One thing I love about local food is that you can find some fantastic economy noodle stalls in PJ, KL, and around Malaysia. These budget-friendly stalls usually operate at markets, pasar malam, or coffee shops.

Known in Chinese as 經濟炒麵 (Jīngjì chǎomiàn), these noodle stalls are getting less throughout the years now. In the core PJ area, there used to be several of these stalls in many areas, but most have closed in the last ten years. And no, we are not discussing lifestyle dessert places like After Meal and so on.

Economy Noodle Stalls in PJ

So, what is so special about these types of stalls? For starters, they sell very basic styles of fried noodles, ranging from yellow noodles, bee hoon, kuay teow and even fried rice. They are placed in containers where the stall owner will take what you want.

Usually, side dishes accompany the noodles, such as fried eggs, luncheon meat, sausages, vegetables, chicken curry, etc. Each vendor will have its own selection of side dishes, and one important condiment is the sambal or curry sauce they add.

Some Economy Noodle Stalls also combine with Tong Sui (糖水), which means sugar water. In actual fact, it is more of a collective term for liquid Chinese desserts in a wide range of tastes. There’s peanut, beancurd, pear, longan, snow fungus, and many others.

So, now that you have a rough idea of these kinds of local food and desserts let me share some of the best places to find economy noodle stalls in PJ. Remember, everyone has their tastebuds and opinions; therefore, mine is based on over 40+ years of eating this all over PJ.

Economy Noodles at PJ Old Town, Jalan Tandang Food Court

This is probably one of the original sellers of economy noodles, and the brothers have been doing it for more than 30 years. As I grew up in PJ Old Town, I have spent most of my life eating around here, and there is no doubt that you can find some quality and good food here.

This economy noodle stall is located at the end of Jalan Tandang and in the Medan Selera Jalan Tandang. The small stall only sells fried mee hoon, mee, and kuey teow, accompanied by a fried egg, sausage, luncheon meat, fish cakes, and some deep-fried foo chuk. His sambal is one of the old-school types, which is hard to find nowadays. And his price here is one of the cheapest in PJ.

Economy Noodles at Taman Megah Market

Two stalls are here, but one is mostly closed and located inside. The one always open is stall K03, outside, at the corner of the hawker section, facing the road. The stall inside is operated by a guy named Martin, who sells similar dishes and sometimes has fried chicken and nasi lemak bungkus. The outside stall sells fried noodles, mee hoon, and nasi lemak bungkus but has Nyonya cakes and other cakes.

Economy Noodles at Sun Yin Loong Coffee Shop, Aman Suria

I used to frequent Sun Yin Loong in Aman Suria over twenty years ago, in 2004, when I was staying there. At that time, the aunty cooking the food here was quite good, as she did it the old way. However, since returning in the last few years after the pandemic, the food quality has dropped quite a bit, but it’s still edible.

Nowadays, I cannot imagine driving around here looking for parking as coming to this coffee shop is a nightmare during lunch hour. Imagine you plan to eat here and spend about half your lunch hour or after lunchtime stuck in traffic or looking for parking.

Economy Noodles at SEA Park Restoran Paramount

This stall has a long history and another branch in OUG. Nowadays, the stall is operated by the dad, his worker, and sometimes one of the kids, usually the daughter. Before the pandemic, the food and tong sui used to be good, but the quality dropped so much after the pandemic. Food is prepared elsewhere and brought here.

The fried mee and mee hoon are tasteless and very dry, the fried stuff is oily, and the desserts are getting smaller in portion. But they still command the regulars who come here for tea time, and some older generations have gotten accustomed to the new taste. I tried several times in 2023 and the last in 2024, and it only worsened. Seriously, they need to improve on the quality.

Economy Noodles at SS3, Happy Dessert Hut at Restoran S11

This place is probably one of the better ones in PJ. It is called Happy Dessert Hut, which opens early and closes by about 2.00 to 2.30 PM. They have a good following and a variety of noodles, rice, nasi lemak bungkus, sambal sotong, kerang and chicken curry, and nyonya cakes.

This stall is apparently one of the sisters from Sisters Dessert, from Taman Mayang, which closed in early 2024. Because of the food quality, this stall seems to be one of the better ones now. Two Indonesian ladies manage this stall and also cook. Prices are reasonable, provided you maintain simplicity.

Recent Economy Noodle Stalls That Closed

Sadly, several economy noodle stalls have closed over the last decade. This is primarily due to the stall owners’ inability to continue and their children’s unwillingness to take over this difficult business. Plus, the post-pandemic has also changed many eating habits, while there has been a rise in lifestyle dessert places opening up at many places in PJ.

Restoran Yuen Ting in SEA Park

This economy noodle place was in a proper shop lot, but it closed in 2022 and was taken over by My Little Herbal Tea, which used to be on the other side. Anyway, I was never a fan of Yuen Ting Economy Noodles because they pre-fried everything early in the morning, and during lunch or tea time, all the goreng-goreng items were soft and soggy, not fresh at all.

Overall, their local SEA Park fans supported them for a long time, mostly buying the Tong Sui they were selling, apart from the Yau Char Kueh, Prawn Cakes and other economy noodles.

Sisters Dessert at Taman Megah, Restoran Megah Good Luck

Sisters Dessert stopped operating in March 2024, in a surprising turn of events, due to some misunderstanding between the coffee shop owner and the vendor. This was one of the better economy noodle places, as the food was mostly fresh, and it was operated by two Indonesian ladies. One of the sisters would collect money after taking the food. Because of Sisters Dessert, the coffee shop used to be packed from 2:00 PM until about 5:00 PM.

For More Food in PJ

You can explore my food section on my site and see if anything interests you. I usually compile local hawker food around the Petaling Jaya or PJ area, but I will also start doing other food reviews of places I have visited.

Conclusion

There you go, a list of Economy Noodle Stalls in PJ that you may be looking for with simple reviews. You may like some of these places but find it hard to understand this old-world culture. But places like these are no strangers to you if you come from an average family.

Over the years, I have been constantly exploring PJ and Malaysia for food, but I’m not a hard-core foodie who posts everything I come across. Therefore, when I have time, I will list places like this for regular people who enjoy food.

Finally, you must remember that there is no such thing as The Best Food because everyone has their own taste and likes. For example, if someone tells me Village Park Nasi Lemak or Bumbung Nasi Lemak is the best, they have not tried some real authentic Nasi Lemak places. Many new foodies tend to believe in viral content on Instagram, Facebook and paid-sponsored postings on social media.