Motormouth From Ipoh – A Malaysian Food Blog

Purple Cane Tea House @ Ipoh – Their maiden branch in Ipoh; a solely Tea House concept unlike the other Purple Cane restaurants that emphasize on tea-infused dishes instead.

So you might have heard about what that legendary premise on Osborne Street (Jalan Dato Tahwil Azar) previously occupied by Foh San Dim Sum has been renovated, and transformed into. If you have not, then it’s fine time you revisit that charming, beloved structure now with a fresh coat of white paint, yet nary a demolishing thought put into action; maintaining the iconic facade we have all grown up with.

The people at Purple Cane must be commended for putting deep thoughts into turning this Tea House into something fresh and chic yet retaining that old school charm of the beautiful interior.

The publicity has been minimal until now, with no brochures reaching my hands, nor large advertisements splashed out in the papers. (Maybe there WERE, but I don’t read the Chinese dailies) Heck, if not for the photos posted by fans of the All About Ipoh page, a post from Simple Girl, and a mail from a reader, I would not have known about this quaint gem (ironically, this term was used sparingly by a restaurant down south).

Read on to find out about the cuisine they serve, the products they sell (the tea house is adjacent to a retail area), their location and business hours, as well as how you can get a membership card by dining at the eatery …… CONTINUE READING THE REST OF THIS ENTRY »

I have to admit I was never a fan of dining in Chinese restaurants. Wait, let me rephrase that. I was never a fan of the higher-end restaurants usually utilized for wedding banquets and celebrations.

So far, I have written only about Mun Choong Restaurant when we had a gathering there last year, and a simple lunch at Tung Hoi (East Ocean) Restaurant in Chemor. Of course, there was the recent wedding dinner at Hee Lai Ton, but that’s a different story altogether. The other BIG names like Kok Thai, Sun Lee How Fook and Tai Thong (now changed to Royal China) were not reviewed because either the meal was not satisfactory or the occasion was another banquet whereby I felt funny snapping the food while everyone’s salivating uncontrollably (you know Chinese wedding dinners and punctuality NEVER go together!).

Fantastic, melt-in-mouth Char Siew (caramelized, barbecued pork) with crispy roasted suckling pig (RM30/USD9)

That is, until I read about Oversea Restaurant‘s (www) fantastic Char Siew and “Ham Yue Fah Lam Pou” (Claypot Braised Pork Belly with Salted Fish); a to-die-for dish if you’re a lover of anything pungent and savoury, and goes perfectly with copious portion of white rice to lap up the juices. No thanks to the many hungry foodies over at the Facebook page …..

Oversea Restaurant (also known as Haewaytian) has TWO outlets in Ipoh now, the spanking new branch over at Jalan Datoh near to Srimaju bus station in town, a short distance away from the famous See See Heng Hor Hee stall. Read on to find out what other dishes we ordered at the original Oversea Restaurant facing Excelsior Hotel …. CONTINUE READING THE REST OF THIS ENTRY »

Hong Kee Mah Chee operates at an almost hidden stall tucked under some shady trees and parked in front of a house, pardon me, their house on Jalan Queen in Pasir Pinji.

This friendly lady attended to my endless barrage of queries (typical lah …. curiosity can kill a feline, but cannot dent the spirits of MM), all the while swiftly pinching away at the starchy dough that sat in the mysterious hollow contraption resembling a flower pot.

“She takes mah money … Well I’m in need … Yeah, she’s a trifling friend indeed. For she’s a GOLD DIGGER … way over time. That digs on me.”

For more than 30 years, she has been the talk of the town, so to speak. When it comes to  Mah Chee or Mua Chee in Ipoh, instantly the name Hong Kee (actually it’s “Fong Kee” in Cantonese, thanks to Jason who can read Chinese better than me) springs to mind.

She took over this stall from her father (the Sith Lord himself; picture at the end of this post … sit still, people!) whom in turn started this Mua Chee and Fa Sang Woo (Sweet Peanut Broth) business way back over half a century ago. But he was peddling his stall around back then, not merely operating from a stagnant, fixed position according to this lady ….. CONTINUE READING THE REST OF THIS ENTRY »

Yoon Kee @ Stall No 23 – This is also Ipoh’s most beloved superstar; Dato’ Michelle Yeoh’s favourite!

Perseverance pays off handsomely. That’s exactly what the elderly have always tried to instill in the raw, naive mind of a young one’s.

Medan Selera Stadium (a popular hawker food centre) in Ipoh is a stretch of food stalls that operate almost round the clock, numbering around 60 stalls if I’m not mistaken. But don’t get the wrong idea. The stalls open intermittently; some during daytime while the others open from evening until late night. Not sure if there is any stall that stays open until wee hours of the morning, but I don’t cast my doubt on this issue.

Come weekends, public holidays, or when there’s a football match at the stadium, you’ll bear witness to throngs of people swarming the stalls, hoping for some midnight snacks and a cup of “teh tarik”.

Yoon Kee’s Chicken Rice - Smooth, poached chicken (without the gory, bloody bits, thankfully!) with ‘oily’ rice and the compulsory pounded garlic/ginger with chili sauce.

Time and again, the purposed outings to Medan Selera Stadium Ipoh ended up in disappointment. Either the stalls were not opened on that particular day, or we ended up losing sight of what to eat and ended up somewhere else for dinner.

Things got a little easier during lunch hour, for we’re still fans of Sri Asoka Corner’s (Stall No 19) banana leaf curry rice (BLR), and Thillai Stall (Stall No 25) which is located a few cubicles away from Sri Asoka’s,  and also rather famous for their BLR. Plus, Thillai also serves deep-fried crispy bitter gourd !!!

So why was I so adamant on trying Yoon Kee’s Bean Sprouts Chicken, a 21 years old ‘lau zhi hau’ (old and trusted brand)? …… CONTINUE READING THE REST OF THIS ENTRY »

Bubur Cha Cha (also known as Mo Mo Cha Cha) is a traditional Nyonya dessert that consists of boiled sweet potatoes, yam, tapioca (occasionally), sago (tapioca pearls) and black eyed peas (NO, this is the BEANS, not the “Boom Boom Pow” hitmakers) in a coconut milk(santan)-based sweet soup.

Notice that the only time I wrote anything faintly resembling a “tong sui” (Cantonese for sweet soup, a typical Chinese dessert taken after meals, or between the main meals) stall was the post on Ipoh Street Snacks, when I covered the famous desserts at the famous stretch of stalls on Tong Sui Kai (literally translated to Desserts Street).

Not to indicate that I do not have a sweet tooth for desserts. That’s so far from the truth, actually. But in Ipoh, it’s not that easy to find a comfortable place for desserts, like say; KTZ outlets in Klang Valley and its many imitators. Heck, one can even find a Cendol/ABC stall easily in Penang and Taiping. Which kind of explains why I never wrote about Cendol stalls in Ipoh, until recently.

Okay, cut the crap. And here comes not one, not two, but THREE of the more prominent “Tong Sui” outlets in Ipoh. Do provide your feedback at the end of the post, and tell me what you think should be and should not be on the list. CONTINUE READING 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 …… CONTINUE READING THE REST OF THIS ENTRY »