Motormouth From Ipoh – Asian Food & Travel Blog

“Come find me at Publika in Solaris Dutamas okay?”

And I was like … Huh? What Publika? A new business centre (again)? Another towering block of offices? Or another Empire wanna-be? (sans the horrific blast that left me Empire-less for more than a month now!)

A quick search around the web got me linked to a few reviews on Eat Food Village and B.I.G (Ben’s Independent Grocer), both anchor tenants of the relatively new shopping mall in Solaris Dutamas.

Exuding a youthful vibe and unorthodox flair perfect for yuppies, hippies and foodies. You can even imagine them organizing arts festivals, cultural events and the likes in this premise without people raising an eyebrow.

Read on to find out more about Publika; a playground for the creative minds ….  Read the rest of this entry »

Bouncy, ‘QQ’ strands of flour noodles coated with a golden hue from the broken runny egg yolk, gluing together the noodles with the liberally (haphazardly?) sprinkled fiery red chili flakes and chopped scallions/spring onions. Then brace yourself for the irresistible crunch of crispy anchovies; a well-thought contrast to the toothsome noodles.

Yeah yeah, been there, done that I know. But please let me get away with murder this time, for the last two days in Prince Hotel had rendered my mind shut off from reality. Distorted somewhat and numbed to the maddening KL traffic especially during the rush hours. Now I can empathize with fellow warriors travelling more than 30km to work in the morning.

Motormouth salutes you. And this post goes out to all the brave, courageous, patient and heroic souls keeping their minds sane and barricaded from the insanity 5 (or 6) days a week.

Something fiery to kick off the week perhaps? (For me, at least ….)

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The combination that works wonders; before the addition of the dry chili flakes/paste – A MUST when it comes to Chilly Pan Mee in KL.

And I am drained. Weekend just flew by before I could even catch my breath. And it doesn’t help that I was suffering from an extreme case of caffeine-withdrawal this morning. Wait, that took almost half my day away, and I was lying in bed with a throbbing headache and utter frustration that my Sunday’s half gone ……. But of course, the second half of the day was good. But let’s leave that story to another day.

If you’re feeling like tormenting yourself, or taking up the challenge to a new level, feel free to gulp down on the dry chili paste. Scoop all you want onto your bowl of pan mee (flat flour noodles), but take heed of this advice; remember to test the waters. You don’t wanna be screaming in agony come the next morning in the loo …..

And I have only tasted Kin Kin’s version of the famed chili pan mee back when they opened a branch in Pandan Indah sometime back in 2008. However, that was a pathetic experience as the noodles tasted bland and the chili paste was too salty instead of rightfully spicy. So when this opportunity to try Super Kitchen‘s version (in Puchong, no less), I had my initial qualms. But was the excursion proven to be worthy or was it a waste of time?

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Dry (‘Kon Lou’) Pan Mee from Kedai Makanan Sun Seng Fatt – To fully appreciate a good bowl of pan mee, many factors come into play. For me? Most importantly; the noodle itself.

Talk about Pan Mee (read this article from Wikipedia for an idea of what this is) and you’ll most definitely perk up someone’s interest. At least one in five Ipohans, I dare say, is a fan of the flat flour noodles best eaten during the breakfast-brunch period.

Since I am not (dark horse of the family?) one who would go all out for a bowl of noodles, let alone a bowl of pan mee in its soupy, hearty nature (though you can gimme a good bowl dry-tossed flour noodles with chili flakes and I’ll nod restlessly), I relied on recommendations from the others.

What an energetic duo; a Mother & Son team running a pan mee stall that is experiencing a sharp spike in popularity, thanks to the closure of Hua Nam (once) and Wah Pan?

Mum has never been much of a fan of Pan Mee either. But she sang lullabies, hymns, praises and flowery compliments on this particular stall on Jalan Leong Sin Nam (yup, that Dim Sum Street of Ipoh, albeit this one on the other end of the road). And since I practically dragged her along for the somewhat lacklustre experience at the (over-rated?) Peking Pan Mee Noodles Shop, I had to concur and be led to this nameless pan mee stall at Sun Seng Fatt.

Read on to find out whether this stall is worthy of a try …. Read the rest of this entry »

I anticipated with glee, on the potentially mind-blowing Pan Mee varieties from this supposedly “Pan Mee Specialist” named Peking Pan Mee Noodles Shop in Medan Ipoh Bistari; a relatively new eatery (about 3 months’ old) on the same row as Akamomiji Japanese Restaurant, and directly opposite of Kafe Tim coffee shop.

The Pumpkin-flavoured Pan Mee noodles done the ‘dry’ style with crunchy anchovies, wood ear fungus (mook yee), sweet leaves (Sayur manis) and strips of shiitake mushrooms.

But the breakfast experience fell short off the mark; leaving us in doubt whether the crowd were there solely for the varieties of pan mee on their menu, for the convenience of the distance away from tourists-packed areas, or maybe from sheer word-of-mouth, publicity in the Chinese dailies, etc?

Read on to discover the MANY varieties of Pan Mee available at Peking Pan Mee, and why the concept holds promise yet executed somewhat poorly …… Read the rest of this entry »