For You Yen is one of those traditional, old-school Chinese vegetarian restaurants where soybean products like yuba, hard & soft tofu, etc., are utilised, together with a plethora of other vegetarian products to produce dishes that “look” like meat dishes. My first experience with this type of restaurant was at Gong De Lin (Est. 1922) in Beijing back in 2000 - it was also Beijing’s earliest vegetarian restaurant, where the dishes all consisted of “imitation meats” made from plant-based products.
Restaurant owner, Heng Song Ling, who is the son of the founder, Heng Guat Chew, who started the business back in 1985, is young and articulate.
Our dinner for the evening:
-
Mock “sharksfin” stir-fry with “crab-meat”, carrots, glass noodles and shitake mushrooms.
-
“Fish” fillets in a light turmeric-coconut curry, with pumpkin and radish.
-
Cauliflower, carrot, capsicum and yuba skin stir-fry.
-
Braised monkey-head mushroom, served on bok choi, topped with crisp-fried potato confetti.
-
Sweet-corn, shitake mushroom and daikon soup, flavored with Chinese herbs.
-
Batter-fried “prawns” with coleslaw dressing.
Dessert:
7) "Tong sui - jellied fruits in sweetened coconut milk.
Vegetarians will simply love this place for its inventive vegetarian take on local Chinese dishes. I’m a meat person, so quite unlikely to come back here unless accompanying my vegetarian relatives like my visiting Singaporean aunt and her family this evening.
Address
For You Yen
347-349, Dato Keramat Road, 10150 George Town, Penang, Malaysia
Tel: +6017-488 2999
Opening hours: 8.30am to 3pm, 5pm to 8pm daily, except Tuesday (Closed).
