M Yong Tofu

There is a bit of a laksa war happening in Flemington. I wrote a post earlier this year that referenced the laksa wars, stating that my preference was for Laksa King. It seems I was ill-informed, Kenny from Consider the Sauce, who is a bit of a Inner-West guru rebutted I could not make that call until I had tried M Yong Tofu. I always rise to a challenge.

M Yong Tofu is around the corner from the other laksa joints in Flemington, on Racecourse Road. The restaurant is very casual, possibly the reason I had walked past about a zillion times but never dined there. They do take bookings and on the night we went to try the laksa I was very glad I had booked because the restaurant was full. Having said that, they did turn the tables over quickly and no one was left waiting for long.

One does need to be fairly comfortable with close interpersonal space at M Yong Tofu, the tables are barely sidling room apart. If you are a bit of an eavesdropper (as I am) there is so much potential to find out about your neighbouring table. Probably not really a venue for a first date.

The service is very friendly albeit a bit sloppy. We were given menus and made our choices quickly but then the tables close by, seated after us, had their orders taken first. The table next to us had barely even opened their menus when the waitress appeared. We then had to ask 3 different people four times for water. Much was forgiven when the food arrived though.

Lobak ($6.50) is a Malaysian style of sausage roll – lightly spiced mince wrapped in fried bean curd. M Yong Tofu’s version had just the right level of spice with a light, crispy coating.

The Roti Chanai with Satay Sauce ($5.00) was not as light and flaky as some but the satay was crowd-pleasing; rich and peanutty without overpowering chilli heat.

I simply had to get Traditional curry laksa ($10.80) and it was very very good. A generous serve of chicken, vegetables and noodles with an excellent laksa base. Compared to the competing venues the soup here is more savoury with fragrant spices and a lot less coconut milk sweetness. 

My love chose the dish after which the restaurant is named Yong Tofu ($12). Effectively a soup smorgasbord, you have the option of tom yum, chicken or curry soup with your choice of noodles and a range of dumpling style additions of which you select six from a glass cabinet.

My Love opted for fish-stuffed eggplant, prawn dumpling, deep fried pork and prawn dumpling, Chinese donut, tofu puff, and bitter gourd. The flavour of the soup was excellent and the range of flavours from the different morsels made for a varied and interesting dish. I had a bit of food envy.

The menu is full of photographs of the food, and after that first visit I had to return soon to try the Yam Ring Chicken ($22.80)

This was described as having taro, chicken, basil, garlic and onions. Now taro and yam come from the same family but are not the same thing. Regardless, I don’t care what the giant deep fried ring of earthy goodness was, all I know is that it was astonishingly good. A giant vegetable doughnut encasing a fresh chicken stirfry – how have I got this far in life without it? The root vegetable (yam/taro?) filling was light and fluffy and the crunchy outer coating so crisp and light that you could easily forget you were eating your own body weight in deep-fried delight.

More than my own body weight…because the next dish was deep fried too.

My sister-in-law is from Malaysia and one of the dishes she introduced me to is Crispy Oat King Prawns ($22.80). When I have had them with her, the prawns have been flash fried and served with the oat mixture. These ones were battered and deep fried first. My Love was in artery-clogging heaven but they were a little much for me. Having said that the prawns were large and beautifully cooked – fresh and juicy. And the slightly sweet buttery oat coating was en pointe.

Again the service was a little haphazard but I think many of the staff are members of the family. Family-owned restaurants are becoming pretty scare so I really don’t mind slightly disjointed service when it is so warm and the food so very good and affordable.

Alright, I know you are dying to tell me…where else do I need to try for laksa?