Motormouth From Ipoh – Malaysian Food & Travel

There are days when you crave for nothing but healthy and wholesome home-cooked food, after those guilt-ridden bouts of bingeing. No matter how tasteless, bland or unsavoury the dishes may appear on your table. Or you’re probably a little stressed out to cook in your own kitchen after 8 straight hours of torment in the office.

Eating out usually translates to greasy, robust and sinful fares, but of course ….. as in life, there is always an exception to the rules.

Piping hot steamed dishes in porcelain bowls and metal plates placed in the steamer for you to choose from. And more often than not, you’d be tempted to pick more than you can eat.

Dad has been raving about this place for some time now. Tucked hidden somewhere in Pasir Puteh area of Ipoh, the most prominent landmark had to be the Tow Boo Keong temple (aka Nine Emperors’ Temple on Jalan Tokong). Location details to come at the end of the post, predictably.

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I was brought up believing that Lou Wong and Onn Kee serve the best Bean Sprouts Chicken aka Tauge Ayam aka Nga Choy Kai in Ipoh. If you have doubts, just hop over to Jalan Yau Tet Shin area (they’re situated opposite of each other, somewhat at each other’s neck, if you will) come dinner-supper hours on weekends or public holidays, and I’m sure you’ll be eating your words faster than politicians making empty promises.

Don’t doubt the number of chickens hanging in front of the stall, in all their glistening glories. They poach the chickens on-the-spot once the chickens hanging on the hooks are sold off.

Then people started to argue and fought over the BEST Tauge Ayam (or Ayam Tauge, whichever suits your fancy) in Ipoh. For one knows that holding the crown means a lot, as this is unofficially Ipoh’s most famous food, bar none.

So where does Cowan Street Ayam Tauge & Koitiau come into the picture?

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Wait, is this for REAL? Half year on, and I’m STILL rambling on and on about BALI?!!!!

Yeah yeah … I heard you groaning back there. But after a cringing 3 months of hiatus, I’ve decided to bring closure to the BALI 2009 SAGA before my memory fails me in a complete whiteout episode.

Sick of the same old choices at Jati 3 Bungalows, we decided to push our luck and ventured out to the streets of Ubud, only to falter and ended up with breakfast at Babyface Cafe, a short distance away from our hotel

Picking up where I left off from the 5th day’s recollection (where we licked our fingers after a satisfying BBQ pork ribs experience at Nuri’s Warung) the 6th day saw us enjoying every single moment to its fullest, for it’s the unofficially LAST DAY for us in Bali. Unofficial, in the sense that we’re departing back home on the next day, albeit on a very, VERY early flight.

A photos-heavy post after the jump. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

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Friday lunches are the BEST I tell you. I am not going to gloat or anything, but how does a two and a half hour lunch period sounds to you? Music to your ears? Or got your blood boiling yet?

Not to say this is an ideal situation. More like a catch-22 variant, when it’s not always possible to spend our lunch hours wailing away in the restaurant. To be seated for more than two hours during a simple meal sounds rather absurd, especially when it’s fast food we’re having. Not to mention the dagger stares from other patrons in those perpetually-packed eateries. (Foh San comes to mind again, naturally).

Freshly made cream soup, and a choice of iced lemon tea/Coke for the lunch sets @ Folie-Folie Cafe & Grill

After missing a slew of Friday lunches (since before Chinese New Year, I believe), today was the first time we had to struggle and brainstorm for another place for lunch. Ended up at Folie-Folie Cafe & Grill in town, opposite of UOB Bank near Greentown. If you’re one party animal (or maybe not), then you’d probably have heard of Summer Paradise, which opened its doors sometime back in last year. Do correct me if I’m wrong.

Anyway, Folie-Folie Cafe & Grill started operations about half a year ago, situated directly adjacent to the funky bungalow, serving a mix of Eastern and Western fares, from Lamb Chops, Grilled Chicken Chops and Fish & Chips to Katsudon, Japanese Curry, Fried Rice and pastas.

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Power lunches for us literally translate to random everyday lunches; usually deciphered as leisurely sessions lasting between half an hour to an hour, or sometimes more. Shhhh!!! We wouldn’t want the higher authorities to discover this batch of incompetent workers now, would we?

Wait, who am I kidding? When THEY themselves immerse in one hour plus meals, finished with a fogging session, then cleansing their souls with some spiritual searching. Hell yeah we’re good followers  …..

Tung Hoi is a famous name when it comes to Chinese diners, the other branch in Ipoh Garden South being one of my favourite haunt formerly ……

Of course, when work takes us out from the office, all we can hope for is at least, a decent place for lunch after all the hard work. Okay okay … excuses I know. But good food may just be the sole requiem one needs at these desperate times.

Obviously, we CANNOT drink the blues away in the middle of the day now, can we?

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I am a sucker for good Yong Tau Foo, or stuffed fish paste, especially those darn-crispy ones (plastic in oil or not, who cares? It’s a myth anyway). Read my post on Ipoh’s famous Big Tree Foot‘s version – my personal top pick for good YTF, or Yeong Liew, as we call them here in Ipoh, for a better idea. Yup, seldom do I opt for the boiled YTF served in soup, unless the variety’s mind-boggling, like Gunung Rapat’s Kwong Hong.

White rice served with fresh, succulent pieces of fish paste stuffed on the spot, and the compulsory duo of chili sauce, and sweet sauce.

Previous experience with Ampang’s most famous (yet over-rated) Yong Tau Foo got me wary of trying another piece of YTF in the Klang Valley ever again. Until, I was brought over to Puchong Yong Tau Fu, tucked hidden in some enclave at the older portion of Puchong. Situated at a junction connecting Jalan Puchong Batu 14 (14th Miles?) and Jalan Tembusu, opposite of a Chinese school named Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Han Ming. (Map to come at the end of the post)

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Some of you might be wondering about the reason(s) behind the serious lack of Ipoh’s Japanese food posts on my blog. Last I wrote something of such trait was way back when I discovered A Lai I for the first time, after that same Japanese restaurant has been running for a good 3-4 years prior to my virginal visit.

Pathetic huh? In reality, I actually love Japanese food to bits, especially those promising the freshest of ingredients, the most authentic of dishes (aside from the usual California rolls, bento sets and xxx-Dons, which by the way, are exactly what Sushi King is heavily promoting now), and preferably, a reasonably-priced feast.

But of course, Japanese food don’t come cheap, nor do they come in abundance. The good ones, at least. I have visited almost all of the Japanese restaurants in Ipoh, save for Kizuna One at Royal Perak Golf Club, for they charge exorbitantly more, for the same fares one can get at Kizuna, the new Wasabi Japanese Buffet at 1Casuarina which is WAY over-rated for the price one pays, and some random ones sprouting all over Greentown, or Ipoh Garden East.

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