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As far as seafood noodles are concerned, I’ve never been a great fan. However, there is one particular seafood noodle shop that I’ll happily go to. That is Restoran Yu Ai located in Segambut. A friend of mine first introduced the place to me nearly a decade ago and I’ve been frequenting it on and off ever since.

As mentioned earlier, the restaurant is located at Jalan Segambut. The easiest directions for getting there is to take the Jalan Duta - Segambut Highway until you reach the roundabout. Take the 12 o’clock exit and hang a left at the T-junction traffic light. At the first traffic light, turn right. There is a row of shop houses along the left side of the main road. The restaurant is towards the end of the shop lots. Find a parking spot if you can and head on in.

As you walk in the main entrance, you’ll notice a pot of thick and creamy curry sitting atop a slow fire. The strong aroma will have you salivating. Along the entrance is an impressive row of stoves with fires on standby, ready for cooking each individual bowl of seafood noodles.

It is a pretty hot and stuffy on the ground floor since it’s near the stove and cooking area. The more popular seats are located upstairs where it is air-conditioned. The third alternative is to head out through the back and sit under the trees. This is ideal if the weather is cool and balmy. Otherwise, I advice sitting upstairs. The hard part is finding a seat there. It is usually packed around lunch time, when businessmen and office workers would come from near and far to have a meal. I myself have travelled all the way from Damansara Uptown to enjoy a bow of noodles with my colleagues.

If and when you find a table, you’ll still have to catch the attention of the waiter to place your order. It’s pretty impressive when the hired help who is non-Chinese starts speaking to you in Cantonese. He’s probably been in the business long enough to learn the language and fluently describe to you what’s in each bowl of noodles.

Seafood noodles at Yu Ai are made to order. You have a choice of plain soup, tomyam, or curry as the base for your bowl of seafood noodles. I personally recommend the curry noodles since it’s by far the best (and also because I’m biased against tomyam). The curry is rich with coconut milk and spices. Eat it with the sambal paste and you have yourself a sinful treat. If you do order the curry noodles, tell them that you don’t want the curry oil. Otherwise you’ll find yourself with alot of oil floating at the top of the bowl. Tasty so long as you can afford the cholestrol that comes with it.

The noodles comes in two sizes, small (RM12.00) and large (RM14.00). A small bowl of seafood noodles comes with 3 large prawns, fish fillets, callamari, clams, and dried oysters. For the extra RM2.00, you get a larger bowl, an extra prawn and alot more seafood. For those who cannot take seafood or shellfish, there’s an alternative of fish ball noodles. A small bowl is RM5.00 while the big one costs RM7.00. This alternative comes with a load of fish balls and crab sticks.

While you’re enjoying the food, you’re bound to be needing a drink to quench your thirst, especially if you order the spicier soups. You have a choice of drinks, ranging from herbal tea to soya milk, cincau to Michael Jacksons (soya mix cincau). The cincau is the best, each cup coming with two generous scoops of the minced black jelly. The soya mix with cincau is also a good option. Each cup costs RM1.70.

All prices are subject to 5% government tax. However, when you call for the bill, you’ll notice that they charge you a rough estimate. The last time I was there, my bill came up to RM18.00 for a large bowl of curry seafood noodles and two drinks. It is rather pricey for a meal. Good for those occasions when you feel like indulging.

Yu Ai also has a branch in SS2 Petaling Jaya, behind Restoran Kayu (Nasi Kandar). However, I don’t see much business or turnover there. While I haven’t yet tried the branch, I suspect that the food’s not as good as the main branch.

At any rate, I definitely recommend the place for the rare indulgence. If you’re a business man, it’s also a great place to treat your clients.

Yu Ai Seafood Restaurant
42J Jalan Segambut Utara
Business hours: 8.00am to 5.00pm

Branch: SS2, Petaling Jaya