Motormouth From Ipoh – Asian Food & Travel Blog

Bouncy, ‘QQ’ strands of flour noodles coated with a golden hue from the broken runny egg yolk, gluing together the noodles with the liberally (haphazardly?) sprinkled fiery red chili flakes and chopped scallions/spring onions. Then brace yourself for the irresistible crunch of crispy anchovies; a well-thought contrast to the toothsome noodles.

Yeah yeah, been there, done that I know. But please let me get away with murder this time, for the last two days in Prince Hotel had rendered my mind shut off from reality. Distorted somewhat and numbed to the maddening KL traffic especially during the rush hours. Now I can empathize with fellow warriors travelling more than 30km to work in the morning.

Motormouth salutes you. And this post goes out to all the brave, courageous, patient and heroic souls keeping their minds sane and barricaded from the insanity 5 (or 6) days a week.

Something fiery to kick off the week perhaps? (For me, at least ….)

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Sexy, slender and gelatinous feet of a chick. Braised and served with earthy bites of shiitake mushrooms, a few stalks of Chinese mustard greens and of course, the star of the show; heaps of fresh noodles.

I have been eating noodles more than rice since coming to KL. Not that I have an aversion towards one or the other, but the abundance of shops and stalls selling wantan noodles, beef noodles, pan mee, fish ball noodles got me dizzy from all the extensive choices.

And can’t deny that when you’re not in a large group, ordering dishes with rice sounds kinda silly. Hence, individualized portions are the way to go.

This was last week, when the Witch thought of a late lunch with this Motormouth who’s almost perpetually stuck around Subang area. (hint hint … so now you know where to find me?) A random search on the web found me this not so encouraging review from vkeong on Uncle Seng‘s, and I had doubts. Nevertheless, we soldiered on since Witch has been there, and there were rave reviews on the eatery too. So how did this go?

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I anticipated with glee, on the potentially mind-blowing Pan Mee varieties from this supposedly “Pan Mee Specialist” named Peking Pan Mee Noodles Shop in Medan Ipoh Bistari; a relatively new eatery (about 3 months’ old) on the same row as Akamomiji Japanese Restaurant, and directly opposite of Kafe Tim coffee shop.

The Pumpkin-flavoured Pan Mee noodles done the ‘dry’ style with crunchy anchovies, wood ear fungus (mook yee), sweet leaves (Sayur manis) and strips of shiitake mushrooms.

But the breakfast experience fell short off the mark; leaving us in doubt whether the crowd were there solely for the varieties of pan mee on their menu, for the convenience of the distance away from tourists-packed areas, or maybe from sheer word-of-mouth, publicity in the Chinese dailies, etc?

Read on to discover the MANY varieties of Pan Mee available at Peking Pan Mee, and why the concept holds promise yet executed somewhat poorly …… Read the rest of this entry »

Hoong Tho Restaurant in Ipoh Old Town is a ‘Lau Zhi Hau’‘ (Chinese for traditional/trademark) Chinese diner that has been serving delicious noodle dishes, fish paste (yue wat), fried wantons (dumplings),  and such, for a good 4-5 decades now. Aside from the savouries, Hoong Tho is also famous for its own production of pastries and confectioneries eg. egg tarts, traditional biscuits, and of course, ‘milking the cow dry’ (so to speak); with its current promotion of various types of mooncakes, including some ‘funkier’ versions not found elsewhere. More on that at the end of the post.

Quaintly charming, Hoong Tho is but one of the few eateries in Ipoh that still preserve the pre-war nostalgic ambience, although supposedly, Hoong Tho started sometime in the 60’s. And their pickled green chillies is a good accompaniment to their noodles.

On the evening we patronized the restaurant, the place was packed with people from all over. Probably owing to the long Raya holidays, the locals as well as  the tourists from other states were flocking to the one-shoplot Chinese diner, with most customers eagerly anticipating their servings of the signature noodle dishes. Arriving early is almost compulsory on weekends and public holidays, for the restaurant may not be able to cater to the large capacity crowd. And to add salt to the wounds, the staff might be in a slightly foul mood when the orders run awry (which was evident on that evening, with darkened expressions and mumblings short of curse words!).

Crunchy and delightful fried wantons (dumplings) @ RM10 (BIG) served with Hoong Tho’s selfmade sweet, sour and spicy sauce

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Greentown Noodle House

Retaining most of the interior, as well as the items on the menu

Pickled green chillies and sambal for that fiery kick

Thai style Fried Rice (RM4.20)

Mongolian Fried Rice (RM5.00)

Egg+Prawn Rice (or something like that …) RM4.20

Dad’s omelette with prawns and white rice was misleading. He initially thought the dish would be drenched with gravy (in the menu, only stated Egg+Prawn), but amused (or rather, infuriated) by the plain, and dry presentation of simple omelette and rice. Hmmm … give this a miss.

Double-Boiled Black Chicken with Herbs (RM6.30)

Chicken Chop with Black Pepper Sauce (RM7.50)

Roasted Chicken and Char Siew (BBQ Pork) (RM15)