I’m no fan of the infamous ‘original’ shop in the city though its fiery dried chilli is the stuff of legends. The intense heat, dismal service, grimy premise and loooong wait are reason enough to kill my appetite. There’s a competitor nearby which dishes up a mean version but its meagre portions are not suited for ravenous stomachs. Cha-Cha is the place that does it best.

I’ve chomped down quite a few bowls of this simple dish so pan mee is nothing foreign to me. In fact, I dare say it’s a KLite staple because my Penang mama hankers for it when she comes a-visiting our capital city. With its signage so huge, it’s hard not to miss Cha Cha when you’re whizzing down NKVE. Parking’s a breeze at night when the office crowds have dispersed. The environment is great as we sat in air-con comfort and everything around us looked squeaky clean.

The menu was quickly brought to our table as the kindly uncle mentioned the daily dessert: barley foochuk tongsui. Order sheets are placed on each table so customers just need to write the order number that corresponds to their desired dish. We were mind-boggled with choices but we stuck to what we came for. We also noticed daily specials in the extensive menu like Thursday’s Petai Fried Rice and Wednesday and Saturday’s Cha Yoke Rice. The waitress collected our order sheet and passed it to the kitchen in no time. Piece of cake!

First to arrive was the daily special – fried dumplings. It’s a steal at RM1 for 3 succulent pieces. It’s not oily yet so crispy with delicious minced pork and prawn fillings. Lovely with the accompanying sweet chilli sauce, we devoured it in no time.

"The fragrant broth was addictive "

The Cha Cha Original Pinched Noodles and Dry Pan Mee Thick Noodles arrived in the visually pleasing traditional rooster bowls which is a big thumbs up for me, as it always brings me back to wondrous childhood meals served in such bowls! Pinched Noodles is a direct translation to the act of ‘pinching’ from the dough resulting in irregular sized square shaped noodle pieces. The portions were quite generous too… Apart from the usual minced pork, pork ball and sayur manis aplenty, Cha Cha threw in thick succulent slivers of shitake mushrooms, fried foo chuk strips plus the piece de resistance, pork lard! Nothing perks up a dish like crunchy animal fat.

By providing the ikan bilis, sambal sauce and chilli flakes as separate condiments, I could customize my noodles to my liking. Though the chilli flakes are not as potent, everything came free flow so I could spice it up to until the broth took on a gorgeous reddish hue. The fragrant broth was addictive indeed and the pinched noodles were the right consistency. I dislike versions which are too doughy and thick so this was just nice. As for the broth, I slurped it all up… satisfaction to the last drop. As for my partner, the generous servings of the minced pork sauce and sinful lard pieces just made his day. Plus the portions were plenty so we were pretty stuffed for under RM20!

Apart from the chilli level which could be tweaked up a notch, the Pan Mee is also available in loh (thick black gravy), curry, Thai style or even fried with optional poached egg to boot! Original or not, Cha Cha still outscores its more famous rivals. I’ll be back to try their other goodies like a neighbouring table’s vinegar stewed pork which looked cholesterol-cloggingly good. Thinking about it just makes me wanna Cha-Cha to Aman Suria soon…



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Cha-Cha Pan Mee Original

                   

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