Ipoh’s Dry Curry Mee, Yong Tau Foo & White Coffee @ Foo Kwai Restaurant, Bercham
January 2, 2011 | 20,373 views
Hard at work; the ladies of Foo Kwai’s curry mee stall in a buzz of activities in the mornings. Just don’t go in a severely famished state. The wait can be slightly daunting. We waited a good 30 minutes.
Ahhh…. to be back in good old IPOH for the long weekend (thank you PM?). Breakfast in Ipoh is a delightful endeavour; almost the most important meal of the day. If you’re not fond of the humongous crowd at the dim sum restaurants around Ipoh (it’s mad on a weekend’s morning, so be warned), then you can choose from the many other selection of hawker fares.
Dry Curry Mee with Homemade Char Siew (barbecued pork slices) at Foo Kwai @ Bercham
For me, a good breakfast in Ipoh is constituted from either a toast, eggs and WHITE coffee combination, OR a noodles affair with various accompanying sides eg. stuffed fish paste (yong tau foo or yong liew). And the list of GOOD places for ‘yue dan fun’ or fish ball noodles (literally) in Ipoh spans long and far. Scattered all around Ipoh, you can actually find hidden gems in exclusive residential areas unknown to the outside community, but with a strong fanbase formed from the local community and the random epicureans willing to travel far and wide for a gastronomic sensation.
And Foo Kwai in Bercham might just be one of them ….
Freshly fried Yong Tau Foo from the wok, and pieces of generously-stuffed vegetables and beancurd with the bouncy fish paste.
Mum said I have eaten here before some years ago. Or maybe more than a decade’s worth of hiatus (inner longing?), but I have absolutely no recollection of this place. A corner coffee shop facing the main road of Bercham; you probably will zoom by and won’t notice its existence unless you’re astounded by the sheer number of people there in the mornings.
And on weekends and public holidays, you might have to share a table or stand around like vultures hoping that the others will slurp on their noodles and coffee with a faster pace.
Just that, the wait for the food can be somewhat relentless. Half an hour’s worth, for us that morning.
The stuffed bitter gourd (green), brinjal (purple) and the pieces of Ipoh’s very own Sar Kok Liew (stuffed yambean) rendered the wait worthwhile.
Modus operandi? Walk over to the counter, pick up a bowl and a pair of tongs then choose to your heart’s content. The fried items are ready to be eaten, but the noodles take time to be prepared. So if you’re on the brink of starvation, you can settle for a whole plate of fried ‘yong liew’ and eat there and then. But you should NOT miss their dry curry mee with char siew, chicken and/or cockles.
Dark, caramelized Char Siew seated gloriously atop the plate of blanched lou shu fun (silver needle noodles) in a dry curry base.
The curry noodles, or dry curry noodles are good bets if you’re prone to ordering something piquant to kick start your day with. Like yours truly. The dry curry gravy ain’t as thick as Yee Fatt‘s, nor as lusciouly rich like Nam Chau‘s, but still a notch above the usual soy sauce+dark soy sauce+half a spoonful of curry paste varieties sold elsewhere.
But you shall NOT give their Char Siew a miss! From the first picture on the top of this post, you can see the pot of extremely black sauce with a few chunks of pork jutting out from the surface. THAT is a pot of GOLD. Of porky goodness, and sweetish, caramelized roasted lean pork cuts known as Char Siew. You may not like the slightly sweet taste of the Char Siew, but when paired with the curry paste, the combination of flavours actually gelled together pretty flawlessly.
And of course, you can go for shredded chicken, cockles and I think even crispy roasted pork (siew yoke) to load up on the proteins. But I decided to go for the various ‘yong liew‘ instead; displayed in an orderly manner in the metal cabinet with glass display.
And a good cup of ‘Cham’ (coffee + tea with milk) to cap the breakfast off. Blissfully done.
Go for the chunky Sar Kok Liew, and the many fried items. Good chunks of fish paste with a definite element of homemade rather than sourced from the generic (artificial?) ones. There was one fried dumpling with dried shrimps and Chinese chives (kuchai) within that was actually a rarity these days.
*Foo Kwai Restaurant also houses several other food stalls aside from this noodles option. There was an equally as interesting soy sauce chicken rice stall with various braised items, and another pan mee stall that also sells Chee Cheong Fun.
Foo Kwai Restaurant. HAPPY LAND for the foodies indeed.
And thus, this post officially launched Motormouth From Ipoh into a new year. Let’s hope that I can seek out the time to come back periodically and cover more delicious findings in and around Ipoh. Have a fruitful year ahead ……..
FOO KWAI RESTAURANT
243, Jalan Bercham Taman Sri Kurau,
Taman Desa Kencana, 31400 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia.
Opens for breakfast until lunch daily. Off days not sure.
GPS Coordinates : 4.62914,101.126981
Google Map to Foo Kwai Restaurant
*To find this place is quite easy. Coming in from Jalan Bercham (the main road) from Tesco Extra’s direction, just go straight until you reach the second traffic lights where you can turn right. Turn RIGHT at the lights and almost immediately turn LEFT. You will pass by the front of Ritzbina Restaurant (Lock Yun, a famous place for economy rice), Kah Seng Ipoh Tauge Ayam and Ambank (correct me if I’m wrong). Foo Kwai is next to Maybank, and directly opposite of Shell station and Proton showroom.
Happy new year!
Alamak….now I would have to say bye bye to this place already. I predict the wait for now will be an hour at least during balik kampung season for me.. Hahaha
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J2Kfm Reply:
January 2nd, 2011 at 8:43 pm
Haha, nolah …. maybe you can go earlier or much later?
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I dunno if u would share the same sentiments, but last time when i was based outstation … the most missed food from ipoh would be the “yu tan fun” aka liew fun … coz those in Ipoh seems to be much much nicer… compared with the other states… although they haf the “yong tau fu” but they are never quite the same as ipoh’s liew. 🙂
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J2Kfm Reply:
January 2nd, 2011 at 8:42 pm
Yeahloh … especially when in Ipoh you get good dry curry version of sar hor fun or lou shu fun, then paired with good chunks of yong liew and then a cup of milk tea or white coffee to complete the breakfast. HEAVEN, I tell you.
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[…] Ipoh Curry Mee & Yong Tau Foo @ Foo Kwai Restaurant, Bercham | Motormouth From Ipoh – A Malaysia… says: January 2, 2011 at 1:11 pm […]
Happy New Year!!!
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Yay for surprise holidays and being able to go back to your hometown for yummy food! 🙂
(If only there were more of these wonderful holidays)
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dry curry mee with cockles (one of my favorite ingredients ever!). i’d actually choose cockles over char siew, but i’ve never seen them with curry mee before 😀
i must confess, i’m amazed at how ipoh has so many eateries to offer. i’ve only visited ipoh three or four times, but it always struck me as a small-ish town. i guess i wasn’t exploring hard enough for more food (yeah, we always ended up at the packed dim sum places in the morning)…
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The one next to Maybank!
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pat Reply:
January 15th, 2011 at 10:35 am
IS IT THAT MAYBANK FACING THE MAINROAD..SAME ROLL WITH KFC?
before yoyo buS
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J2Kfm Reply:
January 16th, 2011 at 12:51 pm
Yes pat. The same Maybank on the main road.
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MAN! i love this one too! great pick.. i am sooooo hungry now! LOL
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Ah I miss those yong liew from Ipoh! Or Kampar even.. not many stalls in KL have good yong liew.. we should go for Puchong YTF one day!!
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Happy new year. wish you keep posting a nice food guide. Interesting food, I will go for it with my friends. miss the curry.
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J2Kfm Reply:
January 4th, 2011 at 10:39 pm
Thanks for the wish. Just be early, or avoid the crowd.
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Aww, had this once two years back and I can still remember it. Love the dark charsiu!
Happy New Year!
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J2Kfm Reply:
January 4th, 2011 at 10:39 pm
Yeah, very different and very homemade. Happy New Year too.
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thank you so much J2Kfm and your blog on ipoh food. i was born in ipoh but i hardly go hunting for food in ipoh and im clueless where to find great food in ipoh. haha thanks to your post 🙂 i can go look around ipoh and taste some great ipoh food
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Dry curry mee make me feel hungry. i wish i can go around ipoh to take a great taste from this meal.
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[…] KAH SENG IPOH RESTAURANT – TAUGE AYAM KUETIAU No 223, Jalan Bercham Taman Sri Kurau, Taman Desa Kencana, 31400 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia. Opens for dinner only. No idea on their off-day(s), so any assistance is appreciated. *Next to AmBank and Maybank on Jalan Bercham. A short distance away from Foo Kwai’s curry mee and yong tau foo. […]
I visit this shop before, really crowded and we have to wait for about 20mins to get the seats:)
But worth the time to wait…
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J2Kfm Reply:
May 13th, 2011 at 11:29 pm
Yeah ….. indeed. The wait was worthy, and we had to wait long also for the noodles to be served.
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any idea which day is closed for biz?
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J2Kfm Reply:
August 12th, 2011 at 3:30 pm
Sorry Richard, I have no idea.
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[…] meats and soy sauce chicken bought from the stall at Foo Kwai Restaurant in Bercham (read about Foo Kwai’s curry mee with their signature Char Siew), with a serving of braised eggs and tau fu (yellow beancurd) too. Ironically, this stall is run by […]
[…] meats and soy salsa duck bought from a case during Foo Kwai Restaurant in Bercham (read about Foo Kwai’s curry mee with their signature Char Siew), with a portion of braised eggs and tau fu (yellow beancurd) too. Ironically, this case is run by […]
[…] meats and soy salsa duck bought from a case during Foo Kwai Restaurant in Bercham (read about Foo Kwai’s curry mee with their signature Char Siew), with a portion of braised eggs and tau fu (yellow beancurd) too. Ironically, this case is run by […]