Motormouth From Ipoh – Malaysian Food & Travel

Hot Jack Cafe – A hard to missed corner lot with a catchy signboard facing Jalan Pasir Puteh, before one reaches Shatin Court on the right.

Finally … Thanks to recommendations from a few readers, I came to know about Hot Jack Cafe; a barely half a year old cafe situated on Jalan Pasir Puteh of Ipoh. Though it took me a considerably long, loooonnnggg period of procrastination before making my way over for lunch on a Sunday afternoon.

The cafe serves an array of Western and Asian delights; and thankfully far from the generic, washed-up choices like Chicken Chop, Lamb (or Lamp … ) Chop, and Fish & Chips.

Instead you get ambitious fusions such as Mediterranean Pizza Chicken Chop, Cajun Spice Chicken/Fish, Turf & Surf (funny it’s not listed as Surf & Turf …. but, oh well), and even Almond Crumbed Fish with Butter and Raspberry Sauce.

Everything on the menu appeared to be reasonably-priced, with nothing beyond RM20/USD6 each. With 12 varieties of chicken chops, 8 methods to serve their fish, and 3 types each of steak and lamb, you know you’re in a fix if you’re one of those indecisive species ……. Read the rest of this entry »

Has the Motormouth lost his mind? Or teeth, going for Baby Food now (those gooey, yucky stuff) instead of raw, crunchy and fiery delights?

Whatever it was, I sure did not regret bumping into Reana’s post HERE, on how she relished every bite (or rather, spoonful) of the braised yam/taro with dried shrimps. Listed as “Xia Mi Yam” in the menu, you might be wondering aloud what in the world is that ancient-sounding Chinese dish. A clever combination that worked wonders for us, the other dishes at Weng Kee Seafood did not disappoint one bit. Understandable, considering that the chef of the restaurant, Mr Chan has been donning his aprons and frying up the wok for a good 30 years now. Read the rest of this entry »

STEAK FACTORY @ Rapid Mall Seri Intan, a relatively new mall in Teluk Intan

Last month we went on a whirlwind eating tour in Teluk Intan, covering the famous Liew Kee Chee Cheong Fun (only opens from 5pm onwards, so don’t park yourself there for lunch), Ah Chai Rojak (not as good as some might say), Jalan Maharani decades-old soya bean milk, Ta Sin Guan Tin‘s confectioneries and Lana Tea House (a charming little place for lunch, dinner, and everything in between).

That took us about 8 hours worth of travelling, bingeing, resting in-between, and naptime in the car. But if you’re thinking that those are all that Teluk Intan has to offer …. you’re wrong, my friend.

Nobody told me that the Root Beer Float comes in a huge-a$$ jug sufficient for two. They should have put some warning/reminder or such. >_<

Anyway, to make a long story short (hehe, yeah right), we were there for work yesterday morning and ended up having our rushed breakfasts at McDonald’s (no pics though, and I made a blunder by trying to order a Weekday Breakfast Special set priced from RM4.00-RM4.50, when it was clearly a SATURDAY!), then subsequently our lunch at Steak Factory; a Western diner with Asian influences that spans two shoplots at Rapid Mall in Teluk Intan. Steak Factory is supposedly ‘Halal‘ (sorry I forgot to confirm the status, but definitely pork-free and they claimed to use Halal ingredients), and offers a range of Western cuisine, with minimal choices from the Asian kitchen sandwiched between. Read on to find out about this place ….. Read the rest of this entry »

Something Special Cafe @ Hugh Low Street – Painted with a stark contrast of sunshine yellow and sky blue, it’s tough to NOT notice this wacky little outlet stuck in between the famous Xin Quan Fang curry mee (police station curry mee), and Paris Restaurant’s famous Hakka Mee (formerly Yin Yau Kui from the opposite side)

Huh. I lost half a Saturday today. No thanks to a well-planned, well-prepared, but ill-selected choice of starting time. Waking up at an un-Godly hour of 5am just to scramble my way over to Teluk Intan does not sound exactly like one’s idea of a perfect weekend now ….. does it?

Anyway, there’s a “Special” place (pun intended) I wanted to introduce to you readers since months ago. But somehow, the prospect of getting oneself stuck in the congestion on Hugh Low Street (Jalan Sultan Iskandar Shah) during lunch hour did not appeal at all. Hence the hesitation, and then come procrastination.

“Thunder Tea” Rice, or Lui Cha Fan is a type of famous Hakka one-dish meal, consisting of an assortment of chopped greens and roasted peanuts on white rice, served with a side serving of the ‘lui cha’ – a Green broth made from various greens and herbs.

Something Special Cafe (in Chinese, it’s known as “Gu Ling Jing Gwai”) has not been on the scene for that long, but in the past couple of years, this cafe has remained a permanent favourite of the lunch crowd.

Why not? When a lunch set, consisting of a main dish (rice, noodles, or fish/chicken steak), an apple tart, and a glass of their homemade sweet potato juice is priced from RM5-RM7 (USD1.50-USD2.10) only !!   Read the rest of this entry »

The Statue of Liberty wept for the likes of us; tourists paying lots of moolah ($$) for pathetic food … who am I kidding? Genting Highlands = Mecca of Good Food ?!!

Okay people, Friday rants again. The week flew by without any fanfare, conflicts, tantrums nor warfare. Good news, coming from someone who works in a volatile working environment; filled with last minute decisions, exams (yes, at this time and age!), pinnacle of bureacracy (can’t complain, given the nature of my job) and unplanned travels.

Speaking of the devils, I still need to work tomorrow on a lovely Saturday morning. Shucks right? Especially when it’s not in IPOH we are talking about, but somewhere down south. Maybe I’ll grab myself a piece of Tau Sar Pneah, or an overfried piece of fried chicken from Gulam Rasul.

Crispy, salty, sweet and very very addictive plate of thinly-sliced ‘fah lam yuk’ (pork belly meat) deep-fried and coated in a caramelized sauce. (RM15.00/USD4.50)

Since I am in no mood to do proper food reviews, let me share my food-hunting experiences (or lack thereof) in Genting Highlands sometime back in May. Word of advice …. do NOT put high hopes in discovering feasts of gastronomic proportions up in the highlands. Yeah, you may be feeling ‘on top of the world‘ or ‘dining with the angels from the sky above‘ … but unless you’re prepared to pay astronomical rates for a culinary indulgence, you’d be better off starving yourself or pray that you win enough chips for an abalone or two, or a meal at The Olive.

Read how we started off with a bang in Gohtong Jaya (the town before you reach the peak), then things started to go downhill from there ….. gastronomically speaking, of course …. Read the rest of this entry »

Since we are already on a roll here, almost consecutive posts on noodles (Beef Noodles, Siamese Laksa, Laksa Pak Ngah, Mee Hailam & Mee Goreng) throughout the month of June, let’s top them all off with a duel between two of the MOST prominent noodles stalls in all of Penang; situated within a stone’s throw from each other.

BANGKOK LANE MEE GORENG @ SENG LEE COFFEE SHOP

SIN HWA CHAR KOAY TEOW (CKT) – THE FAMOUS CKT OPPOSITE OF PULAU TIKUS POLICE STATION

Yup, both in Penang, and both on Jalan Burmah. Albeit the Bangkok Lane’s Mee Goreng is usually recognized as THE indomitable “Indian Mee Goreng of Bangkok Lane“, for the sole reason that the stall faces the lane (Lorong Bangkok) rather than the main road. And on the opposite side of the road we have Kedai Kopi Sin Hwa that houses a single stall selling Char Koay Teow for breakfast-lunch-tea break (?) and has been on the radar of “CKT-aficionados” who make their annual pilgrimages to Penang for their fix …… Read the rest of this entry »

Indian Mee Goreng (RM3.50/USD1.00) - Large portion enough for two, but you’ll have no problems finishing the whole plate, really.

And let me share this place that I have been intending to write about for so long. As I have mentioned before in my post on Mee Hailam Parit, I am not a fan of yellow noodles. I’ll go for Kuey Teow/Sar Hor Fun (flat rice noodles) first, if not then Lou Shu Fun (rat’s tail noodles, I know … it sounds morbid but actually ain’t) followed by Mee Hoon (rice vermicelli noodles). The last resort? The yellow mee; no thanks to various bad experiences with heavy alkaline taste from the lye water used to cure the noodles.

Look at how chirpy the Indian girl was …. Cathay Mee Stall @ Restoran dan Rumah Tumpangan Beauty Baru – Brisk business come lunch hours, hence be there early. Or very late.

Initially I was skeptical when Mum told me about this great Indian (or Mamak/Indian-Muslim) Mee Goreng (fried yellow noodles) & Pasembur (Indian rojak; a type of salad) stall on Jalan Yang Kalsom. That this stall beats even the famous one at Padang Ipoh in old town, and the various incarnations everywhere else. Heck, there’s even one on Jalan Yang Kalsom itself, at Restoran Sen Yee.

But after tasting a packet of their Mee Goreng brought home by Mum, I was sold ……. and this has been MY personal favourite Mee Goreng in all of Ipoh. This coming from someone who hates his Mee … Read the rest of this entry »