Taking Steamboat to a new High

First published in Options, The Edge, March 28, 2016

Fine ingredients and a choice of original broths provide for a premium steamboat experience

Yezi has taken steamboat to new heights, literally, with its setting on the top of an office tower block with a view of PJ’s suburbs. On stepping in, large ornate lanterns, cozy booths, marble topped tables, Moon gates, Chinese paintings, waiters garbed in red stiff-necked coats and that view, all impress the Chinese imperial theme.

Yezi offers broths and choice ingredients that distance it from its roadside brethren.  There are several original broths on offer, with varying prices - Imperial Canton Broth, Aromatic Taiwanese Beef Spicy Broth, Fragrant Shao Xing Wine Seafood Broth, Wild Forest Truffle Mushroom Broth and the Original Yezi Broth.

The original Yezi broth (Rm48, refillable), made with coconut water, water chestnut and bamboo shoots, recommended itself as the restaurant is named after this (“Yezi” means Coconut).  Organic Chicken (Rm20 for half, Rm30 for whole) can be added to the broth.

The broth is naturally sweet from the ingredients, and it’s light and clear. There’s also the dipping sauce, a sweetish soy sauce which can be customized with the addition of ground dried chili, and ground sand ginger (cekur), which imparts a distinctive fragrance reminiscent of Thai or nyonya food, as cekur features readily in those cuisines.  It adds an element of discernment and finesse to the meal.  Home-made chili sauce is also available for its raw punch.

We started with a variety of appetisers. The Salt and Pepper Mushroom (Rm12) was a simple delight of mushroom pieces coated in batter and deep fried, the result being crunchy, tasty and not at all oily, while the Coconut Bacon (Rm15) was a discovery that smooth coconut pieces complement bacon fat quite well in texture. 

The Octopus Cake (Rm10) was less successful, like dense and heavy fish cake, best taken with chili sauce. The Garlic Chili Fried Prawns (Rm25) were caked in a bright chili powder, but the prawns were fresh and bouncy beneath that red coating.

Our solicitous waiter scooped in a variety of the Homemade Balls, each in a tray of 4:  Black Truffle Balls (Rm24), Wagyu Beef Balls (Rm18), Mui Choy Pork Balls (Rm12) and Yam Shrimp Balls (Rm16).  After boiling a while in the clear coconut-organic chicken broth, we scooped them out to sample, either with that fragrant dipping sauce, or chili sauce.

Generally, the meat balls were fresh, bouncy and flavor-some, but I couldn’t distinguish the Black Truffle balls, although the beef balls were distinctive because of their colour and general denseness – beefy and burly, and chewier than the others. The Yam Shrimp balls, with bits of yam embedded within, tasted better than it sounds, being light and textured, while the Mui Choi Balls were too mild for me to tell whether these were truffle balls or mui choi balls. For the more delicate meats, the dipping sauce was more appropriate, enhancing the flavor, while the stronger beef balls were better with the chili sauce.

Prawn paste (Rm20) was scooped out from a bamboo container into the broth, and proved to be smooth and pleasing.  Pork neck meat (Rm16) was presented in paper-thin slivers with an edge of fat, to be quickly dipped into the boiling broth for a mild, light treat, while the Spanish Black Pig (Rm26), darker and more heavily marbled with fat, possessed a more robust flavor.

We had some organic vegetables, with young, tender portions of the Chinese Cabbage and Spinach (Rm10 each) making for sweet, tender eating with none of the fibrousness of older vegetable portions. By now the soup had acquired the flavor of the various meats cooked in it and had a more substantial, heartier taste, with the underlying sweetness.

We ordered the Seafood Noodles (Rm24) at the waiter’s recommendation, and it was, again, light and sweet, with small cut portions of seafood and beansprouts.

For dessert, we had the Coconut Ice Cream (Rm10), each portion served in a half-coconut shell, and the Coconut with Avocado (Rm25). The ice cream was very good, though not on par with those coconut ice-cream specialty cafes, while the latter, which had sago pearls in a thick, pale cream, was lovely – soothing, smooth and mild, with the hint of avocado and coconut.

Yezi serves steamboat with a difference. The food is fine and fresh, with an emphasis on organic or semi-organic ingredients.  Combined with the original broth and the regal ambiance, it elevates steamboat dining to being light and healthy, yet hearty.

Yezi @The Roof,

First Avenue Sky Floor,

Bandar Utama, 47800 Petaling Jaya

Tel: 03-03-8605 3388/ 012-323 5841

http://theroof.com.my/yezi
Business hours: Daily (5pm – 1am)