No. 886 Yong Tau Foo.

You know how some good food places are always hidden from the main streets, off the limelight but still manage to attract heaps of customers? This place certainly fits the bill. My uncle introduced me to this place when he accidentally came across this place while searching for food in Ampang. It is opposite the entrance of the On Pong Ampang Chinese School. This place is further down after the infamous side-by-side Fong Fong and Hung Hung Yong Yau Foo restaurants. Travel along the main road as you pass these 2 restaurants and the road turns right with rows of very old pre-war-like shop houses on your left and right. Travel slower and take a left turn into a lane with a signboard that leads you into the Chinese school. Once out from the lane, the restaurant is just on your left.

The name of the restaurant is simply No.886 Yong Tau Foo. I believe this is the address to the shop lot and the Yong Tau Foo was just added after the numbers to make it visible to customers. At first sight, you wouldn’t be able to tell that they serve Yong Tau Foo here. It’s a 2 unit lot with space for a few other stalls in it ala KL’s coffee shops and the first stall that greets you sells “vegetarian mixed rice”, followed by a “pig stomach meehoon” stall, one of those I-MUST-TRY-WITHOUT-MY-MOM-KNOWING stalls.

So here we are, 5 of us comfortably seated at a round table eager to order our food and drinks. We started with the infamous Kat Chai Shien Mui – a limejuice concoction with 2 pieces of sweet and sour plum in it. This one’s really thick, ideal for those who are really sleepy or lethargic. Here’s the picture:

The lady gave us a few copies of the menu, with various types of Yong Tau Foo available ala Carte style. We ordered a bowl of “Sui Kaos”, 5 pieces in total. Size wise, it’s nowhere near Causeway Bay's but it’s not far off the benchmark in terms of taste and texture. Here it is...

We ordered a large plate of mixed Yong Tau Foo (20pcs) in gravy with bitter gourd, brinjal and fried tofu all stuffed with pretty aromatic fish paste, unlike some places where the fish paste tastes flat. I’m not a fan of ladies’ finger and white tofu, hence, you won’t see these 2 in my orders. The gravy was darker than usual but nonetheless it was edible. Here’s a picture of the plate. The brinjal’s generous portion was quite a delight and it wasn’t too oily, just nice to go with the sauces. My mom’s favorite Yong Tau Foo variant has always been the bitter gourd, and indeed it was darn bitter.

Our mix-fried plate was served next, with deep-fried spring rolls, dumplings (Sui Kaos again!), “Yau Char Kway” and tofu. The fried dumplings were crispy while the spring rolls had a generous amount of fish paste in it. I loved it very much.

The fried Yau Char Kway (seen here below, about the same length of the brinjal and the fried tofu) was my favorite, crispy and very satisfactory. The one on the spoon is the deep fried tofu, better known as To Fu Pok. I believe what they did here was to remove the outer layer of the To Fu Pok, thus revealing the white “spongy” area underneath the skin before sending it into the fryer.

We also ordered a plate of Cantonese fried noodles, as a safety measure in case we short ordered. The gravy was certainly NOT prepared with packets of starch and a cement mixer. You knowlar, some places right, the starchy gravy is stronger and stickier than Spiderman’s web.

In the end, good news, no food wastage though we were all pretty stuffed up. The food was good, and just in case if you were wondering, 5 adults, all big eaters, can certainly fit and be moved in an automatic Kelisa.

Total cost: Approx RM 40.00
My tummy rating: 7.8/10.