with more elaborate fillings. Our's came with four huge and very tasty dumplings (pork and prawn, I think).
We also got a double portion of Bean Sprout drizzled with Oyster Sauce and Garlic, which was RM5 (84p) for one person (now RM6.50/£1.14). It was purely to break up the meat extravaganza, and tasted much as you would expect a plate of bean sprouts to taste.
The bill for this feast was a very reasonable RM59 (£9.96).
Update: I was curious about the kind of reviews Chan Meng Kee is getting today - and it looks like they're just as mixed as when I wrote this post. Some people say the quality of the food has gone down since the restaurant was sold, but others say it's great. For what it's worth, the illustrious Wong Mei Kee has the same rating on Google Reviews (3.8). If there's one thing you can be sure of, it's that Malaysians hold strong and diverse opinions about food!
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