Motormouth From Ipoh – Asian Food & Travel Blog

 Ah Loi Restaurant in Pengkalan area of Pasir Puteh is one of the three stalls within walking distance from one another that specializes in Ipoh ‘nga choy gai’ (bean sprouts chicken)

Now, there could be a dozen or so reviews that I have done on Ipoh’s bean sprouts chicken outlets, so you must be wondering when is the next post or rather, where will the next stall be?

Although once again, the hankering was more for Cowan Street’s version, but knowing full well that they choose to close for what seems to be 3/4 of the year and from past experiences, they should still take routine, weekly breaks on Mondays and Tuesdays, I would rather save myself the heartbreak.

Venturing slightly off the mark towards Station 18 in Pengkalan area of Pasir Puteh, there are a couple of ‘nga choy gai’ (which means bean sprouts chicken) stalls along the main road, located on the right side of the main road after passing by the crossroad traffic lights.

One is named 33, another used to be 101 (I hope I got the number correct) but has since moved to the corner coffee shop opposite of 33, and the one we went for dinner earlier was Ah Loi, a stand alone premise designated to please fans of firmer, chunky poached chicken with a toothsome bite.  Read the rest of this entry »

A bountiful serving of Surprise Me Regular Salad with simple green + 8 choice toppings + 2 premium toppings (cashew nut was one of them) for MYR15.00

It could be our culture or how we were brought up believing that salads are appetizers and can never be a proper replacement for a satisfying, protein and carb-laden feast. Hence, we found ourselves at the constant mercy of nasi lemak mak cik’s, nasi kandar sellers and occasionally, succumbing to temptation (and to some extent, convenience) of fast food outlets whenever we want a quick lunch within walking distance from the office.

Salad bars were almost unheard of in the Klang Valley, let alone in Ipoh. But few years back, I was introduced to The Salad Bar in Damansara Uptown, a daring plea to change the way the corporate lunch crowd think and do something about healthy eating.

It was going in the right direction, where the place was not only packed during lunch, but still see a healthy (pardon the pun) dinner crowd on weekdays. Although there’s a change in the management team behind the brand (the previous owners sold the business off, in pursuing different goals in life possibly … but they did make an impression with TSB, no less), traffic was still healthy the last I checked.

With more than 40 items available at the salad counter, it will be good to name the ingredients to speed up the process

Now, let’s move closer to Ipoh. Although salads have been featured as starters in almost all of the Western eateries (rarely beyond the Caesar or Nicoise varieties), there has not been a dedicated salad bar until recently. Basileou Salad is located in Greentown Business Centre, pretty strategic and easy to find (same row as Astro service centre), focusing on healthy eating and sustainable lifestyle, with fair trade coffee offered in the mix. Read the rest of this entry »

This article was first published in Crave section in The Malay Mail Sunday edition. Read it HERE.

The pulut kaya at Keng Nam Coffee Shop is to die for; a very traditional, Hainanese style of kaya that will leave you wanting seconds

One of the perks, if you can call it that, of living in Ipoh is the abundance of great spots for breakfast on Sunday mornings.

It’s true.

Aside from the usual suspects ie. dim sum restaurants, white coffee specialists in Old Town and the super-crowded curry mee (Xin Quan Fang) and hakka mee (Paris Restaurant; formerly Yin Yau Kui) stalls situated a few shops apart on Hugh Low Street in town, there are a few lesser-known names tucked away within the neighbourhood. The kopitiam that introduced me to, and subsequently left me in awe and completely head over heels in love with, pulut kaya is this resilient humble coffee shop named Keng Nam at the end of Cowan Street.

Pulut kaya or steamed glutinous rice served with coconut jam (or kaya, the quintessential Asian jam) was a crowd puller at Keng Nam back in the late 80s up to the early 90s, and still is enticing new fans and loyalists after all these years. I mean, it’s not hard to see why.

The ability to steam the glutinous rice to a perfect texture; neither too hard or soft and sticky is a tricky skill to master but the old lady has never faltered when it comes to sustaining the quality.

Sit back, relax and soak in the Sunday morning atmosphere with a cup of brewed milk tea

And the spoonful of golden, creamy kaya on top of every serving is the icing on the cake. The coconut and egg jam has quite an intense fragrance from the screw pine leaves (pandan) and just the right level of sweetness that leaves one craving for seconds after mopping up a plate in record time. But really, the portion is meant for a light snack than actual breakfast, so feel free to ask for a second helping. Or a third.

No one will judge you.

And it is not particularly hard to imagine why I was so enamoured by the taste when I was a kid back then. Sweet, creamy kaya paired with chewy bits of sweetened glutinous rice. A dream come true for the sweet-toothed, no doubt.

But that’s not their trump card, seriously. At least, not the only one. Read the rest of this entry »

Weng Kee Gopeng Mee has a branch now outside of Ipoh old town and that is opened until dinner hours

After a lengthy period of hiatus between visits to Thum’s Western Food stall, the sweet memories of munching on their freshly deep-fried, crispy onion rings and chewing on chunky cuts of pork cutlets marinated with a dash of pepper, worchestershire sauce and probably a pinch of ‘passion’ came washing over me.

If you ask me where to go for classic, no-frills, locally-interpreted and somehow modified Western fares, then Ipoh Garden South should be your playground.

I previously wrote about Thum’s, Alan’s and Scotch Pub’s; all three stalls in the same league of cheap Western cuisine situated within walking distance from one another.

And hence on a rainy Saturday evening, when the entire family was not in the mood for adventurous food excursions (read: lazy to venture far), we settled for Sun Weng Fatt; the corner shop housing Thum’s in Ipoh Garden South.

But then again, you need to remember that Thum’s does NOT start operating until well after 7pm. 6.45pm if you’re lucky or they feel like it. And we arrived early about 6pm.

But this kopitiam is more than mere one trick pony. We shall see what Motormouth had despite the initial disappointment of not able to satisfy his insatiable appetite for sweet onion rings.
Read the rest of this entry »

Lazy Sunday afternoons are perfect for café hopping in Ipoh; searching for a respite from the unwavering, relentless heat

I received an email from a long-time reader recently, a friendly reminder on the urgency for Motormouth to restore his initial passion to share new eateries in Ipoh rather than dwelling on the same old hawker favourites that should have been public knowledge by now. In short; stop writing again and again about Lou Wong, Foh San, Sin Eng Heong, Xin Quan Fang and Sin Yoon Loong.

Point taken, and thank you for the email. However, allow me to defend my selection of topics recently.

Since moving away from Ipoh to Kuala Lumpur almost 4 years back; and subsequently to Singapore few months ago, there is nothing more rejuvenating and inspiring than paying a visit to the old timers in Ipoh; the surviving decades-old establishments that you could argue having been immortalized as legends anyway and need not another review.

If you can call my ramblings that, anyway.

But to me, revisiting the same old favourite haunts since childhood days was a never chore. Or a bore. And the stories never got old when retold from different perspectives or stages of life.

The selection of tea at Tea And Tattle is astoundingly rich; almost 120 types (!) of black, green, floral or wellness tea, categorized into various groups suited for almost any time of the day, any mood and even any ailment.

It could be the fact that most of the newer cafes or restaurants that have mushroomed since the recent year or two have been paltry affair; with nary more than a handful of noteworthy ones deserving repeated visits. Or introduced to foodies from the outer states, or even international holiday makers.

I for one, would never thought of doing a café hop in Ipoh when there are multiple replicates of them back in Klang Valley, Penang or even Singapore.

But then again, Tea And Tattle has a slightly different story to be told. Or rather, tattled with you. Read the rest of this entry »

This article was first published in The Malay Mail. Read it HERE.

Loke Wooi Kee serves one of the oldest and most popular versions of Hor Hee in Ipoh

Nestled within the centre of what has increasingly been acknowledged as the tourist hub of the city where you can literally walk to famous food outlets like Lou Wong Bean Sprouts Chicken, Sin Eng Heong kaya puffs, Aun Kheng Lim salted chicken and Funny Mountain Soya Bean, is this decades-old coffee shop named Loke Wooi Kee (LWK).

The name might sound unfamiliar to those not born and bred in Ipoh; the looks of the unassuming corner lot may not seem appealing at first glance, but this establishment has definitely stood the test of time and outshines so many other newer kopitiams or food courts that came up in recent years.

I still remember how our family used to visit LWK back in the early 90s for the Hor Hee stall. I was brought up tasting my first bowl of the comfort food at this shop, before gradually learning about the existence of other outlets serving the same, e.g: See See Heng at Embassy Restaurant and Hotel along Chamberlain Road, Li Heng Fatt in Old Town etc.

What’s a bowl of Hor Hee you ask? Read the rest of this entry »

We discussed for numerous times about the invasion of coffee culture in Ipoh since a year or so back, spearheaded by the Ipoh old town rejuvenation exercise and influence from neighbouring cities like Penang and Kuala Lumpur perhaps.

Earlier this year, we witnessed a paradigm shift in our ‘yum cha’ marathon; an extremely common practice during Chinese New Year. Youngsters and even families flocked to cafes instead of modern kopitiams (eg. the Old Town White Coffee outlets) or hawker spots. But then again, what can you do in Ipoh aside from continuous eating/drinking/catching up sessions, and where else to go but air-conditioned establishments to avoid the heat?

Fast forward ten months later, and I admit that I am a bit surprised to see that most (if not all) of the new blood in Ipoh café scene still possess a resilient staying power; amidst my initial reservations on sustainability and survivability against the Ipoh hawker heroes.

Just recently (about two weeks back), PT Grande opened its doors for business in Ipoh Garden South; an area that has stayed out of the limelight for a while. Read the rest of this entry »