Motormouth From Ipoh – A Malaysian Food Blog

Tom Yam Seafood Noodles (RM5.50 / USD1.60), Saito Fishballs (RM0.40/USD0.10 each), and a small serving of Pork Beads (RM4/USD1.20)

Fai Kee Restaurant is a household name of sorts in Ipoh, an eatery associated with excellent seafood and fish head noodles in Ipoh. And since someone has commented about me being extra long-winded lately, I’ll just elaborate ever so slightly (promise!) on each item we ordered this afternoon, okay?

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A short and simple post today ….

Situated right behind East Ocean Seafood Restaurant in Chemor

Very up-to-date post, as today after toughing it out around Chemor and Jelapang area in Ipoh, me and KYT decided to have our simple & light lunch in Chemor town itself. The scorching hot weather did not help either, and the countless rounds we went searching for a “needle in a haystack” somehow rendered us hungrier than usual, and dizzy from all the gear-shifting.

KYT’s bowl of thick vermicelli soup with homemade fish paste (yue wat)

I for one, never ventured to Chemor in search of good food all this while. Though I was made to understand that Chemor’s banana leaf curry rice stands as a strong contender in any foodie’s wishlist (Time Warper, mind to guide the way? =P).

Fortunately, KYT mentioned about his mum’s previous positive endeavour at one of the restaurant in Chemor town, purportedly serving great noodle soup. Well, something light never hurts, true?

The crowd was somewhat reassuring, as situated at a backlane, directly behind East Ocean Seafood Restaurant (Tung Hoi, in Chinese), was unnerving to say the least. They serve plain noodle soup, or dry noodles, with their famous fish head, fish paste, fish maws (see a pattern here?), crabs (!), and so forth. There is a stall frying noodles as well.

Motormouth’s bowl of fish maws and fish paste with thick vermicelli in soup

Once she asked for our choice of noodles, and rambled a looooong list of possible ingredient combinations, we both opted for thick vermicelli noodle, the springy type commonly used in fish head noodles. For ingredients-wise, KYT chose only fish paste (as he’s wary of anything too fishy) while I opted for a combination of fish maws and fish paste. No crabs for me, as I’m on a tight budget. Hehehe ….

The broth was thick, and flavoursome, infused with the natural sweetness of the flesh and bones of the fish. Slightly thicker than your usual clear broth (ching tong), the soup was pleasantly devoid of fishy taste (even KYT agreed) and complemented the noodles well. The fish maws were slightly spongy after being soaked in the soup, and one piece of annoyingly reeking of overnight oily taste. Luckily, the fish paste (yue wat) fared much, much better, as they were springy (QQ), very tasty with slight peppery aroma, and generously served.

My bowl of noodles plus iced milk tea was charged at RM6.80, while KYT’s noodles plus 100 Plus was RM5.10. Go figure …..

Location : Restoran Hoong Wan @ Directly behind East Ocean Seafood Restaurant in Chemor town. Pretty easy to locate the restaurant. The address is 2, Jalan Silang, 31200 Chemor, Perak. (I think). If in doubt, ask the locals.

*** NOTICE ***: Motormouth will be gone for a week. Not for work, but for some much needed rest, relaxation and recreation. I’ve uploaded some scheduled posts periodically, to clear my backlog of food endeavours. Do drop your precious comments, and I’ll get to them as soon as I’m back. Til then, tata !!!

Fancy some fish head noodles?

The stall owners ran away, leaving a trail of dust, as soon as I took my phone out, LOL.

Situated in Ipoh Garden, directly next to Aneka Selera (or whatever it’s called nowadays), and within the vicinity of Woolley Food City, is this place named San Kam Wan Restaurant, housing several stalls selling hawker fare. (Point to ponder : Why is it that the usual coffee shop is rebranded as a restaurant nowadays? Higher status?)

The various ingredients – Soft beancurd, Salted Preserved Vegetables, Tomatoes, Ginger

Deep-fried to crispiness, but the boney parts certainly outnumber the flesh

The sour, tangy, and fiery dipping sauce

A bowl of fish head noodles (vermicelli being used) in all its glory

The lady commented that they branched out from Cheras, supposedly the stall there is quite popular for fish head noodles. They surveyed Ipoh, and could not find any fish head noodles resembling KL’s version with sour and thick milky broth. Therefore they wanted to “spread the lurve“, or so the saying goes.

Tastewise? Do not under-estimate the portion, as they were really generous with the noodles and the ingredients, being fried fish fillets. The soup was not as thick as I’d imagined, with a tinge of sourness that’s appetizing, and savoury from the preserved vegetables (ham choy) added. For roughly RM5.50-RM6.50 a bowl (sorry, I forgot to jot down the price), you certainly get your money’s worth. One minor gripe ; they have YET to serve the thicker type of rice noodles, which would be perfect. But she said it’s in the plans.

Seafood Noodles

Of course, if you wish to have something else, they do serve seafood noodles with prawns and scallops, and choy sum as well as fish slices. Well worth the RM5 paid.

Fried Dumplings (Gyoza)

Gyoza / Gao Ji (a Chinese snack, but famous in Japanese cuisine as well), are dumplings stuffed with meat (usually prawns and pork), chives and spring onions. Some outlets serve them steamed, but most pan-fried them. The dipping sauce plays a vital role as well, normally soy sauce with ginger (+ vinegar, sometimes) is the preferred accompaniment, but spicy chilli paste also complements the gyoza well, as in the case here.

Tackle the heat, Malaysian style …

Of course, slurping on a hot bowl of fish head noodles on a hot day sounds absurd. That’s when their Ais Kacang, and Tong Sui (Sweet Soup) come to rescue. Nothing beats chugging sweet spoonfuls of peanuts, sweet corns, cendol, cincau, and red beans to beat the heat. Yeah ….

Location : Restaurant San Kam Wan, beside Aneka Selera food court. Facing Woolley Food City, another revamped food court. Click HERE for my previous take on Woolley. This is situated behind Shell petrol station on Jalan Dato Lau Pak Khuan, which is situated opposite Hospital Fatimah.