Szechuan Restaurant @ Fair Park, Ipoh
September 13, 2009 | 4,004 views
Szechuan-style Stir Fried French Beans with Dried shrimps & Chopped ‘Choy Pou’ (Preserved Radish) aka “Four Seasons Beans”
Szechuan style of cooking encompasses an impressive variety of styles, ranging from the usual stir-frying and steaming, to the scarcely seen smoking and even ‘water-boiled’ (shui zhu); a prominent method of cooking fish (and other meats, to a considerably lesser extent) in China.
But the string that binds the Szechuan cuisine, the one category that most (if not all) Szechuan dishes fall into; is that they are all bold in flavours, pungent in taste, and fiery in nature. Though take note that I used the word ‘MOST’ in my last sentence, not ‘ALL.’
The liberal use of peppers, chillies and garlic lend an overall stronger flavour to most of the dishes, in contrast to the other simple, and bland Chinese dishes served in the other parts of China. Good thing we’re not served with the fiery Szechuan peppercorns from the Sichuan province, else we’ll be breathing fire before we can even reach for a glass of water. There are several restaurants in Kuala Lumpur that I know of, that serves the REAL deal, meaning to say they really incorporate the most authentic peppers and spices into their dishes. Word of warning; DO NOT order iced drinks to counter the spiciness, they’ll only make it worse.
Ma Po Tofu
In Ipoh, to a lack of fanfare, stands this restaurant in Fair Park that has seen better days but still up and running for more than 20 years now. Szechuan Restaurant is even on the map (!!), to our surprise. We witnessed the lady owner’s equally-shocked expression when a table of Japanese tourists brandishing cameras and map arriving in a cab, proudly explaining to her that the restaurant’s printed in their Ipoh guide! Though I’ve no idea the map is locally printed, or a product of Japan, or the embassy’s.
Dung Bo Yuk aka Braised FATTY Pork Belly
Back in the 80’s, when my late grandfather was around, our family used to patronize this restaurant periodically. A long wait for an empty table was the norm back then, especially come dinner hours on weekends. I still vaguely remembered the delightful dishes we sampled, especially the Four Seasons Beans aka “Sei Gwai Dau”, a Szechuan specialty that Szechuan Restaurant cooked with such skills.
Many years on, and this restaurant has clearly lost its novelty and its loyal following. With the emergence of various fusion style restaurants, countless Chinese ‘Dai Chow’ outlets, and even Chinese diners offering meal packages at a fraction of the prices they used to charge for wedding dinners, the foodie community of Ipoh marked Fair Park as more of a residential area, or maybe a street populated with medical clinics. And not the desired location to hunt for food.
Our dinner at Szechuan Restaurant was a heart-warming affair. Arriving rather early for dinner, they were in the midst of preparing the kitchen for the dinner crowd. IF there ever was one. The wait for our food was slightly longer than expected, therefore highly recommended to go at a later hour (7pm+ would be fine).
The stir fried French beans was spot on delicious. The aromatic smoky flavour of the beans shone through, with charred marks evident on the beans; a sign of fiery wok’s heat. And the crunchy mix of dried shrimps, ‘choy pou’ (Chinese preserved radish), chopped scallions and minced garlic completed the ensemble, resulting in a most balanced flavour. If you ever visit this restaurant, this dish is a MUST order.
The other dishes paled in comparison though. The Ma Po Tofu (Beancurd cooked in a spicy chilli and bean sauce with minced pork) is another staple of Szechuan cuisine, but the version being dished out here was a mediocre affair. Bright red in colour, with a faint layer of chilli oil but without the much-relished fiery kick. The Dung Bo Yuk or Braised Pork Belly with Dark Soy Sauce lacked the melt-in-mouth texture, usually owing to skillful stewing of the meat with a generous (yet artery-clogging!) layer of fat. Even the leaner portion of the meat was a little tough, deviating from its usual tender texture.
Szechuan Restaurant serves various other specialty dishes, such as Pei Pa Duck, and Szechuan Prawns. They’re actually moving to a new premise soon, somewhere in the township of Tasek in Ipoh.
Szechuan Restaurant
30, Jalan Kamaruddin Isa,
31400 Ipoh, Perak.
Tel No : 605-546 9788, 6016-531 1666.
Opening Hours : 10.30am – 3.00pm, and 5pm – 10pm.
Closed on one Wednesday per month, randomly.
Here’s a GOOGLE MAP to the place.
I have never try Sze Chuan dishes before. Ma la is their specialty. I cook my own ma la tofu, which doesn’t cause numb after consuming. 🙂
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J2Kfm Reply:
September 15th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
sometimes the spiciness gives the dish a needed kick, but not to the point of numbingly spicy, in my opinion.
though I know there ARE sadistics out there …. 🙂
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the food at this place is not as nice as b4….sigh!!!
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J2Kfm Reply:
September 15th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
I second that statement.
I was hoping for the same old taste, of stronger flavours, and scrumptious dishes.
or maybe I ordered the wrong dishes?
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Sounds like the restaurant itself needs a Szechuan-style spicy pick-me-up & fiery make-over too? Gotta keep up with the times lah… 🙂
.-= Life for Beginners´s last blog ..Back to Balance =-.
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wow, the new layout is cool! 🙂
i like szechuan food cos it’s really hot but am limited to eating them at home or in a really cold (air-con) place. cos i can get really, really sweaty and that’s embarassing..haha!
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J2Kfm Reply:
September 15th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
hahaha …. really? but this one not spicy at all lah… dont worry.
tampered to cater to the local tastebuds.
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always see this shop… but not many people there leh
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great new site! love it!
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Spicy Szechuanese Tofu for that zing and the pork belly for the melt!
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Wah..I use to frequent the outlet years back & now completely forgotten about the eatery. Will check them out again..thanks for the reminder.
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yup this place was a hit some time ago , loved their duck but did not visit this place for ages!
.-= Big Boys Oven´s last blog ..La Dolce Vita with Castello Banfi at Tai Zi Heen Prince Hotel =-.
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We remembered even then Szechuan cuisine was a rarity maybe because of the unspellable name and the heavy looks.
Today we think it has still not taken off in KL , at least. We only remembered the brownish sweet & sour tofu soup ( or something like that )
.-= backStreetGluttons´s last blog ..keeping it clean =-.
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this place is just outside my ‘crib’ yo!
i love the french beans!
and you gotta try them ‘mantous’!
dip it in the chili sauce, heaven…!
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J2Kfm Reply:
September 15th, 2009 at 8:39 pm
you’re somewhere around the area? 🙂
crib YA? hehehe … they’ll be relocating to tasek soon, or so she said.
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wenxuan Reply:
September 17th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
well…my house is in fair park..but i’m in KL now actually.
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I love the french beans with dried shrimps too. Mom tried to replicate the dish at home but didnt turn out as good as this.
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J2Kfm Reply:
September 15th, 2009 at 10:19 pm
hmm …. it’s a rather tricky dish to master, thats for sure.
not the usual stir-frying.
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I must kick my friend for not bringing me to this place when I was in Ipoh. 😛 The food here looked impressive!!
.-= Criz Lai´s last blog ..I ORDERED MY COFFIN AT HUI WEI =-.
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[…] Szechuan Restaurant @ Fair Park […]
Visited this restaurant after reading your blog! The owner asked how we found out of the place (we were obviously not local thanks to our broken Cantonese :p ) so we showed them your blog. The food was great, the man tau was literally “so good you can even eat it on its own”!
Just to let you know that they are moving at the end of this month (Sept 2010) and will be reopened in Nov 2010 at the following address:
2 Jalan Tawas Mewah 2, Taman Tawas Mewah, 30010 Ipoh. You can get them at 016 531 1666/ 016 538 1212.
Cheers and happy eating!
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J2Kfm Reply:
September 24th, 2010 at 11:27 pm
Hi Joe! Thank you so much for the update! They recently changed their signboard, hence I was having the idea that they dont want to move already.
Pity the interest in such a classic restaurant has waned, amidst the slew of new restaurants opening up.
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[…] since the ‘demise’ of the last remaining Szechuan restaurant in Ipoh, this city built from the glory days of tin mining has since been left in the lurch; a town devoid […]
[…] at Fair Park instead, an area that has been largely neglected as a spot for good food ever since Szechuan Restaurant ceased to serve their signature Szechuan delights after a good two […]
hey anyone know where it moved? Address please?
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okay, I went to Tawas , the people there said that SzeChuan Restaurant had already closed. No more. RIP.
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