Motormouth From Ipoh – Asian Food & Travel Blog

 #14 – Invasion of Cafes in Ipoh

Now you must be familiar with this tradition of revisiting highlights of the year (read 2012’s Top 12 and 2013’s Top 13), compiling a list of eateries that may NOT be necessarily new to Ipoh, but have left a mark in my memories among the hundreds of dining experience within the past 12 months.

And so, let’s kick the list off with #14, a bucket list of cafes that were mostly new (sorry as I could have missed a few significant ones such as Patisserie Boutique; the odd hours destroyed all my planning thus far) in Ipoh.

While I tried to pick ONE out of the many and place this in a spot among the Top 14, it proved to be not an easy exercise with more than a couple of dozen new cafes mushrooming across the city; dwarfing the almost stagnant growth of traditional kopitiams and even the in-betweens; Old Town White Coffee outlets and the likes.

Ben & Lynette, The Happy 8, The Roquette Cafe, El Negra Distro and Vanity Haus were but a few of the cafes covered during the festive CNY 2014 run earlier this year, though none among the list made an exactly impactful impression. Something’s Brewing on other hand, exceeded expectations slightly with the unconventional spread and fine choices of loose leaf tea brews, while Bougainvillea City Cafe capitalized on the chef’s training from Le Cordon Bleu. PT Grande whipped up a mighty delicious squid ink pasta, Tea & Tattle (ex co-owners of Something’s Brewing) upped the tea-loving fanaticism ante by creating more than 100 (!) choices of tea while Scenic Cafe Garden won hands down in the ambience category with a vivid reimagining of what a traditional kampung house would look like as a diner in the modern city.

CONTINUE TO #13 & #12 ON THE LIST

This article was first published in the Malay Mail. Click HERE to read the original article.

Steamed “Sang Yue” (snakehead fish/ikan haruan) with “Choy Pou” (preserved radish) is one dish you cannot miss if you visit Khiong Kee Restaurant in Tapah in Perak

Breathe in. Hold it. Now breathe out.
If you find yourself stuck in the middle of a Christmas-shopping crowd and desperately gasping for a breath of fresh air, then you are not alone.

I sometimes suffer from this never-ending, vicious cycle as well when the festive season draws near and all I can think of is… which shopping mall to raid next. As the novelty wears thin (more like the wallet running dry), don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone, break free and embark on a road trip.

Nowadays, the notion of travelling almost always conjures images of flying (after all, everyone can fly now, to steal a quote from a local budget airline), a privilege back in the old days but more common now with a few clicks on the web, a credit card for payment and a passport. However, flying may not always be the best option. Some people are just not born to handle the stress of commuting to and from the airport, the packing and the check-in process.

And thus, let’s come to my story for the day – road trips.
What we Malaysians are blessed with is good sunny weather all year round (save for some heavier downpour on certain months, but still within sanity range), relatively good expressways and roads to drive on, and the most irresistible element of all?

Exceptional food from street peddlers, food courts, a few established restaurants and everything else in between.

I once wrote about Choy Kee in Sungkai, a restaurant that I grew up eating at whenever we gathered for family reunions and festivals in the small town wedged between Bidor and Slim River to the south of Ipoh. But Sungkai is not the only stopover that you can consider while travelling along the North South Expressway between Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur.

In fact, throughout the two hours-odd journey, there are similar small towns like Kampar, Bidor, Tapah, Slim River, Kuala Kubu Baru and Tanjung Malim, with notable eateries here and there.
One of the more under-rated towns in terms of food is Tapah, located slightly more than 50 kilometres to the south of Ipoh and accessible from the PLUS expressway.  Read the rest of this entry »

This is the final chapter of my 2D/1N Jeram-Teluk Intan-Bidor-Sungkai food run. Find the related stories below :

Jeram’s Famous Pau & Yam Puff @ Kedai Kopi Shin Lock
Teluk Intan – Day One
Teluk Intan – Day Two

This sifu (let’s call him the Bidor’s dollmaster, for the sake of it!) seemed to be deep in thoughts, never skipping a beat albeit within firing range of my camera. Look at the laborious process of manually-shaped moon biscuits before they went into the oven.

While we used the Kuala Selangor way to travel from PJ to Teluk Intan, the shorter (in terms of time, not distance) route has still got to be the Bidor way. Hence, we picked the obvious choice when departing home on the second day.

Bidor is a relatively small town in Perak; south of Ipoh (about 60km away) yet distinctively popular for two things – The fresh fruits stalls and of course, the legendary Pun Chun herbal duck thigh noodles.

Seedless guavas, soursops, durians, ‘jambu air’ (rose apple) and oh yeah … “PETAI” (bitter beans/stink beans) are but some of the famous must-buys in Bidor.

But we did not enter Pun Chun this time. Instead we chose to have our lunch at Sungkai. Let’s cap this fantastic series off, shall we? Read the rest of this entry »

Continuation from Day One in Teluk Intan …

Keng Heng Coffee Shop & Budget Hotel @ Jalan Raja – One of the oldest and most iconic ‘kopitiam’ in Teluk Intan.

Fresh from a satisfying slumber at Grand Court Hotel, we forced ourselves to wake up to the bright sunshine peering through the gaps between the room’s violet curtains. The image of a beautiful morning was outside our windows; serenaded by sounds of chirping birds and the tranquil tone set by the Perak river flowing within a short distance away.

Day One was packed with street food adventures and small walks around town. Imagine a town square lined with layers of heritage shophouses (no doubt housing grandiose stories behind their existence since pre-colonial days) surrounding the landmark of Teluk Intan; Menara Condong aka The Leaning Tower.

And so, what did we do on our second day? Read the rest of this entry »

Teluk Intan – The third largest town in the state of Perak

Can you smell it? The year end holidays are just looming beyond the horizon. School holidays starting in 4 days, and next week we have not one but TWO public holidays within the same week. Talk about productivity boost. 😉

Naturally, with about a month and a half of break (for the younger ones, that is), planning for one flawless year end trip for the entire family can be a pain.

Hotels charging premium rates for Super Peak season, last minute flights to international destinations costing almost twice (if not thrice!) as much, and human congestion at an all-time high in conventional tourist picks.

And then, there’s Motormouth’s Travel Ideas. I don’t deny that I too, enjoy traveling. It broadens one’s horizons (or horizontally, depending on how optimistic you are) and create a common platform to brag share travel stories and tips.

But aside from arranged itineraries and tediously crafted plans, why not consider road trips and impromptu escapades? Gather a group of gung-ho travelers/adventurers, drive or hop on a public transport (not really recommended unless you really, really know the routes around the smaller towns) and go crazy.

Like how we did in Teluk Intan (Diamond Bay). Don’t faint, but almost 40 photos ahead. Let’s go! Read the rest of this entry »

James Cendol @ Sitiawan – Shaving the ice the conventional way. She’s the wife of the owner, James who’s operating a branch on Old Klang Road in KL now.

It’s been ages. Felt almost like years since the last travelling stint sometime during the last quarter of 2010. This time around, I had a whirlwind of a few hours worth of fiasco down south; around Pantai Remis-Sitiawan-Seri Manjung.

The lapse of serious travelling throughout the last 10 months in KL got this old bones rusted to some considerable extent. Still remember vividly how we used to go north-south-east-west within weeks, and still survived the ordeal with lots of memories to be retained, work experiences to be shared, and burping good food stories that could last an eternity.

Ahh …. Those good old days. This noble quest of food hunting around Perak is being tasked upon the remnants of this now-defunct gluttons club; plus a few fresh bloods in the old office. I can only watch from afar …. Read the rest of this entry »

Of all things healthy and wise; Jeram’s Lui Cha Rice has a following everywhere, and I wonder if this small town near to Kampar in Perak was the first to ‘patent’ this creation gone viral …

This bowl of rice, usually vegetarian (just ask them to omit the dried shrimps and onions and you’re good to go) in nature, is a good example of a hate-it-or-love-it Hakka dish. Many used to lament about the extremely ‘green’ taste (a somewhat pungent, and slightly unpleasant fresh taste from the chlorophyll-laden greens, especially those blended into the accompanying soup), while others stay away from the protein-shy ensemble.

But to imagine munching on crunchy bits of roasted peanuts, sweet; almost caramelized onions, bits of soft beancurd strips, sometimes julienned omelette, and an eye-popping plethora of finely-chopped vegetables; paired with white rice (sometimes cooked with onions and garlic to perfume the rice) then paired with an awkwardly light green concoction resembling an ogre’s snot.

Okay, not that gross, but if you’ve ever bought the thick, undiluted lui cha soup from the Jeram morning market, you’ll notice why I was making such a comparison. Read on to find out more about this healthy dish; from the famous Jeram market ….. Read the rest of this entry »