The name Siew Yok! quickly caught my attention when I came across their Facebook page. It was newly opened, and it specializes in siew yok (roast pork) - as a pork lover, I had to unleash the pig in me as it can't say no to such food. Restoran Siew Yok! is located at SS23, Taman Sea (nearby Taman Megah), not too far away from Ming Tien food court and Fatty Crab.
When I first arrived, I already began to like this place, everything seems to be done correctly and thought of - e.g. specializes in siew yok, the use Facebook to reach out, the big red Siew Yok! signage that attracts you in, the clean airy restaurant, and the descriptive pamphlets that educate customers about the value and quality of their ingredients. It's good to know that they'd actually put so much special care into preparing these MSG-less foods.
Having siew yok here is like fine-dining steak, instead of choosing medium-rare, medium-well or well-done, you'll get to choose how your siew yok ends up! It comes in 3 skin textures: the Yellow Gold, Black Gold and Melting Gold - the level of crunchiness decreases from left to right with different textures and tastes. This is really something new to me!
According to them, a standard sized pig yields about 5 - 6kg of pork belly out of which, the most premium section, which has a thickness ranging between 2.5cm to 3.5cm is the most suitable siew yok. This premium section has a streaky pattern of alternating layers of fat and meat which yields superior roast meat. Then, each piece of siew yok is cut to a size that allows optimal enjoyment and satisfaction.
The Yellow Gold (RM 13.50), yellowish full bodied crunch for those who like to munch on a thicker crispy skin texture. The skin has a thick tasty crackle roast while retaining the succulent and juiciness of the pork. Yellow Gold is definitely my favorite!
Dark Gold (RM 13.50), a longer roast blackish gold skin that gives a bitter sweet finish to the siew yok.
Melting Gold (RM 13.50), reddish gold with softer crisp and a melting finish. Indeed, the Melting Gold wasn't as crispy as the rest but each roast variation has its own offerings in terms of skin textures and finishing tastes.
Char siew (bbq pork) comes in 3 flavors too - savory sweet (the classic darker look), sweet (with a hint of premium Chinese wine), and spicy (tangy and sweet Thai style). We had the savory sweet (RM 13.50) char siew, it was sweet, juicy and tender. Some might not like such char siew at all, it is different from the usual caramelized charred skin char siew. Nevertheless, it was refreshingly different, you can picked up the slight hint of Chinese wine used.
You'll need some rice or noodle to go along with those delicious siew yoke. The aromatic fragrant rice steamed with shallot oil (RM 2.50) and served with Chinese cabbage. According to them, they used premium fragrant rice and sunflower oil to prepare the shallot, this is to ensure healthier food and not too greasy. To me, the rice was just plain okay. It wasn't steaming warm enough for me and wasn't as tasty as the yellow chicken rice type.
Egg noodles (RM 3), lightly seasoned and made in-house with no preservatives and coloring. According to them again, they don't use any kan sui (lye-water) which many 'egg' noodle makers add to give noodle its yellow color. Kan sui has an alkaline taste which is why regular 'egg' noodles are drowned in thick black soy sauce to mask that taste. Instead, they've stuck to the tradition by using eggs and their egg noodles are made daily and contain no preservatives. Well, it does taste like home-made for sure and it was too plain for my liking. Usually, I don't enjoy plain rice or noodle, but somehow it combines perfectly with the strong tasting siew yok. Maybe it was meant that way, so it'll amplify the siew yok's taste and wouldn't overshadow it.
Green tea infused noodles (RM 4) served with lots of coriander leaves.
It tasted pretty much like the normal egg noodles, the green tea was very mild and hardly tasted any.
The chili sauce for dipping was gooooood! According to them, it contains no vinegar and hence it is not of a watery consistency. Instead, they use lemon juice for that wonderful citrus flavor that goes very well with the siew yok.
Just when I thought the chili sauce was good enough, the boss offered me their special sauce. It was mind blowing! The citrus tangy sauce with the siew yok was a match made in heaven and it was addictive-ly spicy!
Kai lan (RM 8.50), steamed kai lan with oyster sauce and fried garlic.
Mongol ribs (RM 9), pork ribs wrapped in sweet and tangy Mongolian sauce. Even though the ribs wasn't too tender but it was somewhat addictive - the marination sauce was simply awesome!
Apart from siew yok and char siew, they do have other side dishes like braised pork, beef briskets, roast duck and steamed fish.
Verdict: One of the best and professional looking siew yok I've had in a clean comfortable environment. Well, at least you don't have to go all the way down to Pudu, fight for a table, wait for half an hour and pay a premium for good tasting siew yok. I'll definitely be back for these magnificent siew yok!
Oct 2010: In my second visit, I noticed there is a change in their menu with few more added dishes. There is also an improvement in their egg noodles. It is tastier now since they used the braised pork gravy as the noodle sauce.
Jun 2011: Restoran Siew Yok! has moved to Kota Damansara! Hopefully they'll make it there.
Apr 2012: Found out that they are no longer operating in Kota Damansara anymore. Closed? That's sad.
Old Address:
25 (G/F),
Jalan SS23/15, Taman Sea,
47400 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor
New Address:
27-1, Jalan PJU 5/18,
Dataran Sunway,
Kota Damansara,
47810 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor
Tel: 019-212 5866
Business Hours: Opens every Tuesdays - Sundays from 11am - 2pm and 6:30pm - 9.30pm
Pork Free: No
Taste:
Value:
GPS: 3.116840, 101.613342
Map:
View Eat Lah Food Map in a larger map
When I first arrived, I already began to like this place, everything seems to be done correctly and thought of - e.g. specializes in siew yok, the use Facebook to reach out, the big red Siew Yok! signage that attracts you in, the clean airy restaurant, and the descriptive pamphlets that educate customers about the value and quality of their ingredients. It's good to know that they'd actually put so much special care into preparing these MSG-less foods.
Having siew yok here is like fine-dining steak, instead of choosing medium-rare, medium-well or well-done, you'll get to choose how your siew yok ends up! It comes in 3 skin textures: the Yellow Gold, Black Gold and Melting Gold - the level of crunchiness decreases from left to right with different textures and tastes. This is really something new to me!
According to them, a standard sized pig yields about 5 - 6kg of pork belly out of which, the most premium section, which has a thickness ranging between 2.5cm to 3.5cm is the most suitable siew yok. This premium section has a streaky pattern of alternating layers of fat and meat which yields superior roast meat. Then, each piece of siew yok is cut to a size that allows optimal enjoyment and satisfaction.
The Yellow Gold (RM 13.50), yellowish full bodied crunch for those who like to munch on a thicker crispy skin texture. The skin has a thick tasty crackle roast while retaining the succulent and juiciness of the pork. Yellow Gold is definitely my favorite!
Dark Gold (RM 13.50), a longer roast blackish gold skin that gives a bitter sweet finish to the siew yok.
Melting Gold (RM 13.50), reddish gold with softer crisp and a melting finish. Indeed, the Melting Gold wasn't as crispy as the rest but each roast variation has its own offerings in terms of skin textures and finishing tastes.
Char siew (bbq pork) comes in 3 flavors too - savory sweet (the classic darker look), sweet (with a hint of premium Chinese wine), and spicy (tangy and sweet Thai style). We had the savory sweet (RM 13.50) char siew, it was sweet, juicy and tender. Some might not like such char siew at all, it is different from the usual caramelized charred skin char siew. Nevertheless, it was refreshingly different, you can picked up the slight hint of Chinese wine used.
You'll need some rice or noodle to go along with those delicious siew yoke. The aromatic fragrant rice steamed with shallot oil (RM 2.50) and served with Chinese cabbage. According to them, they used premium fragrant rice and sunflower oil to prepare the shallot, this is to ensure healthier food and not too greasy. To me, the rice was just plain okay. It wasn't steaming warm enough for me and wasn't as tasty as the yellow chicken rice type.
Egg noodles (RM 3), lightly seasoned and made in-house with no preservatives and coloring. According to them again, they don't use any kan sui (lye-water) which many 'egg' noodle makers add to give noodle its yellow color. Kan sui has an alkaline taste which is why regular 'egg' noodles are drowned in thick black soy sauce to mask that taste. Instead, they've stuck to the tradition by using eggs and their egg noodles are made daily and contain no preservatives. Well, it does taste like home-made for sure and it was too plain for my liking. Usually, I don't enjoy plain rice or noodle, but somehow it combines perfectly with the strong tasting siew yok. Maybe it was meant that way, so it'll amplify the siew yok's taste and wouldn't overshadow it.
Green tea infused noodles (RM 4) served with lots of coriander leaves.
It tasted pretty much like the normal egg noodles, the green tea was very mild and hardly tasted any.
The chili sauce for dipping was gooooood! According to them, it contains no vinegar and hence it is not of a watery consistency. Instead, they use lemon juice for that wonderful citrus flavor that goes very well with the siew yok.
Just when I thought the chili sauce was good enough, the boss offered me their special sauce. It was mind blowing! The citrus tangy sauce with the siew yok was a match made in heaven and it was addictive-ly spicy!
Kai lan (RM 8.50), steamed kai lan with oyster sauce and fried garlic.
Mongol ribs (RM 9), pork ribs wrapped in sweet and tangy Mongolian sauce. Even though the ribs wasn't too tender but it was somewhat addictive - the marination sauce was simply awesome!
Apart from siew yok and char siew, they do have other side dishes like braised pork, beef briskets, roast duck and steamed fish.
Verdict: One of the best and professional looking siew yok I've had in a clean comfortable environment. Well, at least you don't have to go all the way down to Pudu, fight for a table, wait for half an hour and pay a premium for good tasting siew yok. I'll definitely be back for these magnificent siew yok!
Oct 2010: In my second visit, I noticed there is a change in their menu with few more added dishes. There is also an improvement in their egg noodles. It is tastier now since they used the braised pork gravy as the noodle sauce.
Jun 2011: Restoran Siew Yok! has moved to Kota Damansara! Hopefully they'll make it there.
Apr 2012: Found out that they are no longer operating in Kota Damansara anymore. Closed? That's sad.
Old Address:
25 (G/F),
Jalan SS23/15, Taman Sea,
47400 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor
New Address:
27-1, Jalan PJU 5/18,
Dataran Sunway,
Kota Damansara,
47810 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor
Tel: 019-212 5866
Business Hours: Opens every Tuesdays - Sundays from 11am - 2pm and 6:30pm - 9.30pm
Pork Free: No
Taste:
Value:
GPS: 3.116840, 101.613342
Map:
View Eat Lah Food Map in a larger map
