Pudu Yap Hup Kee Chee Cheong Fun & Yong Tau Foo 半山芭葉合記 +603 2148 9220

One of my objectives for coming back to Pudu this time, was to document my favourites when I was living in KL nearly 30 years ago.

One of them was a yong tau foo shop. I couldn't remember anything except that the dining area was long, narrow, and air conditioned (no the norm in Pudu at that time). Its business card had a fish or fish bone motif.

I remember it was in one of the inside streets, running parallel with Jalan Pudu.

My colleague in KL showed me this place and we came back here a few times. (We used to get our office supplies from the printing and stationary shops here.) Once he parked his car curb-side and when we came out after lunch, the town council had towed it away 😱 We had to reclaim the car from the pound and paid a few hundred Ringgit in fines 😞

I also brought other colleagues here when they visited KL.

But, I have forgotten or never took note of the name of the restaurant. I couldn't remember much about the food except that it was tasty yong tau foo. But, I remember the narrow air conditioned dining room well.

Based on the dining room, I believe my old flame is today's Yap Hup Kee 葉合記.

Ah yes, this was the place. It's slightly dim now as this section wasn't opened yet today when I dropped by at 9am.

Yap Hup Kee has expanded and this became the spill over section during peak hours (e.g. lunch). The blue arrow points to my usual table when I was eating here.

Yap Hup Kee's menu. Yong tau foo pieces RM2.20 each. Signature chee cheong fun, RM5 per serving.

The yong tau foo smorgasbord cart is outside.

Familiar pork and fish filled vegetables.

Deep fried and processed food items.

I picked the usual suspects.

(Others prefer more the deep fried items like Yap Hup Kee's signature deep fried luncheon meat wrapped with tofu skin.)

It was still early in the morning, and wasn't too hot outside yet. Most people chose to sit out on the five foot way. I sat inside the air con section 🤭 But this was a new extension, not the old place I used to sit at.

My RM18 serving with chee cheong fun.

The slender rice noodles came sauced with a sweet savoury fermented bean paste sauce and topped with fried dried shrimp floss 虾米 (har mai in Cantonese).

I love this chee cheong fun. The broad strands were soft, slurpy smooth, and had rice sweetness. The sweet savoury sauce complemented the rice sweetness well. The fried dried shrimp floss added umami savouriness to the noodles.

Then, suddenly the carb became the star and the yong tau foo items, as good as they were, became just side dishes or accompaniments.

The long beans were so fresh and done so well that they felt crunchy and tasted sweet like straight off the vine.

Fish paste filled wing bean. I always picked wing beans because I love the delicate way they crunch.

I love fish paste filled chili pepper.

In our fast changing world, where familiar things we take for granted can disappear overnight, I am glad that my old haunt is still around and thriving.

Next time, I want to try their popular curry chee cheong fun.

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