Update: This business has ceased its operations.
Concealed from public view, Happy Lok Lok Specialty Shop (快快乐乐Lok Lok专卖店) has been flying under the radar since it started business several months ago. It has just caught my attention recently, so I made it my destination for dinner tonight.
As the name implies, this shop at Batu Uban specializes in lok lok (乐乐), a type of street food where raw food is cooked by dipping them in hot water. This local cooking style is similar to Chinese steamboat (火锅) or the Japanese oden (おでん), except that lok lok uses plain boiling water instead of broth.
Most lok lok items are processed meat such as meatballs, fish balls and crabsticks. However, there are also a handful of raw seafood (shrimps, squids, cockles, crabs etc) and green vegetables.
Also available are deep-fried foodstuff such as dumplings, bean curd and hot dogs.
Upon ordering, these items are handed to the staff to be deep-fried in a pot of hot oil. This allows the items to have the crispy appeal when served hot.
The price of each item ranges from RM0.60 to RM2.50. The price of each item is denoted by a different color at the tip of its bamboo skewer.
An important aspect of lok lok is the dipping sauce. This shop generously provides 7 types.
Green chili sauce is too spicy even for my standard, so use caution if you are not used to spicy stuff.
Coriander chili sauce has nice refreshing scent, and has mint-cool effect besides spiciness.
One of my favorite is the satay sauce. This sauce is made from crushed peanuts and is mild in terms of spiciness.
A slight variation to the previous dipping sauce is chili ketchup with crushed peanuts.
The onion chili sauce is good too. Do check it out.
Garlic chili sauce is acceptable but not exactly my favorite.
Finally, sweet sauce is suitable for deep-fried foodstuff such as dumplings.
One house specialty is Curry Fishball (咖喱鱼蛋, RM1.20) which is cooked in curry instead. While being boiled, the springy fish balls absorb some curry flavor for a delightful spicy sensation.
Another item worth mentioning is Condensed Milk Mantou (炼乳馒头, RM0.80). Each skewer has two pieces of mantou buns.
The buns are deep-fried to form a layer of crust with golden perfection, then drenched with condensed milk for sweet sensation. The taste is heavenly indeed.
Other noteworthy deep-fried items are Yam (藕, RM2.00), Minced Pork Wantan (肉碎云吞, RM2.00) and Bean Curd Skin (腐竹, RM2.00). In particular, the yam is delicious due to its intrinsic sweetness.
The shop proprietor is very friendly and accommodating. This is evident by the continuous flow of regular customers. This lok lok shop is open for dinner from 6:00pm to 11:00pm, and is closed on Mondays. If you are arriving late night, it is highly advisable to give a call beforehand in case the shop closes early.
Address: 789-M, Lorong Sungai Dua, 11700 Gelugor, Pulau Pinang
Contact: 016-440-8859
Business hours: 6:00pm-12:00am, closed on Mondays
Taste
Presentation
Ambience
Hospitality
Value