Yong Kee Seafood Restaurant

The family celebrated Father’s Day or perhaps Grandfather’s Day without our usual Teochew fare but at a zichar stall very famous for its Bee Hoon. Of course, it’s not the long-​queue Sembawang Bee Hoon but the Chao Da Bee Hoon (Burnt Vermicelli).
Though we ordered the largest at $ 18, I felt it was not sufficient for 6 people as claimed. No wonder the boy who took my order said the large portion is not big and he could easily finish up the entire thing by himself. Despite arriving early, the noodles took ages to be served but it was worth the wait.
With crispy bits of pork lard on top, the plate was gone within seconds. I did not have enough of it, and peeped over to look at nearby tables to check out the portions. It seemed that one could get more by ordering 3 small size at $ 6 each rather than 1 large one at $ 18.
The Stir Bak Choy, ($ 10) with crispy whole dried shrimps was not a boring at all. The greens were not loaded with MSG, though it was not very healthy with that golden pork lard that I happily mistook as dried shrimps several times. Not a bad mistake I guess.
But with only 5 – 6 deep battered prawns at $ 20, skip this mediocre and overpriced Salad Cream Prawns to save your wallet a hole.
Another dish which we would not order again is the Thai Pig Trotters ($ 22). We could not figure what exactly was very Thai about this except maybe the sauce, which was just plain sweet and nothing else. The meat was tender but the crackling was not as super crunchy as Simpang Bedok’s version.
But the Thai Hot and Sour soup or put it simply Tom Yam soup ($ 7) was very shiok! (perhaps better than many Thai restaurants). But the use of coconut milk and curry powder inside the soup did not find resonate with Old Ma, who still prefers the one at Seafood International. Well, try it and be your own judge.
The Seafood Beancurd ($ 14) is napped in a sauce of light brown hue, topped with fish slices, sweet green peas and cuttlefish. The egg tofu encrusted in a brown case was more colorful than plain silky tofu.
The Salt-​steamed chicken ($ 12) was very much loved by the elderly. Marinated with chicken wine and steamed with ginger, strips of black fungus and wolfberries, the chicken pieces were not exactly smooth but penetrated with flavours. Not sure if the plate was brimming with collagen or chicken oil, but it must be some good chicken essence.
In short, the food here does not come cheap to me, but some dishes are indeed worth coming back again. Parking is an extreme hassle and avoid coming here on empty stomachs as waiting time might stretch a little. Best dish of the day? Definitely the Chao Da Bee Hoon:)

Came here with a super motley crew — two tables worth of us met of a mega hazy night to feast… And feast we did. We ordered with our eyes (which typically, and true to form, were wayyyyy bigger than our bellies), and couldn’t finish a single dish, even though they were all delicious.
Signature Chao Ta Bee Hoon, a crispy pancake of… Bee Hoon, was tasty ad certainly fun to eat, but matched with/​against a very tasty fried rice? We struggled valiantly, and almost finished them both. The prawn paste chicken was tasty too, as was the hae chor, but the omelette was more greasy than tasty, so that paste longer than most things. The pork knuckle they didn’t do justice to — overfried and over seasoned, it fared the worst on our table, and we had to send it over to our friends’ table for assistance.
Bill comes, an for the amount of food that kept coming and coming ad coming, I was surprised to see us pay only about $ 20 a head. Decent, but next time I come, I’m ordering judiciously. My gym trainer will not approve anything else.

This tze-​char is famous for their chao-​ta beehoon. The beehoon is fried to resemble a crispy pancake on one side. Very pretty!
We tried a couple more items and they are all good.
The pork knuckle is beautifully crisp on the outside and succulent inside. The skin crackles and they serve it with a tangy sauce, thus called Thai Pork Knuckle. The meat is good enough on its own that I didn’t even dip the sauce. But my companions all enjoyed the dip.
Prawn rolls (Heh-​chor) were very good. Soft inside and very flavorful.
Seafood homemade beancurd — very soft and topped with some random seafood. The beancurd is very soft, almost like soya beancurd.
Note: Can’t remember what else we had, but we enjoyed our dinner. One of the better tze-​char around.
Parking can be hellish since it is Little India with lots of construction. The place is exactly across the street from the Wanderlust Hotel.

Be sure to come at off-​peak hours, especially if you are in a big group — our group of 8 was lucky enough to snag a seat after 10 minutes, but otherwise seating is rather limited in this small coffee shop.
Yong Kee Seafood restuaurant is famous for its traditional chao tar bee hoon, and boy did it not dissapoint. The burnt bee hoon was served rather like a giant omelette, coated with a mix of egg and crispy rice flour coating the vermicelli to give it a delectable crispy flavour. Definitely the restaurant’s signature dish. Also of note was the fish head curry, which, while not overtly spicy, was just the right amount of tantalizing. I did feel, however, that the fish was slightly over cooked, and the dish could do with more sauce (or «zup»), as many love to drench their rice in curry. Our group also ordered a fish soup, prawn paste chicken as well as prawn dish, all of which tasted rather average. Portions were also kind of small for the price we paid (about $ 12 per pax).
All in all, it’s worth checking out if you’re in the area or after a long day of IT shopping at the nearby Sim Lim towers. Order a large chao tar bee hoon and save your calories for worthier delicacies!