Motormouth From Ipoh – Malaysian Food & Travel

You 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.

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How refreshing and ingenious combination! If this is easily available within walking distance from the office, I bet you they will do some SERIOUS business in PJ!

Always a pleasure to be back home in Ipoh where this blog was born and thrived for years before reaching out to the thousands of food lovers out there. The imminent move to KL since late 2010 thankfully did not hamper my effort to a detrimental extent; still barely catching up with sporadic write-ups featuring hidden gems from nooks and corners of good old Ipoh.

Mydin Mall opened for business in Jelapang not too long ago; a humongous hypermarket that can easily rival the Tesco’s and Giant’s in Ipoh. A second one in Manjoi followed suit within weeks, apparently. AEON Kinta City and AEON Station 18 are both still very much in business and with barely a hiccup in terms of traffic from shoppers, while newer hotels like Tune Hotel, Kinta Riverfront and Seemsoon Hotel opened their doors to travellers within months of each other!

And how shall we start this series of food stories? Let’s kick off with a Cendol stall offering drive-thru service! Read the rest of this entry »

For the other stories in the Travel Blitz series, click HERE

Famous Beef Noodles @ Stall 748, Seremban Wet Market

Since today’s a public holiday and coincidentally, the school holidays ain’t over yet, it does make sense for a short detour if you’re heading south towards Melaka or Johor, or even across the border to Singapore. A mere one hour (or less, depending on the traffic) away from Kuala Lumpur, Seremban town is quite the strategic stop-over for a hearty breakfast of beef noodles, a sip of refreshing cendol to douse the heat, or even buying dozens of Seremban’s signature baked buns with BBQ pork fillings (known as “siew pau”) as gifts to whomever you’re meeting up at the end of your journey.

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Ayam Buah Keluak – Evidently the BEST dish of the evening (for me), even the ‘buah keluak‘ known as black nuts were devoid of the very common pungent, bitter taste. The rich, pureed texture of the fillings had this intense flavour that could be best described as earthy and bittersweet.

You know, the funny thing with us Malaysians is that … when any special occasion calling for a feast arises; be it birthday, Valentine’s Day, anniversary, annual reminiscence of the cat giving birth to her first litter, the first step by a toddler or the first growl of “Papa, Mama .. or … FOOD” etc (you get the drift), almost always the first option of dining out would be … WESTERN.

Okay, so we are dead influenced by sitcoms, movies and what-nots whereby celebrations must always include champagne, steaks and a stalk/bouquet of roses.

For once, throw caution to the wind, let your hair down and bring your beloved mother for a sumptuous spread of Nyonya food this coming Sunday. In case you’re scratching your head in disbelief …. do read on. But if you’re puzzled by why this Sunday of all dates ….. then by all means, give yourself a tight slap on the face. Read the rest of this entry »

For more than 30 years, this Indian uncle (K.Idrus) has been selling his brand of traditional Cendol with manually-shaved ice on Jalan Bunga Raya in Pasir Pinji in Ipoh ….

I have a confession to make. I seldom go for roadside cendol in Ipoh due to several reasons. One being my ignorance as to which stall in Ipoh serves the BEST or most renowned Cendol, and secondly the compromised hygiene issue.

Yup, as much as a Motormouth that I claim to be, sometimes the sight of blatant disregard to hygiene matters when a peddler is manning his stall is plain repulsive. We are not only talking about stained utensils, sloppily rinsed chopsticks, or greasy table tops here. But let’s not neglect the raging issue of personal hygiene (stained aprons, dandruff on shirts, long and grimy finger nails etc), and general up-keeping of one’s stall.

Anyway, when I was Googling about for other blogposts on this particular stall; aptly named Cendol Pasir Pinji near to Padang Kilat on Jalan Bunga Raya in Ipoh, I found this post. Then only I realized that the nails embedded into the underside of the wooden block used to shave the blocks of ice might have been rusted after all!

A bowl of refreshing Cendol with plentiful of red beans, and crunchy shaved ice chips.

Oh well, after a lip-smacking noodle fest at Ang Ang Mee Hailam Parit in Pasir Puteh, we adjourned to this stall for a palate cleanser in the form of Cendol; a perennial favourite when it comes to desserts in Malaysia. The other obvious contender being Ais Kacang (ABC) of course, but seldom do we find roadside ABC here in Ipoh.

That, or I could be living under a huge-a$$ rock all this while. Enlighten me, people …… Read the rest of this entry »

Continuation from previous chapter of Motormouth in Malacca Again (Part One) ….

That Portuguese seafood feast was somewhat disastrous, but given the dire state of my gut at that very moment, I would be balking at the sight of, say ….  Lobsters, Alaskan King Crabs, or even Bluefin Tuna.

The very next morning, after some serious deliberation, I agreed to a ‘light’ breakfast at our guesthouse – Tang House. Breakfast is provided FOC for your information, to guests only. Though we saw many outsiders, even construction workers from a nearby area having their leisurely-paced breakfast at the cafe, for the pricing is rather reasonable. Even comparable to the average coffee shops, with drinks priced at below RM2.

I had an Egg Burger, which was an omelette sandwiched between an Apollo bun, that most nostalgic wave washing over me all of a sudden. I could imagine the ancestor seated on the very same stool, biting into his Apollo bun with kaya and butter decades ago. Morbid thought?

The day started with a second breakfast (yeah, THAT fast although I was already half-repulsive at that thought) at Donald & Lily’s, a small charming outlet situated at the back of Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock, within walking distance from the centre of Melaka town, the Jonker Walk area.

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