Motormouth From Ipoh – A Malaysian Food Blog

The Platter of Starters – Enough to fill up at least 30% of one’s stomach space!

Mun Choong Restaurant (also known as Pusing Public Restaurant, as with its sister outlet in town) has been gracing the Chinese dining scene in Ipoh for a respectable number of years (since 1978!). A name synonymous with Chinese wedding dinners, and major occasions,Mun Choong proves to be a safe choice for organizing get-togethers, thanksgiving (hehe, in any manners imaginable), full moon (not the party, but for the month’s old baby) etc.

Ginger Chicken – Looks like a mess eh? But this is being served in wedding dinners as well ….

So what was the occasion this time? A once in a blue moon gathering, to commemorate the 3 years we’ve been serving the government. Or wait, the public’s more like it. Hehehe ….. Of course, People First, Performance Now right? Nah …. rest assured none of those political ploys, we’re merely performing our own duties for meagre wages. To make ends meet, so to speak.

Pan-fried Prawns with Soy Sauce – Their most famous dish, bar none

A feast for 10 pax cost RM347, for 8 dishes, including drinks (Chinese tea), tidbits, hand towels and the like. You’ll get my drift. Of course, you can opt for the special set menu, currently promoting (holds true at the time of our dinner, which was beginning of Sept) the crispy roasted duck set, which has a much glorified, flowery name of course (typical Chinese set meals) but me being the perfect epitome of a banana, can’t read Chinese for the life of me.

At RM298, you’re getting 3 dishes incorporating the duck’s meat, skins and all, a steamed patin fish, the perennial favourite prawns, and some other dishes to satiate your hunger pangs. Hop over to happy happy’s post for a closer scrutinization of the dishes mentioned above.

Steamed Pak So Gong (Catfish)

But FBB’s post on his recent glutton experience at Pusing Public (the one in town, behind The Store/ex-Ocean Departmental Store) had me salivating over the myriad of other dishes whipped up by the cooks at the restaurant. To imagine lavishly wrapping some omelette with crab meat into the lettuce, chomping on every slivers, every morsels with relish. But of course, that dish alone cost almost RM90 (!) hence we dropped the intention and went for other substitutes. Hahaha ….

Soft beancurd with stuffed fish paste

After much deliberation, customization and suggestions (from the captain as well as the blogs, and ), we settled for 8 dishes, and ended up with bellies so full we had to adjourn for some after-meal calorie burner, in the form of alcohol. What? Oh you mean whisky doesn’t work that way? What counter-productive?

Stir-fried Mixed Vegetables with Cashew Nuts

Seriously, Mun Choong does whip up a storm, so to speak. But not ALL of the dishes were equally heaven sent. The pan-fried prawns with soy sauce (Kon Chin Har) is a crowd’s favourite, a staple on almost every table of patrons dining there. The simple method of cooking the prawns brought out the naturally fresh and sweet taste of the prawns (we had the Tanjung Tualang style BIG-headed freshwater varieties), with a mild hint of Chinese wine in the soy sauce. The shell of the prawn was scalding hot when served, hence practise caution or else risk suffering from bee-stung lips when you least expect it. Lest you’re desiring for a Jolie’s look, or on an extreme scale, Tracy Chapman’s sultry version. =P

Egg Noodles with Pork and Mushrooms (Yee Mee)

The steamed catfish was a bit off, with an unpleasant tinge of muddy/earthy taste. The Four Seasons Platter (least that’s what I call them) managed to please all corners, with stuffed crab shells, assam-style stir-fried vegetables with scallops, fish paste with sliced abalone, and crispy salad chicken. A crowd-pleaser of a platter, we cleaned the humongous serving in no time. But bear in mind this was the first dish to arrive. By the time the noodles reached our table, most of us were already burping and God-knows if anyone passed gas from the other end of the tract.

Desserts of sweet soup – Chestnut with egg whites and ginkgo nuts

All in all, a satisfactory meal, decent enough to satiate our hunger. Yet the other dishes were somewhat lacking, and failed to deliver as expected. The ginger chicken for one, is a classic homecooked fare, yet nothing too spectacular. And this was also served during one of the wedding dinner I attended recently.

The menu in Chinese. Sorry no translation available, for I’m equally hopeless myself.

Notice the banner? That’s the RM298 promo set for 10 pax I mentioned earlier.

One last year to go in the service. Makes one wonder, what does the future hold for us? Will we still be dining away, gleefully spending away our time without a care in the world, come the same time next year? For now, I still can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. Really. Keeping my fingers crossed now, for the next 365 days may either bring joy, laughter and cheer, or gloom, sorrow and tears.

Mun Choong Restaurant

No 511-517, Jalan Pasir Puteh,

31650 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia

Tel No : 605-3210320, 605-3212815

Opens for lunch and dinner daily. Highly recommended to book in advance, especially on weekends or public holidays.

Here’s a GOOGLE MAP TO MUN CHOONG RESTAURANT