Nancy Go Yaya

For a city that boasts some of the best Asian food in North America (and for some cuisines, in the world), it is quite disappointing that South Asia is so poorly represented.  I really enjoy dining on Malay, Indonesian and Singaporean cuisine, but there are only a limited amount of authentic spots.  So when a new one opens up in town, I'm all over it.  The newest is Nancy Go Yaya located directly below Kissa Tanto.  This is no coincidence as it is run by 2 of the co-owners of Bao Bei and Kissa Tanto.

Before we got to the good stuff, we had something that was surprisingly addictive.  The Satay Prawn Chips were impactful and spicy.  Dressed in satay spice and fried curry leaves, there was aromatics, nuttiness and heat.  The chips themselves were crispy and light, meaning they were fried perfectly in proper temped oil.  This was a bit steep at $6.00 but hey, things are worth it if they are tasty right?

The tastiest item was the Kaya Toast featuring pandan mochi toast, coconut jam, butter pat and grated salted egg yolk.  Beyond the beautiful green color of the toast accented by yellow, the toast itself was seared beautifully.  It was crunchy on the outside and slightly chewy on the inside.  Got the essence of pandan that combined with the aromatic coconut and sweetness.  Then there was the hit of butter and nuttiness of the egg yolk.  I could eat this over and over again.

Onto another sandwich, we got the Roti John with an added piece of fried chicken.  It consisted of curried egg, cheese, sweet chili mayo, herbs, achar cabbage slaw and crispy stuff in between a milk bun.  This was messy to eat and quite enjoyable.  Chicken was juicy and featured a light crispy coating.  There was good spice and aromatics going on as well as crunch from the slaw.  Milk bread was soft and wrapped around the ingredients well.

Also tried the Laksa featuring spicy coconut shellfish broth, fishcake stuffed tofu puff, bean sprouts, turmeric egg, prawns and housemade wheat noodles.  Although this wasn't a very big portion, it ate well.  I thought the broth was fairly flavourful, slightly spicy, briny and rich in viscosity.  The noodles were al dente while the fish cake tofu puff was texturally pleasing.  Not the best Laksa I've ever had, but a competent one.

For dessert, we tried the Pandan Chiffon Cake with muscovado cremeux and cornflake macadamia crunch.  Again, the roll itself was pleasing to the eye and the cornflake crunch looked inviting.  I found the cake to be a bit on the wetter side and semi-sweet.  Again, it was aromatic with the cremeux offering up the necessary rich sweetness.  Yes, that crunch had a great mouthfeel and was delicious.  Overall, we enjoyed the food at Nancy Go Yaya, however the question is would we return?  I would say it is quite possible, but I'm not rushing to do it.

The Good:
- That Kaya Toast!
- Got this hole-in-the-wall vibe serving unique food thing going on
- Friendly service

The Bad:
- A bit pricey for what you get