Nam Chau (Dry Curry Mee) @ Old Town, Ipoh
April 3, 2008 | 720 views| 7 Comments »** This post has been updated with NEW pictures, and re-edited writings on 17th November 2009 **
The dry curry noodles (I normally pick flat rice noodle or ‘kuey teow’, or we call it ‘Sar Hor Fun’ in Ipoh) (RM3.60) comes with chicken shreds, ‘char siew’ (barbecued pork) and prawns, and generously doused with rich, slightly fiery and aromatic curry gravy. Although some may find the curry noodles a tad oily, but squeeze in half a lime, and the taste is simply amazing! The spiciness can be ‘adjusted’, just tell the person taking order to +/- accordingly. The combination of spicy, sour, sweet and savoury renders the dry curry noodles almost too delicious to resist, definitely one of the best I’ve ever tasted in Ipoh, and everywhere else.
Most people would choose Sin Yoon Loong or Nam Heong for their own concoction of Ipoh famous white coffee, however, comparing current Nam Heong’s white coffee quality with Nam Chau’s, in my humble opinion, the latter trumped the former by a wide margin. Nam Chau has their novel way of ‘frying’ the beans, resulting in a most perfectly aromatic and satisfying cup of white coffee, with a tinge of saltiness (yes, sounds funny, but true) that enhances the overall flavour. Have it served to you hot to enjoy Ipoh’s undisputed drink, but I normally have the iced version to cut down on meal time. After all, morning breakfast is NOT a privilege of a civil servant,’s but rather leniency on behalf of one’s department’s head.
Other than Nam Chau’s famous curry noodles, they also serve chicken soup noodle (or Kai See Hor Fun, roughly translated to Chicken Shreds with Flat Rice Noodles in Soup), roasted pork, and a strangely-named noodle dish named ‘Tar Lan Wun’, roughly translated to ‘Break the Bowl’, which is translucent strands of glass vermicelli noodles (tang hoon) in soup, and served with fishballs and Chinese crullers (Yau Char Kwai). For a lighter meal, they have various toasts and sandwiches, the most memorable being half boiled eggs on toast, RM2.60, and the usual kaya-butter toasts. Another one of my personal favourite is their deep-fried sesame buns, with lotus paste fillings. A serving of 3 pieces is priced at RM2.00.
Location : Nam Chau Coffee Shop @ 54, Jalan Bandar Timah, 30000 Ipoh, Perak. Opens from 7am until 3pm. Closed on Saturdays. The other two outlets are in Menglembu Baru, and another in First Garden.
Here’s a GOOGLE MAP to NAM CHAU COFFEE SHOP @ OLD TOWN, IPOH, PERAK
I don’t recall there’s a shop there leh…
By the way, I tried one curry mee opposite MGS which is pretty good too!
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jason, its pretty easy to find la, coming from hugh low street, u pass by Nasmir by the river bank on your left. then take the 1st turning on your right, right before the traffic lights. The shop is located on the right. the MGS curry mee is Yee Fatt, its in one of my earlier post. been around for very very long
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I always go for Nam Chau’s dry curry mee probably once a week at the very least. I think its one of the best curry noodles in Ipoh.
It’s true their coffee is not as popular as Nam Heong or Sin Yuen Loong. But Nam Heong or Sin Yuen Loong coffee is nothing to shout about either. Your mileage may vary.
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Stanley : agree bout the best curry mee part.
i feel that Nam heong’s coffee has gone from bad to worse, not worthy of representing Ipoh white coffee.
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dry curry mee like this really define my ipoh trips. i remember tar pau-ing some siew yoke from the market to go with the curry mee. not from this stall la. i cant remember which one d…hehe.
very nice pics la. i’m salivating at 12+ in the morning. your fault! haha.
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J2Kfm Reply:
November 18th, 2009 at 12:42 am
haha, dont blame me. go get some frog porridge or something. from Geylang.
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My sister called me this morning so happily and exciting about this Ipoh Garden Nam Chau new branch , and she said the next door is the famous Lahat Rd Wanton Mee, and Station One is on the way. OMG ! All so closed to my mom house, no need to travel all the way to Old Town , I just can’t wait to go back for more holidays. Yummy !
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