One of the Many Leong Ya's

**Non-Halal Post**

My first encounter with Leong Ya, I was barely in my preteens. My uncle loved to go around the outskirt of Kuala Lumpur to cari makan (look for food) and he would usually invite my family along. With them, I've been jalan-jalan cari makan (going about looking for food) from Kuala Selangor, Sungai Besar, Klang, Serdang... well I can't remember all... so now you know from where I got the traits of being a glutton since I was trained from young ok haha...

At that time without all the highways then, Serdang sounded so far away for us. We, kids, usually treated this like an outstation day trip. So one day, we came to this old shack with zing roof. Wahliau... very crowded since it was a Sunday. Anyway we managed to get a table. The way they clear the dishes is kinda shocking as it's very noisy; they just wrap up the pink colour table cloth or at that time it was some kind of paper (can't really remember but all I can recall is they're in pink); with the dishes, remnants, in fact just right about everything. After that, they just place a clean sheet over the table. This way, it was very efficient to clear the table fast as their patrons stream in non-stop especially over peak hours. In place of the sheet now, they uses clear plastic sheets in change of time.

About the food, I clearly remembering enjoying the paper wrapped chicken and yong tau foo (stuffed vegetables, beancurds etc). Other dishes, I totally cannot recall at all!

As I grew, Mine's Wonderland was in development then and someone took me to the new location. Wow I was blown away. It was located at the used to be Mine's Wonderland carpark which now stood an uncompleted building. No longer a shack, the place is breezy with tall ceilings and tiled floors. After a few visits and with Mine's Wonderland expanding, they have to shift. From there, the family business splitted and best part, they chose to be located in the same location hahaha goodness... initially it was so confusing but then we got the hang of it later on. The eldest brother run Restoran Leong Ya, another brother run Restoran Leong Ya Baru (behind eldest brother and their mother can be found here hahaha... yeah cos we asked her what's the relation over that many Leong Ya's.) and the sister's Restoran Leong Ya Indah (with the Chinese character "lady" which is located at the corner shop at opposite row).



We tend to visit Leong Ya Indah since most of the people I knew prefer this one but we've tried the other two before. Tastewise, they're pretty similar but with more dishes in their repetoire now and each of them would have their own specialties.

This time, the 2 of us went to Restoran Leong Ya and ordered a portion of Hakka Char Nyuk (braised deep fried pork belly with black fungus) which came out sooo sooo tasty. It's a bit salty for me though since I'm on a pretty bland diet since young but best with white rice!



We have a plate of Stir Fried Sweet Potatoes Shoots with Belacan. Lots of wok hei (breath of the wok) which is good news for Chinese style stir fried vegetables. The belacan amount was just right and I walloped the most from this plate.



Thank goodness there were some yong tau foo left so we ordered stuffed brinjal and bittergourd. In Hakka style, these came precooked in soy bean paste sauce. Fantastic with loads of fish meat or maybe I could be biased since I simply loved brinjals and bittergourds.



Since hubby doesn't like their style of paper wrapped chicken laden with gravy, they recommended their Fried Chicken. Seems ok but these chicken have some kind of oil smell and taste on them. I'm not sure what but smelt a bit like stale coconut which is kinda put off for myself.



Hubby and I shared a bowl of rice and a pot of tea plus with all the above dishes, it costed us RM25.70 only! Since the minimal portion of the chicken was a wee too much for us that we have to pack the remainder back. Overall, the eldest brother seems to be able to hold his fort pretty well.

Restoran Leong Ya (operate by eldest brother),
No 26-28, Jalan Dagang SB 4/1,
Taman Sungai Besi Indah

(This one is facing the bus stand with the super long pedestrian bridge across the highway to KTM Komuter Serdang Station. A few doors away from 7-11. This is the only Leong Ya that is air-conditioned.)

Technorati Tags: malaysian food + yong tau foo