Kao Lee Dim Sum Restaurant @ Ipoh Garden
January 12, 2010 | 1,824 views| 27 Comments » |
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Kao Lee Dim Sum Restaurant in Ipoh Garden has stood the test of time, serving delectable morsels of dim sum for breakfast-brunch for a good many years now. Other than dim sum, Kao Lee was also serving steamboat and various noodles/rice & dishes for lunch and dinner. Noticed the past tense? That’s because currently they’re not opening for dinner, but will resume operations come dinner hours in the near future.
#1 – In comparison to Hong Kee in Pandan Indah (and everywhere else in Klang Valley), Kao Lee’s pan-fried glutinous rice scores better in terms of taste, and not as greasy.
#2 – Comfortable, spacious, and none of those ruckus ala Foh San, or Ming Court. Okay, maybe sometimes.
#3 – The steamed goodies @ Kao Lee – Dainty morsels steamed freshly, and served to you at your table. None of those get up from your seats and walk over to the counter for dim sum nonsense (like THIS other famous one)
#4 – The Sweet & Sour Pork Rolls – Ming Court’s version still triumphs here, but Kao Lee’s was not too shabby either.
#5 – So-so, either choose the shrimp fillings, or the Char Siew (barbecued pork) version. CANNOT mix one. Aiks?! So hard to mix two varieties together meh?
#6 – Better yam puffs than Foh San, reasonably good egg tarts, and tasty prawn rolls wrapped in beancurd sheets.
#7 – Not too many options when it comes to the fried items, we had another plate of prawn dim sum, the crispy dumplings.
#8 – No Black Sesame Sweet Soup but Kao Lee has caramel egg custard. Not bad, a bit sweet …. but it’s DESSERT, okay?
#9 – And fluffy Char Siew Pau, to complete the breakfast experience. Yoke Fook Moon does them better though (almost the BEST in my books, comparing the other dim sum outlets)
#10 – The OTHER signature items of Kao Lee’s. They take pride on their wanton mee, proclaiming the noodles to be imported from Hong Kong (!!), but locally made wantons. And yeah …. there’s even SATAY on the menu.
And there you have it. Who says Motormouth only does LONG-WINDED, GRANDMOTHER-STORY REVIEWS?!!!! (come here and tell it to mah face y’all !!!)
Verdict : A notch below Ming Court Hong Kong Tim Sum, but surprisingly, better than the new Foh San. Yes, Foh San’s quality has gone down drastically. Still prefer their old premise, for the authenticity and the consistent quality of their dim sum. Kao Lee’s dim sum selections are priced at around RM3.00 per portion mostly, akin to Foh San, but slightly pricier than Ming Court.
So where’s next? Yoke Fook Moon? Sun Kim Aik? Or any other neighbourhood wonders that I am not aware of? 
KAO LEE RESTAURANT – DIM SUM, STEAMBOAT
48-50, Lengkok Canning,
Ipoh Garden, 31400 Ipoh,
Perak, Malaysia.
Telephone : 605-546 5384.
Here’s a GOOGLE MAP TO KAO LEE RESTAURANT
Directions : This restaurant is situated on the same row with Home Cook Recipe Restaurant which I have blogged about before, serving delicious Chinese food. Within the vicinity, there’s the famous hawker stretch of Tung Koo Thing (Medan Aneka Selera) and Woolley Food City. If you know where Hospital Fatimah is, then you can easily locate Kao Lee for this restaurant is situated across the road from that hospital, behind the Shell petrol station.
Kao Lee Dim Sum @ Ipoh Garden | Motormouth From Ipoh – A Malaysian Food Blog…
Another famous dim sum restaurant, not as crowded as Foh San or Ming Court, but still serves rather good dim sum. Near to Jusco Kinta City, this place is rather famous among the Ipoh food lovers….
Rawr. Ipoh mali Ipoh mali Ipoh Ipoh mali.
After exams if got time, I might try it out. Thanks for sharing the pictures and infoes. Usually went to Foh Sam.
Regards from cr3ap
http://cr3ap85.blogspot.com/
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J2Kfm Reply:
January 13th, 2010 at 9:09 am
Yeah, but lately, I think Foh San’s dim sum quality has dropped drastically. To the point of being bland (some) and sloppily done.
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Another place to look for dim sum in Ipoh, more choices for me, hehe…
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char siew bao….. oh my char shao bao ><
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this is my normal place to go for dim sum when am in Ipoh, Foh San was because of attending to hubby’s request, otherwise, I would not even want to pay a visit there.
I prefer Kao Lee’s dim sum more because they are more delicious compared to Foh San and also more delectable. Another reason used to be my loved one favourite place.
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J2Kfm Reply:
January 13th, 2010 at 9:10 am
Yeah, they’re indeed delicious. Almost comparable to Ming Court’s, in my opinion.
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I want to try the fried glutinous rice! And I am with you on the best char siew pau is by Yoke Fook Moon
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i think this is a more acceptable place for dim sum-Foh San is a RIOT !
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Ahh thank you for still crowning Ming Court as the best.
Though I haven’t been to the new Foh San yet, the poor comments from you and my parents are certainly deterring me from that place. 
.-= iamthewitch´s last blog ..3 meals in Penang =-.
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J2Kfm Reply:
January 13th, 2010 at 12:30 pm
Yeah, Ming Court to me, still serves the BEST dim sum, and prompt service as well.
Minor problem with the wait, but nothing too surprising. This being IPOH DIM SUM after all.
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I always feel that for one to enjoy his food it has to fall into the following category : – Value for money and taste. Eating in Ipoh is now either of the two. For a modest breakfast of Dim Sum it is certainly not worth it no matter how tasty it is. A two person sit down at most dim sum outlet in Ipoh cost RM30.00. For that matter eating out in Ipoh is now expensive more so if you compare to some places in KL or in Butterworth. In Butterworth it cost only 0.90 cents for a cup of barley but in Ipoh it is 1.30 a difference of 40c. In Butterworth a simple breakfast of Dim Sun at 30.00 ringgit can be enjoy with 4 person. I think becauseof the Hype about the food in Ipoh is now expensive just like you go to Malacca when the Kiasu people come during the weekend and continue with their so cheap attitute the locals have to pay out extra. No matter but when quality is not equal to price no matter the place it certainly take the joy out of eating anywhere.
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Was back in Ipoh over the weekend. As usual Foh San was pack to the bring but i was at Yoke Fook Moon. Must try is their Ha Mai! Love the Char Siew Pau and Fried Loh Mai Fan also. I rate this place better than Ming Court perhaps due to Ming Court serving smaller portion of dim sum.
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J2Kfm Reply:
January 13th, 2010 at 1:37 pm
Yoke Fook Moon better than Ming Court? Hmm, okay … I’ll go for another round then.
But I really liked YFM’s Char Siew Pau, and Fish balls.
And possibly the only dim sum place that serves …COFFEE.
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mark Reply:
January 13th, 2010 at 4:24 pm
I would easily prefer place like Kao Lai or Yuk Fook Moon than Foh San. I think Foh San has started to become a tourist attraction than a place which serves top notch dim sum. Don’t get me wrong, Foh San is still quite good but I don’t think it’s the best.
BTW, Big Pau @ Yuk Fook Moon is huge and awesome. Everyone who goes there should have one (share one for a few people that is).
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i eat here all the time.. gma’s place nearby mah..;)
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Love Ming Court but usually end up here because to lazy to drive to town. Even then, sometimes damn lazy to cross over that main road (next to Jusco) because of heavy traffic, so end up eating other stuff inside IGEast.
BTW, did you ever do a post on the Robson dinner we had together? I can’t remember what we ate!!
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They actually have Black Sesame Sweet Soup but not recently (until some time in Sep last year, I think). And when they had it, it was fantastic! Reason they don’t have it now (heard from the lady boss) is that the ingredients they got it from Taiwan and apparently the lady boss did not go back to Taiwan (yes, heard that the lady boss is from Taiwan), so, no chance to bring it back.
Can’t wait to have it again. Totally awesome.
BTW, their fried carrot cake is also very good. You should try that.
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I think i will go for the shrimp dumpling. Looks pretty delicious. :p
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You’re making me wanna write another post about dim sum, you are… Delicious… and oh so naughty… (okay, maybe that last part is just me…)
.-= Life for Beginners´s last blog ..Moving Day =-.
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Ur post not long winded la. Where got such things?
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DS is great for big groups who eat long so can share a teaspoon of each of tasty 50 ( OMG ) !
We seldom go DS since such we r a small group, but DS is a Chinese specialty and cannot be copied
( by the more innovative Malays cooks , who has nearly duplicated all popular Chinese cuisine)
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the fried prawn dim sum looks very attractive to me as the skin is very thin which is the type i like
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can’t imagine eating satay as breakfast…haha XD
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good to see there’s other places for dimsum other than foh san (for non locals like me :p)
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Yoke Fook Moon is good meh? Hmm… like u i muz go atr round then ;p
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