Twenty-nine years,
one wok.
How a roadside Hokkien Mee stall in Serdang became a family of kitchens across the Klang Valley — without ever changing the recipe.
In 1997, Raymond Chan set up a single Hokkien Mee stall by the roadside in Serdang Perdana, Seri Kembangan. He had learned to cook KL-style Hokkien Mee the slow way — thick black, oily, smoky, the way his elders cooked it. He opened in the evening and closed only when the last supper crowd went home.
In 2001 the stall became a proper restaurant. Over the years that followed, some shops opened and some closed — we tried new spots, learned hard lessons, and kept only one thing every single time: the recipe. Word travelled the way it does in the Klang Valley: uncle to uncle, table to table.
Today Raymond's three sons run the woks. They have added branches and delivery, but not a single shortcut. Every bowl is still fired over high heat, to order, one plate at a time.
The dish that started it all — wok-fired Hokkien Mee, unchanged since 1997. (AI illustration only.)
A slow rise, branch by branch.
Twenty-nine years isn't a straight line. Some shops we opened, some we had to close. We're proud of all of them — every one taught us something, and the recipe came through unchanged.
The first wok
Raymond Chan fires his first bowl from a roadside Hokkien Mee stall in Serdang Perdana, Seri Kembangan. The evening queue starts almost immediately.
From stall to restaurant closed for good
The stall becomes Restoran Thiam Sang in Serdang Perdana — our very first sit-down shop.
The name is born closed for good
We open as I Love Hokkien Mee for the first time, in Sri Petaling.
Bandar Puteri, Puchong closed for good
The recipe travels further into Puchong.
Puncak Jalil closed for good
Another neighbourhood, another evening queue.
Puchong Jaya open today · HQ
The branch that became our home and headquarters. Same fire, same pot.
Black & White Noodles, USJ closed for good
A different idea at Taipan, USJ — one we eventually let go.
Balakong open today
Cheras Traders Garden gets its own wok.
Kota Damansara open today
The recipe crosses to the PJ side of the Valley.
Setia Alam open today
Shah Alam joins the family.
Bandar Botanic, Klang open today
Hokkien Mee comes to Klang.
Kota Kemuning open today
Our newest kitchen — the recipe still hasn't changed.
"Aiya, change anything else if you must. But not the fire, and not the lard."
Why we still cook the slow way.
Shortcuts are faster, cleaner and cheaper. They also can't give you wok hei — the breath of the wok, that faint bitter smoke that only comes off a screaming-hot wok.
Most shops in the Klang Valley took the easy route long ago. We didn't. We still fire up every morning, still cook in small batches, and still render our own lard crisps (zhū yóu zhā) daily. We think the bowl earns the wait.
See what we cookSame name, two bowls.
(Penang)
(KL)
Anyone who loves Hokkien Mee learns one thing early: the good stuff comes in more than one shape. Penang Hokkien Mee is a soup — a deep prawn-and-pork-bone broth. KL Hokkien Mee is dry — thick yellow noodles wok-fried in dark soy and lard, finished with crispy pork lard. Same name, two completely different bowls.
We cook the KL bowl. But we've never thought Penang got it wrong — they're just standing in a different kitchen.
Same family. Same fire. Now with a face.
Twenty-nine years of fire, rolled into four little troublemakers who live in our pot.
Come taste twenty-nine years of practice.
Six branches across the Klang Valley — most open until midnight.