Restoran Sai Woo @ Jalan Alor, KL

When clients, colleagues or superiors from overseas make a visit to KL, Jalan Alor is usually one of the first places to bring them to experience the local food scene.
It sounds touristy, but you can’t deny the location is convenient due to its close proximity to the hotels in Bukit Bintang. It’s within walking distance and they can return to the comfort of their hotel room in minutes.

I have entertained a fair share of business associates at Jalan Alor and my choice of restaurant is usually between Wong Ah Wah or Sai Woo.
If your intention is for your guests to have variety, then Sai Woo would be a better option because they offer hawker food on top of their a la carte offerings.

Like most of the restaurants along Jalan Alor, Sai Woo’s menu also comes with photos to ease the ordering process. And if you think the dishes would be expensive because this is a tourist area, you’d be surprised that the prices are surprisingly sensible and the portions are fairly large too.

BBQ chicken wings (RM3/pc) are our favorite and we never missed ordering it. They might not be in the same league as Wong Ah Wah’s, but it’s really a matter of personal preference. I thought they were great, evenly grilled with a nice chili sauce.

A small serving of La La Clams in Superior Soup is only RM18 and the amount of clams you get is pretty amazing for the price. Moreover, in the heart of KL. The clams are fresh, clean and as you can see, still plump so they were not the frozen type.
Our only gripe was that the soup tasted a tad mild in heat. Maybe they toned down the heat significantly to cater to the tourists, you don’t see a lot of ginger in it.

Stir-Fried Squid with Fragrant Spicy Sauce @ RM25 is one of the signature dishes of Sai Woo. It’s really more like a Nyonya Cili Garam Sotong but with the spiciness toned down as well. Still delicious, nonetheless.

Grilled fish is a hit of miss here depending on the fish you pick. We were bored with the usual stingray so we opted for the Banana Leaf Grilled Sole Fish @ RM6/100g.
The fish pitcured above is approximately 500g which cost RM30. It sure packed a lot of meat and could be shared among four comfortably.

Noodle wise you won’t go wrong with their Mamak Mee Goreng with Seafood (small) @ RM12. It’s not exactly like what the mamak stalls churn out, as this is more like a Chinese style of preparation. So you can expect it to be slightly wetter and sweeter in flavor. But we love it. In fact, this is the type of mee goreng I grew up eating at Chinese restaurants in Penang. The taste is quite similar.

I wouldn’t go as far as to say that Sai Woo’s food is amazing or authentic because the flavor has obviously been tweaked to appeal to tourists who make up the majority of the customers. But it’s definitely good enough as an introductory restaurant to Malaysian food.