Yong Pin has just moved to a new location, still within Penang’s Chinatown area: 59A Kimberley Street, the spot which used to be occupied by the legendary Teochew/Chiuchow restaurant, Goh Huat Seng.
The new set-up retains the old-world atmosphere of a yum cha spot, but no more old ladies bearing trays of dim sum for one to select table-side. Instead, we need to go up to the food counters to choose the dim sum items ourselves:
I quite missed the rustic, well-worn feel of their old place. This new premises: just 11-days-old at the moment, seemed a bit too spick-and-span for a traditional Chinatown eatery.
One thing which hasn’t changed is that their clientele remained the mainly older denizens of Chinatown, and one hears Cantonese chatter throughout - for the Cantonese people are the ones who favor having dim sum for breakfast.
The founder-owner of Yong Pin, 72-year-old Chen Wah Kit, is still pretty hands-on in running the kitchen. With him here is his eldest son, Chen Sek Yin, 40, who’s learning the ropes from his father.
We couldn’t resist ordering the Ma Lai Gou, literally translated from Cantonese as “Malay steamed cake” - a classic HK dim sum choice, oddly-named as there is nothing remotely resembling that in the Malay food world.
We surmised that this very Hong Kong creation got its moniker as Hongkongers first encountered a similar-looking dessert - with its distinctive bubbly appearance - in the Indonesian Bika Ambon or honeycomb cake, first popularized throughout Singapore and Malaya by Indonesians from Medan/Northern Sumatera. To the Hongkongers, the Malays and Indonesians are both South-east Asian people, so the Indon cake was conveniently called a Malay cake.
Texture- and taste-wise, there is no similarity at all between the sponge cake-like Ma Lai Gou (wheat flour is used in the recipe) and the moister, more pudding-like texture of the Bika Ambon, made from tapioca flour, with the addition of palm wine instead of yeast, as well as coconut milk.
Yong Pin’s Dai Bao wasn’t one of its forte back during the days at its old location. Today, the one we got was the best among all dim sum eateries on Penang Island! We need to go back again to try and make sure it wasn’t just a flash in the pan this morning!
One of Yong Pin’s claim-to-fame has been its Haw Gow/steamed prawn dumplings - certainly not pretty to look at, but the best-tasting by far among the Chinatown yum cha spots.
Har Gow - ugly-looking but tasted absolutely perfect: juicy prawns, very savory-sweet.
Siu Mai - both the standard and century egg versions were rather over-steamed and were rather dry and hard.
Lor Mai Gai - glutinous rice with chicken, Chinese waxed sausage & shitake mushroom: not Yong Pin’s strong suit. The balance of flavors was not really there.
Wu kok - flaky yam puffs: the version here is heavier and stodgier than what a good one should be.
Steamed chicken drumettes wrapped in Chinese white cabbage - blander than I expected, but very succulent chicken-meat.
Our choice of Chinese tea was the popular kuk-pou: a blend of kuk fa (chrysanthemum tea) and pou lay (pu-erh tea)
Dan taht - HK-style egg tarts: excellent rendition here, with buttery, flaky shells, and eggy, custard centres.
Conclusion: a mixture of hits-and-misses here at Yong Pin. I’d recommend their dai bao, har gow and egg tarts.
New Address - as of 25 Oct 2021
Yong Pin Restaurant (榕槟茶楼)
59-A, Kimberley Street, 10100 George Town, Penang, Malaysia
Tel: +6016-430 6789
Opening hours: 7am to 2.30pm daily
