Motormouth From Ipoh – Asian Food & Travel Blog

I have to admit that I have never been a fan of ‘halal’ cafes in Ipoh. Not that there are many to start with. Wait, when you think about it, there is probably none. Aside from the overpriced, over-hyped and over-rated Laksamana Cheng Ho, serving a myriad of Thai, Chinese-Muslim and whatnots cuisine in Greentown. If you’re a fan, then pardon this outright criticism.

I have eaten at the outlet in Greentown Business Centre (the corner lot, which I think have since ceased operations) once, and the larger premise painted stark red along the same road just a short distance away from Brewster’s and almost directly facing MP Steamboat. All the visits came out pretty lacklustre, leaving me puzzled as to why we kept going back although the dining experiences were far from stellar.

Seafood Vol-au-vent (RM4.50/USD1.50) – A mini flaky pastry punctured with a hole from the top; then filled with a creamy filling of mixed seafood and mixed vegetables.

Then lo and behold. It dawned on me, a revelation much akin to a dumb blonde finally realizing why she’s branded as such in the first place.

Ipoh’s been suffering from a serious dearth of good ‘halal’ eateries; especially one that serves decent Western cuisine. To cut the story short, your perpetually fruitless search might end here. Today. This instant. Since Dubliners Cafe was more than I initially thought it was, or ever will be. Read the rest of this entry »

Crispy Roast Duck @ Hong Kong Restaurant, Canning Garden – Briefly bathed with boiling oil before being served (by request), this was simply a cut above the other roast duck specialists in Ipoh.

Madam Heng was a persistent lady, oh yeah. Can’t deny that. It has been a year since the initial contact made between herself and her brother-in-law with myself, an acknowledgment and gratitude nods for the post published in June last year. (Read “That Famous Canning Garden Roast Duck”).

As fate would have it, a full 12 months have passed before I managed to seek out the time for a revisit. 12 months of changes; seeing me moving from Ipoh to Selangor, changing my job (almost a 360 degrees paradigm shift, if you get my drift … hey that rhymes!), and settling in comfortably at that. Well, still adapting to the upbeat pace here, in comparison to the so-named (and rightly so) ‘honeymoon years‘.

Read on for the full story on this “Spunky Madam” (to quote someone I know) with a penchant for quality roast ‘halal’ ducks, and making an impact in a stranger’s life …..  Read the rest of this entry »

Nasi Lemak with Sambal Sotong (RM3.50/USD1.20) – From Wak Nasi Lemak, stall no 51 @ Medan Selera Stadium Ipoh

Medan Selera Stadium; that row of stalls beside Stadium Ipoh houses an impressive range of hawker fares; from the fan favourites of wanton mee stalls (one in the morning, and one at night) to freshly steamed rice rolls; aptly named Hong Kong Chee Cheong Fun, and a bean sprouts chicken stall that proves to have a stellar following (Michelle Yeoh’s preference, supposedly) as well as the banana leaf rice stall(s) in the afternoon.

Fuad Roti Canai (Stall no 54) has been on my list of to-eat since I was still THE Motormouth in Ipoh. Now I am this immigrant in the lost city of skyscrapers and bumper-to-bumper vehicles.

But what I have missed in the previous reviews are the last row (from the roundabout, towards the public swimming pool’s direction) of gems featuring various Malay food stalls. Most glaring omission? Fuad Roti Canai (Stall No 54) and Wak Nasi Lemak (Stall No 51).

Read the rest of this entry »

An arranged chaos. You can literally dive in with manners out the windows (or in this case, the lack thereof), OR you can utilize the shiny cutlery and scoop mouthfuls of rice showered in the golden mahogany curries, with interesting clash of textures of being crispy (papadom crackers), crunchy (pickled cucumber) and chewy (mutton varuval – dry curry mutton)

Tell me about banana leaf curry rice, and I’ll sit up and pay attention. Not sure where the allure actually lies; maybe the fragrance from the leaf where your food is served? The sheer appeasing of your innermost glutton by topping up excessive portions of rice and vegetables (of course, the curry too)? Or the desire to dig in in your most barbaric manner; sans any fork or spoon, and create a mess out of the culinary experience?

Raju, off Jalan Gasing in PJ is probably legendary; a name renowned … almost synonymous with good (yet pricey) roti canai (Indian flatbread). But this was my FIRST visit after many trials and tribulations. Why? Read on for the revelation …. Read the rest of this entry »

Nasi Lemak (literally translated to FAT/OILY rice, but in reality the term came from the liberal use of coconut milk in the rice; hence the rich, sinful and aromatic taste) @ Village Park, Damansara Uptown.

Since I got ‘sounded’ for being tooooooooooooooooooooo long-winded recently (hehe), I’ll cut this post to as short as possible. So brief you can’t even believe your eyes. Yes, and you’d feel that you’ll be craving for more words of wisdoms/rants/incoherent ramblings/nonsense from Motormouth. 🙂

Okay, that’s enough. Let’s read about how Village Park; THE king of all Nasi Lemak in Klang Valley (they got the ex-PM as one of their fans, AND voted best nasi lemak twice in a row!) fared in my books ……. Read the rest of this entry »

Hainanese Roast Chicken Rice (RM5/USD1.60 per portion)

Finally something Halal from Ipoh for a change? Yes I know, I’ve not been an ardent hunter for Halal cuisine in Ipoh for more reasons than one. Firstly, there are only a mere handful of Malay restaurants (read : restaurants; a proper eatery with air-conditioning unit and proper menu) in Ipoh; and I think I might have tried the most premium of all; Laksamana Cheng Ho. And that was not good.

Wait, we went TWICE. And both visits were … blah …..let’s drop that. Hence you never read about the restaurant even after almost 3 years in existence; this Motormouth from Ipoh.

Crunchy bean sprouts blanched to the right degree/texture; lightly seasoned with pepper and dash of soy sauce, then garnished with chopped scallion and red chillies. (about RM4/USD1.30, if I’m not mistaken)

And since Ipoh’s synonymous with “Nga Choy Kai” or Ayam Tauge, also commonly named as Bean Sprouts Chicken (if you’re confused, read through this list of all the ‘Nga Choy Kai’ outlets I have bulldozed my way through ….), it’s only fair that the Muslim counterparts get to taste what this hoo-hah was all about.

Usually the halal version of chicken rice equals margarine cooked yellow (to a scary extent) rice, served with almost dehydrated roasted chicken and a sweet chili sauce, or sweet soy sauce (kicap manis). That, my friend …. is far from the original Hainan chicken rice we’re talking about.

So let’s see what Ipoh Hainan Chicken Rice; this chain (two branches now) outlet with a cleaner and presentable facade offers to the Malay community in Ipoh ….. Read the rest of this entry »

Tower Regency Hotel @ Ipoh – Hands down one of the best hotel Ipoh has to offer. Spanking new (couldn’t be more than two years?), well-designed, and at a prime location at that.

It’s been ages since we last dined at any restaurants in hotels of Ipoh. Last I remembered we had a very cheap buffet lunch at Syuen Hotel; for less than RM15 per person (yeah, dirt cheap right?) but of course lah … you get what you pay for. Not exactly bad, for you get the usual appetizers, soups, rice and noodles, a few meats and several vegetable dishes, as well as a DIY Ais Kacang counter and some local delights of kuih-muih.

But that was WAY back then … I think sometime beginning of last year. And not sure where I stashed those pictures, or did I even take any photos. Doubtful that they’re still running the same promotion as of now; what’s with all the increase in cost of living, inflation and the imminent preparation for something BIG come next year (you know the drill … Malaysia ma ...).

Cafe@6 on the 6th floor (lame?) of Tower Regency Hotel – High Tea Buffet on Fridays and weekends only; for RM16/USD5.20 per person. Talk about being affordable?

And since we have run out of place for a last minute gathering, we settled for an impromptu (almost) high tea session at Tower Regency Hotel’s Cafe@6. Only on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and public holidays. Can’t say this was the BEST high tea buffet in Ipoh, since I have not tried many others save for Casuarina and Excelsior WAY back then ……. but read on to see what they offer and whether the RM16‘s worth the effort. Read the rest of this entry »