Motormouth From Ipoh – A Malaysian Food Blog

Macoy European Restaurant opened its door recently at Greentown Square in Ipoh without much fanfare nor publicity. Seriously, if you’re not one who travels the stretch of road passing in front of Greentown Square (the business centre housing David’s Diner, and Restoran Simpang Tiga) then you probably would not be aware of this spanking new European style diner in Ipoh. How new you ask? Less than a week old, apparently.

The interior decoration of the restaurant looked sparse, with none of those fancy bells nor whistles. You might even flick this off as just another fine-diner wannabe, with mid to high-end pricing but lacking in substance, courteous service and most disastrous of all, pathetic food.

Until ….. you glance at the menu written with chalk on the boards hanging on the wall. Two blackboards only, by the way. 24 items for the time being, from starters such as French Onion Soup and Tiger Prawns with Garlic Butter, to various meats such as lamb, steak and poultry. The seafood selection sounds lovely in its own right, with dominant use of tiger prawns, sole fillets, and even salmon steak.

Prices range from RM4.90 – RM15.80 (USD1.40 – USD4.50) for starters, and around RM15.80 – RM52.80 (USD4.50 – USD15) for the mains. There is also a separate menu for light snacks, which is thankfully not too ambitious nor exhaustive. Covering snacks such as roast beef sandwich, fajitas and chips, I foresee the light snacks menu would be even more popular come lunch hours, aside from their Business Lunch promotional sets.

The temporary set lunch menus, A Sets for RM14.90 (USD4.20) and B Sets for RM19.90 (USD5.70)

Chunks of caramelized onions, cooked in a thick, hearty broth for starter.

It’s been fairly long since I’ve tasted REAL French Onion Soup. You know, the variety with REAL chunks of sweet, and slightly smokey caramelized onions. The piece of soggy bread with melted cheese notwithstanding, I had to salute Macoy for bringing this appetizer back to the dining table. For many other similar diners would be contented with the predictable mushroom (wild or canned) or chicken soups. If you love your onions, you will fall in love with this hearty affair.

My set of Pepper Beer Steak with Garlic was served with the aforementioned soup, and ended with a serving of tea or coffee. For RM19.90 (USD5.70), the set was somewhat a good deal. Thicker than your average minute steak, and grilled to a juicy and tender finish, the steak was marinated with beer (yes, you can REALLY taste the faint hint of alcohol, but not overwhelmingly, no worries), and adequately seasoned with pepper and finely minced garlic. Though I wanted my steak to be cooked Medium, the slab of meat arrived Medium-Well, almost Well-Done. Teething problems? Maybe. But something they should seriously look into. The steak was served with thick cut fries and tarty salad of julienned vegetables.

The RM14.90/USD4.20 sets come with a fresh papaya OR watermelon juice as starter (wacky huh?) and a cup of tea or coffee to end the meal. Two beverages in one meal sounds awkward though, and I’d rather have them change the juice to a soup, a salad, or even a dessert.

The Breaded Fish Fillets & Tiger Prawns set sounds awesome on papers, as for RM14.90 you can barely get a piece of tiger prawn in other restaurants. But bear in mind you really GET WHAT YOU GIVE. Hence the medium-sized prawns (two pieces) and two small slabs of sole fillets arrived breaded and deep-fried, and served with a dollop of mayonnaise and a wedge of lemon. The fish had that unpleasant tinge of earthy, muddy taste associated with freshwater fishes. But the prawns were fresh, succulent and bouncy.

The Grilled Chicken with Rosemary, Garlic and Pepper Marinade came in a disappointingly minuscule portion, though the slab of juicy upper thigh of a chicken was delicious, and topped with three roasted cherry tomatoes for that striking finish. Not a bad choice, though I’m sure most would appreciate a heftier cut.

The Fresh Papaya and Watermelon Juices, and Coffee to end the power lunch. Okay, maybe not. The meal took us more than an hour to finish.

The lunch took us more than an hour from start to finish. And take note that we were the first customers that afternoon. Minor gripes, for new eateries have always been plagued by haywire service, mistakes in taking orders, and a generally longer waiting time for the food to arrive. David’s Diner improved almost dramatically back then. Surely Macoy can emulate just as well?

I was informed that the restaurant is opened and run by a family that had experience working in the F&B business in Europe before.

Address & Contact Number :
MACOY EUROPEAN RESTAURANT
C-G-2, Greentown Square,
Jalan Dato Seri Ahmad Said,
30450 Ipoh,
Perak, Malaysia.
Telephone : 605-255 6567
Opens daily. 12pm-3pm, and 5pm-10.30pm.
Pork-free. Meals will be charged with 5% Service Charge. No government tax.
Here’s a GOOGLE MAP TO MACOY EUROPEAN RESTAURANT.