Ara Damansara

THE STAR : Thursday, September 24, 2009
New home for restaurant

MALAYSIANS will travel far and wide in search of good food.

Thus, when the site on which the La La Chong Seafood Restaurant near Terminal 3 in Subang was earmarked for redevelopment, its owner Yim Sie Chong was not perturbed.

Brisk business: Yim and Lui are happy with the patronage of their restaurant.

He knew that his regular patrons would seek out his restaurant, renowned for its seafood.

He shifted his restaurant to Kampung Kayu Ara, Damansara, and many of his regular customers are now making a beeline to his new premises.

Yim’s is a classic rags-to-riches story. At the tender age of 12, he had to quit school to wash dishes in a restaurant to support his family.

When, at 14, he was promoted to kitchen helper, he spent his time in the kitchen learning everything there was to know about cooking.

Reaching the status of chef gave him the carte blanche to experiment with Chinese, Malay, Indian and Western cooking to create his own unique blend of cuisine that quickly found favour with diners.

One of his signature dishes was la la (clams), prepared with an exceptional sauce of his own creation, so he soon came to be known as La La Chong.

Encouraged by the popularity of his food, Yim decided in 2000 to open his own restaurant near Terminal 3 in Subang. He named it La La Chong.

“After having operated the restaurant near Terminal 3 for nine years, my wife and I were very sad to leave but there was little choice as the area is being redeveloped by Skypark,” said Yim, who manages the restaurant with his wife Lui Yee May. The couple own another La La Chong restaurant in Ara Damansara.

“My wife and I drove around looking for a suitable place with ample parking space to open the new restaurant. When we came across this wide, open space in Jalan Cempaka in Kampung Kayu Ara, Damansara, we knew we had found a new home for La La Chong Seafood.”

The Kampung Kayu Ara area is quieter, and there is ample parking space at the new outlet.

“We opened for business last month. We are happy that most of our regular clients are back and new customers living in this area have made it a point to visit us,” Yim said.

Without a doubt, it is unusual dishes like wasabe-grilled salmon, super chilli crab, grilled lamb, baby squid with sambal belacan, crayfish kam heong style, steamed garoupa Thai style, claypot mutton with murungakka (drumstick) and bittergourd with salted egg that are the attraction.