Motormouth From Ipoh – Asian Food & Travel Blog

Braised Egg Noodles with Freshwater Prawns (Sang Har Meen) @ RM55/USD18 for three pieces of large, succulent and fresh prawns; really, really good stuff.

Aaah… that blissful moment of returning to a place where shared memories are built within the bonds of a family; and a long, enduring 30 years of legacy proving themselves to be worth the mettle time and again; Lucky Ipoh Restaurant dishes out seafood beyond your ordinary crabs, prawns and fishes.

It has been on the to-blog list for years now. I daresay,  since this blog was started way back in 2008. You see, Lucky Restaurant has this imposing aura of an intimidating outlet charging beyond an arm and a leg when it comes to fresh seafood. No joke.

It’s not uncommon to see customers driving up in shiny BMWs, Audis and Mercs just for a taste of their extravagant seafood dishes; cooked up in more imaginative ways than you would normally expect.

But if you ask me, is this worth the hype (or mortgage)? It’s a solid YES. 

The owner, Teoh Kar Sing is still the ever affable fellow squeezing his creativity juices flowing into the creations that rotate every few months, and still make it a point to come to your table and share his thoughts and gain insights from you. 

To be fair to Lucky Restaurant, not everything on their menu is priced exorbitantly. Even if it’s so, you’re still paying for top notch quality seafood; painstakingly cooked to your liking and dishes that you won’t be able to find anywhere else in Ipoh.

Simpler items like Prawn Wanton Noodles and Roasted Pork are still being served, if you’re here for a simpler meal or still chomping on grass and rocks while waiting for your pay cheque.

Fried Fish Appetizer; bones, tails and all – Seriously addictive snack, we found ourselves hankering for more after only a good few seconds on the table before vanishing in sight.

However, don’t come on an empty stomach if you decide to visit during peak hours. On weekends, anytime after 10.30am is dangerous; as brunch seems to be the most popular meal session here. The Seafood Porridge (think along the line of abalone, crabs, freshwater prawns and grouper; even estuary grouper if you’re lucky) is one of the MUST-order here, though we settled for noodles instead. (The Fairy (“San Seen”) porridge is a specialty on the board; at RM150 per portion enough for 6 pax)

The wait for our food took a good one hour. Seriously. The kitchen is still manned by Teoh himself, and a few helpers, hence you can be rest assured of the utmost importance exerted onto the standard of cooking. We had to make do with the crispy fried fish that tasted so much like Sa Zhui fish but I was not sure. Every table had a plate and by all means, go all out and order more! Really crispy batter coating the fresh tiny slivers of fish whetting the appetite for more. Though the hour long wait made us wishing that we sampled a bowl of their famed Prawn Wanton soup or plate of crispy Roast Pork as well.

Braised Pig’s Tail (RM25/USD8) with a heavily-spiced gravy of cinnamon and pepper; the meat fell off the tail bone with ease and this would have been magical with a steaming hot bowl of white rice.

Stir-Fried Grouper Fish Head with dried chillies, black bean, scallions, ginger and garlic (RM55USD18) was another excellent recommendation, though if you’re not fond of bony parts of a fish, settle for a steamed whole fish or filleted version instead.

Highlight of the feast – The thickened gravy loaded with sweetness from the prawns, and orange-coloured, glimmering roes is tasty enough to be sipped on its own.

Also highly recommended is their Steamed fish fillet (usually threadfin salmon, grouper, or you can go all out and order the “loong dan” or estuary grouper) with homemade noodles, scallions and ginger. Or try their Fish Noodle Soup; made out of real fish hence lending an inherent sweetness to the pot of soup; complete with a QQ texture (al dente) that spoke volume of its freshness.

The Sang Har Meen (Freshwater Prawns Noodles) here basically commands a following. Really. Just so happened that I had a serving of Sang Har Wat Tan Hor at Pan Heong @ Batu Caves; a respected institution in its own right a few days before; hence the comparison. Both were good but Lucky Restaurant’s version had that slight edge of a larger crustacean served. Don’t miss this.

From the outside, this appeared to be nothing more than a random coffee shop; until you walk in and see the menu on the wall. And of course, until you see the bill. 🙂

RESTORAN LUCKY IPOH (non-Halal)
266 Jalan Pasir Puteh, Pasir Puteh.
Tel.: 05-255 7330, 012-501 6630, 012-510 6279
Business Hours: 7.30 am – 3.30 pm
Closed on Wednesdays.
GPS : 4.583703,101.082055
*This is a corner lot next to the Caltex station along Jalan Pasir Puteh, opposite of the former Maybank.