SUBANG JAYA, May 6 — When it comes to your local neighbourhood coffee shop, it always pays to have a familiar face who eats there almost every week to guide you on where you should place your bets.

Away from the commercial Taipan area, these two rows of shophouses were once a desert for eateries but that has changed now, with loads of places where you can choose to sit down for a meal.

Opened since last year, Restoran Yum Cha has an impressive line-up of goodies, including kolo mee, pan mee, wantan mee, char kway teow, curry mee, chicken rice and even Chinese zhajiangmian and dumplings.

My friend picked two evergreen family favourites: tom yum fish head noodles and Thai braised pork leg noodles.

The fish head noodle stall offers the usual repertoire, ranging from fresh fish slices, deep fried fish and fish paste.

Customise your bowl with various broths: plain, milky, rice wine infused or the refreshing Thai tom yum.

The Tomyum Milky Fried Fish Noodles (RM15) beats all the others with its mouth watering spiciness and tanginess, making it incredibly drinkable to the last drop.

While the plain and milky broths are decent, even when accentuated with a liberal dose of rice wine from the plastic bottle, they lack the natural sweetness I crave in a fish head noodle bowl.

Their fish is exceptional because they take the trouble to source the freshest ingredients all the way from Klang.

Usually it’s mangrove snapper (kakap) or siakap, but occasionally it could be just the fresh catch of the day.

The mangrove snapper I tried had what I love in a good fish: smooth, moist flesh and thin skin.

Just for that, I would travel all the way here to savour the exceptional texture.

Even when fried, their fish retains a flaky texture that pairs well with the funky tom yum broth.

Complete your Thai adventure at the Yaowarat Khao Kha Moo stall, which sells braised pork leg with rice or noodles (RM13) plus kway chap with offal.

This stall is said to be a casual offshoot of the Royal Siam restaurant located in USJ9.

The usual pairing for this Thai favourite is rice, but try it with Thai noodles, where the rice flour strands have a slightly chewier texture.

Mix the chilli sauces on the side into your broth for an appetising tangy, spicy touch that gets your tastebuds salivating,

The braised pork hock has a soft, tender texture from long hours of cooking in a broth infused with herbs and spices.

Many have talked about this place’s char kway teow too so I had to sample it for myself.

This version appeals to those who like their noodles soft just on the brink of turning mushy, resulting in a moister bite rather than one packed with wok hei.

Leave some room for dessert at Amachi’s Palagaram which is now located a few doors away from the coffeeshop where a crispy brown appam with jaggery and fragrant masala tea is the perfect after-meal chaser.

Note that the fish head noodle and Khao Kha Moo stall is open for breakfast and lunch, while the restaurant continues till night time with a siu chow stall.

Restoran Yum Cha

2, Jalan USJ11/3J,

USJ11, Subang Jaya.

Tel: 011-35059827

Open: 6.30am to 10pm. Days off are not fixed.

* This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.

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