Cheap and Fresh Dishes @ Yoong Kee Restaurant, Bukit Mertajam

I have met one of my readers this morning and she was asking me that why the things I blogged lately were so unpopular, not like PenangTuaPui‘s blog which always blogs on things which are commonly known. I explained to her that if I were to blog about the famous and common food I won’t be anything different from them. Eventually people will not come to my site since almost everyone blogs about the same thing. She even asked me if I get any advertising fee from the stall or restaurant owners which I have blogged for. Well, I enjoy eating and I love food. I don’t mind to share my experience with everyone rather than getting paid for what I blogged for.

Today I am going to explore Bukit Mertajam and this territory has not been explored by many floggers. There are many good eateries at Bukit Mertajam and one of the them is just near to the wet market at Jalan Pasar off Jalan Bunga Raya. The name of this place is called Yoong Kee Restaurant.

According to the local people here, they start to have their dinner as early as 5pm and by 11pm they will be already in their bedroom having fun. I am not sure how true it is but by the time I arrived there by 7pm this place is already packed.

This restaurant is just located opposite “White Man” (白人) Rojak Bukit Mertajam. You are allowed to dine at the kopitiam which serves White Man Rojak while order the food from Yoong Kee Restaurant from the opposite road.

“White Man” Rojak was published in a local newspaper with their secret recipe “shrimp paste” (rojak sauce).

I could not see any “White Man” at the stall when I ordered rojak.

We had rojak as appetiser before we started our meal. Other than the usual mixed fruit they also mixed with deep-fried dough sticks which I felt it has spoilt the rojak’s taste as the dough sticks had strong oily taste.

After 5 minutes of waiting, finally our dishes arrived. Our first dish was the red snapper cooked in bean sauce mixed with spicy and sour flavour. This particular type of fish is fresh water fish and not everyone knows how to get rid of the muddy smell from these fish. However, the chef managed to get rid of the smell by cooking it with ginger and garlic. This is one of the many ways to eliminate muddy smell and to bring out the freshness of the fish.

Our second dish was the steamed white promphet in “Teow Chew” style. The fish was steamed with tomato and also salted vegetables. The sweetness and the tenderness of the fish shows that the fish is very fresh like just caught from the sea.

The next dish, Fried Chinese leek flower with bean curd. The side ingredients included prawn and squids. This dish is simple yet the taste is nice and it complements the taste of all the fish and meat that we had.

Next is winged bean (four-angled bean or kacang botol) fried with prawns in spicy and sour flavour. Another simple yet nice dish. 

Minced meat steamed with tomato and ginger with additional garlic sprinkled on top. This tasted like our usual home cooked dish.

All together there were 5 dishes with 2 x fresh fish, 2 x vegetables and a minced meat and it only came up to RM110 for 6 pax. You could only get this price in Bukit Mertajam, if it were in Penang, it would have cost us RM150 and above.



Overall the food here is acceptable, the fish are all very fresh and they are good at preparing it. The vegetables and meat are very normal and give us the “mom’s cooking” feel. For fresh food at affordable price, this is the place that you must visit.

Operation hours: 10:00am – 12:00(midnight), rest at 3pm – 6pm
Contact: 04-539 8764 (Mr. Seah)

Editor’s Review (5 Stars Rank):

Taste
Price
Food Presentation
Service
Overall

Wikimapia’s GPS location link and map:

http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=5.3625156&lon=100.4604328&z=17&l=0&m=m&v=2

23 thoughts on “Cheap and Fresh Dishes @ Yoong Kee Restaurant, Bukit Mertajam”

  1. wah… dun need to step on us la……. i know we are covering all those popular one nia……no uniqueness….. 🙁

    so kek sim la… ppl talk like that……. so sad……

    can some one say something.. feel so sad la…..

    need some one to manja liao….. hee hee……

  2. No.1, I am so with you on the originality part! Never never compare yourself with the other floggers, you will end up being someone else:)
    And Steven Goh is famous with his own style;)

    No.2, hehehe…correction, I also just blogged about a unique laksa found in Bukit Mertajam (but it originated from Kulim lar)…:P

  3. PenangTuaPui, don’t be sad lar…..Steven was not making you guys feel sad…or step on you. I’m sure he must have felt demeaned when his reader asked him why he didn’t write like you guys…so see, you guys were also pretty popular:)

    Hehehe…happier now? Kut ci kut ci…smile:P)

  4. Steven, don’t feel down and sad. I find your blog interesting since day one. I remember well at that time, I was the only person in the group that you link up with and also the one that commented on your blog.

    And now after joining the group in the gathering, you have made many friends and most of them have started to comment on your blog and link up with you. And I’m glad you click well with Criz and Allen. That is a good sign…so don’t think so much and don’t compare as each individual blogger has his/her own style of blogging. Be yourself!!!

    Happy blogging 🙂

  5. I think each of us have our own ‘unique’ in our blog… (if you observe clearly). Frankly, nothing to be upset or sad due to such comment. As what you all said the Penang Food Bloggers Community is supporting each other!! Right???

    BTW, Steve, BM is a nice which I’ve yet to explore, and it does give me some kind of memory too! 🙂

  6. allie, that is what I think too.

    PenangTuaPui, I didn’t mean to put you down. Just that I boh song my reader is taking your blog as standard and ask me to follow your style and therefore have to clarify. Pai Seh ah.

    Cristy, thanks for understanding. Moreover, you also fight until BM already?

    CK, thanks for the support. I didn’t feel down on this, just wanna find ways to improve my blogging skill, may be the skill of taking pictures or writing style should be improved.

    NKOTB, thanks for supporting too. Btw congradulation on the FP program. Well done 🙂 I am looking forward to be like you too.

  7. ya… i understand how it feel when ppl ask u to be someone else…

    I also saja manja la…… since u talk like that ma…..

    hee hee……. everyone got our own way of writing… your reader might not like the way we write the blog also….

    dun worry and dun think too much…. hee hee

  8. Just take readers comment as a common conversation. Don’t take it serious. We are talking the common language here which is food. It doesn’t matter how we write or present. Never compare what you are doing with others. You will just feel stress out for that reason.

    Your blog have its own specialty also. You are covering those place which are only known by locals. I like that ! Keep it up …..

  9. Ken, thanks for the advice. I am glad to get such a good advise from the guru. Btw, I just met your partner – Stephen at Esplanade.

    PenangTuaPui, wah… 3 comments at the same post. I don’t know should feel happy and honour to have you here or should I beware that you will step me down. LOL.

  10. Steven : my food tester Daniel you mean? That fella can really eat and have a big appetite. hahaha ……..

    Steven and PTP ….. let’s bury this ….. we are here to talk about food. As long as you think you are doing the right thing according to your direction, then it is fine. Heck care with what people say ….. If the restaurant owner comment … that we shall debate …. is what we are blogging for …. if reader comment on some issue … you can create a poll ask the rest of your readers what shall you do next ? whether to change or to maintain ….. This is my 5 lui …. Ang moh 2 cents …. we hokkien lang ma …. hahaha

  11. Both fished look so pity, open the mouth crying for HELP~~~~~

    I tried the rojak before the, but i forgot whether is white man or black man. they have 2, just opposite each other.

    Hmmmm, why PTP never come to my blog and leave more than 1 time comment in one post ar? Hmmmmm, I also want to get someone to manja liao…. Kekekekeke. LOL.

  12. You have mentioned “You could only get this price in Bukit Mertajam, if it were in Penang it would have cost…”. My question is – Isn’t Bukit Mertajam in Penang as well?? Would you be more sensitive and kindly refrain from discriminating between Penang island and mainland. The Penang that you mentioned,which part does it refer to? Is it George Town, Batu Ferringhi or Bayan Lepas. I’m sure prices would differ in these three towns as well. Penang is a state and not only an island! Please!

  13. Oh Please SAZ, are you being over-sensitive? From this you have explicitly shown that you are the one who are discriminating BM yourself.

    I believe the floggger has no intention to discriminate BM. Perhaps the flogger should have used “Penang Island” rather than “Penang” itself, but honest to say, who cares about the tiny difference? When you say BM, people would have already known that it is in the mainland and not on the island.

    I’m not sure which sentence has the flogger shown discrimination on BM. To me, the flogger is just merely making a price comparison between BM and Penang island. If you were him, how would you have compared instead? Would you say like the price in Penang mainland is cheaper than in Penang Island? Again this would create another never-ending controversy topic.

    It does not matter what word the flogger used. No matter how he compared it would create sensitivity to some people. It is already known to everyone that Penang consists of the island and the mainland. We all know that BM is in the mainland. But to distinguish it, of course one would have to mention it as BM rather than Penang, right?

    You just can’t change the perception of the majority of the Penangites that Penang refers to the island rather than the mainland. Even my colleagues from the mainland would refer Penang as the island. But so what? No one is saying that BM is not part of Penang?

  14. SAZ, thanks for your “comment”. First of all, I would like to clarify that the CHEAP word I am referring to in my post is about food and not people or the place. I love cheap food and because of this I have come out with this blog. Moreover our economy at this current situation is so bad, it so essential to get cheap and good deal.

    If you have ever finished reading my post, you would have realised that I never mentioned that BM is not part of Penang. Moreover you have mentioned in your comment that “The Penang that you mentioned, which part does it refer to? Is it George Town, Batu Ferringhi or Bayan Lepas…”. My question is – Isn’t Batu Ferringhi part of Penang? Where is your sensitivity at this point? Are you trying to discriminate between Georgetown and Batu Ferringhi?

  15. If I’m not mistaken, this blog is about food rite? What’s the big deal of using the word ‘cheap’? Who doesn’t like to go for nice, fresh, reasonable & affordable food? I do agree that prices of food in George Town, Batu Ferringhi or Bayan Lepas are different but it will be more expensive than Bukit Mertajam, Penang! Even the prices in Balik Pulau are more expensive than the food in Bukit Mertajam, Penang! I would be proud to tell my friends or people that I know that I’ve came across this place & the food are really good, affordable, bla bla bla… If someone comes to me and tell me BM, by default I would think of Bukit Mertajam, Penang and NOT Batu Maung… We are talking bout food not place not people… Why so “emo” bout it? Chill ler~

  16. “Everyone loves food and food brings people together.” That’s what it should be by sharing the same “muhibbah” spirit.

    Coming back to the topic of Leong Kee, I would say that the price is fairly below average. the two main dishes (Tilapia and White Promfret) would have taken the whole bulk from the total cost.

    http://crizfood.blogspot.com/

  17. Pingback: Trip to Malaysia 2004

  18. We usually go to the smaller shop next door. We called it “Ah Kao”. They have the freshest “tau te” (I think called pompfret?), steam in teo chew style, and nice fried eggplant topped with minced pork. We tried yong kee once when “Ah Kao” closed, the fish we had is not fresh. (according to my hubby standard, who eat fish head). Maybe because they know we are not regular there… :).

  19. Pingback: Teochew Food @ Yoong Kee Eating Shop, BM | What2See : Best of Penang Food!

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