Yong Pin Restaurant 榕檳茶樓
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Yong Pin Restaurant (14 November 2014)
Yong Pin Restaurant 榕檳茶樓 (GPS: 5.41582, 100.33211) is a Chinese restaurant on Sungai Ujong Road in George Town, Penang. This restaurant has been around for decades. I am not sure whether by the same name or not, but probably is. I remember being brought here as a young boy by my father in the morning to have dim sum. It was one of the earliest places I could remember for having dim sum. Later on, our family used to dine here when I was grown up, but we haven't been back for at least the past ten years.
If I remember well, we weren't very impressed with Yong Pin Restaurant, which was why we stopped patronising it. Nonetheless I used to see the restaurant whenever I park on Sungai Ujong Road and walk towards Kimberley Street where we now go for our meals quite regularly.
The restaurant has its noodle menu and dim sum menu posted on the wall, like this:
Noodle menu, Yong Pin Restaurant (14 November 2014)
Pau menu, Yong Pin Restaurant (14 November 2014)
Yong Pin Restaurant on Google Street View
14 November, 2014
Having not been back to this restaurant for at least ten years, I told my wife I am keen to pay it another visit. We arrived quite early, at around 6:50 pm, and was informed that the restaurant could only start taking orders from 7:00 pm.
We ordered a char hor fun and a yee foo mee. In addition, we picked two deep-fried dim sum items from the rattan trays. We didn't choose more because my wife decided she wanted to go for hum chim peng afterwards. (However after the meal she changed her mind and decided that the hum chim peng was too far away to walk.)
Now take a look at the char hor fun and the yee foo mee. What do you think?
Char Hor Fun, Yong Pin Restaurant (14 November 2014)
Yee Foo Mee, Yong Pin Restaurant (14 November 2014)If my memory serves me right, it looks the same as how it used to look like ten years ago, on my last visit. Some may consider this the "traditional style". However I wasn't too fond of this style back then and I wasn't too fond of it today either. I find the hor fun to be too soggy. I prefer it to retain some caramelised parts when it is stir-fried in the wok (that was how my parents made char hor fun at home, and it was way was simply delicious).
To me, the yee foo mee looks like plain fried mee. I prefer my yee foo mee to use a noodle that is darker in colour, if you know what I mean.
We found that the pickled green chilli to be a bit too sweet. I wonder whether it was pickled in vinegar or in sugar? To be fair, it was my wife who pointed out to me that the pickled chilli was far too sweet that I realised it myself. Each plate of noodles came with two very big prawns which were quite tasty. But apart from that, (and I have to accept it if devotees of this restaurant claims that I am a bad judge of taste), I find the char hor fun and yee foo mee to be nothing to shout about.
Beancurd sheet wrapped pillow with century-egg filling, and spring rolls, Yong Pin Restaurant (14 November 2014)Our bill came to RM21.40. To me, that's not cheap at all for just four items, washed down with two glasses of water (we don't order tea at dinner because it causes us to be sleepless).
Food Rating
Yong Pin Restaurant Char Hor Fun (14 November 2014): B-
Yong Pin Restaurant Yee Food Mee (14 November 2014): B- Parting Comments
As we walked back to the car, I thought over my judgement for this meal. Was I right in my judgement? I wasn't fond of the way the char hor fun and yee foo mee were prepared, even if that's how it has been prepared all along. Thinking back, I remember not being that fond of it back then either, ten years ago, and so my opinion has not changed. I did come back today, to give this restaurant another try, hoping that the lapse of time could have evolved my tastebuds, or perhaps I might have grown to like something which I don't care that much for back then.
But no, the feeling was the same. I prefer the char hor fun and yee foo mee prepared by many nameless, unpopular hawkers, in nameless eateries, to this one. I remind myself: To thine ownself be true. Even if I were wrong in my judgement, I remind all who read my review that this is just one person's opinion, and I would never discourage people from eating at Yong Pin Restaurant, but rather, encourage them to go anyway, discover the meal, and comment on it themselves, without judging it based on its popularity or seniority.
Address
Yong Pin Restaurant 榕檳茶樓11-B & C, Jalan Sungai Ujong
10100 George Town, Penang
Phone: +60 4 261 1355
Opening Hours:
Morning: 6:00 am until 12:00 noon
Evening: 7:00 pm until 12:00 midnight
Closed on Mondays
Getting there
If you are coming down Sungai Ujong Road from Prangin Road (Jalan Dr Lim Chwee Leong), Yong Pin Restaurant is on your right.Yong Pin Restaurant is 
on the Map of Jalan Sungai Ujong, Penang
List of Dim Sum Restaurants in Penang
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