Motormouth From Ipoh – Asian Food & Travel Blog

MATANG FAMOUS SEAFOOD PORRIDGE !!!

Light House Seafood Restaurant

Humoungous claypot of seafood porridge, with shark’s meat (yes, read that right), homemade fishballs, prawns, and enoki mushrooms

We ordered TWO pots of porridge, one with prawns, one without. Simply because KYT cannot “tahan” (stand) the overwhelming seafood flavours, proclaiming them as too fishy. Yet he managed to gobble tonnes after tonnes of sushi, sashimi, and all types of seafood imaginable, the night before at TAO. Hmm … Contradicting statements, huh? =P

Here at Light House, you choose what goes into your pot of porridge. From types of fish such as tiger grouper, normal grouper, pomfret and shark’s meat, to fishballs, prawns, and shellfish. We opted for shark’s meat, fishballs and prawns, as the other species are pricier options. Moreover, boiling tiger grouper in porridge somehow sounds sooooo wrong, no?

Smooth, delightful grains of rice, boiled with the sweetness of the seafood-infused broth, complemented by the abundance of rich, succulent seafood. No soy sauce or pepper necessary, else you just ‘kill’ the flavours. One small reminder though, if you’re not a big eater, ask for smaller portion. They tend to go overboard in stuffing your guts.

Steamed Clams (La-la) RM12

If you do not wish for all the ingredients to ‘drown’ in the porridge, you can order side dishes. We ordered the steamed La-La. Pleasantly surprised by the LARGER than usual clams, with thick, succulent meat, steamed to perfection. Yup, at RM12 for that large serving. Worth every cent.

Or Chien aka Oyster Omelette @ RM15

The Or Chien did not fare too well, though the fried egg was crisp at sides, and the ‘wok hei’ shone through. However, too much flour was used, rendering the omelette stickier than your average, and the oysters barely noticable.

Deep-fried Fish (Cai Yu Zhai) 16 pieces for RM13

Crispy, fried small fish that went really well with the wet, and sweet porridge. Provided much desired crispiness and texture. A good snack, nevertheless.

Total damage? RM127. The 2 pots of porridge cost RM72, each ingredients priced separately. RM42 for the shark’s meat, RM21 for the prawns, and RM9 for the fishballs. Oh, did I mention that the fishballs are not your typical variety? These are larger, firm yet bouncy balls, homemade and tasty. Be sure to add them into your customized pot of simple food for the soul …

UPDATED 9/9/08 – Location : Light House Seafood Restaurant @ No. 10, Jalan Cina, 34750 Matang, Taiping, Perak. Tel : 05-8475408, 05-8475649.

Opening hours : 11am – 11pm. Closed on Tuesdays.

Map to the Place

The signboard reads “Pusat Hiburan Larut Matang” …. erm, entertained by your meal?

Right in the middle of town, a few blocks away from The Store supermarket, is this hawker food centre, housing at least 80+ stalls, dishing out ‘halal’ food, as well as an array of Chinese hawker fare.

Peace Hotel … aptly named?

This colonial building is in fact, a premium-priced hotel by the name of Peace Hotel, serving 5 stars dishes, with a posh spa, gym facilities, and a swank pool to boot. Yeah … right. (Hehe, me and my sarcastic thoughts. Blame it on the weather)

In case you missed the food centre, which I highly doubt, you can look for The Store supermarket (the orange building at the background of the photo above, OR you can look for this Jurassic of a building). It is facing the food centre.

Surprisingly, hygiene is maintained quite well. Just don’t look into every nook and corner …

With so many stalls to choose from, and typical us who woke up later than expected (“,) we could not scout the whole area, skipping the Malay and Indian stalls. The drinks are pretty cheap, by Ipoh’s standards.

Til now, I’ve no idea what this lady is selling. Yeah, me and my battered tastebuds.

Deep-fried Radish Cake? Rice Cake? (Rm0.40 per piece)

While waiting for the auntie to scoop the sweet sauce for the deep-fried blocks of artery-clogging snacks, my motormouth babbled and chatted her up. (NOT for the wrong reason, mind you =P). She explained the nature and name of the kuih, but my bad command of Mandarin got me nowhere, and with my tails between my legs, paid for them and scurried away to oblivion.

The texture and tasteless nature of the snacks suspiciously resembled Lor Bak Kou (radish cake) commonly served in dim sum outlets. But with a twist. They were served with a type of sweet sauce, with a hint of chilli in them. In fact, the sauce reminded me of the gravy for chee cheong fun (flat, rolled rice noodles), which brings me to ……

Chee Cheong Fun (RM1.80)

This plate of smooth Chee Cheong Fun (CCF), served with a type of sweet gravy and chilli sauce, sprinkled generously with sesame seeds, dried shrimps, and fried shallots, was very much alike Ipoh’s version, BUT with another twist. (Anymore twist, and you’ll figure this might be a plot in M.Night Shyamalan’s upcoming movie) You can request for additional yam cake to be served with your plate of CCF. Yup, sounds strange, but the bland yam block provided a powdery, chewable texture to the noodles. Interesting.

Peanut Pancakes (RM0.50 each)

We Ipohans call them ‘Dai Kow Meen’. Penangites recognize them as ‘Ban Chang Kuih’. Some call them Apom. Whatever they’re known as, rest assured all towns with a sizeable Chinese community would have stalls selling these snacks.

Char Kuey Teow with Eggs (RM2.20)

Ah Leng Char Kuey Teow. Translation? The Pretty One’s fried kuey teow. Portion was big, enough ‘wok hei’ and with lots of ingredients thrown in. Without prawns or cockles, as KYT avoids seafood like the plague. Hehe ….

Location : Chee Cheong Fun @ Stall 71, Ah Leng Char Kuey Teow @ Stall 83. The rest easily located. Pusat Makanan Larut Matang @ Jalan Iskandar, Taiping.

The confectionery/factory churning out ‘halal’ biscuits

Mum was raving about some famous Aulong Heong Piah (a type of biscuits with malt sugar filling, and crunchy outer layer sprinkled with sesame). But Aulong is another area nearby to town, but with mazes of housing area. We were lost on the 1st day, unsuccessfully tracking the confectionery. But all’s not lost.

On the 2nd day, a local girl was with us (praise be to her?), and hey! She knows the way around Aulong, and even suggested a few shops famed for their biscuits. We managed to crawl our way to Eng Huat Food Mfg & Trading, in Taman Bersatu. I highly doubt I can re-locate this shop, but help’s always available (right, Ms NWN? =P)

They bake a whole range of products, for sale, and displayed a ‘halal’ certificate. Normally, Chinese confectioneries do not cater to the Malay crowd. So, one-up for Eng Huat. I bought a packet each of Heong Piah (RM3), Kaya Puffs (RM5), and Hup Toh Soh (RM2.70) (a crispy biscuit made from wheat flour, sugar, eggs).

Only the Hup Toh Soh managed to impress me, and had me chomping on them with delight. The Heong Piah are OK, but fell short of expectation. The Kaya Puffs are best avoided altogether.

Union of the Sweet and the Crumbly … Aww …

Location : Eng Huat Food Mfg Trading @ 261-262, Jalan Pak Cik Ahmad, Taman Bersatu, 34000 Taiping. Tel : 05-8076148.

Nothing beats curry-drenched white fluffy rice with meat & vegetables (RM4.90)

Final meal of the day in Taiping was at A.Rahman Nasi Kandar Restaurant, somewhere in Medan Taiping. Sorry, no exact address. The fried chicken was delicious, fried to perfection but still manage to retain the moisture of the meat. “Kuah campur” (mixed curry/gravy) is what I normally order whenever I have nasi kandar, since my days in Penang. Plus point is the curry here is spicier than the ones in Kayu, Khaleel, Pelita etc, providing much-needed kick.

With that, the 2 Days, 1 Night Taiping Getaway came to a halt. Still a lot of undiscovered gems in this town, definitely. Pledge to return in near future (supposedly end of this month, but major changes in government’s policies forces us to be prudent, and …. well, let’s just wait for my post at the end of June. You’ll see).

Legend Inn, Taiping – Where we crashed for the night …

Back to my Taiping post, there are a few hotels in Taiping worth a stay, and they charge reasonably as well. Few weeks back, we stayed at Kama Lodge, near Lake Garden and Maxwell Hill, a chalet type of resort, but slightly pricier. (pics of the place later). This time around, we chose Legend Inn, in town area, which is cheaper (Deluxe = RM93, Superior = RM113, Jr Suite = RM155). We tried our luck with the suite, but unfortunately, they were fully booked. Hmm … And who says nobody holidays in Taiping?!!

The room was clean, (not the carpet though) and fully furnished, with cable TV available. I got the double bed, while poor KYT managed to grasp a single one. Muahaha … Ratio proportionate to body size ma …. Advantage of a glutton? LOL.

View from our room …

Though situated facing a mosque, we were spared of our worries of early morning awakenings by prayers, as we believe the mosque is only used during Friday prayers. After we were done with our work for the day, we took a well-deserved nap (hehe, typical of us) right until …. DINNERTIME !!!! Slurp ……. =P

Location : Legend Inn @ No 2, Jalan Long Jaafar, 34000 Taiping, Perak, Malaysia. Tel : 605-8060000. For more information, click HERE.

Fancy dining, al fresco style?

We drove to a food court situated near Lake Garden (Taman Tasik); a popular spot for joggers, family outings, lovers’ embraces (oopps …) etc.

Hong Kong Chee Cheong Fun (RM2.50)

In order to fully utilise our bowel space, we scanned the whole area, and estimated the amount of food to be ordered, so we could try as much as possible, without wasting a single strand of noodle. Hehehe ….

I had the Hong Kong Chee Cheong Fun (Rice Noodle Rolls) with Char Siew and Shrimp. Simple, but forgettable. Definitely not on par with some of Ipoh’s superb offerings. But the sambal was spicy enough to warrant for attention.

Pork Meat Noodle in Salted Vegetable Soup (RM4)

KYT picked something even lighter, minced pork meat noodles in salted vegetable soup. The stall also offers other choices such as bitter gourd soup, etc. Strangely, though I was half-expecting him to whine and criticize his bowl of unassuming noodles, he was throwing praises, and seemed to enjoy his meal very much. Erm, don’t judge the bowl by its colour? 😉

Seafood Char Koay Kak (RM4)

Still hungering for more, we eyed the Seafood Char Koay Kak stall, whereby the uncle was frying non-stop, indicator of flourishing business, equivalent to good food?

On closer inspection, he offers Char Koay Kak (fried rice cakes?) with a twist, ingredients such as prawns, squids and mantis prawns (!) can be added as you please. However, he ran out of mantis prawns (sigh …) on that night, so only squids and prawns. Fried with enough ‘wok hei’ and fiery from chilli sauce added, the dish was delicious, and the shrimps and squids played a major role in my positive verdict.

Penang Lor Bak (RM5.20 for 4 pcs)

One stall was brightly lit, with colourful and tantalizing array of fried stuff (Lor Bak) on display, tempting even the most picky of eaters (ie : KYT …. sorry, can’t help it =P). Prices are slighty steep, compared to the ones from Penang, but the pieces were bigger, and more varieties on offer. The accompanying sauce complemented the fragrant deep-fried pieces well.

After that heavy dinner, we had to skip supper. In fact, we were at lost on where else to search for good grub, forcing us to retire early, and prepare for a long, long day ahead ….

(to be continued … )

Did not bother to ask what’s the uncle selling/doing with a typewriter in front of the restaurant ….

Let me post my last blog for the week by introducing some Taiping food. In fact, this is my 2nd trip here in 2 weeks. The 1st was not memorable in terms of food, but the hotel (Kama Lodge) is worth noting. This 2nd trip required me and KYT to stay overnight, and luckily managed to get a LOT of work done in a matter of 24 hours.

Preserved salted lime juice aka ‘Ham Kam Kat’ (RM1.50)

Brought here by a local, as the lady boss is a relative of one of her colleague’s. Situated on Jalan Kota, right smack in town area, this shop somehow managed to preserve the colonial look and feel, with wooden benches commonly found in Penang’s coffee shops (eg. Kek Seng).

We saw a few jars of ‘kam kat’ (lime?) in preservation at the parking lot next to the shop itself. Supposedly cooling and good for HOT weather. Half-expected them to be salty/sourish and difficult to swallow, as I’m not a fan of sour drinks. But pleasantly surprised by the palatable taste.

Satay Chicken Rice (RM3.80)

They sell a variety of rice and noodles, and prices ranging from RM3 to RM6 per plate. Reasonable, I’d say. The shop was half full, eventhough it was only 12 noon. KYT had the Satay Chicken Rice, suspiciously resembling Kam Heong style. But the chicken was good, marinated well, and the ever-fussy KYT gave his seal of approval. =P

Kerabu Chicken Rice (RM3.50)

The gals (yeah, all THREE of them … ain’t we the lucky lot? hehe) ordered the same dish, Kerabu Chicken Rice, therefore I was tempted to, accordingly. To order the same dish, mind you, no other hidden agenda. LOL.

Tastewise? Moderate. Probably I was expecting too much, but the rice was tasteless though fried with egg, and fluffy enough. The strips of fried chicken, dipped in the spicy & sour sauce also did not manage to satisfy this glutton. KYT nodded in agreement.

Location : 5, Jalan Kota, 34000 Taiping. Very easy to find, at the far end of Jalan Kota if you’re coming from the toll exit of southern Taiping (Taiping/Changkat Jering). Jalan Kota is one of the main roads, parallel to Jalan Taming Sari or Main Road of Taiping town.

Bismillah Cendol by the sidewalk

Still craving for more, as the portion served at Lian Thong was skimpy(nothing dirty on my mind, really!). Nearby Taiping Hospital, on Jalan Barrack, is this famous cendol stall, serving possibly Taiping’s most talk-about dessert at a shack, and by the pathway.

Gal : Wah … gaya lah ‘pose’ ni !! =)

There was a laksa stall by the roadside, in case you crave for something substantial, but for us, a chilled bowl of cendol would do just fine. You can sit inside the shop/shack, or by the sidewalk.

Cendol Pulut with Red Beans (RM1.40)

Possibly one-off chance to try them, we chose the one with everything, pulut (glutinous rice) and red beans. Cooling, sweet, refreshing, it was all we could ask for after torched by the merciless sun. However, the pulut was a disappointment, we detected charred ends, and they came in lumpy, tough-to-chew texture. On a positive note, the serving was generous, with BIG red beans thrown in for good measure. Just skip the pulut when you order.

Part 2 – to be posted as soon as I returned from KL …. Bon Voyage?