Where did she go…

She was here, initially and then she disappeared but later, we found her here and not long after that, she wasn’t there anymore. We really liked her beef noodles so of course, when I heard that she had moved here, we made a beeline to the place to see if she was the one.

I saw the celebrated kampua noodles guy there, popularly known by his nickname, Ang Kau (monkey), but I did hear that his name is actually Ah Soon. He has moved here too, it seems and has taken over the kampua noodles stall…

…and I noticed that he was also selling laksa and kueh chap.

I ordered a bowl of the latter (RM5.00)…

…to try and yes, I thought it was really very good even though it did not have any pig’s intestines nor liver in it and instead, there was a lot of the pig’s ears but I am not fond of eating that because of the hard white layer in it, the cartilage.

The soup was very light, not really like the regular kueh chap one would get here, there and everywhere, and was more like bak kut teh instead and I must say that I rather enjoyed it. Other than that, instead of the special chili dip that usually goes with kueh chap, they gave some sambal belacan (dried prawn paste)…

…instead and with the generous squeeze of calamansi lime juice in it, I did like it quite a lot too.

Much to our disappointment, the beef noodles was closed – the lady had called in sick that morning so we decided to try some of the fried stuff from the stall next to it instead…

My missus loved the fried noodles (RM6.00)…

…very much and the lady sure was very generous with the prawns…

Of course, you simply can’t go wrong with prawns and anything with a lot of those is bound to taste really great.

When I paid her, she spoke in Malay, “Terima kasih!” (Thank you) and we only realised later that she was Iban (one of our Sarawak’s ethnic races) – I wouldn’t know whether she was the employee or the wife of the Chinese owner (who showed up later to close up the stall) but obviously, she knows what she’s doing and does what she does very well.

I had her tomato kway teow (RM6.00)…

…and yes, it had a lot of prawns too…

…and it was really very nice – not too strong on the tomato sauce like what I’ve had elsewhere and more like a cross between the Kuching-style tomato kway teow and the wat tan hor/ying yong version with the egg sauce/gravy. I sure wouldn’t mind coming back for this again or perhaps I would give something else in her menu a try.

Well, it looks like we will have to come back here again another time for the elusive beef noodles and if you’re thinking of doing the same, do take note that this coffee shop has its rest day on Thursday every week.

YONG GARDEN RESTAURANT CAFE (2.290559, 111.832248) is located at Foochow Lane in one corner at the back of the shops as you turn right into the lane. It is also accessible via Hardin Walk and as a matter of fact, it is more convenient to use this road to get there instead of the one aforementioned as it is actually beside this road on the left.