Motormouth From Ipoh – Malaysian Food & Travel

As I sit here on this warm Saturday evening; cross-legged, cross-eyed (after a 3 hours long The Hobbit) and darn crossed for paying triple the amount of parking fee due to a silly mistake, my mind jolted back to a breakfast experience few months ago (could be half a year for all I can remember!).

Not by any chance a fan of soupy noodles myself, I was reluctant to venture over for a try even after several invites. Yup, I’m that damn stubborn. Moreover, this Pomander pork noodles place in SS15 (now renamed to Ooi Noodle House) is notorious for the extremely long wait; come rain or shine.

If you have the time, by all means, prepare to shed some 45 minutes of your life here. But …. was it any good?

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Good Bak Kut Teh stalls are hard to come by, unless you’re residing within the town of Klang where you can throw a stone from anywhere and 50% probability of hitting someone who’s cooking Bak Kut Teh at their restaurant or home. (read Best of Klang Bak Kut Teh for a dizzying range of BKT specialists in town)

Outside of Klang however, I have countless disappointment with BKT outlets claiming to be the ‘authentic’ Klang bak kut teh, or the BEST bak kut teh, or whatever else they conjured up with. So far, the only ones noteworthy outside of Klang are Yap Chuan in Puchong for their irresistible dry bak kut teh, and Ah Sang Bak Kut Teh in Sungei Way.

And no, I did not enjoy Jalan Ipoh’s Ban Lee or Fatty’s on Old Klang Road.

But now … there might be a piece of good news. A saving grace in the form of Ah Ping Bak Kut Teh in SS14 in Subang Jaya.  Read the rest of this entry »

Fresh, thick slices of sashimi accompanied the Sakura Bento set (RM75/USD25) that came with a whole artillery of what could be defined as Japanese cuisine in a box

Now I am all for healthy eating and living a sustainable, passionate and jovial life. Hence I signed up … wait, WAS signed up for GCC; the Global Corporate Challenge that kick-started last week.

And here I am after my sinful meal of Big Mac and fries, parked in front of my computer writing about food instead of walking up a storm and burning off calories piled up since this blog was born.

Uh oh … another mindless session of rants and ramblings?! Nah .. not on this beautiful Sunday night. I’ll spare you. Let’s go Japanese to jump start the cranking engine within. Read the rest of this entry »

If you start to question whether has the Motormouth suffered from the wrath and succumbed as a consequence of manic bingeing throughout these 4 years (the blog’s anniversary is just right on the horizon!), the answer may be YES.

But not from the sheer overload of food. Almost an overkill, actually.

The truth is, since coming back from Bangkok (more stories to come, don’t worry … I’ll bore you to death with the coming chapters, that’s for sure), I have not been well rested. I was in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah then Kuantan, followed by Johor Bahru recently. To a point where I myself started to wonder how long can this passion to eat and write will last ……

Honey Sea Coconut with Lemon, Sambal Belacan and a tangy, piquant sauce made up of chopped chillies and a squeeze of lime, and the omnipresent (on every table!) fried chicken wings.

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Kelantan Delights – Almost religiously, we stopped talking; stopped yapping about the previous meals each of us had, the new places in town, and the misfortune of dining in peculiar eateries sprouting up all over Klang Valley. The attention was shifted indefinitely; channeled towards the aesthetically-plated servings of Kelantanese/Malay delights.

Slightly more than two years ago, I left my tracks on Kelantan’s soils. It was more than a working trip. It was …. a holiday well-deserved. Yes, that terrifying thought of waking up every weekend in different states of Malaysia. But back then, nothing was overwhelming like it is now.

Every single opportunity to get out of the office was much appreciated. A battalion of us marching (or rather, driving) to the east coast for a good 4 days or so. The excursion took our breath away …. more so because of the hectic schedule and hours on the road, than the scenery that embraced the city child in us.

But, we were not complaining. On the contrary, I started missing Kota Bharu almost immediately after the trip. When things set in and there I was anticipating for the next runaway to the east coast for work, a course or joint activities with our counterparts over in the eastern states of peninsular Malaysia.

But my wish never materialized.

It would be a sin to forgo the opportunity for a Kodak moment here; with interior designing worthy of an accolade and then some. This could be THE place to hold a function that calls for Halal cuisine.

Thus, I started craving for another bite of ‘akok‘, that famous Kelantanese dessert/snack that looked nothing like an elegant piece of a signature ‘kueh’. YET, the proof is in the pudding as they said. And this piece of wrinkled block of sweet delight made from an overdose of eggs captured my heart almost instantly. But …. aside from the ones I found at Pasar Siti Khadijah in Kelantan, where can I savour the same sensation here in the city?

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“Kai See Hor Fun” with Wanton @ RM6.50/USD2.20

If you’re cursing under your breath, I can understand that. If you’re sick of looking at chickens (real one okay … edible fowls), I buy that too. After the almost relentless onslaught of posts on chicken rice (Loke Yun Ampang and Kee Kee Bentong Chicken Rice), I would have balked at the sight of another. And another. AND another …..

Yet, I can’t help but pursue this medley of torment; if you insist on calling these ‘delicious’ posts that. Kar Heong Restaurant was started back in 2004 in Subang Jaya, then subsequently opened a branch at Kota Damansara in 2008.

If you go …. oh well, just another Nam Heong, New Ipoh Restaurant Chicken Rice or worse …. a Chicken Rice Shop-wannabe, think again. The “Kai See Hor Fun” (shredded chicken rice noodle soup) here can rival even some of the best in Ipoh. No joke.  Read the rest of this entry »

Pineapple Fried Rice (RM9.90/USD3.30) – An aesthetically-captivating presentation in a hollowed half of a pineapple. Fluffy grains with a distinctive fragrance, fried with cubed fresh pineapple, chopped long beans, raisins and roasted cashew nuts.

And I proclaim this my current favourite haunt for no-frills, affordable Thai fares in KL/PJ. Not until after the third visit though. Second one did not count since this reckless soul forgot to take note of Phad Thai Restaurant‘s off-day and went home sorely disappointed on a Monday evening.

Actually no, we went off to Daorae which is about 100 metres away, but you get my drift. The sheer lacking in enthusiasm after preparing this glutton of a bowel to a mind-numbing, fiery Thai fest. Only to experience a gastronomic experience on a whole different spectrum; grilled meats over charcoal, kimchi, bulgogi and all.

That being said, this adamant little brat was not about to give up. Still fresh from the first eye-opening experience of a dinner consisting of a reasonably-good rendition of “Pad Thai” (Thai fried rice noodles with shrimp, egg and bean sprouts), and you know it’s fairly impossible to find one that’s just as good as Bangkok’s, we went again.

Read on for the full insight, and delicious shots you’d be forgiven for licking the screen …. Read the rest of this entry »