Motormouth From Ipoh – Asian Food & Travel Blog

Fresh oysters on the Rocks – Go crazy on these and guaranteed satisfaction. In every sense of the word.

I once stayed at Holiday Villa Subang, sometime back in 2008 or 2009. Good experience though, still remember how spacious the room was, and the easy access to everywhere around PJ and Subang. That experience (back when I was still with the civil service) was definitely one of the better ones throughout my tenure in the service. If you’ve been following this blog since 2008, you would have realized that travelling’s part of the job. (To some extent … eating as well)

Anyway, fast forward a couple of years and here I am, stranded relocated to the almighty madhouse that is Kuala Lumpur. But good to know that I am in good company, surrounded by foodies with a deep passion and penchant for everything and anything edible. 🙂

From the look of it, this poor baby ain’t gonna miss his Mama too long …..

Holiday Villa Hotel & Resort Suites Subang (that’s the full name, btw) recently held a tasting session for the media; launching their inaugural New Year’s EveCarnival – BBQ Poolside Buffet. As far as Christmas and New Year buffets go, every year we’ll see tough competition amongst the F&B players and no doubt the thousand-and-one hotels in the Klang Valley.

Routinely, to set each other apart from the competition, the hotel would go to the extent of organizing a feast surrounding a particular theme. A gimmick or a timeless business strategy, it all depends on the execution of the tactics.

For this year, the management of Holiday Villa Subang has decided to embrace a carnival-like theme; and judging from the camaraderie of wacky costumed personnel, fancy decorations and the experience of eating beside their Olympic-sized swimming pool; caressed by the warm breeze of the night ….. Read the rest of this entry »

Famous Claypot Crab Tang Hoon (Glass vermicelli noodles/Bean thread noodles) – This pot is supposedly for TWO pax. But definitely more than enough, since the five of us were struggling to finish the two pots.

Rasa Lain Restaurant is definitely one of the most famous Chinese seafood restaurants in Ipoh; renowned for their crabs in claypot (served with either rice or ‘tang hoon‘), claypot cheese prawns (sinful enough?) and homemade fish balls the size of a golf ball.

Then Same Taste came along not long ago, and the storyline got convoluted somehow. Which one was the original “Tung Fun Hai” in Bercham?

And now ….. for the past year or so, Different Taste Restaurant arrived at the scene. A single shoplot located inconspicuously within some residential area a short distance away from the famous Shine Noodles (Bercham famous wan tan mee with prawn dumplings), the owner is the elder brother of Rasa Lain’s owner. And this man’s wife was previously at Same Taste.

Confused and tearing your hair out? Don’t be. For this, my dear readers ….. may just be the BEST among the three. Read on for the full review …. Read the rest of this entry »

The famous Seafood Noodles (single prawn) (RM6.50/USD2.10) from Kim Keei; a household name in Ipoh since their days at their old premise near to Lou Wong/Onn Kee Tauge Ayam.

Kim Kee Seafood Noodle can be touted as Ipoh’s equivalent of Segambut’s Yu Ai, minus the commercialization and branching out. I mean, aside from their closest competitor by the name of Fai Kee in Greenhill (walking distance from Excelsior Hotel), there probably isn’t another worthy contender to the crown of seafood noodles extraordinaire in Ipoh.

Or you can prove me wrong by suggesting better alternatives. Truth is, I don’t usually go for seafood or pork noodles, or any form of soupy noodles unless my dining companions insist. But this time around, Kim Keei proved that they DO mean business, and the recent relocation to the new outlet off Jalan Bendahara in town centre proved to be a smart choice; away from the looming threats of Lou Wong and Onn Kee (since both these famous Ipoh’s bean sprouts chicken outlets are opened for lunch AND dinner).

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If this plate of rice loaded with SEVEN medium-sized prawns cost you only RM4.30/USD1.40, would you have jumped for joy, rubbed your eyes in disbelief, or await the jolt to wake from the dream within a dream?

I love eating in the smaller towns of Perak. The loyal readers (ahem, I can’t dream?) of this blog would be able to relate to this unconventional travelling fiasco, whereby sometimes back-to-back trips to rural areas are considered as normal. While seated idly in the office Facebooking, MSN-ing (all the in the name of …. searching for information, of course) and of course, blogging sounds like the occasional, once-in-a-blue-moon phenomenon.

How things have changed now.

Anyway, a sudden need to travel all the way to Tanjung Piandang (Tanjung what?! Read my first acquaintance with the small fishing village back then) was instead greeted with cheer, instead of jeer. After a prolonged period of stagnancy, I presumed that I would even say yes to an outing to Selama, Hutan Melintang or heck, just gimme Bota anyday!

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Steamed Freshwater Prawns with Egg whites – Lined up remarkably with their vibrant orange-hued shells and some with golden luscious roes oozing from the smashed heads!

Tanjung Tualang is a small town located about 40km away from Ipoh town. No doubt the township is almost synonymous for its very famous freshwater prawns, aside from the infamous tin dredge near to Chenderoh (a short distance away from Tanjung Tualang) which was (and probably still is) precariously threatened with the prospects of being submerged in the waters. The tin dredge was opened to the public at a fee, but not sure if it’s still offering the tour in and around the dredge. (You can view some great shots from brandoneu’s blog here)

At a corner lot in the square formation of one-storey shoplots forming the perimeters surrounding the market, Yew Kei Seafood Restaurant appeals more to the locals, and came highly recommended from not one, not two, but a few of my friends and relatives staying in the town, or nearby.

Now let’s get to the more interesting part of this post; the FOOD. Or might as well categorize them as SEAfood. Or in particular; the Tanjung Tualang’s famous freshwater prawns. They come in various sizes, with their respective prices. A kilogram of the L-sized prawns cost RM78/USD23.60, a kg of M-L sized ones will set you aback at RM68/USD20.60, while the M-sized ones are priced at RM60/USD18 per kg.

I went to Luen Fong Restaurant once before, about a year ago, and prior to that, Lung Seng sometime back in 2008. Both of the restaurants were good, the latter being the better choice for me personally, for the freshwater prawns fared much better. But of course, there are detractors that swear by Luen Fong’s prolific legacy (they were even featured in a Guangzhou food documentary, aside from the local ones). So why did I pick Yew Kei this time around, a relatively unknown name that has been dwarfed by the other giants? Read on to find out ….. Read the rest of this entry »

## This article was also featured on the May 2nd, 2010 edition of The Star’s Sunday Metro section. Here’s the LINK to the article, “Feast From The Sea” ##

It’s a double whammy for today. Sitiawan food posts back to back. For the sake of it, yeah! After all, weekends don’t always come in a mega-luscious, enticing and enviable THREE days. 🙂

We Perakians have them good, for the next Monday’s a holiday. Long live the Sultan of Perak …. for this translates to another weekend marathon of rejuvenation, and FOOD!

Sa Jui Yee is seemingly known as Garfish. Or so I was told. Garfield-Fish? Nah …..

So we had seafood for lunch on consecutive weeks. Sometimes, we really really do LURVE our job. Last week’s Kampung Cina’s Villa Seafood feast was good enough (and do take note that they’re relocating soon, to a brand new outlet on the same road as Ah Pek Lee Kou Hock’s), we returned to Kampung Cina again today for lunch.

This time around, the chosen restaurant was Ah Pek Lee Kou Hock Seafood Restaurant; a restaurant which popularity has since been elevated a few folds after being featured in Taste of Jason – A famous local TV show highlighting food finds all over Malaysia, hosted by Axian.

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