Pao Xiang Bak Kut Teh in 1Utama

Much had been written and blogged about this Bak Kut Teh joint. Originated from Klang (but of course - Klang is the mecca of BKT after all!) with its mothershop in Taman Berkeley, it has since sprouted several offspring outlets and they are all housed in upmarket malls like Pavillion and now 1 Utama. As 1Utama is just a hop & a skip away from my office and for the longest time there has not been any decent BKT outlet in this mall, I jumped in joy when I heard that there's now a reputable Klang BKT shop in the mall! Without further ado, I hauled a colleague along and made a beeline to Pao Xiang.

It's a very nice set-up that they have here - marble-topped tables and chinese panellings on the walls. As the outlet is located by the Lakeside area of the mall, there was lots of natural light from the tall windows - perfect for photography!

Pao Xiang's speciality is their string-tied meats brewed in various chinese herbs. They claim that the tying-up of the meats seals in the natural flavours and prevents the fibres from breaking up during the boiling process. So, what you get are these nice chunks of pork with "fluted" skin (a result of the tying process).

The pork was tender - disintegrated easily off the bone the moment you dig in with your fork or chopsticks, while retaining its porcine flavours. However, I find the BKT soup not as herbally fragrant as I would prefer it. It's thick enough though... with a thin layer of oil on top.

Pao Xiang in 1U serves their portions in these little ceramic bowls with a lighted flame beneath to keep the soup boiling hot. The bowl is just about the size of an ordinary chinese rice bowl and each portion of meat is RM10. Not cheap. Soup is refillable though.

If you want something leaner without much fat, opt for the Ribs. Cut into chunks of at least 5" long with decent amount of meat attached, the ribs would go well for the more health-conscious folks.

If cholesterol is not your concern, what is BKT without the "spareparts", right? Go for the "Teng Kia" - that's the multi-layered intestines, a trademark of Klang BKT.


They have various kinds of meat in the menu - like porkbelly, "long bones", "short bones" (referring to various sections of the trotters), spareparts like regular intestines, "teng kia", stomach... and "soft bones" like these...

Order some greens to offset the guilt - I do that all the time, haha! Here it's RM9 for a small plate.

And... drink lots of chinese tea, of course! Black Tie White Lie believes chinese tea washes off the fat you have consumed but I think that's a white lie!

Rice is RM1.50 per plate and the jasmine tea we had was RM7 for 2 pax. Total bill for 2 of us was RM54. Pao Xiang in the malls is certainly not cheap - for that same amount you pay, you'd get pots of BKT in Klang! So... I guess this is only for those of you who suddenly get hit by hyperBKTmania while shopping in the mall and you absolutely must have BKT there and then.

Otherwise... I'd still prefer the typical BKT kopitiam in Klang like this one, with kettle of water on gascooker by the table side - that's the real BKT ambience, man!


Pao Xiang Bak Kut Teh
P282 Promenade, Lakeside
LG Floor, 1 Utama Shopping Centre
Bandar Utama
Tel: 77252599