Hidden in a very dated coffeeshop, lies this stall that sells old school traditional beef noodles and Yong tau foo. Their Yong Tau Foo is pretty unique, as you don't get to choose what ingredients you want and you live it to what the hawker has that day! For just $3, you get a variety of ingredients, with a bowl of noodles. The noodles were already good on its own, due to the lard used 😍 the yong tau foo ingredients were fresh and very old school tasting! You probably won't get such good quality with such prices anywhere else!
Took me three attempts before I got to enjoy the Hakka yong tau foo at “The Beef House” coffeeshop in Syed Alwi. The stall which is named after what it sells, is linked to the beef stall next to it, and on my first two visits, had either sold out or was closed.
It opens daily (except for Fridays according to Google Maps) at 7am, so by the time I arrived at 11.15am last Monday, the yong tau foo looked quite visibly reduced to anxious me. And the moderately long queue which was already in place, ended up stretching out onto the pavement by the time I got my food about half an hour later. My advice: Reach early to avoid disappointment.
But was it worth the wait? I believe so.
There is nothing fancy about the Hakka Yong Tau Fu here because it looks a little rough around the edges but it is its old-school taste that’s the big draw for me.
Not that you get to choose but the variety of items on offer (which is impressive considering the hawker doesn’t seem to have any assistants) is divided into those best enjoyed dry and those meant to be served in soup. Every piece of YTF I got tasted fresh and was appetisingly seasoned. My order of two large portions for TH and I cost only $10 which is a steal. I did think the serving of noodles was a bit on the modest side but the yong tau foo certainly wasn’t. In the bowls of soup were a generous amount of soya beans too, something I consider important for the proper enjoyment of this dish.
While eating, we were already in discussion about our next visit. That should say plenty about how good the food here is, right? 😊.
Elite but visit at your own risk. I always found the estrangement between old and new Singapore sharpened in hawker culture. New Singapore is orderly and mechanical, old Singapore is informal and spontaneous. So you get customers who struggle to order in Mandarin/dialect, you get confusion in the system, and other angst. This coffeeshop is a classic example. They're very busy, they have no structured ordering, they allow callers to jump the queue, and they're one of those notorious hawkers who take liberty with your order, which is neither a good nor bad thing lah. My queue took half an hour although there were only five customers ahead. There, it splits into beef noodle and yong tau foo - and they seem to inter-cook! Both stalls would serve you what's left or what's convenient - that's how we ended up with ytf mee kia. On the food, the balls and soup were first-class. Balls were plump, flavourful and juicy. Soup was so sweet it demanded respect. I think they used the same soup but the sliced beef gave its soup a meatier profile. Although this beef was inferior to the balls, its texture was unique. The noodles and Hakka minced meat were good too.
However, when I was there at 12.30pm on a Saturday, they were completely sold out. So, I just ordered what was left - Beef Ball Soup and Noodles [$4].
Because it was not planned, those 2 dishes certainly caught me by surprise. Firstly, the beef balls tasted springy with strong umami. The owner makes them by hand everyday and I can assure you their taste is completely different from any beef ball you buy outside. Secondly, unlike the usual MSG soup from many noodle shops in Singapore, the soup here was very refreshing. It was a clear soup but it had good concentrated flavours. Lastly, the noodles were thin, chewy with a strong onion taste. It may not be suitable for everyone but I certainly liked it as it paired well with the beef balls.
Overall, I may not have gotten to eat the famous Hakka Yong Tau Foo set there but the Beef Ball Soup and Noodles were definitely not subpar. In fact, they were so tasty now I wonder how good the Yong Tau Foo is that it overshadows the success of these 2 dishes. I shall return another day, albeit earlier to make sure I try them. -Foodier✌🏻
This corner stall located along Syed Alwi Road is famous for 3 things, their Hakka Beef Ball Bee Hoon Soup, Hakka Yong Tau Foo and Hakka Beef Kway Teow.
Although I’ve never tried the latter, I must admit both their Yong tau foo and homemade beef balls are seriously good. Their beef balls are dense with a nice chew to it. The flavour is legit and tastes miles better from what you typically get from factory-made ones. For one, you can actually taste the beef in the ball. They’re also really massive which is a major plus too!
With or without the noodles, the price tag of this set remains the same. The number of decently sized yong tau foo pieces (beancurd, bitter gourd, mushroom, fish and pork balls, fried wanton and wuxiang) is totally dependent on your luck as it can hover between 6 to 8 of them. The springy noodles were tossed in pork lard and topped with minced pork. So yum! Definitely missed this old school taste/ 古早味!
According to my mom, you might be delighted to find dried oyster wrapped with meat if you were to join the morning crowd!
Two things I love about this bowl are the clean flavours the soup — not overly salty but still packs a punch with the right balance of umami and sweetness — and how imperfect each piece is. Just look at the fishball, it's not perfectly rounded, it's rough on the edges, but all these are the epitome of a good hand-made YTF. Oh...and one more thing, maybe two, there's nothing factory-made here and they're very generous with the greens. Food for the soul. Ok, that's all.
This bowl of noodles was found in a stall in a really old school coffeeshop, and we waited like for 20 minutes before ours came. This stall owner sells beef kuay Teow, Hakka Yong tau foo and the bee hoon soup. The Yong tau foo uses a special kind of noodle that resembles in between Mee Pok and Mee Kia, and it was pretty delicious! Okay back to the bee hoon soup, the handmade beef balls were fresh and full of flavor. The taste for the soup was light but might be too light for others. They also have two different chilis and the beef version was really good! They are usually sold out by 1pm though they are to be open till 5pm!
