On a recent visit, a sister-in-law mentioned that Yoke Woo Hin Restaurant made way for the MRT project. Though I know about the project and its drastic effects on some old buildings, the news was shocking to me. It was renovated only a few years ago and we had enjoyed their excellent 'char siew'. I even had a chat with a young man (descendant of the original restaurateur) who was busy with his notebook at the cash counter. He more or less confirmed what I had been wondering before, that a Karate instructor, from Universiti Malaya when we had our lessons in TAR College, was his uncle.
Anyway, when my father retired, every morning he wanted us to take him to Petaling Street for breakfast, all the way from Jalan Ipoh! It was either Yoke Woo Hin or pork and fish porridge at Jalan Cecil. Because of the difficulty in finding parking space, sometimes, my brother and I took turns to eat! I can still remember the old waiter, 'Lou Ngau' (pronounced as 'hook' rather than 'bull' in Cantonese) who used to wear white Pagoda singlet and black kungfu pants. At the cash counter was the lady boss. Amounts called out to her were in the old fashioned 'Char chee liung' to mean '5 Ringgit' for example.
Original caption: One of the last ( if not the last ) 1920s era, Yoke Woo Hin Restaurant is ( almost ) as old as Sultan Street. Serves old Cantonese tradition cuisine including the annual festive dumplings, moon cakes, dim sum and char siew low wanton meen daily from 5am till late afternoon. Still popular and patronised by China town old timers
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