I honestly never expected to talk about, much less, write about any restaurants from small town, Yong Peng, in Malaysia. But here I am.. about to do exactly that! 

It was a road trip to Melaka, and on return, our Harley foodie mates made a booking for a local restaurant in Yong Peng town, promising an unforgettable Baked Chicken, which they themselves, have never tried! Hmm… imagine my skepticism upon hearing that! But me being me, won’t knock it till I’ve tried it. 

We rode up to an inconspicuous stand alone restaurant tucked behind what looked like a nursery of bonsai plants fronting the entrance of a large wood and zinc house. The signboard reads “Xin Cun Restaurant” , with a Chinese tagline beneath it, 新村甕窯雞 , stating their signature Urn Chicken. And what exactly is Urn Chicken? Well.. It’s a whole marinated chicken, propped on a stand, and roasted in a hot giant urn. 

When the bird arrived at our table, it filled the air with warm smokey barbeque aromas. It isn’t very big, but oh what a beauty! Golden brown and dripping in its own juices; perched upright on a special steel stand. We admired it at all angles like a supermodel before finally cutting into it. Juices flowed uncontrollably with every snip I made into the tender chook, a premeditated build-in plate beneath it catches every drop of that delicious chicken essence. We couldn’t be more excited for our first bites! The chicken was mind blowing juicy and crazy flavorful! A little sweet against savoriness. There were subtle hints of spices but nothing overpowering. The natural sweetness of the chicken was all there is and it was truly incredible. That sauce that’s been collecting in the plate? Man! That was simply magical. I literally follow every bite of chicken with a spoonful of that super sauce! The boys were right, it is an unforgettable chicken! 

The weather may be hot, but we could not resist the White Pepper Pork Tripe Soup and it was as warm and comforting as we needed it to be. The tripe pieces were cooked just right. Tender with just a bit of chew for texture. The soup was savory and peppery like it should be. We drank every last drop of it!

Skip regular white rice and get the Bamboo steamed rice instead. Fragrant jasmine rice is steamed with sweet Chinese sausage and thinly slice pork belly within a halved bamboo cane. The rice was infused with the natural flavors of the sausage and pork belly, and topped with lotsa crispy pork lard. Something about cooking with natural pork fats that just hits the spot every time without fail! The bamboo may just be a gimmick, simply a vessel to cook in, but it sure made it extra special. 

On the contrary, the Glutinous Rice Wine Chicken, also cooked within bamboo, did not fare as well. A shame, since Yong Peng is popular known for this Red Rice Wine and we held high hopes for this. The chicken was dry and tough and flavorless, despite the rich red tint from the red rice wine. 

The Pea Shoots veggie was executed well too, and you know it just by the looks of luscious green leaves. Soft crunchy with clean garlicky flavors. 

Finally, as we griped about how stuffed we were while tucking into the last dish, we were shamelessly grateful that our greed paid off! In the form of the freshest and sweetest and most delectable prawns I have had in a while! 

Salt Baked Prawns with Brandy came in a bed of coarse salt in a piping hot claypot.  The prawns weren’t huge, but every modestly sized baby was irresistably sweet and juicy. I didn’t even need to dirty my fingers peeling shells. One bite into it and the prawn meat would slip off its shell into your mouth. The brandy that was flambeed onto it highlighted a soft smokiness. Phenomenally fresh and delicious! I’m dying to eat it again! 

As you can see, I am truly bedazzled by this basic small town restaurant. Looking around us in the filled restaurant, we were joined by only local Malaysians at this obviously locally known establishment. The place itself is bare and unfussy. High ceiling zinc roof, raw cement floor, fake marble tables and plastic chairs; dry brown bamboo randomly put up as decorative walls; it’s almost like we ate out of some makeshift converted industrial building. Despite all, we were reasonably comfortable in this cool and casual atmosphere; and this unassuming simplicity certainly does not reflect their well executed homestyle cooking! I’ve never ever cared to visit Yong Peng, big city moi! But a few short hours here has changed me! 

新村瓮窑鸡 Xing Cun Restaurant @ 7322, Jln Besar, Taman Sembrong Baru, 83700 Yong Peng, Johor Darul Ta’zim, Malaysia. Phone +60 14-611 9282

Disclaimer ~ This is not a sponsored post!