Motormouth From Ipoh – Malaysian Food & Travel

Back then I wrote a short yet comprehensive (read : tedious) post on food at the Ipoh stadium food court; but only barely covering several stalls that only operate in the evenings. Read about the hidden gem of a Ipoh famous bean sprouts chicken stall named Yoon Kee, wanton mee, dry curry chicken mee and more at the following link – Medan Selera Stadium Ipoh – Cheap Hawker Food.

No wonder the flawless complexion. They must have been guzzling gallons of the 8th wonder of the world; Soya Bean Milk on a daily basis.

And it was fine time to see what the stalls in the afternoon-early evenings offer in terms of delicious street food in the enclave of Simee-Ipoh Garden. The row of stalls lined along the stadium of Ipoh have been around since I was born; many have changed owners and passed on to the next generations, yet some have been blessed with enviable staying power.

This time around; we will see how can one simple beverage be reinvented into more than 10 different varieties, and a Hong Kong Chee Cheong Fun that can rival my personal favourite at Ipoh Garden South ……

Mocha Soya Milk (RM2.50/USD0.80) – A hot (or cool?) favourite among many patrons from what we saw, the Mocha Soya Milk combined elements from an ice-blended drink with traditional soya bean milk; flavoured with mocha powder. A little too sweet, sadly.

Then this stall came along in the discussion about good street food in Ipoh that I have not covered. Way back in the middle of last year, I suppose. Since the previous stadium Ipoh food stalls post was published in July. Never knew this stall existed; and a keen favourite of soya milk aficionados to boot.

You can see almost every single customer seated along this stretch ordering at least one glass of the drink from this stall; and they sell ‘tau fu fah’ (soya bean curd) too. However, they ran out of the soya milk custard by lunch hour; obviously thanks to the earlier breakfast-brunch crowd.

The special 3-in-1 is a clever combination of ‘tau fu fah’, soya milk, and morsels of ‘tang yuen’ (glutinous rice balls). For RM2.00/USD0.70 per bowl, I’d say that’s definitely worth the trip ventured. Next round though ….. who wants to accompany me?

Honeymelon (essentially honeydew) Soya Milk (RM1.80/USD0.60) – Refreshing ice-blended soya milk with a fruity essence from honeydew.

Pearly Soya Milk (RM1.80/USD0.60) - Ice-blended Soya Milk with beads of pearls; the ones used in Taiwanese Bubble Tea.

While the rest of the funkier soya milk drinks are purely gimmicky stunts, in my opinion, this light-greenish concoction of soya milk plus juice from ‘tung ho’ (actually ‘Thong Hou’, as in the lettuce like vegetables commonly used in steamboat) was a palate teaser. Half expecting the weird combination to be reeking of unpleasant bitter taste from the greens; the smooth soya milk with syrup actually tasted pleasant with a mere nuance of greens.

Ngau Lam Mee (Beef Noodles) @ RM5.30/USD1.70 per bowl from Stall No 39 – Though not as good as Buntong’s version with branches everywhere (here’s one in Ipoh Garden South) or the Desa Rishah’s sumptuous rendition, this beef noodles from stall 39 was passable.

Assam Laksa with added fried beancurd sheets (foo chook) @ RM2.90 (for the noodles) from Stall No 45

Sotong Kangkung (RM5.00/USD1.60) from Stall No 40 – There’s one stall at the adjacent stretch (same row with Seng Loong Char Kuey Teow) that’s more popular actually. Cuttlefish salad with water convolvulus in a spicy peanut sauce; not exactly an ardent fan of this innovative rojak, yet this one was not too bad.

Seng Kee’s Hong Kong CCF (RM2.80/USD0.90) - One of the very best that Ipoh has to offer. Beats those in hotels or dim sum restaurants, even. But still, my allegiance lies with Sentosa Ria’s in Ipoh Garden South. How about you?

Like a painted picture of arranged chaos; the stall number 46 houses a legendary Hong Kong CCF; one of the longest running stall among the rest.

Stall No 39 – Simee Beef Noodles/Hakka Mee
Stall No 40 – Sotong Kangkung/Rojak (12.30pm – 6.00pm)
Stall No 42 – Soya Bean Milk and Tau Fu Fah (Tues-Sun 9.30am – 5.00pm)
Stall No 45 – Laksa
Stall No 46 – Seng Kee Hong Kong Chee Cheong Fun

*This stretch of stalls operate from morning until evening only. The list of stalls at the second stretch (Number 16-25) can be found at the end of this post. Read also Stall No 32 (Seng Loong Char Kuey Teow) and Stall No 36 (Wanton Mee) by jumping to this post. Review for Sri Asoka Banana Leaf Rice at Stall No 19 can be read at this post, which was also featured in The Star Sunday Metro.