Motormouth From Ipoh – Asian Food & Travel Blog

Follow me on Instagram (@ipohmotormouth) for continuous updates
  • rss
  • Home
  • About
    • Terms & Conditions
  • Ipoh Food
  • Perak Food
  • KL/Selangor Food
  • Penang Food
  • Travelogue
  • Featured
  • Links
    • Malaysian Food Blogs
    • Inspirational Food Blogs
    • Random Blogs
  • Contact Me

Hungry? Head your way to Merindy Restaurant in Kampung Simee

September 27, 2015 | 14,993 views
Tweet

This article was first published in The Malay Mail.

Carrot and Onion Fritters

This carrot and onion fritter is one of Merindy Restaurant’s signature item; the other being the Ipoh famous sar kok liew.

The beauty of waking up on a beautiful Saturday morning in Ipoh is the thought of a thousand and one breakfast options (figuratively speaking, but who’s counting?), all lined up for you to choose from. Nestled deep within the neighbourhood of Taman Mirindy, in a relatively more serene part of the Kampung Simee suburb in Ipoh, is this undiscovered (at least that would be my assumption for most visitors and a large majority of the locals) gem of a coffee shop aptly named Merindy Restaurant. At the other end of the same row of shophouses is Moon De Moon Restaurant, housing an immensely popular curry noodles and kai see hor fun (Ipoh style chicken kuey teow soup) stall. The wait for a bowl of noodles at Moon De Moon can be an excruciating 30 minutes on average, sometimes even up to an hour! 

Merindy Hawker Stall Simee

The team seemed to be a well-oiled machinery; churning out bowls after bowls of noodles with gusto, and even engaging in friendly banter with the customers; presumably loyal fans.

Hence, don’t despair if you cannot grab a seat even with tables placed on the sidewalk and out in the open. Walk to the other end of the same row of shophouses and I will tell you why.

At Merindy Restaurant, the set-up appears to be simple. A typical neighbourhood coffee shop that is bright and airy, with a television set hanging from the wall showing classic TVB dramas to occupy your attention while you tuck in to the food, and only a couple of stalls serving Ipoh hawker fare.

Collage Merindy Restaurant Liew Fun

Hakka mee, sar kok liew and stuffed pig’s skin make for a wholesome (not so healthy), hearty breakfast

The most prominent is the fish ball noodle stall (also known as liew fun in Cantonese to the locals) fronting the premise; one that is not a new kid on the block but with extensive experience in the business for more than a decade. However, after 11 years of service, they took a break for a few years and only came back to the scene about a year or so ago.

There are dozens, probably hundreds of liew fun stalls in Ipoh. But what makes this stall so special? The draw is their sar kok liew, a type of jicama/yam bean fritters, a savoury snack well-established among the locals and an almost compulsory item to pick whenever you are having liew fun in Ipoh. Crispy beancurd sheet wrapping a sweet and juicy mix of cubed yam bean or sar kok, is paired with the stall’s piquant garlic chilli sauce sourced from a local kuey teow maker. The sar kok liew here is served piping hot and fresh from the wok, making it irresistible.

Another item that won our hearts was their signature carrot and onion fritters; a close resemblance to cucur udang or prawn fritters, but without any meat. At first glance the fritters appear somewhat over-fried with burnt edges and not looking as “refined” as their other pieces of work. However after one bite, we instantly fell in love with this simple, savoury and sweet creation. The finely julienned carrots and onions lent the snack a slight sweetish aftertaste, while the crunchy batter tied the ingredients together. Definitely a must-pick if it’s available. The deep fried items here were generally rather tasty. Their fried sui kow dumplings were packed with bouncy fish paste and finely diced carrots. Thankfully the dumpling skin had none of the overpowering alkaline water (kan sui) taste.

Deep Fried Yong Tau Foo

Range of Boiled Yong Tau Foo

I have to admit that I am slightly biased towards anything fried, and only sampled some of their lighter boiled items like stuffed bean curd (tau foo) and stuffed pig’s skin with fish paste. Interestingly, the bean curd was not stuffed with the usual fish and pork paste, but this was a darker, salted fish infused minced pork paste that reminded me of those classic Hakka cuisine places. The bouncy, gelatinous stuffed pig’s skin was not bad either. It’s not an item that is very commonly sold by other liew fun sellers nowadays.

Curry Lou Shu Fun

Dry curry ‘lou shu fun’ with bean sprouts and chopped scallions was a nice base to go along with the various pieces of yong tau foo

And to accompany the various stuffed items mentioned above, try their Hakka mee with a delightful minced pork gravy, plump Ipoh bean sprouts and springy flat rice noodles. Craving for a tad more punch, I opted for the dry curry lou shu fun (also known as rat’s tail noodles or silver needle noodles), which was passable. It is no match to Moon De Moon’s wildly-popular version but Merindy Restaurant’s version has the delectable array of side items.

Merindy Restaurant

The stall opens early in the morning from 7am or so, and usually their food is sold out by lunch (before 12pm). The restaurant is still open beyond that, and sells various individual rice or noodle dishes. Off-days are not fixed, but they usually close on a consecutive Tuesday and Wednesday every month.

Merindy Restaurant
No. 114, Hala Wah Keong,Taman Mirindy,
31400 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
*same row with Moon De Moon Curry Mee (click HERE for the review), while next door to this is actually Hong Kee manufacturing premise

Blog Widget by LinkWithin
Share
Categories
Ipoh Food
Tags
Ipoh, Ipoh Food, Malay Mail Online Feature, Sar Kok Liew, Simee, Street Food
Comments rss
Comments rss
Trackback
Trackback

« Not a Houdini’s Act, but almost … in this blanket of haze

45 Responses to “Hungry? Head your way to Merindy Restaurant in Kampung Simee”

  1. Barbara says:
    October 5, 2015 at 11:50 am

    Oh yes, the sar kok liew is really good here. We usually buy 20 pieces to takeaway whenever we are back and hop over to buy a few packets of the sat keh mah too 😀

    [Reply]

  2. sany says:
    October 17, 2015 at 7:22 pm

    This was really pictures fron the kitchen that are really awesome

    [Reply]

  3. Nicholas Ng says:
    December 4, 2015 at 11:20 pm

    It’s hard to find good authentic Ipoh food in KL. Wish our water and chicken were as fresh!

    [Reply]

  4. durba says:
    December 5, 2015 at 1:58 pm

    Very nice pictures of delicious food

    [Reply]

  5. Julian says:
    January 19, 2016 at 3:40 pm

    Great write-up and nice photos as always … Can’t wait to visit Ipoh again over CNY!

    Happy New Year 🙂

    [Reply]

  6. Low Carb Dinners says:
    February 18, 2016 at 5:00 am

    Everything looks so yummy!

    [Reply]

  7. sY says:
    March 16, 2016 at 5:45 pm

    Usually your recommendations are rather good. This time, very far off the mark. The liew is lousy, the soup is tasteless. My 1st & last visit. The fish balls & pork balls from packet. The fried liew very hard & oil not fresh. Not up to Ipoh standard at all. The liew fun in Simee market much better. Even K10 liew in the morning at Medan Ipoh is better.

    [Reply]

    Olivia Reply:
    February 9th, 2017 at 4:24 pm

    someone wrote : previous owner who sell the fantastic sar kot liew had retired

    [Reply]

  8. jennai says:
    March 26, 2016 at 1:10 pm

    Very nice photos of delicious food.

    [Reply]

  9. roy says:
    April 21, 2016 at 2:40 pm

    It;s hard to find good authentic Ipoh food inKL

    [Reply]

  10. roy says:
    April 22, 2016 at 12:50 pm

    wonderful pictures and great food

    [Reply]

  11. Low Carb Dinners says:
    May 5, 2016 at 10:02 am

    This looks amazing! Great ethnic dishes!

    [Reply]

  12. Gemilangpoker.Com Situs Agen Poker Dan Bandar Q Terbaik Indonesia Terpercaya says:
    June 20, 2016 at 3:13 am

    Nice post
    visited

    [Reply]

  13. Titanium Jewelry says:
    June 25, 2016 at 11:00 pm

    Everything looks so amazing and delicious, great post.

    [Reply]

  14. ndemi says:
    July 1, 2016 at 8:35 pm

    Deep fried yong tao foo…..These pictures are very tempting…I almost broke my screen thinking its real food.I tried it for my supper tonight.I welcome you all

    [Reply]

  15. simee kia says:
    July 26, 2016 at 10:45 pm

    The liew fun is not the same old liew fun anymore, the previous owner who sell the fantastic sar kot liew had retired, take note to avoid disappointment

    [Reply]

  16. Amit says:
    August 28, 2016 at 9:59 pm

    Seems like a Lovely Place .

    All the Best . The Food Looks Awesome and Tempting .

    [Reply]

  17. Best Flight Deals says:
    September 12, 2016 at 2:28 pm

    so delicious and yummy food. this has made me so hungry. i want to eat these foods.

    [Reply]

  18. Tom says:
    January 23, 2017 at 12:02 pm

    The restaurant’s cuisine Merindy Kampung Simee look attractive they made me feel very hungry. Especially my very favorite curry dish Dry ‘lou shu fun’ with bean sprouts and chopped scallions was a nice base to go along with the various pieces of yong tau foo our taste really delicious irresistible

    [Reply]

  19. ?????? says:
    July 11, 2017 at 9:03 am

    ???????

    [Reply]

  20. ??? says:
    August 11, 2017 at 9:32 am

    ????????

    [Reply]

  21. MRX says:
    August 28, 2017 at 8:13 pm

    Nice merindy!

    [Reply]

  22. Buy Contact Lenses says:
    December 12, 2017 at 2:40 pm

    It was very useful for me. Keep sharing such ideas in the future as well. This was actually what I was looking for, and I am glad to came here! Thanks for sharing the such information with us.

    [Reply]

  23. Fazilah Ahmad says:
    January 31, 2018 at 2:32 pm

    I never been to Ipoh before, so I decided to find some food bloggers who can fulfill my needs to eat when touring at Ipoh. You really gave me the information that I needed for food. Thank you.

    [Reply]

  24. prabhu says:
    May 4, 2018 at 2:55 pm

    nice blog post and your experience always important for me, me too a traveler and every month going for new place so this info very effective for me. thanks for sharing.

    [Reply]

  25. Kiye Sic says:
    August 28, 2018 at 9:23 am

    looks awesome!

    [Reply]

  26. Dentist Vienna VA says:
    September 8, 2018 at 5:02 am

    This food looks amazing! Wish we could eat this locally in Vienna.

    [Reply]

    Dentist Vienna VA Reply:
    September 8th, 2018 at 5:03 am

    Don’t forget to brush and floss twice a day for good oral hygiene

    [Reply]

  27. travel plans says:
    September 9, 2018 at 3:52 pm

    orchard road Singapore

    Motormouth From Ipoh – Malaysian Food

  28. shelly Rathore says:
    October 2, 2018 at 12:39 pm

    Thanks for sharing tasty recpie…

    [Reply]

  29. Rithika Sharma says:
    December 7, 2018 at 4:24 pm

    Wonderful photo delicious food. Thank you for sharing.

    [Reply]

  30. steam random key says:
    April 4, 2019 at 11:36 pm

    that was cool dude

    [Reply]

  31. Ketogenasis Weight says:
    July 3, 2019 at 11:52 am

    Magnificent beat ! I wish to apprentice whilst you amend your website,
    how can i subscribe for a blog website? The account helped
    me a applicable deal. I had been a little bit acquainted of this your broadcast provided brilliant clear concept.

    [Reply]

  32. online paper writing says:
    July 10, 2019 at 9:51 pm

    online paper writing

    Motormouth From Ipoh – Malaysian Food

  33. Levi Corria says:
    July 24, 2019 at 10:48 am

    content

    Motormouth From Ipoh – Malaysian Food

  34. Alex Howell says:
    September 21, 2019 at 3:49 am

    I like very much the concept that you have about the food of this place, makes me want to try it right now because I have read different post about it but nothing like this, I love it! greetings.

    [Reply]

  35. things to do in japan in february says:
    October 6, 2019 at 6:26 pm

    things to do in japan in february

    Motormouth From Ipoh – Malaysian Food & Travel Blog

  36. blackjack strategy says:
    January 30, 2020 at 10:51 pm

    blackjack strategy

    Motormouth From Ipoh – Malaysian Food & Travel Blog

  37. intan says:
    May 10, 2020 at 9:56 am

    Thanks for sharing

    [Reply]

  38. máy t?p ??p xe says:
    June 30, 2020 at 10:53 pm

    máy t?p ??p xe

    Motormouth From Ipoh – Malaysian Food & Travel Blog

  39. Tastyjuice says:
    August 9, 2020 at 2:24 pm

    We miss you. How are you? It has been a long time not hearing from you. Previously follower of your blog. Hope you are fine.

    [Reply]

  40. Georgevenly says:
    August 14, 2020 at 9:52 pm

    K4HAMvhtKmekiuL45

    [Reply]

  41. buy followers says:
    April 17, 2022 at 4:47 pm

    buy followers

    Merindy Restaurant @ Simee, Ipoh – Fish Ball Noodles & Delicious Yong Tau Foo | Motormouth From Ipoh – Asian Food & Travel Blog

  42. online pmp certification says:
    April 18, 2022 at 8:18 pm

    Can truly relate and retain this outstanding post. Very well written.

    [Reply]

  43. likes says:
    September 6, 2022 at 4:13 pm

    likes

    Merindy Restaurant @ Simee, Ipoh – Fish Ball Noodles & Delicious Yong Tau Foo | Motormouth From Ipoh – Asian Food & Travel Blog

Leave a Reply

Click here to cancel reply.

Click to cancel reply
Load More...
Follow me on Instagram

Why not start from here?

Motormouth's Ultimate List of Ipoh Food Motormouth EATS in the Klang Valley!!! Travel Stories from All Over the World Motormouth's eating up Perak!

Recent Stories

  • Hungry? Head your way to Merindy Restaurant in Kampung Simee
  • Not a Houdini’s Act, but almost … in this blanket of haze
  • Keep calm and take a break: Three cafes to do just that in Ipoh
  • Guangdong cuisine at its best from this unassuming Hong Kong eatery
  • Have An “Oddies” Saturday!
  • The Coffee Academics @ Wan Chai, Hong Kong
  • Grab a quiet breakfast of curry mee and yong tau foo at Foo Kwai, Bercham
  • Motormouth’s Life in Hong Kong
  • Heart still beating, but the energy fizzled out …
  • Beach Road Scissor-Cut Curry Rice – More than a Mess

Archives

Discover All About Ipoh on Facebook

All About Ipoh on Facebook

Most Viewed Posts

  • Ultimate Ipoh Food List by J2Kfm - 1,494,618 views
  • KL/Selangor Food - 245,823 views
  • Best of 2012 – Motormouth’s Top 12 Ipoh Food Finds - 168,475 views
  • Perak Food - 118,125 views
  • Ipoh Famous Yong Tau Foo @ Pasir Pinji Big Tree Foot (Dai Shu Geok) - 111,611 views
  • Bentong @ Pahang – Small Town, Big Heart, Even Bigger Appetite! - 109,829 views
  • Penang Food - 107,558 views
  • A Closing Chapter in Life @ Felda Residence Hot Springs, Sungai Klah - 106,846 views
  • Medan Muara Ikan Bakar @ Tanjung Harapan, Port Klang - 98,009 views
  • Sitiawan Food For Dummies – Half A Day’s Worth of Food Hunt - 89,775 views
  • Ready for A Culinary Safari in Taiping? - 88,689 views
  • Teluk Intan in A Whirlwind – Of Street Food, Leaning Tower & BIG Cinemas - 85,440 views
  • Motormouth’s Travel Ideas – Eating Up Sitiawan! - 82,881 views
  • Village Park @ Damansara Uptown – Is This The BEST Nasi Lemak in Klang Valley? - 72,680 views
  • It’s Perfectly Alright for Girls to “Burp” & Guys to “Giggle” … - 71,597 views
  • Bukit Tinggi – Eat. Shoot. Breathe. Bliss. - 68,026 views
  • Perak Food Guide by J2Kfm - 65,909 views
  • All About Ipoh’s Dim Sum Restaurants – 10 of the Best - 64,521 views
  • All About Ipoh’s Curry Noodles – 15 of the Best - 63,243 views
  • Sin Eng Heong’s Famous Kaya Puff, Ipoh - 62,874 views

Categories

Stats

Admin

  • Log in
  • Entries RSS
  • Comments RSS
  • WordPress.org
rss Comments rss