Huang Ting Restaurant @ First Garden, Ipoh

July 1, 2009 | 180 views| 20 Comments »

Back from the East Coast, but a let’s take a break from all the travel posts. If you’re not sick of them yet, I am. =P ………. OK, maybe in the next few days or weeks. But as of now, I’m still reeling from the perilous, bumpy 6 hours journey from Kelantan to Ipoh.

Worn, torn and battered menus could only mean one thing; GOOD patronage!

Let’s do a marathon (given the just concluded KL Marathon whereby even food bloggers aka floggers joined in the fray, and came out more lightweighted than ever !!!) on Chinese food from Ipoh. Everything from hawker fare, to the restaurants all over Ipoh city, and all the bits and pieces I’ve missed out and left rotting in the backlog.

Braised Pork Trotter (RM10/small)

First Garden is an area I seldom ventured out for food, as I’m staying rather a distance away. Okay okay …. slightly exaggerating, but in Ipoh, anywhere more than half an hour of travelling for dinner is considered taxing, although KLites may beg to differ.

Huang Ting in First Garden is a household name, doing brisk business amongst the community in and around the garden, from Menglembu area, and even those from further away. OK, maybe some people just lurve to scout for food, no matter the distance.

Stir-fried Frog’s Legs with Ginger & Spring Onions (RM12) & Kailan with Roasted Pork (RM6)

Arriving for dinner on a rainy night, we were lucky to be seated promptly, as according to KCA, the restaurant can get really packed at times.

We shared 5 dishes, mostly recommended items as the endless list of dishes on the menu had me scratching my head, indecisive in what to order.

Homemade Beancurd (RM8)

The braised pork trotter with soy sauce was served piping hot in a claypot, but did not fare too well in terms of flavour. Tasted rather bland, though the meat was tender and portion’s aplenty.

Faring better was the stir-fried frog legs with ginger and spring onions, a classic combination that managed to complement the delicate meat of the amphibian, and successfully eliminating any unpleasant odour (some may find the meat ‘fishy’) the meat possesses. But given the scarce supplies of frogs, the small serving was really limiting, with each of us tasting mere slivers of those smooth and firm meat.

Assam Fish Slices (RM10)

The kailan stir-fried with roasted pork (siew yoke) was the chosen fibre to balance the meal, and the homemade beancurd was highly recommended. Not hard to see why, as the soft beancurd was deep-fried until crispy on the outer layer, and topped with a savoury combination of minced meat, and dried shrimps.

The assam fish slices came in a fiery red hue, only to reveal its mild nature after the first spoonful. With abundance of long beans, brinjals and onions, the grouper fish slices came in a dainty portion again, with 6-8 firm slices. But of course, at RM10 per serving, who’s complaining?

Yup, the crowd literally ‘poured’ onto the sidewalk …..

Location : Huang Ting Restaurant @ 14, Lorong Taman 13, Taman Pertama, 30100 Ipoh, Perak. Tel No : 012-417 8997. Here’s a MAP. A bit tricky if you’re not familiar with Silibin area, but shouldn’t be a problem if you know where’s the previous bus station, Medan Kidd.

Categories: Ipoh Food
Tags: Chinese Food, First Garden, Ipoh, Ipoh Food
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20 Responses to “Huang Ting Restaurant @ First Garden, Ipoh”

-tAkEmOtO- says:

July 1, 2009 at 11:07 pm

Wow, that's somewhere I almost forgot about. My godmother loves to bring us here since she lives nearby, or Yum Yum if it's closed here.

It's quite nice isn't it? I forgot what we had but the prices are really affordable and the portions are good as well. I'll have to wait until the end of the year to go there again.

Your blog is like a reminder to me of how Ipoh is still in my bones even I'm elsewhere. Thanks!

[Reply]
Derek, MJ Chai says:

July 2, 2009 at 3:33 am

Hey J2kfm, can i tag along the next time you go on a journey of food hunting. You will always have so many exciting food journeys to blog about untill it makes me wana go search for this good food u blogged about. But due to no kakis, i always failed to go to this great food outlets. Sob Sob!

[Reply]
SimpleGirl says:

July 2, 2009 at 8:19 am

frankly, nowadays not easy to get cheap order dishes in Ipoh also…this restaurant is really cheap…and the food also nice…worth to pay a visit ya!!!

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"Joe" who is constantly craving says:

July 2, 2009 at 9:10 am

i dun think we came out lightweight..

just gave us more space to fill up the nxt meal haha

[Reply]
J2Kfm says:

July 2, 2009 at 10:17 am

takemoto : relive all those sweet moments of childhood hor?

Derek : sure thing! hahaha … an extra foodie in the group sure is welcomed.

SimpleGirl : true. there are others who're out for the KILL! even in good old IPoh.

Joe : hehehe …. how true. the MAX lunch right?

[Reply]
ai wei says:

July 2, 2009 at 10:39 am

the beancurb is looking so alluring in its semi hemisphere shape. must ask mum to make it.

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PureGlutton says:

July 2, 2009 at 11:30 am

First Garden – i seldom venture there also! The food here looks very homely-type. Stuff that i cook at home

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Elin says:

July 2, 2009 at 3:22 pm

Huang Ting Restaurant..I have been there twice so far…not bad considering the prices are cheap and homecooked style but a bit far from my place. If only it is nearer then I hang up my wok…Lol

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Lyrical Lemongrass says:

July 2, 2009 at 3:49 pm

The homemade beancurd looks nice. Very generous portion of minced meat too hor. I love beancurd. RM10 for the assam fish?? OMG. I think I've been spoilt with KL prices.

[Reply]
J2Kfm says:

July 2, 2009 at 3:58 pm

ai wei : your mum makes her own tofu? not bad ….

Pureglutton : so many more dishes on the list, got me dizzy.

Elin : hahaha, but nearer also got a few good outlets ma, right?

LL : cheap huh? I was surprised myself. expecting probably in the realms of RM15-20.

[Reply]
vixar says:

July 2, 2009 at 5:34 pm

rofl? the price is so…SOoo, it's way too reasonable, don't they???????????????????????????????????????????

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Selba says:

July 2, 2009 at 6:03 pm

When I read the title, I was like "wow, huang ting! my favorite restaurant opened in Ipoh!"

But then, after reading your post, it's totally a different restaurant, hehehe…

[Reply]
FoOd PaRaDiSe says:

July 2, 2009 at 7:25 pm

foods look nice and delicious. And some more the price are very reasonable. ^-^

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J2Kfm says:

July 2, 2009 at 8:34 pm

vixar : cheap, til the extent you've gotta change ur fonts to punctuate your sentence eh?

Selba : there's one in Indon as well? how cool … hahahah, though not the same.

food paradise : that's Ipoh food for ya ….

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thenomadGourmand says:

July 3, 2009 at 4:45 pm

Stir-fried Frog's Legs with Ginger & Spring Onion – I want!

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worldwindows says:

July 4, 2009 at 2:12 pm

The food were attention grabber. The beancurd looking very good esp when it is from Ipoh.

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J2Kfm says:

July 4, 2009 at 3:01 pm

thenomadGourmand : then get it! over there… or wherever you are now.

worldwindows : the tofu was good, with those spicy, savoury toppings.

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tarrius says:

July 6, 2009 at 8:37 pm

omg, i can't believe u had posted a blog about this restaurant that my family n i will go every single weekend!!!

i'm a fave of their sour spicy soup (xun lat tong), 3-layer pork plus salted fish claypot (ham yu fa lam bou) and the Shanghai pork knuckle (seong hoi ju sou), MUST TRY them next time if u got the chance…

the place will be fully packed with people around 6.30 on weekends, and many people will reserve table before they go, so i would like to recommend this to those ipoh mali who yet to discover First Garden…

[Reply]
J2Kfm says:

July 6, 2009 at 10:23 pm

hi tarrius! sometimes the simplest, nearest eatery springs the most unexpected surprises!

[Reply]
CHOI YEE says:

July 27, 2009 at 11:48 am

last night, when i reach tis restaurant wanna eat….huh!! so many ppl loh, scare me….then dun go eat, so mayb choose another day go eat loh

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