Ya Hoo - Logan City

As a Malaysian I can say I ventured around Asian restaurants to try out the Asians common and fav meal, chicken rice. I dare say they made one of the best chicken rice in Brisbane.

I dont get why this place doesnt get the score they deserve. We have been to almost every single malaysian resto in town, starting from malaya corner, malaysian makanan, sri mahkota, taste of penang, pappa rich, etc but me and my partner definitely agree that this resto is the absolute best. Everything taste better than even some popular hawkers in KL. The price is the cheapest aswell. Their laksa, ipor hofan and char kway teow are to die for. Seriously give it a go.

Reasonable Chinese Malaysian fare. Again as with most Chinese and Malaysian places - the food is so oily. The flavours are alright, but also with char kway teow and other noodle dishes, not enough seafood or meat. Prices are cheap.

This has got to be the MOST authentic Malaysian restaurant outside of Malaysia! The Nasi Goreng is just to die for. Same with Char Gway Teow. One of the great thing is they are very flexible -  you can order both of these dishes as vegetarian. They will swap out the meat with fried tofu, and not use the fish sauce. It still taste as great and authentic as the original.  It is now my go-to "vegetarian" restaurant. Give it a try!  Start with Char Gway Teow or Nasi Goreng!

So, I find myself back at Little Taipei. Hey, I ain't complaining since there is plenty more to try here and it has one of the most relaxing and low key atmospheres that is around. There is a real feeling to it, with the natural feel and the noise. This is upstairs, and since last time I have visited they now have signage out the front of the building indicating it is up there. Walking in, it is much the same with the design. The look and aesthetic of it is not the most visually appealing; it is a food court. Several stalls are in a line around the perimeter of the room, offering an eclectic mix of various Asian cuisines - in addition to Taiwanese, there is Japanese, Vietnamese, a bubble tea stall and various others that are more specialised. You are spoiled for choice with what to eat and drink. It looks a lot like the hawker stalls in Singapore with how specific they can get and the basic appearence of it all, down to having TVs around the place playing movies and anime. With my elder sister, her husband, and the two daughters, I went along with her to meet one of her former professors (whom I found out during the meal time is signed up to Urbanspoon/Zomato herself - she just doesn't use it as frequently as others) at Market Square. Because this is a fairly easy place to find, and one of the better places in Market Square to get a car park, it was decided to use it as a meeting spot. Like any visit to Market Square, Sunny Park or the adjacent places, it is best done on the fly with what looks the best. Since it is almost all the same kind of cost, and competition is a bit aggressive, just go around and compare - see what looks good at the moment. With my sister and her professor, they decided to go to what seems to be the mainstay - Ya Hoo. Well, if something were to be top dog it would deserve that spot with ease. With the service, to consider this is a mere food court I would certainly give some credit. Instead of being bellowed at from behind the counter, they come and find you instead. It might have had a bit of surliness behind it, though the delivery was fantastic. What also hurts in no way is just how quickly everything is able to be delivered, cooked fresh from behind the yellow curtain with litle but a couple of woks. The menu is a collection of 30 different, eclectic dishes from Malaysia ranging from many kinds of classics to more modern twists and supplying rice-based ones, noodle dishes, soups, hawker snacks and some of them are even complete meals served with salads, bowls of rice, and garnishes including sambal olek and a boiled egg. This is nothing pretentious in the least; it is out-and-out being an honest hawker stall. This was where my sister and her professor went. For the latter, she opted to get a beef rendang and for her eldest daugther, a char kway teow without chili. Conveniently, the professor went for the curry laksa which was the secondary order she wanted. In conjunction to me getting some items from somewhere else, all of the items were put into the middle of the table and shared around. That truly adds to the whole experience, and made me enjoy it a lot more. All of it was really delicious, and the portion sizes - these are generous, substantially filling and cost mere pocket money. There is a reason all the university exchange students love this place and keep coming back. If I were just down the road I might have already breezed through the entire menu. Getting to them though, the beef rendang was fantastic. This was a full meal, with a bowl of rice, a bowl of broth, some salad with creamy dressing and half an egg topped with sambal olek. This for less than $10 is impossible to argue with. The meat in the curry was tender, and the sauce covering it was brilliant - not super spicy, a good amount of coconut mixed in a fair bit thick. Even the salad on the side is good, really fresh and everything. Beef rendang is another one of the great dishes in the world, and this proves it further. Char kway teow ought need not have an introduction either, it is among Malaysia's best meals (though that list is really long). A big plate of thick egg noodles doused in soy sauce and belachan then mixed in with an array of all kinds of items: barbecue pork, bok choy, prawns and bean sprouts. All of it just mixes in together, making a robust dish that is never the same two mouthfuls in a row. This was not exception either - hot, delicious, and the serving size was substantial. Another classic, another winner. Three in a row, and score for the laksa. This is how you make a laksa. There were bit bits of tofu in it, that were absorbing both the spicy broth and its coconut cream base making it tender and moreish. The broth was just the right area of spicy, where it wasn't burning your mouth but it gave you a bit of sweat. Also in it were tender bits of chicken, and two kinds of noodle - a really thin one, and one that was probably regular thickness - but seemed thick in comparison. The amount of these was ample, and they were al dente. I'm no expert in laksa, but I do reckon that they put a whole lot of effort with cooking it, or the chef was just so skilled. This was one that was given due care as a wholesome, self-contained meal and I give it a big seal of approval. Let's say a highlight of going here was stumbling upon a fellow Zomato member. Market Square and Sunny Park are great places to go and have a ****-shoot upon finding a new place, as there are many, they are diverse and stumbling upon a great find is highly likely. Well, think of Little Taipei as that hidden treasure trove among it all, and it is getting off the beaten track. No matter what is chosen here, each time and place is going to share the charms and have their own character to prove it.