PETALING JAYA, June 29 — Two weeks ago, we featured Kedai Kopi Hoh Piah in a story about pan mee being sold out of a home in Sungai Way.
This week, we return to the same neck of the woods, quite literally only a few hundred metres away: Restaurant Sungai Way Hakka Yong Tau Foo.
Run out of a house, the business sells yong tau foo, as its name suggests. But the immediate smell of coffee may lead you to believe otherwise.
Like many businesses in Sungai Way, this is also run out of a house. — Picture by Ethan Lau
A closer look at the decidedly lived-in setting reveals personality scattered across the shop, with Hello Kitty plushies sitting side by side with posters of The Mandalorian, and a drinks menu that offers everything from matcha lattes to, quite adorably, babyccinos.
Then there’s the espresso tonic (RM12 for a large), not something I’d ever expect to drink with yong tau foo, but an ideal remedy for our ridiculously hot afternoons.
The menu claims it tastes like beer; I find it far more refreshing and effervescent, with a bitter edge that works like a palate cleanser.
Anyway, onto the main event. The selection of yong tau foo here is short and sweet, so it’s entirely plausible to try a little bit of everything.
Most pieces go for RM2 each, with the exception of white tau foo and fish cakes, which are RM2.50.
Unlike at larger stalls or restaurants, every piece here is fried or cooked to order, so even as the second table there, there was a short wait.
So, what separates one yong tau foo place from another? Is it the breadth of options, or the quality of each offering?
I think the proof is in the pudding. Or in this case, the stuffing.
The stuffing is the best part of the ‘yong tau foo’ here (left). Fishcakes with chives are another highlight (right). — Picture by Ethan Lau
After all, the part that’s usually proprietary in stuffed tau foois the filling, not the tau foo itself.
It can be fish paste, ground pork, or a mixture of both, and to me, it’s the standard on which yong tau foo should be evaluated.
By this metric, this place is a winner. Whether it’s stuffed into bitter gourd, brinjal, okra or chilli, or wedged between sheets of beancurd skin, whether it’s fried or served in soup, the filling retains a springy, snappy, meaty texture and carries a subtly savoury profile with just a smidge of sweetness.
Here’s how you know the filling is a point of pride: you can order it on its own, comically named “fish slippery”, a literal translation of the Cantonese yu waat, or fish paste.
I highly recommend getting a few pieces and dipping them into the sharp, punchy chilli sauce for maximum enjoyment.
They are best enjoyed with a healthy dipping of chilli sauce. — Picture by Ethan Lau
The only anomaly that falls outside the purview of filling is the fishcake, which mixes chopped chives into the fish paste before frying it into a bouncy mass of satisfaction.
The green edge of the chives adds just enough balance. It’s also a good idea to get a few of these.
Between the decor, matcha lattes (which I scoff at nearly anywhere else) and simple but good yong tau foo, Restaurant Sungai Way Hakka Yong Tau Foo is a family-run place that I feel embodies the classic family dynamic of existing with both tradition and looking toward the future, right down to the painfully utilitarian name.
Some aspects, like the yong tau foo, harken back to a simpler time. Others, like the espresso tonic, are adapted to changing tastes, but all with the earnest charm of genuine human personality, rather than some agency’s idea of a relatable brand identity.
Restaurant Sg Way Hakka Yong Tau Foo
74, Jalan SS 9A/1,
SS 9A, Petaling Jaya.
Open Tuesday to Saturday, 10am-8.30pm. Closes at 5pm on Saturday.
Tel: 017-354 7986
* This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.
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* Follow Ethan Lau on Instagram @eatenlau for more musings on food and mildly self-deprecating attempts at humour.
