Motormouth From Ipoh – Malaysian Food & Travel

A rather alarming trend with eateries in Ipoh is this prominent surge in the number of new ones opening; from cafes, fast food chains, bubble milk tea specialists (do you even need any more hints?), restaurants to the bistros, commercialized hawker stalls (imagine one notoriously famous 45 minutes Buntong Wat Tan Hor suddenly going upmarket and …. lost the charm) and whatever in-betweens.

Wishing you “Lin Lin Yau Yue” (An auspicious wish in Chinese for “Have Abundance Every Year” … but phonetically, sounds like “Every Year Got Fish”!) – Steamed Tilapia in Soy Sauce

But more tragically, the survival rate of the newbies in the Ipoh food scene is relatively low. Unless you’re one indomitable chain like McDonald’s, Old Town White Coffee, or even Starbucks, the rest just can’t come close. Just look at De Garden two years ago and now. I daresay, almost half of the original occupants have wrapped up and moved on to greener pastures, or maybe fed up with the picky eaters.

Yes, we Ipohans believe in quality food at reasonable prices, rather than unrealistic/over-promising diners charging triple for the same cup of coffee you can get at the neighbourhood kopitiam for mere RM1.20 or so.

 Before this restaurant calls it a day (unlikely though, given the warm support from the crowd on certain evenings, and the soon-to-be very strategic location), let’s see what Ipoh Hometown Restaurant has to offer …… Read the rest of this entry »

Sambal Petai – A wonderful creation but why the notorious reputation?

Back in Ipoh!!!

At times the craving can be so strong … I’d do whatever to get it fixed.

In this case, I was literally dreaming of petai. Yup, those repulsively stinky beans from hanging pods; best cooked in a spicy sambal belacan paste, paired with plump/succulent prawns and usually requiring copious amount of mouthwash to rid the after-effect.

The realization that I have not been having my regular fix of petai hit me on one of the evenings in KL. The sight of a mouthwatering pile of crunchy green beans cooked in a stark red chili paste infused with an equally pungent shrimp paste (belacan) was inviting, to say the least.

So strong was the craving that the first thing that struck my mind upon arriving in Ipoh this morning …. was petai.

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Cauldron of rich, creamy and spicy goodness – Seafood Curry (RM30/USD10) that came with abundance of prawns, squids etc.

To tell the truth, if you ask me about food in Brickfields, guaran-damn-teed I’ll answer Indian food. Vishal and Gopala come to mind almost instantaneously, since these places were marked in this Motormouth’s to-eat list since ages ago.

Of course, there’s the famous Mr Chiam’s fritters stall and some Peter’s pork noodles within the vicinity, but the lure of eating possibly the BEST (or at least, authentic) Indian food in all of Klang Valley? Priceless.

But Jason came up with a very ingenious/enticing offer; yet somewhat awkward. To be dining at a Chinese restaurant specializing in ‘chu char’ dishes; in the heart of Brickfields. Or maybe slightly to the edge, since this restaurant is parked a stone’s throw away from the main road of Jalan Damansara.

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Curry Wild Boar (RM12/USD3.90) – Cubes of chunky, gamey meat from the wild, paired with potatoes in a thick, robust curry paste. Typical Chinese style of dry curry dishes.

Talk about hectic. Pardon me, for Motormouth just returned from another short excursion to Kuala Lumpur, and suffering the wrath of heavy, torrential downpour somewhere along the expressway.

But as they say; ‘When life gives you lemon, you make lemonade?’ The saying somewhat rang true when the foodie instincts suddenly kicked in and off we went for an early dinner at Fu Man Restaurant in Tanjung Malim. Or so we thought, already contemplating on the prospects of licking our fingers from the delicious deep fried salted pork belly or even a serving of the almost extinct dish of stir-fried pig’s large intestines with pineapples.

Lo and behold, Fu Man was packed to the brim! A few tourist buses were parked haphazardly by the road, and we suspected something amiss when a few diners were standing around waiting impatiently although there were a few vacant tables here and there. The restaurant was booked by the tour agency, and this called an immediate alternative around town ….. Read the rest of this entry »

And I was scratching my head in vain. Not trying to relieve the itch but with a confused stand on should I categorize this post into Perak Food, or Penang Food. Or is there a category in between?

Technically, Swee Garden Restaurant is in Nibong Tebal, a town on the mainland of Penang that shares the border with Parit Buntar; a town to the north west of Perak. And from Parit Buntar we travelled a short distance of about 15 minutes before crossing the border and reaching the township of Nibong Tebal.

Their famous crispy pork knuckle; a fusion of German-Chinese cuisine served with no particular sauce but pickled shallots and slices of cucumber and tomatoes.

And Molinja* (not her real name, of course) kept on raving about this deliciously sinful and gelatinous rendition of a pork knuckle, back when we were having the Sitiawan’s red wine pork knuckle at Lido Restaurant. Being the lover of anything porky, I set my mind to it and ended up at Parit Buntar for work with LZP and hopped over the border (sounds like a major sacrifice, right?) for some delicious ‘chu char’ dishes.

Did not expect the place to be swarmed by the lunch crowd way before 1pm, and they are also famous for their ambra juice.

No wonder Molinja herself suggested for us to arrive earlier for lunch. 12.30pm is far from early, even on a weekday. Ended up we waited for some time before being seated, and a good 30 minutes or so before being served. So was the wait worthy and the hype justified?

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Sin Hup Kee Restaurant @ Jalan Leong Sin Nam in Ipoh – A favourite with MANY Ipohans, and even the out-of-towners. Just read worldwindows’ review to have a hang of things.

Okay, so this may be the most famous Chinese restaurant in Ipoh that I have missed doing a proper review, after all these years of blogging. Aside from renowned names such as Wong Koh Kee, Mun Choong, Sun Marpoh, Soon Fatt, Peng Tau and Hoong Tho, Sin Hup Kee is probably one of the better hidden gems in Ipoh; a hit amongst the local diners yet not as mainstream nor lapped up by the hungry wolves of the media.

That being said, Sin Hup Kee (SHK) opened a branch in Puchong back in April of 2010. I retract my statement earlier. So they HAVE gone mainstream now?

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This new ‘chu char station’ at Ting Feng Restaurant is named Sun Wah Hing, and started business back in April of 2010.

Strange title for a food post? Yup, folks …. this is another one of those Motormouthing extravaganza. Bear with me.

Ting Feng Restaurant is located at a corner lot in Medan Ipoh Baru; the area behind of Jusco Kinta City. Specifically, this restaurant is directly behind of K10 Claypot Chicken Rice which I wrote about back in 2008 when I first started blogging.

The 80 years old uncle (he claimed) that prides on his defiant soul, adamantly withstanding ignorance and curses, selling packets of tissue and playing on his er-hu, trying to make ends meet.

We visited Ting Feng once, sometime in 2009. Before I had the chance to write about the dinner (which was okay), the ‘chu char‘ stall shifted (or ceased operations?). Then we never returned again …. until this very visit.

The yellow banner proudly proclaiming THREE crabs for RM19.80 was like a magnet; sucking us in into the swirl of possible lip-smacking, crabby experience. And a Tilapia Fish for only RM13? Sounds too good to be true.

So why oh why …. was I fuming at the end of the meal? Read on to find out …. Read the rest of this entry »