Huang Di Noodle House

HUANG DI NOODLE HOUSE

recommended just for the environment

By Stephen Ng

One man’s passion and hobby has turned the legends of the Chinese emperors into a full-fledged noodle palace, serving only traditional cuisines from olden times at “emperor-subsidized” prices.

Owner and chef of Huang Di Noodle Palace, Yong Lam Lee said many of his regular patrons come back for more because his prices are reasonable, making one feel that they are heavily subsidized by the emperor himself.

“For about RM55, one can savour a good variety of some 13 dishes,” he said. “It is already quite a big feast for between four to six people.”

The concept of his noodle palace started, when Yong was in the wholesale trading business.

“Back in 2002, we imported one small container load of noodles from an old man who was at least one hundred plus years old, and he owned this small factory in China producing the noodles,” he said.

After introducing the noodles, he received very positive responses from the local consumers. “People were coming back to us for repeat orders,” he said.

At that time, Yong said he was deeply fascinated with legends of the Imperial kingdom. An inspiration came, and he started to name the noodles, “Huang Di Noodles” which literally means, “Emperor’s noodles.”

The business picked up very fast. Subsequently, in October 2005, Yong decided to enter the restaurant business and came out with his version of the ancient Chinese emperor’s noodle house, and named his restaurant in Medan Putra Business Park, “Huang Di Noodle Palace.”

“Huang Di” literally means “Emperor” and the ambience makes the patrons feel important the moment they step into the restaurant. In the wildest of imagination, it is like being invited to feast with the ancient Chinese emperor himself in the ancient imperial palace of China.

And, to make sure that everyone gets to enjoy the Chinese delicacies of olden days, Yong has several choices which are priced even lower than the hawker stalls.

For RM3.80, one can eat Char Siew Wantan Huang Di Noodles, Braised Meat Huang Di Noodles or Char Siew Wantan Soup Huang Di Noodles.

“We are planning to introduce more dishes from time to time,” Yong said. “But, the interesting thing is, instead of looking for new ideas, we are always researching into the ancient recipes. What we want is to serve food that the emperor himself used to enjoy, and prepare the food befitting the emperor and his guests.”

To avoid using MSG, Yong said, he uses special techniques to extract the natural taste of the food. “This is where we excel best,” he said. “We believe in preserving the natural flavours of the food we serve to the emperor’s guests.”

When he first learnt how to make “wantan” or “swei kow” the ancient style, Yong said he was surprised himself that people in the olden days used seven different types of ingredients, compared to present day hawker stalls.

“To make sure we keep our originality and customers get to taste the real “wantan” and “swei kow”, we use all seven ingredients,” he said. “The emperor is very particular about the food we serve to his guest.”

Their signature dish is Shark Fin Fish Maw Crabmeat Noodle, which has both crabmeat and shark fin fish maw, cooked together with Huang Di noodles. “It is also another ancient recipe which we learnt from ancient records,” said Yong.

Invited guests, Stephen Lim and his wife, Tan Bee Cheng said this was their first time to try out the food and they enjoyed the backdrop.

Lim, a businessman who travels to China very often, said he liked the Supreme Fish Ball Huang Di Noodles, while his wife, Bee Cheng enjoyed the Hakka Meat and Phoenix Claws Huang Di Noodles. “It tastes very unusual,” she said.

Huang Di’s signature drink is Ambarella fresh juice, made from Ambarella fruits.

Huang Di Noodle House is located at No , Jalan Medan Putra 1, Medan Putra Business Park. It operates from 11am to 10pm, seven days a week, because Yong said, “In the palace, the Emperor is served seven days a week.” Tel: 03-62744455.