Spices of Penang @ Medan Ipoh Bistari – Not Quite There Yet
November 27, 2012 | 4,104 viewsYou see, in spite of the many sterling (peppered with some misses here and there) reviews of hawker food in Ipoh, I have rarely sung praises for quintessentially-Penang street fares; like Char Koay Teow, Hokkien Mee (we call this Prawn Mee in Ipoh though) and Asam Laksa.
Yes, there were the occasional surprises that managed to make me sat up and took notice. And a few photographs complemented by positive reviews.
Yet, none of the CKT (char koay teow for short), asam laksa or Hokkien mee stalls in Ipoh come close to the real deal up north. I guess the same could be said about Ipoh chicken rice and old town white coffee wannabes elsewhere.
And then I read about Spices of Penang in Ipoh. Probably the first restaurant in Ipoh that stood up to the challenge and proudly proclaiming authenticity and representing the original taste of Penang.
Apparently the restaurant has several branches; one in Sungai Petani of Kedah (sourced from their Facebook page) and another in Sg Dua, Penang. Sounds good so far? And this one in Ipoh started operating not too long ago; to much fanfare.
There was a healthy crowd on that afternoon; almost full capacity but understandable given the fact that this was on a Saturday afternoon. The restaurant is situated at one end of the row of new shops facing Tesco in Medan Ipoh Bestari; within walking distance to the spanking new, brightly-painted with various shades of colours – Festival Walk.
Naturally, a sizeable crowd in such a new establishment can always mean two things.
One; the food served is damn good and Ipohans embrace the new outlet with sheer excitement and good feedback travels fast through word-of-mouth or social media.
Two, the momentum was built through clever marketing campaigns; listing in the dailies, flyers reaching far and wide and promotions/offers during the trying times.
I don’t think I have to explain about which one of the above holds more substance; and ensure longevity in business.
Sadly, Spices of Penang was a disappointment. We walked in with much hope and anticipation that finally there will be a platform to introduce the best of hawker foods from Penang to Ipoh.
But that was not to be. The Char Koay Teow (RM5.90/USD2) arrived in a devilishly-promising presentation; with chives, bean sprouts, golden hue from the eggs, shrimps and topped with fried shallots; with speckles of chili flakes on top of the rice noodles.
And the noodles reeked of a burnt taste that lingered long into the meal, and the ‘sar hor fun’ (kuey teow or flat rice noodles) was nowhere near the better quality ones in Ipoh.
The ambitiously-named Penang Rojak (RM5.00/USD1.70) was passable, but the few cuts of cucumber, turnip and raw mangoes, with barely a piece of prawn cracker did not do justice to the famous Malaysian fruit salad. The Rojak sauce delivered, with crushed peanuts that added a crunchy and fragrant texture to the ensemble, yet fell short of expectations.
The Penang Spicy Fried Noodles (RM5.90/USD2) was another weak interpretation of the island’s signature wet-style Mamak fried noodles in a spicy gravy. But this was much better than the Char Koay Teow, in my opinion.
Wait, was there no saving grace to the meal? The beverages were okay though. The Ais Kacang (ABC) (RM3.80/USD1.30) came with the usual suspects, plus a scoop of ice-cream on top of the mountain of shaved ice. The Cendol (RM3/USD1) was a refreshing finale to the lacklustre meal, though the processed strands of ‘cendol’ (green-coloured flour shaped into worm-like pieces) was as generic as any Cendol you can find in the food courts.
This is a somewhat big leap; a strategic step in bringing the tastes of Penang further down south to benefit the locals who crave for good Penang hawker fares. Yet, I personally believe that Spices of Penang still has a long way to go before it deserves recognition or a second branch in Perak.
For now? I’d stick to my dry curry noodles, white coffee & yong tau foo, thank you.
SPICES OF PENANG (pork-free)
30, Jalan Medan Ipoh 1D,
Medan Ipoh Bestari,
31400 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia.
Opens from lunch until dinner daily.
GPS Coordinates : 4.618427,101.11841
*Same road as Hokkaido Japanese Restaurant, at the other end of the row of shops facing Hokkaido. Another ramen shop named Shin Chan has opened a few doors away.
**Less you think that Penang street food selection in Ipoh are all doom and gloom, you can try Char Kway Teow @ Seng Loong stall at Stadium Ipoh, Asam Laksa @ Kee Poh, Gunung Rapat or Rojak @ Padang Kilat Ipoh to satisfy the cravings temporarily.
tried this place last month… besides quality of food, service was also quite poor. the nasi goreng belacan taste and ikan bilis was absent. the nasi lemak was also a lackluster effort.
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J2Kfm Reply:
November 29th, 2012 at 11:16 pm
Hmm, then that settled it for me. I was thinking of going back for the ikan bakar sets and nasi lemak, just to see where the hype came from.
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Wow! another nice set-up but quality of food sucks. I wonder how many street food stalls which shifted to up market becomes successful? Someone have to pay for the renovation cost and that will added up to food cost.
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J2Kfm Reply:
November 29th, 2012 at 11:15 pm
Hmm. Aside from Old Town? Maybe none. Seriously. QC will definitely be affected when franchises are left to fend for themselves.
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I’ve tried this place in Oct. It was such a disappointment. 4 of my family members had diarrhea after eating in this place. Must have been from the sour red bean in the cendol ice or the uncooked chicken in the nasi lemak (and I forgot what else…)! Banned!
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The table are so small which can’t even fit 2 people in the same row comfortably. The dishes came slow & service was terrible when we visited during their first day opening, customer’s food order placed wrongly n wrong again after second attemp, and the waiters don’t understand cantonese, mandarin or hokkien (local dialect of penang. It make them difficult to introduce or explain some of the taste which can’t be explained in foreign languages. This place really need to improve a lot . What u dare to show, is what we would expect. Don’t underestimate the nice tongue n nice mouth of Ipohans, all the famous foods is nothing true without them have been validated.
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J2Kfm Reply:
December 16th, 2012 at 12:21 pm
Well said. Service to me was okay, while the food did not impress us at all.
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I came across your blog by accident. I am an American management consultant based in Chicago. I am currently on a temporary assignment in Kuala Lumpur. I’ve been here for a couple of months. I’ll be working in KL for the next year.
My wife and I enjoy reading your blog because we learn so much about the food in Malaysia. My favorite dish is char koay teow. My wife loves chee cheong fun. My oldest son enjoys nasi lemak with ikan bilis, sambal and peanuts for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! My other son loves roti canai with the curry dipping sauce. My daughter loves the curry mee young tau foo.
We spend most of our time in KL. We haven’t been to any authentic Malaysian restaurants because we don’t know the area too well. We will definitely make a trip to Ipoh to visit all the restaurants that are featured in your blog. Before reading your blog, the only thing we know about Ipoh is the Ipoh Old Town White Coffee.
Thank you very much for blogging.
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J2Kfm Reply:
December 23rd, 2012 at 9:09 am
Hi Christian! Thanks for the comment. I love all the street foods you described above, equally!
I guess the trick lies in which stall you favour and which one you grew up with.
For me, a certain fondness for Ipoh’s hakka mee, curry mee, yong tau foo and chee cheong fun cannot be denied.
While Penang impressed me most with their char koay teow, asam laksa, hokkien mee and nasi kandar.
KL/Selangor on the other hand, have a few aces up their sleeves; bak kut teh, wantan mee + fine char siew and well, cafes & restaurants in general.
Let your tastebud wander. There are good gems around in KL; however there could be more misses than hits if you’re hunting down street food in the newer areas. Good luck in your food journey!
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It’s hard to find well-informed people for this topic, however, you sound like you know what you’re
talking about! Thanks
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[…] in Ipoh have been sprouting up like nobody’s business lately), situated a few doors away from Spices of Penang; and down the same road as Hokkaido Japanese […]