Motormouth From Ipoh – Asian Food & Travel Blog

This post is but one part of the whole Hong Kong/Macau 2011 series …

Petite, almost-gone-in-two-bites egg tarts @ Kam Fung Cafe in Wan Chai. This cafe is famous for their egg tarts, chicken pies and milk tea. Slightly out of the way, in the Wan Chai district on the Hong Kong island.

And thus, this sudden idea was hatched from a haphazardly planned Repulse Bay-Stanley excursion. (More on that in a future post). We were on board a bus going towards Central from Repulse Bay, then while travelling on Queen’s Road East; we passed by Wan Chai District.

Now if you ask any of the local folks about Kam Fung Cafe, and chances are they will tell you that either the milk tea here is so much better than Lan Fong Yuen (the other milk tea champ) and the other one in Yuen Long, or the detractors will shake their heads in disagreement.

So how did we find the highly sought-after ‘nai cha’ (Cantonese for milk tea) here?

Read the rest of this entry »

DIN TAI FUNG RESTAURANT @ THE GARDENS

Skilfully folded, artfully crafted into an exquisite morsel of soupy delight – 18 delicate folds on the skin that can sustain the tension of a pair of chopsticks, before being rested on the porcelain spoon.

Din Tai Fung, Dragon-i and Canton-i are three household names when it comes to Chinese restaurants in Malaysia. A newer generation of chain restaurants with prominent branding, the younger crowd may not even recognize the Tai Thongs, Esquire Kitchens, and Hee Lai Tons from the days of yore.

Not to mention Sek Yuen, Hong Ngek or Yut Kee. Puzzled? You should be. Unless you’re from the Jurassic age like me. 🙂

Clockwise from top left : A cold appetizer of various finely-julienned ingredients, Perforated hole on the XLB (Xiao Long Bao) so one can sip on the warm, delicious broth from within, The dessert named “Or Nee” or steamed yam paste, and Fish Dumplings in trios; part of the RM19.80 Value Set.

Read the rest of this entry »

Flight schedule taken from Firefly’s website Read the rest of this entry »

Look at how they literally ‘pour‘ the fillings of egg custard into the moulded pastries?

Hot, fresh from the oven egg tarts overflowing with the fragrant egg-y custard

Funny how I’m working so near to Old Town famous stretch of white coffee outlets, yet I haven’t blogged about Nam Heong, the TRUE origin of Old Town Kopitiam outlets, mushrooming everywhere.

Old Town Kopitiam is the brainchild of the erm, child to the proprietor of NamHeong. Look at how some simple marketing, and novel concept breeds fortune, and an admirable number of copycats. Lest I digress further, let’s go back to the root of the “ragingly-infectious” kopitiam craze.

Hakka Mee with Yong Tau Foo

No doubt, in comparison to Sin Yoon Loong, the oldest coffee shop in Ipoh’s Old Town serving their patented white coffee brew, Nam Heong’s history does not run that deep. Situated directly opposite Sin Yoon Loong, the obvious aim was of course, to compete in the mighty war of white coffee.

Many years ago, we were mighty pleased with the competition, for we did not have to scramble for seats in the permanently packed Sin Yoon Loong on weekends. And somehow, the quality of the white coffee in Nam Heong, as well as the variety & quality of food served was better than Sin Yoon Loong’s, by a margin.

Char Kuey Teow

But somehow, the few recent visits, within these few years proved otherwise. Nam Heong’s white coffee had gone from bad to worse, and could not even be classified as a frothy, rich, and aromatic cuppa, in the same line as SYL’s or even Nam Chau‘s offerings. Pretty disappointing as owing to the popularity of Old Town Kopitiam outlets all over Malaysia, Nam Heong should’ve bucked up and fought for its brush of fame, but instead let success gone to its head and brewed some dismaying concoction masquerading as REAL white coffee.

An egg tart and a cup of hot white coffee – Perfect combination?

But of course, every eatery deserves a second, or third chance. And one fine evening, I managed to steal some precious time and crawled my way over to Nam Heong Coffee Shop, at Jalan Bandar Timah.

The declining popularity was obvious if you go on a weekday, when the crowd would be packing the opposite row of coffee shops, instead of cramming themselves into Nam Heong like the old days. But surprisingly, on this specific visit, I found the white coffee (hot, do NOT order iced version, as you’ll be sorely disappointed at the diluted nothings) quite deserving of its old moniker, the KING of white coffee. Hot, frothy, milky white coffee in a white porcelain cup, paired with a hot plate of Char Kuey Teow (fried flat rice noodles with prawns, cockles and eggs), and a freshly baked egg tart with the still runny yet fragrant egg fillings, equals a satisfying meal.

The addictive beverage that started all the craze, and put Ipoh’s name on world maps, in every sense of the word …

There are various noodle stalls, and a stall selling kuih and chang (rice dumplings). But my preference for the Char Kuey Teow and egg tarts surpassed all the other temptations. But of course, the egg tart stall is manned and owned by Nam Heong as well, also serving some delicious Char Siew Sou (BBQ Pork Flaky Puff) and Dim Sum.

If you’re wondering; How do I rate the white coffee in Nam Heong nowadays? I’d say it closes in behind of Sin Yoon Loong and Nam Chau. But somehow, my tastebuds are accustomed to Nam Chau’s saltier, yet fragrant brew, and I’ve yet to find another worthwhile contender. Anyone? 🙂

Easy to locate – Opposite of a row of coffee shops serving white coffee, and the side of the shop’s facing the 20-storeys flats in Old Town.

I’m a sucker for anything with eggs. Yeah, refer my previous post on caramel custard. Baker’s Cottage bakes one of the better Portuguese egg tarts in Ipoh, in my opinion. Others noteworthy challengers for the throne include Gold Vision, a stall in Old Town right opposite Kong Heng (which I’ll get to it soon), and some random ones I can’t remember this instant.

These babies are great when served fresh from the oven, and combined with a hot cup of milk tea. Yeah …… Comfort food for the soul?

Location : Baker’s Cottage @ Kinta City Shopping Centre, Ipoh