Motormouth From Ipoh – Malaysian Food & Travel

It does not matter whether you understand the real meaning behind every toss; liberally peppered with shouts of ‘huat ah!’ (rich/prosperous/etc) and such. Even if you’re from a different cultural background, or with a snigger plastered across the face wondering are these people mad? Come on …. adults playing with their food?!!

Some things just don’t change. Just when the dust had settled down after 3 years of hiatus, a second round of ‘food fight’ broke out between these very endearing neighbours; Malaysia and Singapore. Read this article from The Star for more insights.

Back in 2009, I wrote  a piece on one of the HOTTEST piece of news in town (yeah, when other countries were deep in thoughts saving lives and such … we were headlining chapters on fighting over bragging rights over .. erm, bak kut teh, chicken rice, etc).

Three years later, here we are …. well-rested from the fatigue over the war of words, a second round ensued. This time over Yee Sang (or ‘yu sheng’), a prosperous dish of mixed vegetables and raw fish tossed and savoured during Chinese New Year. Read the rest of this entry »

Dry Bak Kut Teh; a pot of various cuts of pork cooked in a thickened gravy that’s nothing like the conventional bak kut teh perfumed by herbs, but resembling a ‘kung pow’ touch with dried chillies, dried cuttlefish and lots of okra (ladies finger) and topped with chopped coriander.

Now I have been itching to write about (worthy) Bak Kut Teh outlets in Ipoh; albeit well aware of the fact that this essentially Hokkien dish has been jostling for the limelight (and guide books) in this city populated by an array of lip-smacking street foods in a futile manner.

If you ask me to name a few good BKT stalls in Ipoh that’s commendable AND recommendable to the outsiders (aside from Klangites, perhaps), there are 3 major names that I can think of.

Lee Soon (or was it Soon Lee?) near to the secondary school on Jalan Pasir Putih (SMK Jalan Pasir Putih), Sun Tong Chew off Jalan Kampar near to Ave Maria Convent, and this Tung Lok Hin at Medan Bendahara.

Read the rest of this entry »

If you think that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, think again.

For 15 years, Regalodge Hotel has been enduring the many stalwarts of hoteliers with impressive tenacity; albeit the emergence of one VERY strong contender by the name of Tower Regency situated at … erm, almost next door.

Then, sometime last year, the 3-star hotel underwent a major refurbishment ordeal; painted with a fresh coat of beige and purple paint and the addition of a foot reflexology centre. But what’s most enticing is this 4 months-old fine dining restaurant named The Limestone’s.

Seafood Paella (RM68.50 for a portion to be shared; Dinner Menu, or RM28.50 for an individual portion; Lunch Menu)

I admit that I was well surprised by the choice of location; a fine dining restaurant not within its own compound or in a refurbished mansion, or even nestled within some glittering high class resorts by the hills or in the midst of any of the business centres.

Here’s a story on the latest fine dining establishment in town; helmed by Chef Erwin from Europe with an interesting penchant for firing up a culinary storm not only in Malaysia; but in Ipoh of all the other towns …..  Read the rest of this entry »

Always a pleasure to be dining with your loved ones, ain’t it? The Year of the Dragon comes a-beckoning, promising another 12 months of potential growth, hardships, tribulations, happiness and everything in between. Whichever year that you were born in, I am sure you would have an inkling of what’s possibly crossing your path this year, from the various almanacs, feng shui masters’ predictions, etc.

This is the fourth Chinese New Year greetings from Motormouth From Ipoh; and if you’re already going “Wah!!! So ancient already ah this blog?!!” Yeah …. did not see this coming myself, for at best I thought this passion would fizzle out by the 2nd or 3rd year.

Surprise, surprise. Read the rest of this entry »

Waraku; one of the most tenacious Japanese restaurants in Ipoh so far.

Since eating at Chinese restaurants might entail the gory need to mortgage an arm or a leg this season, we thought why not go Japanese for a change. After all, the subsequent days would be filled with Yee Sang, pork, chicken, prawns, fish, mushrooms etc …. to a point when you’d wish that Reunion feasts can include burgers for a change.

Waraku is one of those restaurants that you usually fail to notice its existence, tenacity and dare I say … brilliance. Drowned by the (over) hyped Japanese diners around the vicinity (try scanning through THIS LIST and you’ll see why), Waraku is that humbler cousin of the larger-than-life restaurants with sushi bars, private rooms and blares of insincere “irrashaimase” through the halls …..

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Look at those stacked up slices of pre-smoked dried meat @ Seong Kee in Simee, Ipoh; a very RED (‘ong’) sign of things to come this Dragon Year?!

Yay! Live updates streaming on a day to day basis (I hope). Motormouth reached home extremely early this morning (almost uncharacteristically me, some may say), and thankful for that as I was informed that the traffic jam this afternoon on the North-South expressway was REALLY bad … about 20-30km/hour at best. So, if you’re one who’s sunbathing (terribly scorching today!) out there, drive safe. You know you do not want to miss the onslaught of mega-lip-smacking stories throughout the week …..

Imagine having to smoke every single piece manually, at a rate of thousands of pieces everyday! I would have thrown in the towel LONG before the tenth basket!

An air of festivity is definitely in the air, was grinning from ear to ear catching a glimpse of MH Tower (next to the drive-thru McDonald’s near to Jusco/Tesco in Medan Ipoh Bistari. Then the spanking new row of shops fronting Ipoh Hometown Restaurant that looked promising, yet I wonder what else can they open (new coffee shops, Japanese restaurant, fast food chain again?) that’s a cut above the rest.

Now, read on for the impromptu food run @ Simee in Ipoh …… Read the rest of this entry »

If only life is all “rojak-ed up”, yet every event/happening complemented each other so well like the ingredients that go into the making of this plate of Malaysian salad (with a scarily tar-like black coloured gravy made of shrimp paste!), then I certainly don’t mind the cascade of trials.

A colleague of mine broke down earlier this morning. Tears of sadness flowed down her face; the relentless sobs piercing our hearts. Her beloved grandmother of 90 years old had passed away suddenly, after an accidental fall. Life is fragile, yet gracious in another sense; granted her with a magnificent NINE decades of hardships, tribulations, life, joy and cheers.

When life gives you lemons, you make lemonades?

So, when life gives you soy bean, do you make ‘tau fu fah’, soy bean milk, AND glutinous rice balls loaded with black sesame paste?! Sounds yum, huh? This combination named 3-in-1 is available at this stall in Stadium Ipoh food court, that I have written before.

And dear food fanatics, here’s the last piece of story from Motormouth …….. Read the rest of this entry »