Pao Xiang BKT (Bak Kut Teh) - Porky goodness in Pavilion, KL

I'm a huge Bak Kut Teh (BKT) lover. To the darling, not so much - she's less of a carnivore than I am :). To me there's just something special about chowing down hunks of meat drenched in savory soup, and then washing it all down with cup after cup of hot refreshing Chinese tea. And so it's kind of a bit odd, perhaps, that I've only got two posts about BKT.

Time to rectify that though - today, with a 3rd post about Pao Xiang BKT. We've seen and heard about this 'chain' in a few shopping malls, but never got round to trying it. I mean, BKT is supposed to be eaten in hot coffee shops, so how good can a clean fancy air-conditioned one be, right?


The Pavilion outlet is big, clean and bright, and nicely decorated with lots of teapots.


It's very pleasant to eat in a nice restaurant, of course, but it does initially cause a bit of unease as to how big a hit the meal will be to the wallet - particularly as Pao Xiang is on the top floor in Pavilion smack in the middle of that upmarket restaurants area.


Hot tea to start off the meal - and to end it later.


Rice and you char kway (油炸鬼) - the you char kway is a bit interesting in that its' texture is quite a bit more 'buttery' than normal.


On to the good stuff though - the meat! Every other BKT shop I've been to in KL is of the 'mix everything in one huge claypot' variety. In Pao Xiang, though, you order by small bowls of whatever kind of meat you want - one bowl is MYR15.00 and roughly feeds one mouth.

Advantages of these mini bowls is that you have much more control of exactly what meat cuts you want, but of course you take a hit on variety if you're just dining for two. I liked how the bowls were served with heaters below them to keep the soup hot.

Speaking of the soup, I thought it was pretty good. I'm a fan of this variety of more gravy-like soup, not the clear/herby kind. Meat was OK but my order of 'half fat lean' turns out to be 95% lean. Healthy? Yes, perhaps ... but I like some fats on my pork :D


Finish off with some oiled vegetables just so we don't feel so guilty about not having any veg.


Verdict? For about RM25-ish per person, I think it's very reasonable given the overall price of food in Pavilion KL. And it tastes pretty good too - definitely recommended if you're in Pavilion and have a craving for BKT

(I wouldn't say it's good enough to purposely drive all the way to KL city and pay exorbitant parking rates just to eat here, though).