Famous JB Roast Meat Takeaway from You Kee XO Restaurant

You Kee XO Restaurant is popular for its roast meats and herbal soup. Our da bao of the day (DBOTD) is a mini feast of takeaway char siew rice, noodles and a few homely dishes from the small family-run restaurant in Joo Chiat Place.

You Kee XO Restaurant

You Kee XO Restaurant (not to be confused with Yu Kee Duck Rice Restaurant) started business in Johor Bahru (JB) more than 20 years ago. It specialises in roasted meats – including XO duck, roasted pork and char siew. You Kee opened its first Singapore outlet at Joo Chiat Place in 2019.

The roasted ducks and BBQ pork hanging in the display counter and giant urns are clear indications of the food You Kee XO Restaurant is most famous for – roasted meats and herbal soup. However, on its menu is a limited range of a la carte zhi char dishes. They include the signature Volcano Bean Curd and Steamed Fish Tail with Green Ginger Paste and more common dishes like Claypot Briased Eggplant and Crispy Meat Roll (or ngoh hiang).

Takeaway Meal from You Kee XO

We went to You Kee in Joo Chiat Place to da bao (or tar pau) food for dinner recently and ended up with a mini takeaway feast. We ordered a char siew & BBQ pork rice ($7.50), char siew noodles ($5.50), chicken pork and herb soup ($13.50), sweet and sour pork ($7.80), Hong Kong kai lan ($7.80) and fu yong omelette($7.80).

The chicken pork and herb soup was everything we expected of traditional Chinese tonic soup. The nourishing soup that had been simmered for hours did not have an overly herbal taste and was enjoyable. It had natural sweetness and there was quite a lot of tender meat in the soup. We could not tell you about the health benefits of the soup but we could say drinking it made us feel good – that feeling of whatever might be happening everything was going to be OK.

The sweet and sour pork, Hong Kong kai lan and fu yong omelette were fairly good versions of the typical zhi char dishes. They were not particularly exceptional in any way but palatable.

Excellent Char Siew

The superstar of the meal was the char siew, and the BBQ pork (or siew yok or sio bak) was very good too. People used to cross the causeway to JB for You Kee XO Restaurant’s char siew (barbequed pork loin) and now we could understand why. It was one of the most delightful char siew we had tried. The char siew had a fair bit of fats and the caramelized meat was tender and sweet. There were charred layers which gave the char siew a nice smoky note. It was like bak kwa but more tender and juicer.

The BBQ pork was also better than most we had tried. There was a good balance of fatty meat and lean meat. The skin was crispy and the meat was tender and juicy. Both the char siew and siew yok would be enjoyable with rice or noodles.

Affordable & Enjoyable

As was quite often the case, we ate more than we planned to but there was no regret. Our takeaway meal from You Kee XO Restaurant in Joo Chiat Place was a mini feast that was affordable and very enjoyable.

Order via WhatsApp +65 9116 8868

You Kee XO Restaurant
43 Joo Chiat Place
Singapore 427767

Tel: +65 9116 8868

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The Ordinary Patrons | Real Dining Experience of Ordinary People
an independent Singapore food blog