Motormouth From Ipoh – Asian Food & Travel Blog

Sipping or rather, hastily downing a cup of freshly brewed cup of white coffee in old town in the midst of the long Lunar New Year break two months back

Ahhhh. Heaving a sigh of deep, deep relief with the weekend crawling from the horizon and the (imagined) sea breeze caressing my lethargic cheeks (from all the talking, eating and well, sulking to some extent). There will never be a better time to travel than in the midst of spring, although the destination that I will be traveling to has no four seasons nor a reason to even bring anything thicker than cotton.

Anyhow, after a prolonged dry spell of writing on anything remotely close to home, let me dig out a story with shots captured two months back during the Chinese New Year in Ipoh. The reason for the delay being ….well, conventional Motormouth procrastination I guess. And the fact that Heng Fatt coffee shop; this bright yellow-painted three storey shoplot at the junction of Market street and Jalan Bandar Timah in old town is probably one of the lesser known coffee shops among the sea of giants from Kong Heng to Thean Chun, Sin Lean Lee to Nam Chau and Sun Seng Fatt.

But what does Heng Fatt has to offer and stood the endurance sprint against the almighty competitors listed above? Read the rest of this entry »

This article was first published HERE on The Malay Mail Online.

Wondering what’s the hype about har cheong gai or belacan fried chicken in Singapore? Try them at Bgain 22 Old Street Coffee House on Havelock Road

Most of us Malaysians who have grown up savouring delectable hawker eats under the open sky — sometimes shaded by leafy trees, at times within the compound of someone’s home, or even at some random back alley — would raise an eyebrow when talking about “hawker food” in Singapore. For one, the atmosphere is totally different; the stalls have partitions and are numbered systematically in a food court. They of course come across as relatively sterile. Not that these are bad necessarily bad; in fact a clean and comfortable environment should be applauded. But it might be the strange feeling of déjà vu one gets from eating at the various food courts… they somehow feel the same, lacking the authentic oomph of having a bowl of noodles on the street (hence the term “street food” perhaps?) and at times they resemble one another; especially the newer stalls in refurbished food courts.

A childhood favourite of mine; sweet and sour pork is one of the highlights in every cze char meal even in Singapore

Secondly, and this is also a problem plaguing the Malaysian hawker food scene, the stalls manned by the original owners are gradually losing steam. The younger generation (let’s call them the i-generation) is shying away from continuing the legacy, understandable as sweating it out behind a pot or a wok for hours may not even earn you as much as a day sitting in a fully air-conditioned office typing away in front of a PC. Plus, there’s a certain lack of “glamour” being associated with frying char kuey teow, wrapping wanton dumplings or brewing a cup of kopi O, I presume.

Anyhow, I have learned that if one travels slightly further away from the city centre or tourist-centric establishments, and head towards the most unassuming corners of Singapore one will find culinary gems. These are usually on the ground floor of HDB flats; certain cze char places or what we call dai chow in Cantonese that are usually open for lunch and dinner, catering to the hungry needs of residents around the area. These stalls are usually still run by the locals, or at least Chinese from either Malaysia or sometimes from mainland China. In summary, the quality of the cooking is still well-maintained, unlike some places run by foreign workers (yes, I am talking about places in Kuala Lumpur, more or less). Read the rest of this entry »

How did a simple piece of fudgy, rich and delectable cookie warmed my heart?

This post has stayed in the draft section for a good few days now. I blame it on the weather. I blame it on procrastination. I blame it on the extended Good Friday weekend here in Singapore; where once again the malls capitalized by throwing 3 days mega sales fiesta to capture the crowd. But most of all, I blame it on the need to make tough life decisions again.

After slightly more than 9 months in Singapore now, the time is nigh for me to plan for the next move. If you ask me about the time spent here in this tiny red dot, I would say the experience has been exceptional thus far. Although I did not write much about the food (and yes, I did collect quite a few folders worth of food shots ready to be shared in the near future I hope), this does not mean that the food in Singapore sucks. Really.

I have had memorable Hainanese curry rice meals, hunted down some of  the island’s most prolific chicken rice outlets. munched on some mighty addictive Korean fried chicken (no post yet but I hope to write about them in one go), sipped on my now weekend-only coffee fix (I used to be a caffeine junkie with at least 3 cups a day) at some eclectic cafes tucked hidden within residential hubs, back alleys and heritage sites, and also fell in love with Katong laksa (I still prefer 328 to Janggut Laksa though, but that’s me).

But let’s not forget the several disappointing meals of char kuey teow (Outram Park was slightly better than Zion Road’s, but just barely) and bak chor mee (sorry, the vinegar-ish tossed noodles with minced pork was just not agreeable with my tastebud).

For today, let’s shift our attention to something less common when we talk about Singapore food – warm, freshly baked cookies with chocolate chunks (not chips) from Ben’s Cookies; a brand hailing from the UK with the first outlet in Singapore at Wisma Atria, Orchard  Road. Read the rest of this entry »

This article was originally published in the Malay Mail.

A platter of freshly fried sar kok liew that you can already pick and eat on the spot, should you choose not to wait for the noodles

By now, if you are a self-proclaimed foodie in Malaysia, you must have at least heard or eaten at one of Ipoh’s most hyped hawker stalls — a stall aptly named Big Tree Foot or Dai Shu Geok located in the rambunctious neighbourhood of Pasir Pinji. The stall was rightly named due to the over-arching structure above the zinc roof shaded eating area; a few large trees providing shelter and some desperately-needed breeze in the typically warm afternoon.

Most of the items sold at Big Tree Foot are deep fried ingredients stuffed with homemade fish paste (otherwise known as yong tau foo more commonly, but we Ipoh folks call them yong liew), served as they are — piping fresh batches steaming hot from the wok right in front of you. The variety is astounding, and if this is your first time paying a visit, you will tend to get lost in the mix and end up piling dozens of greasy, delicious and extremely addictive pieces of yong liew in your bowl.

But should you come to a breaking point where the only thing standing between you and a piece of everything in your restrictive diet plan, then no fear. Choose the piece that represents Ipoh most — sar kok liew otherwise known as jicama or yambean fritters.

Outside of Ipoh, sar kok liew may not ring a bell with most yong tau foo lovers who are more familiar with the usual repertoire of fish balls, stuffed beancurd, stuffed chillies and deep fried beancurd sheets or foo pei. However, any self-appreciating food lover from Ipoh would highly regard sar kok liew as one of the most delicious, yet basic item that every single fish ball noodle stall should have. Read the rest of this entry »

Selection of dim sum from Tang Yuan Restaurant, a new dim sum establishment looking to make it big in Ipoh Garden East; a predominantly Chinese-centric community with a strong penchant for hawker food and ‘chu char’ dishes

“Yum cha” to me refers more to the in-between meals tea break; possibly growing up with a culture of drinking milk tea (no, not Chinese tea until much older) for breakfast, post-breakfast, in the late afternoon hours after school and sometimes right before bed time!

Blame it on the Hainanese gene apparently, as my late grandfather (it’s been a good 23 years since he left us by the way) was seldom seen without his mug of freshly-brewed milk tea. Well, not exactly brewed from tea leaves plucked from the gardens, but we used to store quite a few canisters of tea powder and my late grandma or my parents would then ensure that grandpa has his fuel restored periodically.

That iconic mug of his in hand, a cigarette on the other and well, Rediffusion blaring out sappy love stories over the air.

However, the phrase “yum cha” also has other meaning to the general population; especially people in Hong Kong or Australia whereby almost always this refers to a dim sum breakfast, rather than a Westernized afternoon or high tea. And so, this brings me to today’s story on a new dim sum place in Ipoh Garden East, which we discovered late last month during the Lunar New Year break. Read the rest of this entry »

Fluttering butterflies, a rocking pony, stimulating colours and in the spotlight was this Tittle Tattle Houzz Café @ Ipoh

Cliché as this might sound, time really flies. This blog has been around for 7 years now, growing from my first trial with a blog post back in 2008 while I was still on the Blogger platform, to better pictures taken with Lumix LX3 from 2009 to 2011, then surviving with my current Nikon D7000 for a good 4 years now. And sometime in 2009 I migrated to a hosted website (what you are browsing through now), and never looked back since.

I still don’t have amazing/professional photography gears. Or even superb photo-editing software or skills. (p/s: I still use free photo editing software which explains the poor image quality, sorry just too much effort in shooting, eating and writing combined ….)

Soldiering on to my 8th year on the blogosphere, the prospects of writing a blogpost during these times seems farther and farther away from what the social media ‘groupies’ love; fuss-free news feeds with minimal words and more pictures (the Instragram generation would be paralyzed after the first paragraph above).

At this point of time, without an Instragram account (yes, I sure feel outdated and more irrelevant) nor seeing a need to reduce the words in my posts, Motormouth can’t help but felt really old. Which by the way, was not a fear unfounded, since I have surprised quite a many readers upon meeting them in person and appearing a decade or so younger than my online persona’s age.

I sounded like an old gramps sometimes, I was told.

So, before jumping to more rants ahead and a paragraph (non-coma inducing, hopefully) on another café in Ipoh, if this is your first time here, these were some of the milestones you have missed for the past 7 years –

3 March 2008 –  Jack’s Place @ Sunway Pyramid
3 March 2009 – The Hanoi Saga
3 March 2010 – Old Town White Coffee
3 March 2011 – Sun Kam Wan Soy Sauce Chicken Rice
3 March 2012 – Or Tor Kor Market, Bangkok
3 March 2013 – Bricks & Barrels
3 March 2014 – Bits & Bobs @ Ipoh old town
3 March 2015 – The seven-year itch?

Read the rest of this entry »

This article was originally published in the Malay Mail Online. Click HERE to read the article.

Breakfast of Teh Tarik with cucur bawang and roti canai at Restoran Sabar Menanti next to the public swimming pool in Ipoh

The restaurant is called Restoran Sabar Menanti which literally means “waiting patiently” in Malay. You can imagine the gleeful reactions to the somewhat weird choice of restaurant name, right? Well, this place focuses on the concept of “slow food”; every single dish and every piece of roti (Indian flatbread) is cooked on the spot upon every order. Be prepared for a long meal as the food comes (slowly) to your table piping hot and bursting with fresh flavours. But of course, they do serve an admirable spread of ready-cooked dishes for breakfast and lunch as well, in the tradition of nasi campur but this is a minor extension of their kitchen’s strength. The restaurant also has a battalion of staff hurriedly taking your orders and serving platefuls of delectable Malay food. Sabar Menanti can easily pass off as just another Malay eatery within the serene Ipoh city; nestled away from clear view within an oasis-like garden environment next to the public swimming pool. Read the rest of this entry »