Motormouth From Ipoh – A Malaysian Food Blog

It was ironic that I went to Penang twice last week, almost back to back. Within the span of a week, in fact. Whereas the short excursion to the mainland of Penang (Seberang Jaya/Butterworth, to be exact) saw us scavengers ravaging through the myriad of stalls selling delicious hawker food at the newly-discovered (at least to this most innocent-cum-naive Ipoh guy here) “Wai Sek Kai” of Chai Leng Park in Butterworth.

But as destiny would have things her way (overly-dramatic?), I was back to Penang a few days later for a short getaway. In case it’s your first time here, or amnesia struck again, I absolutely fell in love with Penang food, especially food from the streets. In fact, time and again I’ve stressed that I developed my inquisitive, epicurious and gastronomic taste bud NOT in Ipoh, but when I spent my 4 years in USM of Penang. Yeah ….. those dastardly-memorable years saw me ballooning from a frail weakling to a mass of gigantic blob, to an almost ogre-like creature now.

Regrets? Nah …. FAR from it.

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After a few months of some serious honeymoon-ing, finally Motormouth got back to action. It’s been quite some time since ze butt got off from ze daily routine of sticking to ze office chair. (But of course, there are exceptions). If it’s your first time here, probably you’re not used to the onslaught of food posts from the other towns and states, no thanks to the immense frequency of travelling owing to the nature of my job. But if you’re a regular, then that most dreaded feeling of ‘Uh-Oh … here he goes again …. >_<” might be all too familiar.

And to kick things off,  here’s a short recap of the whirlwind ‘tour’ around the mainland of Penang – Seberang Jaya and Butterworth.

Hello Kitty Leng Chee Kang. How SWEET, huh? Another one in the book of ‘Names That Got Stuck to One’s Mind’

Thanks to CK Lam (she’s like ze walking directory of Penang food), my stay at Chai Leng Park of Butterworth, Penang got lifted with a short detour to Wai Sei Kai (Food Street) of Butterworth, Penang. Not one who’s accustomed to food-hunting on the mainland of Penang, I was a lost sheep. We were required to stay somewhere on the mainland, instead of on the glutton’s paradise (read : Penang island).

Like only Penang could. The northern intepretation of Leng Chee Kang; with EVERYTHING thrown in for good measure!

This was my first visit to Chai Leng Park of Butterworth, and a Google search for food in and around the vicinity will reveal the name Wai Sei Kai (Food Street in Chinese) more often than not. Situated near to the Market Square of Chai Leng Park in Butterworth (was a little confused, since I never knew Seberang Jaya and Chai Leng Park share the same perimeters).

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I did promise a post on Penang’s famous street foods, didn’t I? I tell you, nothing beats Penang when it comes to street fare. Not even my beloved hometown of Ipoh. Every corner, every junction, and almost on every single row of shoplots on the island, you’re bound to bump into a coffee shop, hawker centre, or at the very least, a make-shift hawker stall under some shady trees.

Kapitan’s Claypot Biryani Chicken (RM7/USD2) – Not exactly a POT, but a single serving of this can net you euphoria, nevertheless!

I do not know where or how to start off with, for the 2 days 1 night ‘Makan’ tour (read : gluttons at work) had us almost clutching our stomach and begging for some form of respite. Only to be duly served with more and more scrumptious food, completely devastating our plans for a much slimmer beginning to the new year.

You MUST try this lovely, warm concoction of ground almond with spices, nuts and fruits and fresh cow’s milk

I was back to Kapitan on Lebuh Chulia (Chulia Street) for I just can’t forget the taste of the aromatic, creamy and smooth Badam Milk (or Almond Milk), boiled and served at a stall parked at the side of this Indian-Muslim restaurant. Yeah, a glass full of nourishing and no doubt, fattening (who cares?!) warm fresh milk with mild almond flavour, before our meal. Top that!

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Penang food has never ceased to amaze me. Or any self-respecting foodie for that matter. The abundance of hawker stalls selling famous street food at dirt-cheap prices (ok, maybe not ALL but still, a lavish meal of everything will never cost you an arm or a leg), the flourishing number of restaurants and cafes on the island, and not to mention the wide array of cuisines, a perfect epitome of REAL 1Malaysia concept, whereby you’ll see people of all races hanging out at Mamak stalls more often than not.

But pardon me for the shorter than usual post today, for I was stuck in a most horrendous jam on the highway yesterday evening. For a good 6 hours on the expressway, traveling southbound from Penang back to Ipoh. Needless to say, the temptation to skip work could not get any greater.

Anyway, I wrote about Azuma Japanese Restaurant @ Queensbay Mall before, the much-relished, celebration feast after the much dreaded 5 days of imprisonment on an island known as Langkawi. So let me just share some photos of the food we had this time around, for a quick lunch in Queensbay Mall.

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Wait, what’s up with J2Kfm and his obsession with Banana Leaf Rice meals all of a sudden?!!!! Influences from his peers? Or the awakening of the Indian blood in him? (Sounds kind of wrong though, whoops. Twilight 3 in the making?).

First there was Sri Asoka Corner @ Ipoh Stadium and Samy’s @ Chemor. Then came along NS Curry House, and Old Andersonian Cafeteria near to Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun (that’s Ipoh General Hospital, for the uninitiated). Last month we even went down to Kuala Lumpur in search of good restaurants serving banana leaf curry rice, and ended up at Kanna’s Curry House in Section 17, Petaling Jaya.

Backtrack a little, and let me introduce one of my better banana leaf meals experience recently. Not in Ipoh, not around Perak, nor even in the Klang Valley. But on the good old, quaint and charming Penang island.

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