The Menu Shift Showcases Street Vendor Favorites from the James Beard Award Semifinalist’s Youth in Hong Kong
Originally opened with a focus on craft banh mi and Vietnamese-leaning street food, Yelo’s Chef-Owner Alex Au-Yeung, a 2022 James Beard Best Chef: Texas Award Semifinalist, has launched an overhauled menu, taking Yelo’s culinary focus in a more personal direction. The new offerings at Au-Yeung’s casual counter-service spot now emphasize his own gastronomic history and the Southeast Asian market fare he knows and craves, including those from his childhood in Hong Kong and an intensive training in Cantonese kitchens prior to opening sister concept Phat Eatery. Combined with playful twists and influences from his decades in Houston, this is truly a menu from the chef’s heart.
“From Yelo’s inception, we wanted to offer food we enjoy eating every day and without the boundary of being authentic or not,” says Au-Yeung. “In every country, there are big variations between north and south, east and west. Where you grew up, in a city or village, your family’s cultural background, there are many differences in food traditions. No need to worry if that’s the way you ate when you were a child in Hong Kong or Houston or how your grandmother cooked it. Just enjoy.”
New bites include saucy skewered curry fish balls, curry fries and firecracker shrimp—lime and ginger-marinated Gulf shrimp wrapped in crispy wonton wrappers and served with sweet chili sauce. Chinese-style dumplings are filled with pork and Chinese chives, chicken or vegetables; a Nutella-stuffed option is fried crisp. Inspired by San Francisco’s popular clam chowder bread bowls, Au-Yeung is filling sourdough boules with Phat Eatery’s well-loved Malaysian chicken curry and beef rendang.
One of the most exciting introductions, however, are the Chinese-style hand-pulled noodles. Yelo’s staff use a traditional technique in which a single piece of dough is stretched into a 5- to 6-foot loop to create one long, broad noodle that becomes both silky and chewy. The noodles are served in a 12-hour bone broth with braised beef shank, tomato and chili oil.
For those with a sweet tooth, Au-Yeung is also serving youtiao, a Chinese fried doughnut popular across Southeast Asia. The airy pastry is offered with a range of adventurous toppings, from Ube & Cheese Milk Foam and The KBP—smothered in kaya butter (Malaysian coconut jam), pandan ice cream, rainbow sprinkles, toasted coconut and curry powder—to the savory Tako Aioli, finished with house garlic aioli, shaved katsuobushi and seaweed flakes.
Yelo’s best-selling craft banh mi remain: grilled chicken or pork, cold cut combo, crispy tofu and one stuffed with the award-winning beef rendang. The pared-down drink menu now offers iced coffee, milk tea, lemon iced tea and locally produced tropical juices by Just Made.
Given Au-Yeung’s passion and creativity, anticipate enticing features and menu additions to come, which are bound to attract curious eaters, though Au-Yeung’s dedication to customer service and warm, attentive hospitality will ensure their return.
Yelo serves lunch and dinner Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Guests can place orders via counter service or order online at yelohtx.com to pre-order for curbside pickup and delivery. For more details, visit yelohtx.com and follow @yeloHTX on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.