One of the places in town that I always visit on and off during weekends for oriental breakfast is located at one of the pioneer pre-war shophouses along Campbell Street.
The restaurant is no other than Tho Yuen Restaurant, 桃园茶楼. This restaurant has been operating for more than 50 years and it is still up and running. For those who are not sure how to get to this restaurant, try to ask around the old folks here and they will sure happily guide you to this restaurant.
Tho Yuen Restaurant is famous for its oriental breakfast such as dim sum and chicken rice. Usually during weekend morning, you need to queue up for tables. Anyway, for this round my write up is on the dim sum only.
Pork Dumpling or Siu Mai (烧卖) the minced pork, chopped shrimps and bits of Chinese mushrooms were seasoned and covered with thin sheet of lye water dough. It was then topped with roe (or sometimes diced carrot).
The taste of the pork dumpling was acceptable. The ingredients were not very fresh. It would be much better if the ingredients were fresher.
Shrimp Dumpling or Har Gow (虾餃). The success of making a good prawn dumpling depends on the freshness of the shrimps. These shrimps were placed into wrapper and were steamed until translucent.
The taste of the shrimp dumpling was still acceptable and the dumpling was very filling too.
Fish Slices Porridge 鱼片粥, the porridge was cooked in small boiling claypot with ingredients such as fish slices, then served together with spring onions and crackers on top.
The breakfast from the western is so much different than the asian breakfast. For western breakfast, there will be cereal or oatmeal accompanied with fresh cold milk which sometimes will make you rush to the toilet. However, for Chinese breakfast usually it will be something to warm up your stomach. Example a hot bowl of porridge with some fish slices and crackers on top. The porridge served on this restaurant was not too salty nor too diluted. However, the porridge was extremely hot and it took me sometime to finish it up.
Fried Hor Fun Bee Hoon with Seafood (海鲜炒河粉), the hor fun and bee hoon were fried together with some shrimps, squid slices and barbecue pork slices.
The bee hoon and the hor fun were full of pan fried aroma and was cooked in dried style instead of in starch.
Fu Gui Noodle (富贵面), the noodle used for this dish was Yee Mee, and it was served in starchy soup with full of egg white, together it was cooked with mushroom slices and carrot slices.
The sticky gluey like starch was very well mixed with the crispy yee mee. I love this dish as it was not too salty. The taste would be much better if it was served together with some black vinegar.
Home Made Fish Ball, the fish balls were big and were served in soup cooked with fish stock and garnished with spring onions.
The texture of the fish ball was very bouncy and chewy. This dish was good for those who dislike deep fried and spicy food.
Overall,the meal cost us RM53 for 4 pax. The price is considered reasonable and the taste of the food is up to standard. However, the parking space is limited and this place is a bit hot and not baby friendly.
Editor’s Review (5 Stars Rank):
| Taste |  |
| Price |  |
| Food Presentation | |
| Service | |
| Overall | |
Quick Facts:
| Family Friendly |  |
| Parking |  |
| Pork Free | |
| Alcohol | |
| Credit Card | |
| Smoking | |
| Reservation | |
| Private Room | |
| WIFI Available | |
Operation hours: 6:00am – 3:00pm (Closed on Tuesdays)
Contact: 04-261 4672
Address:92, Campbell Street, 10100 Penang
GPS: 5° 41′ 82.35″ N, 100° 33′ 32.96″ E
If I remember correctly, Toh Yuen was formally located to the left of KwongTak. Many years ago, probably in the ’80s, the management bought over Chip Seng, a chicken rice shop at Toh Yuen’s present location.
In the good old days, Toh Yuen used to be the dirtiest eatery around town. I could never bear to enter the shop then no matter how good their “sang meen” tasted.
Even in their present location, the cleanliness of this eatery leaves much to be desired. I am surprised that you made no mention of that.
By the way, those who are looking for great home cooked food may be interested to know this place called the HomeStyle restaurant.
It is located at N5.455019 & E100.290394, behind Lebuh Lembah Permai 1 at Tanjung Tokong.
Please use a GPS or get a print out from google maps before you make your way there.
You cannot miss this restaurant as it is the only one catering to almost a full house nightly in the midst of empty eateries around the vicinity.
Hi wira, thanks for the info provided. That is a great for those that love home style cooking