I’m a fan of seafood! There’s just something about the seafood sweetness that makes food taste so much better, without worrying about the fat content. With the exception of crabs (because it takes too much work to peel them off), I enjoy eating lobsters, prawns, clams, squids, fish, you name it. But the only problem with seafood, especially shellfish, is the amount of cholesterol it has. With such a health-conscious Saucer around, I almost never get to go to a restaurant just for seafood. Thankfully, someone came to my rescue last week!
Sang Har Mee / Freshwater Prawn Noodles
My mother came to visit with a couple of her friends from overseas who loved seafood. So I took the opportunity to suggest a place famous for their Sang Har Mee, none other than Pan Heong in Batu Caves. Without them around, I definitely wouldn’t have had the chance to try out this place. 
So before lunch, we dropped by Batu Caves for a while to let the visitors take some photos and sweat it out up the staircase. It’s the perfect way to work out an appetite, no?
Batu Caves
From Batu Caves, it took less than 5 minutes to reach the restaurant. It was already past 12pm when we reached, and there were no more tables available! We were put on the waiting list and after about 15 minutes, our turn was up. I’m telling you it was such a difficult thing to be standing there with an empty stomach while watching plates and plates of the Sang Har Mee being served to other tables!
Sang Har Mee with 2 prawns (RM40)
Fortunately, service was brisk and our orders came pretty quickly. The first to reach was the very fragrant Sang Har Mee served with hor fun (flat noodles), drenched with a gooey and rich gravy highlighted with prawn roe. It looked just like ‘wat tan hor’ but the gravy made the biggest difference! It must have been the sweetness of the prawns, or the rich and delicate taste of the golden roe, but the combination of it all was nothing less than addictive. I couldn’t stop myself from slurping the savoury and delicious gravy!
The golden prawn roe
Since our visitors are fans of seafood, we also ordered a plate of Steamed Freshwater Prawns to share. The prawns were all sizable with plenty of roe and thick meaty flesh. To be honest, I have had more succulent prawn meat before but this was not bad either – firm and juicy with its natural sweetness. If you’re on the watch out for cholesterol, I suggest you stay away from those roe. Very very sinful! 
Steamed Freshwater Prawns (RM60 for 3 pcs)
Meaty prawn flesh
Apart from their signature dishes, we also ordered some non-seafood dishes especially for health-conscious people on the table (*cough*Saucer*cough). The Deep Fried Pork Belly was coated with nam yue (fermented red bean curd) that gave it a nice reddish and shiny finish that was also savoury and tasty with a hint of wine. Deep fried to perfection, the skin was crackly and crispy while the 3-layer pork was bursting with flavour. OK, perhaps this dish was not THAT healthy after all.
Deep Fried Pork Belly (RM12.50)
Apart from noodles, Pan Heong serves porridge too! We chose the Frog Porridge which came in a huge serving even though we asked for a 2-person portion. It had a very generous amount of frog meat, huge and meaty. I always enjoy eating frog meat due to its silky texture that is unlike any other meat. The porridge was also done very well, tasty and smooth – perfect as comfort food!
Frog Porridge (RM15.50)
Some other dishes we ordered were the Fried Fish and Stir-fried Potato Leaves. Perhaps it was due to the strong flavour of the deep fried pork or the tasty prawn noodles, I thought the fish paled in comparison to the rest. For the price, I’d much rather add another portion of Sang Har Mee! But that’s just me. 
Fried fish (RM28)
Stir-fried Potato Leaves (RM9.50)
The packed restaurant
Overall, I enjoyed the Freshwater Prawn Noodles here very much! The gravy was exceptional, so was the silky smooth hor fun. If not for the location of this restaurant that’s slightly far from town, I would return more often! Now I make it a point to bring visitors to Batu Caves, but you know I have a hidden agenda. A word of advice, do come early to avoid the crowd. From the moment we entered until the moment we left the restaurant, it was fully-packed!
Restoran Pan Heong
To get there: From Batu Caves exit, drive straight and make a u-turn at the first traffic lights. Drive straight and keep right to go up a flyover. Continue driving until you see Jalan Medan Batu Caves 2 on your left, turn in and you’ll see the corner restaurant on your left.
Pan Heong Restaurant
No. 2, Jalan Medan Batu Caves 2,
Batu Caves,
68100 Selangor, Malaysia.
Tel No.: +603-6187 7430
Business Hours: 8am – 3.30pm
GPS Coordinates: 3.233434, 101.674165
