By now, most people would have heard about this famous fish soup restaurant in Johor Bahru, where Singaporeans willingly queue for hours just to get a bowl of their heartwarming fish soup
Their first branch opened in Taman Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, in 2022 and has since expanded to 8 other outlets across Malaysia and 1 outlet in Singapore’s Funan Mall. Its original branch has received the Michelin Bib Gourmand award since 2023 and has kept the award consecutively for 3 years ( 2023-2025)
The name of the restaurant Hai Kah Lang is from the Hokkien word Sea Leg People, which means People from the sea. With such an affectionate name, the restaurant is passionate about crafting unique seafood noodle dishes that blend bold, exotic spices with the freshest catch of the day. I have heard about the restaurant from friends, social media, and the first time I managed to try it was earlier this year at the TRX branch
The TRX outlet was located in a standalone building, which reminded me of a warehouse converted space, which is split into both air-conditioned and non-air-conditioned areas. There is also a retail area where they sell crackers, sauces and other dry ingredients
The main thing that stood out from other seafood noodles restaurants is the availability of fresh seafood from live tanks, as well as a row of ice beds for different types of fish for you to choose from for your fish soup dish
Most of the customers visiting them go straight for the seafood noodle soup or rice. They have different varieties of noodles to be paired with their soup base, and you can choose to either add milk to the main broth or change the broth to a tomato base or tom yam base. The next item you can customise is the kind of seafood in the noodles, from prawns to clams to different types of fish. There are also snacks and stir-fried seafood like chilli crab, steamed fish, curry fish head and more for those looking for a full meal
My go-to selection is the star grouper fish with rice noodles and broth with milk, with an add-on of fish maw. I love how thick and creamy the soup was when it was served. The fragrance of the dash of cooking wine in the soup whiff past your face as you take your first slurp of soup. Those who do not like alcohol in their food might not like this taste, as it is quite strong. The umami of the soup was further brought out by this wine. The milk I added increased the milkiness and creaminess of the soup, which was perfect with my rice noodles. The main highlight is, of course, how fresh and sweet the fish slices were, which bounces off with each bite. This was absolutely a star with the exchange rate in mind
One of their popular dish is the crab porridge, which is quite widely ordered and was out of stock the night we visited. So what we did was put in an order for delivery the next morning and got it sent to our hotel. The porridge was light tasting with a faint sweetness of the crab, and since they used the flowercrabs, there was hardly any meat. It was great as breakfast due to the lightness, but when eaten next to the fish soup, the broth kind of paled in comparison in flavours
Some of the side dishes we ordered included the cooked cockles, which came with a dipping sauce of belachan. The cockles were a little overcooked in my opinion, and I would have liked them a bit more raw. However, since most of the cockles were left out in bowls, it might not have been a wise choice for a more raw version for my stomach. The cockles were fresh without any stink and went well with the belachan dip
We also had the steamed baby octopus with garlic oil and parsley, which was a savoury and addictive side dish. The garlic oil gave the dish a great fragrance, to the otherwise bland octopus. The octopus was cooked well without being rubbery and tough
We had the fried fish with fermented seasoning, which has a very crispy batter, and the usual fresh meaty fish fillets. The fermented bean flavour did not really come through, but dipping it with the belachan was great
To balance our meal, we had lightly fried lettuce, which was crunchy and sweet on its own, even without much seasoning. It was quite a good fit with the creamy and thick broth in the fish soup, with a light garlic punch and light soy flavour. The vegetable was cooked just right with the crunch, but no leafy or grassy taste
Last but not least is this drink, which is an absolute delight. Called, I’m not a fool, the drink is a mixture of cucumber, lemon and green tea, which is extremely refreshing and thirst-quenching. The cucumber bits in the drink provided a nice crunchy bite, while the green tea was light and great for digesting the food
Overall, Hai Kah Lang has become one of my go-to places for good fish soup whenever I am in Malaysia. It is not common to find fish soup which is rich and flavourful like theirs in Singapore. Although they opened an outlet in Singapore, I won’t be visiting them often, as the prices are really too steep compared to the outlets in Malaysia
Address: No 32 &34, Jalan Utara, Off Jln Imbi, Imbi, 55100 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, KL
Opening hours: 8 am to 2 am
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