I Love Yoo @ Jusco Maluri

When you don't have much of an appetite or want something light, the best option is probably to go with porridge, in my opinion, and that's what I Love Yoo offers.

I Love Yoo continues to make its presence felt in prime shopping malls since the opening of its first flagship outlet in Pavilion in 2007.  They aim to bring their customers popular and familiar traditional Chinese snacks, like crunchy "yau char kwai" ("you tiao" or Chinese crullers) and freshly made "tau fu fah" (soybean pudding), in a somewhat modern setting with its tagline "where tradition meets modern"! 

I have walked past I Love Yoo outlets in shopping malls so many times, I've lost count, but have yet to try it (coz there's always something better to eat).  I finally ended up at I Love Yoo @ Jusco Maluri for a quickie breakfast (one morning) before my grocery shopping.

They have a couple of set menus that you can order from - Set Menu A @ RM4.60 (You Tiao + Porridge) or Set Menu B also @ RM4.60 (You Tiao + Soya Bean).  This is the Set Menu C @ RM7.50 which comes with a bowl of porridge, a pc of yau char kwai and a cold soya bean drink.

For the porridge, you have a choice of dry scallops or dry oysters with peanuts.  This is the one with dry scallops.  Taste wise, it was bland and tasteless, so much so that I needed additional soya sauce to get it going.  When no meat (whether pork or chicken) is involved in the boiling of the porridge to bring out its flavour, I guess we can expect it to turn out bland.  The one with dry oysters and peanuts didn't fare any better either.

[#Note: (A bit of digression) This porridge is worlds apart....no, more like galaxies apart, with Loh Yau Kei's porridge in Jalan Tun H S Lee.  Their "chee chap chuk" (pig innards porridge), fish and chicken porridge is the still the best and my favourite porridge of all time.  Sadly, T_T, I've not eaten that in a long, long, long time as I no longer go to that part of town but I used to eat there very often (since I grew up in that area)....the porridge, fried hokkien mee, beef ball mee, prawn mee, pig innards soup...all good!]

The yau char kwai, on the other hand, was acceptable and fairly crispy, but not a lot of egg taste though.  When dunked in the porridge, it lent the bland porridge with a bit of savouriness and gave it the hope it badly needed!

The soya bean drink was alright, not too sweet, just not something I would pair with porridge or yau char kwai.  I guess I still prefer my yau char kwai dunked in "kopi-o kaw" (thick black coffee).  [#Tip: They do have Hainan and White Coffee on their menu.]

Not satisfied with the porridge, I tried some of their fried stuff on other occasions.  They have butterfly bun, fried bun, mix bun (with glutinous rice), sesame balls (with 3 different fillings), sweet potato balls and yam balls on their menu.

This is the Butterfly Bun @ RM1.80, with the fragrance of sesame seeds, which was slightly crispy on the outside but wasn't very fluffy on the inside.

The Fried Bun @ RM1.80 fared much better.  It was slightly savoury and very crispy if you happen to eat it hot (ie. if you happen to be there early in the morning when the buns are just fried).

The Sesame Ball (with Peanuts) @ RM1.90 was not to my liking at all as the peanut paste was rather rough in texture.

The Sweet Potato Balls @ RM3 (for 5 pcs) was also just borderline edible as the potato mix was kinda starchy (probably more flour than potato paste).

Finally, the "Tau Fu Fah" (Soybean Pudding) @ RM3.30, served with "gula melaka" (palm sugar) syrup (I asked for less), was smooth and pleasant...it just didn't have the gula melaka 'wow' factor!

If I had to choose, I'd probably go with the yau char kwai and fried bun (which were somewhat less greasy).

My Personal Opinion

Their fried stuff, soya bean drink and tau fu fah are borderline acceptable but their porridge is bland and tasteless (even for someone, like me, who has a high tolerance for subtle tasting food).

You can definitely find better versions of these at any roadside stalls (and at half the price too) but, for the convenience factor and its ideal location in shopping malls, their business can still thrive (as evident by the queues at some places).

But, I'm sorry to say......I don't love yoo!

I Love Yoo
Ground Floor (within the supermarket)

Jusco Taman Maluri
Jalan Jejaka
55100 Kuala Lumpur