Paper wrapped chicken in Restoran Leong Ya Indah

I used to watch the 8TV programme – Ho Chiak! or Ho Chak! (as its horribly translated from Hokkien) – and remembered one episode where they featured a shop selling paper wrapped chicken in Balakong/Seri Kembangan. Today, I was in the area and decided to look for this shop.

The shop is called Restoran Leong Ya Indah and its located in Jalan Dagang 4/1 Seri Kembangan. This coffee shop is located opposite the Mines Shopping Centre (across the flyover) and is within a business centre. If you drive around the rows of shops, you will see that there are 3 shops called Leong Ya. I’m not quite sure if they are all the same but something tells me it is.

One says Restoran Leong Ya Indah and its a corner coffee shop on Jalan Dagang 4/1. Another proclaims itself as Restoran Yong Thau Foo Leong Ya and says that it “Caters to bus tour groups” and yet another is a smaller air-conditioned Restoran Leong Ya. I ended up at the one called Leong Ya Indah because we felt it was probably the one featured on tv.

The speciality here is the paper-wrapped chicken. At RM2.40 per piece I’d say it is fairly priced because paper wrapped chicken usually retails for about RM3 elsewhere.

The chicken pieces are not too small. We ended up with a chicken wing and a portion of the breast. It looked succulent and yummy on tv, but I felt that it was a let down in real life. The chicken was oily (that’s quite normal) but it wasn’t served piping hot and the gravy had congealed a bit. It was also very salty and not very fragrant. I prefer the one at Soo Kee Mee in Jalan Imbi despite the fact its overpriced.

We also had a Yin Yong Hor Fun (Cantonese fried rice noodles) and a Yong Chow Fried Rice both RM5 for a 1 person portion. The portion size was quite substantial and we were recommended the Hor Fun as the house specialty.

The Hor Fun was not too bad. There was a hint of Shao Xing Chiu or wine in it that gave it a fragrant smell and taste. The fried rice on the other hand, though well fried, only tasted salty and rather bland.

We also had Yong Tau Foo which I thought was pricey at RM0.80 per piece. This is because it did not taste exceptional. The pieces of Yong Tau Foo came on a plate with some gravy on it which again, tasted salty but otherwise not very special.

I noticed that there was a Ho Chiak! sticker over the cashier which confirmed this as the restaurant featured in the tv programme. The lunch crowd looked substantial, consisting mostly of office workers from the area. Service was relatively quick and they do serve other dishes as I saw other diners savouring dishes other than what I highlighted, although every table did have at least one of the abovementioned dishes.

Would I go back? I don’t think so. I found the food too mediocre to merit driving all the way there to sample. I love the Yong Tau Foo at Jalan Peel which I will feature soon and as I said, I much prefer the paper-wrapped chicken at Soo Kee Mee in Jalan Imbi, despite its price. If I’m in the Balakong/Seri Kembangan area during lunch or dinner, I might eat here again, but not in a hurry.

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