This shop is apparently quite famous for their Beef Balls and Noodles, although most foodies claim that the quality used to be much higher in the past. I ordered the Beef Balls and Beef Brisket with Thick Noodles - the beef balls weren't as good as I had imagined since they don't have much taste and too dense, it doesn't have much tendons mixed in as well, one of the prerequisites of eating beef balls. The briskets on the other hand were tender and good. The noodles were fine, but the soup was really salty and MSG laden. The BIGGEST problem with this shop is how the guy cooking keeps puffing away on his cigarettes, often when it is lit and facing down towards the cooking pot. So yes - I've just eaten some ash, and so have you.

My parents and I took a trip down memory lane and ate here for old time’s sake on New Year’s Eve, as a snack before the real feast at countdown. We used to come here for dinner after my weekly Girl Guide’s meeting at the YMCA when I was, well, a girl. Now, after, say, 10 years or so, this rare species of dai pai dong is not as I remember it to be. Whether it’s its quality that’s deteriorated or my taste that’s improved, I must admit that I would not be coming here again.
牛丸粗
What used to be a large bowl of satisfaction is now a small bowl of saltiness. The soup base and beef balls were way too salty, and there simply was nothing special about the beef balls, which are supposed to be their signature food. They were neither exceptionally bouncy nor exceptionally beefy, and were just not memorable. Worse still, were the noodles that were not cooked through yet and were hard.
咖吔多
This was not toasted enough, like the noodles were not cooked enough. It was therefore not as crispy as it could’ve been. The kaya jam was boring – besides being too sweet, like the noodles were too salty, there was no other appealing flavour. It was one of those dishes that makes you think you could have made a better version yourself at home.
牛筋腩
Salty.

I also felt that, for a dai pai dong, the drinks were quite overpriced.
What makes this dai pai dong worthy of a visit would be the fact that it’s an indoor dai pai dong. It’s where you can experience eating in a crowded, gloomy environment that’s filled with airborne grease, a continuous whirring of ventilators and stoves and fans, on worn-out folding tables and stools, with the feeling that you’re going to see a huge rat dart past at any moment. Exhilarating. Almost worth enduring the salty food for.

You don't have to be a beef lover to love this place, but you do, however, have to be willing to stand the heat of settling here for a meal. That, is the prerequisite for coming to 德發 in Tsim Sha Tsui. In the midst of shops and arcades is this 'temporary market' that has reached permanent status for longer than I anticipated it has stood here. Walking through the empty stalls and a few lone vendors selling halal frozen meats and passing a few empty carts will get you to the other side, where all the action takes place.

Famous for its beef meatballs, of course thats the thing to order. An order of beef meatballs with noodles will get you 5 meatballs. If you skip your noodles you'll get 3 more. I'm leaning towards the noodles one. I have found that the thick noodles (粗麵) are relatively better as they don't absorb the soup faster than you can eat them. Rice noodles (河粉), however, is of nice texture but fails as they absorb the broth real fast. Beef meatballs are as good as they can be, with a decided bite into the meat. I think the Chinese word for it would be close to it being "elastic", though I have not experimented bouncing it on the table....it'd be such a waste, wouldn't it?

Cow Offal (牛雜) is another favorite I have come to appreciate here at 德發. An order of that costs the same as one of those beef meatballs, which is relatively cheap considering that most of the joints out there charge more with not as good quality. Here beef stomachs, intestines, and spleen are simmered over a long period of time and when ordered, quickly cut into slices and piled up on a bowl followed by a ladleful of hot broth to top. Each piece, even if different cuts, has no chewy stringy texture, it's certainly something worth trying should you want to take a break from the meatballs..

Do make sure you can stand the heat here, there is no air conditioning, and in the hottest wettest days of summer, the heat from outside and from the kitchen stoves can be pretty difficult to bear -- in a sense that no electric fan or iced lemon tea may relieve. It is, truly worth the visit though, should you feel like a noodle fix in TST.

It has a long history. I ate there over 20 years ago when I was a kid. A couple weeks (7/2001) ago when I brought my friend there, it still has the best beef ball in town.
however, for new comers, be careful. Don't go to the wrong one. There's a new one next to it call "Dak fat Ngau Yuen" with yellow sign saying people look for "dak fat ngau yuen should move over". It's totally different and unrelated to the famous "Dak fat Nguau Yuk Yuen".
Don't Go to the wrong one. The one name Dak Fat Ngau Yuk Yuen is the real one, and the "Dak Fat Ngau Yuen" is "farn barn", "Mo Pai".
Sit only at the tables in front of Dak Fat Ngau "Yuk" Yuen, NOT next to it.