PETALING JAYA, Sept. 21 -- Back in late 2023, I wrote about JJ Budget Restaurant, a kopitiam straddling the fringes of Taman Mayang and Kampung Cempaka.

Its biggest draw was the front-and-centre stall run by the owner himself, serving Penang staples: char kway teow, prawn mee and mee jawa goreng, a rare gem.

Early this year, a second stall entered the mix, run by much younger faces - the proprietor's children - specialising in fried rice, KL-style Hokkien mee and wat tan hor.

Named Brandy's Fried Rice (The Boy Is Mine may be the hit, but the slow jam I Wanna Be Down is more my speed), the stall offers three predictable variations: prawn (RM9), pork (RM9) and the simpler egg (RM7.50).

I sampled the gamut over multiple visits; protein i...