Hate it or love it, Koay Teow fans out there would probably have heard about this legendary stall called Koay Teow Doli. This not a Char Koay Teow but a Koay Teow dish and there is a difference. Will get into that later.

The history of Doli goes back tens of years, and this little place used to be a famous makan stop for travellers coming into or passing through Taiping. With the new NS Expressway, Doli has become a food destination where people break their journey to have their fill of koay teow, kinda like cars breaking off Route66 to go to Radiator Springs to see Lightning McQueen.

Now, the jawi lettering "Dal", "Waw", "Lam" and "Ya" which spells Doli provides an important clue to the type of Koay Teow this is. Doli is a Malay Koay Teow. There is such a thing. I don't know where the owners got the name Doli (their's are not even remotely Doli) from, maybe they were fans of Dolly Parton, maybe this is just a name plucked out of the air to name a nameless side street malay koay teow restaurant 35 years ago.

Now, there are several things that differentiates a malay and chinese koay teow. #1. Obviously, no lard here. #2. Malay's don't normally fry it wok hei style (taste of the flame) because wok hei is not a malay cooking style. #3. A good chinese styled CKT has tons of garlic which also contributes to the dish's characteristic aroma, a good malay koay teow is easy on this vampire repellant but a bit more soy sauce. #4. Malay Koay Teows are either slightly wet or just wet (sigh... I don't like this).

What sets Doli apart from the other Malay KT sellers is the fact that they still fry on charcoal fire. And, their Malay KT is not wet. If you go to Taiping, the birthplace of KT Doli, this place is perpetually packed at night, every night. The Doli Uncle fries the KT behind the counter. If you observe carefully, his unhurried technique is quite different from chinese styled ones. Hence the *major* difference in taste profile. Also, he has to compensate for the lower charcoal heat. His technique is a bit different. After the noodles are fried, eggs goes in last and spread across the wok. 1 wok, max 4 pax only. Once done, it goes up on a lazy susan and ringed up for table delivery.

"Generous toppings of prawns & cockles!"

When you are here, don't waste your time on anything else. Its the RM8.00 bucks Koay Teow Special that you want. Comes with a more generous mountainful toppings of prawns and cockles which will definitely give foodies that smile Malay's normally refer to as 'Kerang Busuk' (A Cockle Grin).

Doli's KT has an unhurried taste, less flavourful than the Chinese version but in this case, it is not necessarily a bad thing. The cockles are more well done, prawns are fresh and crunchy, dish slightly saltier due to the soy sauce, have eggs, kuchai leaves and taugeh. Whilst this dish looks like a *Char* Koay Teow (maybe from far), this is a completely different dish. To enjoy Doli, you must not come with a preconception that you are going to eat *char* koay teow but a malay koay teow. Doli's menu is quite focused. Koay Teow, Chicken Rice, Koay Teow Soup and a couple of drinks.

A couple of months back, they opened a branch in Taman Tun. All the ingredients are sourced from Taiping and they sent two of their four KT friers to KL. Same menu, better restaurant decor, price plus another RM2 and a lot closer to home. But the taste is still not the same as Taiping. Maybe it's the air, maybe its the water but I suspect that the young padwan friers still have not perfected their timing and swirl technique of the Taiping yoda masters. The simplest of dishes are always the hardest to perfect. I guess you can't beat 35 years of experience.

On busy nights, wait time in Taiping can be ridiculously long. I guess that's why they have the ready-to-go chicken rice. Something to keep you occupied while waiting for that plate of prawn laden koay teow to land on your table.

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Foodster's Verdict

Koay Teow Doli

                   

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