You Kee XO Restaurant — Restaurant in Johor

Classic BBQ Platter = RM44.80 Service Charge = RM2.24 Service Tax = RM2.69

Being my first time here, of course I ordered their Basic Platter which consists of Charsiew + Roast Duck + Sio Bak to have a sample taste for each of them.

My Advice: Don't Bother.

ONLY the Charsiew is worth your time and money. It's so good, the Roast Duck and Sio Bak are like "Calefare" when being placed next to it.

I think the reason why this Char Siew so good is because I think this is 不见天. (Translates to Never Meet the Sky). If you have never heard of this term before, this is the part of Meat that is located between the Pig's Shoulder and Belly which has a Very Nice Layer of Fat. (Fat: 80%, Meat 20%) In Layman's Term this is also known as "Armpit Meat"

Its called 不见天 because this part of the Meat will Never Meet the Sky, hence the name. I understand in Hong Kong, this cut is known as 飞机肉. No idea why an Aeroplane of all things is used as comparison, but there ya go.

Some people also don't like 不见天 because it can be Very Fatty and Obviously Much more Unhealthy due to the High Amount of Fats. But if you do use 不见天, the result truly will be MELT IN THE MOUTH.

Back to the Review. When you first sink your Teeth into this Char Siew, the Beautiful Soft Meat just Crumbles and Melts away at the Slightest Bite and the Beautiful Rich and Sweet Caramelized Char Siew Sauce immediately rushes in and engulfs your Tongue. I'd describe this like eating a Soft "Meat Candy".

The Chilli is Deeply Garlicky and somewhat Bitingly Spicy. The sort of Chilli that pairs very well with Roasted Meat although it tasted a tad cold, which means it was only recently taken out from the fridge. Its nice, but really not necessary as the Char Siew tastes perfectly fine without it.

As for the Roasted Duck and Sio Bak, I really don't have much to say about them. They taste Shockingly Plain and Unimpressive compared to their Excellent Char Siew. Roast Duck is so so, abit tough. Sio Bak has a stronger Porky Taste, Skin is Crunchy, but again nothing special. They don't taste different from the type you'd find in an Average HDB Kopitiam Roasted Stall tbh.

Seriously, ignore everything else and just order their 100g 水晶叉烧 at RM13.80++ and it is much more worth it. This will be what I will order in the future.

I didn't like the 2 types of Service Charge which felt a tad Predatory considering some other JB Eateries don't even ask for Service Charge. But the Quality of the Char Siew is so Good, i'm willing to overlook it.

As for the place itself, as you can see in my Photo, there are so many people in a Queue even on a Thursday at 1pm! I cannot even begin to imagine how much more insane it would be on a Weekend! The Staffs look visibly stressed but I'm impressed they could still maintain their composure and stand the pressure. Good Job.

As a Solo Traveller, I could easily request to share Table which I did with a very nice Elderly Couple and this shortened my queue time considerably. If you are coming as a Larger Group, you might need to queue longer if you are not willing or not able to share tables.

Protip: I came at 1pm+ which could be the reason for this massive queue. They open at 10.30am, and while I can't confirm this, I suppose this timing would be much better to avoid the queue.

Highly Recommended!

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2nd Visit on Sept 2022 We ordered 300g of Fat Char Siew, half a Roast Duck, Cordyceps Soup and stir-fry lettuce. I enjoyed the roast duck but more enjoyed the Fat Char Siew.

1st Visit in July 2022 The Fatty Char Siew 肥叉烧 is the next I have ever eaten. It is smoky and nicely charred. The colour is just aesthetically pleasing to the sight. A good balance of fats and tender meat. The XO Roast Duck was tender and aromatic but the Fatty Char Siew is still the star. The 烧肠 roast sausage is just average. My husband had the roast pork with dried noodles. He wished that the roast pork was cut bigger. The dried egg noodle which accompany the meat was delicious. It was long and well separated. I enjoy the Al-dente and smooth texture. The black sauce makes it authentically Malaysia.

The other dishes that the other diners ordered looked ordinary, like what was served in most Tze Char. Another let down is they do not serve Wanton or Dumplings in their delicious soup. They offer double boiled soup of the day. I find paying MYR22 for a soup is on the high side m, so I did not order. If they offer Wanton or Dumplings, I would have ordered.

No warmth or friendliness in their service but the staff who served us was competent and efficient. My first visit here despite going to KSL many times. Before my friend recommended, I thought it was just a restaurant that serves mediocre food but I was wrong. Don't just walk past this restaurant, go in and order their Fatty Chat Siew! I recommend dining...

I do not enjoy leaving negative reviews, but my experience here was less than pleasant. I will preface this by mentioning that I don’t feel like there’s anything in particular that this establishment did egregiously wrong, but several aspects of my meal here were less than satisfactory, especially considering the lengthy queues.

I’ll start with the quality of the food: while I will admit that the char siew was very juicy, flavourful, and crunchy on the outside, portions were incredibly tiny for its price. The roast duck was alright, but my biggest gripe is that the rice was over-hydrated and mushy.

As for service, it was pretty rushed and staff weren’t the most helpful. Our orders were served in a rather sporadic order: we received our drinks 5-10 minutes after we’d already almost finished our meals, which wasn’t ideal.

In terms of atmosphere, it’s open-air which does cause some discomfort if you’re cold-blooded. The tables weren’t very well-cleaned either.

All in all, I’ve had much better experiences on all fronts at restaurants with better pricing, crowd control, and food. As such, this is not an eatery I can recommend, although I have to admit it’s also not what I’d consider a ‘bad’ restaurant, seeing as their biggest flaws are inflated prices and undeserved crowds.

TLDR: I don’t recommend, but if you’re curious, I wouldn’t stop you; the worst you’d get is oddly timed service, tiny meat portions, and an...