Photo By: Elin Chow
Founded in 1928, Yut Kee is one of the oldest Hainanese coffee shops in Kuala Lumpur. Located in the Chow Kit area of Kuala Lumpur, the historical coffee shop is currently run by the third generation of the Lee family. It is a popular place for breakfast and brunch serving classic Hainanese and colonial-era food.
PARKING
Parking is scarce in this area. It is best that you come early or slightly off peak hours to secure a parking spot. Alternatively, you can also get here by train. The restaurant is located just 5 minutes walk away from LRT Dang Wangi Station.
We have to park at the hotel valet parking next to the restaurant at a flat rate of RM 10. The exterior of the establishment is painted in hue crimson, which is very eye-catching from afar.
The interior exudes a nostalgic vibe - with mosaic tiled floors, round marble tables, dark wooden chairs, faded newspaper and magazine clippings decorating the walls. Upon stepping into the premise, you will feel as though you were transported back in time.
There is almost always a queue outside the restaurant, so come early if you want to to avoid the long wait. Don't be surprised that table sharing is a common practice here, especially if you come during the peak hours.
However, we were lucky to grab a table immediately when we arrived. To be honest, we were quite surprised because we visited on a public holiday.
THE MENU
Yut Kee's menu has remained unchanged since 1928, with the exception of beef noodles and beef stew, which were added in the late 1990s. Their signature dishes include Hainanese Chicken Chops, Pork Chops, Hailam Mee, Lam Mee, Roti Babi (Pork Bread), Roasted Pork Roll, Curry Mee, Kaya Swiss Roll, Marble Butter Cake and Coffee. However, take note that the highly popular Roasted Pork Roll is only available on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays because the preparation for this dish is time consuming.
As soon as we sat down, there was a staff standing next to us, waiting to take our order. It was a little stressful and uncomfortable, especially when we were looking through the menu, discussing what to eat.
Hainanese Chicken Chop
We ordered their signature chicken chop. It consists of egg battered chicken chop drenched in savory sweet brown sauce, served with hand-cut potato wedges, sliced onions, frozen green peas and carrots. The chicken was tender and juicy with a crusty top. The gravy, which is made with Worcestershire sauce and Soy Sauce, was flavorful. However, the potato wedges were unseasoned and tasted rather bland.
It was good, but not a dish that will blow you away. Rather, it is more like a comfort food that will bring back your childhood memories.
Hailam Mee
Hailam Mee is another must order dish here. The thick yellow noodles, which is coated with thick gravy, is cooked with squid, vegetables, pork, fish cakes and garnished with fried shallots. The noodles
has a strong alkaline taste, but it was delicious if you eat it with their homemade sambal with a squeeze of lime. The sambal will not only mask the strong alkaline taste but also adds spice and flavor to the dish. However, the sambal is pretty spicy. For people who can't take spice, I would not recommend you to order this dish.
Hainanese Pork Chop
The pork chop was cooked in the similar fashion as the chicken chop. It was drenched in the same gravy as chicken chop and served with the same sides. I personally prefer chicken chop to the pork chop because pork chop was drier and tougher.
Roti Babi
Roti Babi literally translate to Pork Toast. It is basically an egg-coated bread is stuffed with grounded pork, onion and crabmeat, then deep fried till golden brown. Although the bread was chewy and tasty, the overall taste was really nothing to shout about. It is best to eat this with Worcestershire sauce because the filling was quite bland. I personally feel that that this is not worth the price because the portion was quite small.
CONCLUSION
At Yut Kee, don't forget to try their baked in-house Kaya Swiss Roll. Their swiss roll is made with their homemade Kaya using the recipe passed down through generations. Although it doesn't taste as good as before, it was still delicious.
Despite being busy, service was really fast here. This is due to the food being pre-prepared in advance. As a result, most of the dishes were served cold. Furthermore, the portion sizes are a bit small. It was sad that the food quality seems to have dropped over the years with increasing prices.
Yut Kee Restaurant 镒记茶餐室
1, Jalan Kamuntingm, Chow Kit
50300 Kuala Lumpur
Facebook: Yut Kee Restaurant
Hours: 7.30 am - 3.00 pm Daily (Closed on Mondays)
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