Motormouth From Ipoh – Asian Food & Travel Blog

Every now and then comes a cafe (another cafe?) operating from a most unorthodox choice of location; almost like a close encounter of the hippie kind and yet drawing in hordes of die hard fans returning for almost the same reason. It’s either the coffee, the ambience or the company.

In the case of VCR, it could have been a (lethal) combination of all.

The cakes and coffee here speak volume of their passion in emphasising on only the good stuff. Barely half a dozen choices of cakes available, and no savouries, yet the younger crowd came in droves. And spend a good amount of time idling away.

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 Seems like a solid breakfast plan huh? Yap Hup Kee @ Pudu.

On most weekends, breakfast plans would have been made but shattered at the very last minute. I guess it goes without saying that I am not much of a morning person though. I still remember the intense passion in the plans whenever Saturday evening came, and somehow ended up with meticulously/elaborately drafted outings.

Then the alarm clock rang on the wee hours of Sunday morning, and there I was … routinely ended up snuggling and rolling until the sun hits the back. That’s Motormouth for you.

But Pudu being an area packed with gems (not germs, please) coupled with the high level of cravings for a good plate of Chee Cheong Fun of late, I dragged this heavy carcass out of bed early in the morning and ventured over to territory almost-unknown.

And here’s the story on how we ended up with a mini food hunt; from Yong Tau Foo and Chee Cheong Fun to Gourmet Coffee and Wantan Mee …. Read the rest of this entry »

You know, when you’re out with people sharing the same UNhealthy passion of eating (read : food bloggers), one solitary stop just won’t cut it.

I mean, here we have people from all backgrounds, who are usually more occupied than the Prime Minister himself, schedules reserved for eating, eating and more eating (not with me though … I’m this poor, unwanted/ignored anomaly of a child. *sob). And the instant we connect and manage to gather, the ‘kiasu-ism-ness’ in us will start rearing its ugly head; indulging in series of gluttony+guilt+mindless indulgence.

Who’s complaining of the consecutive food stops anyway? 🙂

Ready for more senseless street food hysteria? Gear on. Read the rest of this entry »

Chun Kee Hakka Mee (Da Pu Noodles) – For more than 80 years in business, and still situated at the same ‘shack’ off Jalan Pudu. You can almost breathe in an air of nostalgia when you’re eating here.

“Another post on Hakka food and I swear I will scream.”

Then scream. Last in the series, and gawd knows how long I have been anticipating for this Hakka mee experience.

Da Pu (also known as Dabu) is a village in Guangdong; a centre of Hakka culture in China. Thus, essentially this bowl of noodles can still be named as Hakka Mee, or Da Bu Mien (as emblazoned across the yellow-coloured signboard adorning the wall above the stall).

But instead of serving their noodles with the usual fish balls, pork balls or stuffed beancurd, Chun Kee chooses to serve theirs with pork dumplings (wanton) instead. Read on to find out why some have generously heaped praises towards this humble outlet in Pudu, and how tenacious of them to withstand more than eight decades of hardships …..

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Where to stay in city centre, with basic amenities; strategically within range of the Golden Triangle of Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur, yet won’t break a hole in the pocket? Try Leisure Inn @ Jalan Changkat Thambi Dollah, Pudu.

Remember in one of the last few posts; I wrote about Ah Koong Eating House? The fish ball specialist originating from Johor Bahru surprised me with their selection of yong tau foo (stuffed fish paste) and such, was actually our pick for breakfast given the extremely near location to where we stayed for two nights.

Thanks to Rebecca for introducing me to Cherrie, the owner of Leisure Inn in a timely manner. Though Cherrie was out of the country when I was relocating to KL, she made sure that we had a pleasant, fuss free time being put up at her pride that is Leisure Inn; a Preferred Business Lodge.

A room sufficient for one to two pax; most notable for the comfortable, clean and plush beds and pillows. Not as spacious as I had imagined, but for the reasonable rates, that is certainly understandable.

Read on to know more about my experience at Leisure Inn ….. Read the rest of this entry »

A splendid spread of a fish ball noodles and various stuffed items for breakfast at Ah Koong Eating House in Pudu of Kuala Lumpur. Good enough to give some of Ipoh’s better ones a run for their money, really.

And so, let’s backtrack slightly and see what I ate when I was in the process of relocating to KL. We were staying in a fairly new business lodge named Leisure Inn on Jalan Changkat Thambi Dollah somewhere behind of Times Square (more information in a later post), hence naturally the foodie instincts kicked in as soon as we ventured across the same road; laden with eateries bearing the most authentic of Chinese names and cuisines. I actually did a review on Dong Bei; a restaurant that specializes in Beijing-style of cuisine.

Pick your noodles, your seafood (look at those fresh large prawns and even oysters!), fish cakes, stuffed fish paste (yong tau foo) and much more …..

Ah Koong Eating House is only a hop and a skip away from Leisure Inn (though I wouldn’t recommend for you to be hopping around like mad). We had our breakfast there one morning, since the whole Pudu area seemed to be slightly desolated …. maybe you can find good street eats around the corner on Jalan Pudu/Jalan Sayor (or whatever) but we settled for this since the eatery was already half-crowded that early on a Sunday morning.

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To seek for some of the best in traditional Chinese cuisine in Kuala Lumpur may take some considerable effort, especially if one’s right in the midst of the Eating Hub of Malaysia, with an amalgam of influences all over the world. You get everything from Western to Eastern fares, from street foods to posh (read : over-priced) dining options.

So where does classic Foochow cuisine stand against these myriad of dining pleasures, with the looming element of commercialization threatening the very essence of good food (read : priceless finds, not pricey finds), constantly seeing us going back to the same old, same old restaurants in the malls, for the sake of convenience.

A bowl of blood-red Red Wine Meesuah with Chicken (RM6-RM7/USD1.70-USD2) – Not as strong as I expected, especially in comparison to some of Sitiawan’s best.

To find this place, named Taste of Foochow in an almost none-too-strategic location (right smack in the heart of Pudu, with the dreadful morning jams no thanks  to the jostling crowd at Pasar Pudu) of Jalan Gajah. But at least this is something different from the average Pan Mee, Hokkien Mee, and beef noodles we used to have in Kuala Lumpur.

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