Yeah Cuisine @ Kuala Ampang

Steamed minced pork is a typical dish we'd find on dinner tables of Chinese families.  It's a dish many of us grew up eating and Yeah Cuisine @ Kuala Ampang offers a selection of noodles and rice with 9 flavours/types of minced pork patties....and...wait for it.....unlimited refills of different flavoured pork lard.

Sounds too good to be true? ;)  Well, we just had to check it out for ourselves one Sunday morning.  The place has been around for a little over a year.  I can't say I was thrilled with the surroundings of the place and the rundown look of the shophouse but, luckily, the inside of the restaurant itself was pretty clean.

Their legendary giant pork patty is the result of a recipe that has been perfected for over 70 years, it seems....well, that's what the cover of the menu said anyway. 

They initially offered 7 flavours of pork patty here...in its original form (meaning just minced pork) or a version with added mui choy (preserved vegetables of mustard greens), tung choi (preserved vegetables made from Chinese cabbage), coriander, salted fish, dried squid or dried oyster.  So, over two visits, we managed to try five of them.

My first pick was the Coriander Pork Patty with Dry Loh Shi Fun (aka rat-tail noodles) @ RM8.80.  The bowl was filled with minced pork, sang choy (literally as the lettuce was raw which I dunked into the bowl of soup that was provided) and green onions with a pork patty drizzled with garlic on top.

It's not false advertising when they say it's a giant pork patty....it was actually quite huge! O_o  I won't go as far as to say that the texture was hard but it was certainly not tender like those steamed minced pork you get from chap fan stalls.  This one had a slightly denser texture probably because it's in the form of a patty.  I could taste the coriander in the pork patty which gave it a lift of freshness instead of being just overly meaty.

My husband went for the Salted Fish Pork Patty with Rice @ RM9.80 that also came with minced pork and sang choy.  He gave me a bite-sized piece of the patty and I could only taste a faint hint of salted fish (perhaps the small piece I had wasn't studded with salted fish but since he was quiet and all, I'm assuming there wasn't that much of salted fish taste).

With my son's Dried Squid Pork Patty with Rice also @ RM9.80, I felt the same...there wasn't enough of dried squid taste as well in the piece I tried.  I guess I was hoping the dried squid taste would be somewhat similar to that I find in pork balls that have dried squid in them (the good ones I could taste the dried squid straightaway in one bite).

We also tried the Curry Rice with Fried Pork Patty @ RM9.80 that came filled with a curry sauce at the bottom, a fried pork patty, fried egg and some long beans.  The curry was ok, just not among my favourites, as it had a more spice-flavoured profile of curry powder than the santan-laced creaminess that I like.

For those who don't like steamed patties, this crumbed version with a light crisp will appeal to you.  The fried option also made the patty less porky in taste for those of you who don't favour the porky smell.  I do detect (sometimes) a slight porky smell in the steamed patties (other than the one with coriander) especially when the patties are served not as warm as it should be (like during dinner time).

In one of our visits, we also came across a separate menu (a recent addition) which offered a nasi lemak version with goreng berempah-flavoured pork patty.  This would be the 8th flavour, I reckon.

We decided to give this Nasi Lemak with Pork Patty Goreng Berempah @ RM11.80 a try.  The bowl was filled with all the trappings of a nasi lemak with hard-boiled egg, kacang & ikan bilis, cucumber slices, pork skin curry, a goreng berempah pork patty and sambal...not any sambal but a sambal with crispy chee yau char in it...whoopee! O_o

I thought the sambal was very successful for a Chinese-style sambal, the flavours of which was quite close to a Malay-type sambal.  Of course, the twist was finding the crispy pork lard croutons in between mouthfuls of the sambal...even better! ;)  The pork patty, on the other hand, does not necessarily make it one that's infused with spices but more of a fried patty with the similar taste of ayam goreng berempah remnants on top.  You can certainly taste the perfumey fragrance of lemongrass in the mix...and I felt this was the most successful dish here.

The only thing I found weird was having to eat the rice dishes with a soup spoon and chopsticks...they don't provide metal fork and spoon here (I couldn't find any in the tableside cutlery box).  Don't ask me why, I'm as baffled as you why such utensils aren't provided! @_@

For those of you who don't feel like having a big, meaty patty, you can go for the Homemade Fried Pork Ball Noodle (Dry with Loh Shi Fun) @ RM7.30 which comes with five fried meatballs.

What was surprising to me was that everyone was harping about the pork patties but I thought their noodles, tossed in their special dark sauce, deserve their spot in the sun as it was a pretty decent sauce mix.

You also get a bowl of soup with both rice and noodle options.  Sometimes, it's white radish, other times it could be cha choy (Sichuan pickled preserved vegetable which is my family's favourite).  The soups were a little oily and too robustly-flavoured for my taste, so I don't think I'd be trying any soup noodles anytime soon.

But, let's get to (almost) everyone's favourite topic of unlimited refills of flavoured pork lard, shall we? Apparently, there are 9 flavours...garlic, curry, tom yum, BBQ, malat, cheese, salted egg, belacan and super ring??? (whatever that is)...and 4 flavours are offered each day (there's even a timetable for them)! O_o

Before you get all excited over the unlimited servings, know that the pork lard is free flow while stocks last only.  So, at times, you may be greeted with this...a table barren of any pork lard (mind you, this was only slightly after 10 on a Sunday morning)! >_<

They didn't bother to refill and when I did ask, they seemed to be dragging their feet (at least to me)...and when they did replenish....they brought out only one flavour and the container wasn't even half full (that looks more like 25% only)!!  And worst still, they give you a pair of tongs (not a spoon) to scoop which makes getting at the pork lard even more difficult.

They (food guides & reviews included) use the words "unlimited refills" and "free flow" as a selling point but conveniently forget to emphasize the words "while stocks last" thus giving us the impression that we can have as much as we want (and then we get disappointed when the stock runs out).  I'd much rather they provide a spoonful of pork lard with each bowl (that way everyone gets a fair share) but since they've done away with that, I feel it's only fair to ensure there's an ample supply of pork lard for all their customers.  If a spoonful of pork lard was provided in every bowl (like what's shown in their menu), then...yes, they have a right not to provide refills as the pork lard is "free flow while stocks last".  Well, I always say, "If you want to give away something for free, do it willingly and not half-heartedly, otherwise don't do it at all!"

Anyway, coming to the taste of different flavours of pork lard...well, it's quite difficult to tell them apart (if you don't look at the little place cards and know exactly what you're taking).  The garlic and salted egg flavours weren't very bold other than tom yum which was the easiest to distinguish because of the sourish flavour.  I've tasted 3 flavours so far since I tend to be there only on Sundays (I didn't try Super Ring as I don't know what flavour that is + it seems to be the least liked since the jar is almost full).  Overall, the pork lard was just ok, it wasn't the most fragrant (or freshest) I've eaten and they couldn't get them super crispy either.

Like everything that's giant-sized here, their Premium White Coffee (Cold) @ RM3.80 is too, big enough to be shared by two, but not necessarily premium in taste.

My Personal Opinion

The portions, like their pork patty, is made for Giant Country (something Disney's beloved BFG would approve).  Ok, maybe I exaggerated a lil' bit, but it's certainly very filling (even for a guy), so, ladies with smaller appetites, beware (and don't over order)!  With such hefty portions, there's hardly any room left to try other snacks and delights (unless you share one bowl between two to free up some stomach space).

Overall, I think the pork patty with goreng berempah flavours (even the crumbed, fried pork patty) were the more successful ones as it masks the (sometimes) slightly porky taste of the steamed ones (especially when they're served cold).

You can't overlook the big portions and how good value for money it is.  Eat it for these reasons first....and taste, second.  So, yeah, you might want to try Yeah Cuisine...if you want to eat a pork patty that's bigger than your face (well, almost)! ;P

Update: Yeah Cuisine has relocated to further up the same road at No 41 Jalan Awan, Kuala Ampang, 68000 Ampang, Selangor

Yeah Cuisine Restaurant
No 53 Jalan Awan
Kuala Ampang
68000 Ampang
Selangor
Tel: 017-310 1783