Yalong Bay Chinese Restaurant: Final 3 years for fan-favourite deep-fried hor fun

Singapore’s hawker culture is in the midst of a crisis. Ageing hawkers are bowing out, one after another, and there aren’t enough successors to sustain these beloved, storied brands.

Worst of all, these closures usually come with little notice and customers aren’t given enough time to say their goodbyes to these nostalgic favourites.

That was almost the reality for Yalong Bay Chinese Restaurant, a zi char-style restaurant that had built up a loyal core of customers, before it closed abruptly in 2023.

Fortunately, the owners decided to bring back Yalong Bay Chinese Restaurant so their beloved regulars can have a taste of its signatures — including a unique lala hor fun served with deep-fried hor fun — one last time.

Final three years

This is Yalong Bay’s swan song, says its owners, chef Tony Tan and his wife Qian Ling, both aged 61.

The restaurant’s lease at Novena Regency is due to expire in 2027, which means Yalong Bay has three years left. This is their final chapter before retiring — for good, this time — say the couple, who hail from Ipoh, Malaysia.

After 35 years of cooking at various Chinese restaurants in Singapore — including Long Beach King and Goodwood Park Hotel, Tony decided to open Yalong Bay Chinese Restaurant in 2014. 

Alas, the Covid-19 pandemic struck and they shuttered. They reopened briefly in Serangoon in 2020, but decided to eventually retire due to disagreements over rental.

However, after being overwhelmed with queries from friends and loyal regulars, the couple decided to give in and reinstate Yalong Bay properly, so everyone can have a chance to enjoy Tony’s cooking in a last hurrah.

The couple found a spot at the Novena Regency condominium and opened their third and final spot in August 2024.

“We are doing it for our old customers. Many of them kept asking us when they could taste our food again, after we shut down our Serangoon outlet. This will be our last three years!” Qian Ling says.

Not like the other restaurants

“I feel a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction when I see my customers enjoy my food and follow us everywhere we move,” the Yalong Bay chef says.

Tony takes a lot of pride in his cooking and has participated in various overseas competitions when he was younger. His CV and awards are proudly displayed on a signboard outside the restaurant.

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To him, whipping up unique dishes that can’t be found elsewhere is something he insists and persists on.

“When I worked at Tanah Merah Country Club, it sent a magazine to members monthly, where I had to come up with new dishes each time. That helped improve my understanding of ingredients and gave me inspiration,” he recalls.

That translates to a variety of creative dishes, such as Yalong Bay’s iconic lala hor fun. For this, Tony sought to add a creative touch to hor fun and experimented with adding deep-fried hor fun on top — and the rest is history.

“Many of my customers know that they can’t find it elsewhere and make sure to order it, when they come here. Some of them come here just for it, too!” He adds.

No successors, regrettably

Although Tony wants to continue, he admits it’s hard: “This kind of cooking takes a lot of skill and hard work, after all. We’re not sure how long we can keep doing it.” 

As of now, his own children are not keen to take over and he does not have any proteges primed to take on the mantle.

But he recognises how hard it is to find young people willing to join the F&B industry — specifically Chinese cuisine, which requires a lot of discipline.

That’s partly why he can’t let his Yalong Bay legacy go — he fears that this style of traditional Chinese cooking will eventually become hard to find.

To anyone who might be interested, he and Qian Ling have this to say: “It does take a lot of time and experience to learn — as simple as it looks. But we would be happy if there is someone young who is eager to learn!”

Yalong Bay’s signatures

Yalong Bay’s must-order dish is indubitably the signature crispy la-la hor fun (from S$20), where a mound of wok-fried hor fun is drenched in a pool of seafood-rich gravy and adorned with golden deep-fried hor fun.

The gravy is rich, sweet and comes with an abundance of fresh lala clams, whereas the hor fun at the bottom is immaculately fried and robustly perfumed with wok hei.

On top of it all, the slivers of airy deep-fried hor fun add a delectable crunch to the mix and everything comes together in an interesting mix of textures.

It’s not just the hor fun — Yalong Bay’s seafood is, in general, well-executed and the garlic fish tail (seasonal pricing) is another signature worth ordering. 

Coming in at around 800g for each portion, the deep-fried fish tail sports a satisfying outer crunch, while the inside is soft and flaky.

More importantly, Tony spreads a layer of minced garlic seasoning on top, to add a dose of piquancy and fresh garlicky heat. We can imagine this being a superb accompaniment for beer.

While this dish might intimidate some, the fried fish intestines (from S$20) is another one of Yalong Bay’s one-of-a-kind signatures that we utterly enjoyed.

For this dish, Tony uses chopped fish intestines, dark sauce, fried pork lard, fried shrimp, and a medley of greens and alliums. 

The fish guts taste pristinely clean without any odour, while the combination of fragrance and textures from the greens and pork lard make it oh-so-good, especially with rice.

If seafood is not quite your beat, the tofu with dried shrimps and minced meat (from S$14) is equally worthy of your stomach space.

Tony makes the beancurd at Yalong Bay by hand and that results in the plushest, silkiest of textures, with a nicely gentle crisp on the golden-brown exterior. With the intoxicating umami and aroma of the dried shrimp on top of it? Utterly gratifying.

Other than these, Tony also talks about how the roasted standing chicken (price given when pre-ordered, advance order required) is a huge hit with all the customers too.

With just three years left to try all of these, maybe it’s a good time to plan for a trip down to Yalong Bay Chinese Restaurant before Tony and Qian Ling retire and these dishes are gone forever?

For more ideas on what to eat, read our stories on Maxwell Food Centre’s heartiest hawker options and some of the most beloved and authentic Peranakan food spots.

Enjoy up to 50% off when you dine with GrabFood Dine Out.

You can also book a ride to Yalong Bay Chinese Restaurant to try out Tony’s food before the couple retires, for real this time.