Motormouth From Ipoh – Malaysian Food & Travel

Sorry people, I can only manage a short post today. (*Are you thanking the heavens above?!!) Life’s kind of hectic lately, and I have been giving much thought to life, the challenges and the ripple effects. So much so that I was perpetually deep in thoughts recently and ended up exiting at the wrong exit on the highway!!! Huh …… I could use a break right now.

Fried Kuey Teow with a difference. Only in Taiping, folks. Wet Char Kuey Teow with fishballs and Char Siew (barbecued pork) @ RM3.00/USD1 per plate

A safe place for breakfast in Taiping; the wettest town in peninsular Malaysia, has to be the Larut Matang Food Court on Jalan Panggung Wayang in town centre. I wrote about the breakfast experience once way back in 2008; when we first started getting knee-deep into our jobs; travelling at breakneck pace and frequency yet loving every minute of it.

How life has changed (or has it?) since then …… Read the rest of this entry »

Taiping Signature Popiah Stall @ Restoran Air Kacang Taiping – Over 40 years of history, and the locals still swear by the fresh popiah he makes.

Since we started on Aulong Heo Pia (flaky and crispy fragrant biscuits) in the last post, let’s see what other delectable hawker fares Taiping has to offer. Taiping for the uninitiated, is a town to the north of Perak (about 70 kilometres away, and accessible using the North-South Expressway) and famous for the Lake Gardens, Taiping Zoo (both daytime, and the Night Safari), Bukit Larut aka Maxwell Hill and the heaviest annual rainfall in Malaysia; hence the Wettest Town in Malaysia moniker.

A roll of fresh popiah at RM1.40/USD0.40; the rolls are comparably smaller, but wetter than Ipoh’s version.

Being the second biggest town in Perak, Taiping is populated by good eats lefts and rights. The sizeable Chinese community (conversing in a smattering mix of Mandarin-Hokkien and some Cantonese) and the generally well-preserved quaint environment (pre-colonial buildings still reign supreme, and no skyliners … yet?) make Taiping an ideal place for street food hunt and shutterbugs to gather for some shooting sessions. The tranquil scene at the Lake Gardens for instance, is a sight to behold. Century old rainforest trees hovering over the pristine waters, tipping the surface with their branches and forming a canopy-like foliage of greens. A haven for the joggers, walkers, and tourists.

Read on to discover some of Taiping’s signature hawker fares …… Read the rest of this entry »

Heo Pia or Heong Peah, or Heong Peng in Cantonese is literally translated to ‘Fragrant Biscuits’; a type of confectionery believed to have originated from Teluk Intan of Perak, but there are detractors who claim that Gunung Rapat in Ipoh was the place that started baking this biscuit.

So where does Taiping come in the picture? Seriously, I do not care much about the origin of Heong Peah, for you can’t get the same generic taste in Ipoh, Teluk Intan or even Taiping.

I have written about Seng Kee; the coconut shell-broiled in large urns heong peah in Gunung Rapat of Ipoh and how the fantastically crispy and flaky pastry won me over …. not to mention the sheer delight in knowing that they STILL bake the biscuits in the most traditional manner.In Teluk Intan, you can find various confectioneries selling Heong Peah, from the famous Tiger Head brand named Sin Joo Heang to Ta Sin Guan Tin and Sin Guan Hoe.

For this post, let me bring you up north … to the serene town of Taiping where we ventured to seek for this legendary Heo Pia (‘legendary’ for the famed biscuits, as well as the notoriously hidden location) in Aulong; a small township to the west of Taiping town.

Read the rest of this entry »

Beef Stroganoff (RM17/USD5.20) – A sumptuous dish of Russian origin, barely available anymore in the menus nowadays.

For all it’s worth, I could not help but write another silly post today. Blame it on the unwelcoming thoughts of starting a full 5 days working week. Or the shot of caffeine earlier this morning (Thank you old town for the perpetually interesting selections of coffee. You’re intoxicating me). But since the previous post was on coffee and toast from a random back alley stall in Penang, let’s move slightly southward to a classic coffee house/steak house in Taiping.

Backed by an astonishing experience of 20 years in business, Nagaria Steak House on Jalan Pasar serves Western cuisine like how the past generations loved them. Of course, Nagaria also serves the occasional Asian fares like fried rice, noodles, and such, much like how Scotch Pub includes their legendary fried beehoon, fried gizzards and inchi kabin chicken into their dominatingly Western menu. Read on to find out just how ‘cheap’ the food at Nagaria is …. Read the rest of this entry »

An old favourite of many in Taiping, and from places beyond …. Bismillah Restoran on Main Road (Jalan Taming Sari) should be enlisted as a UNESCO World Heritage Building!

Midweek Blues anyone? Or plain reeling from the late night footie matches on the telly, or down at your favourite watering hole? Here’s something to sober you up …..

A perfectly simple, MALAYSIAN breakfast at one of the coolest town (in every sense of the word) in Malaysia; Taiping.

Daging Itam (a type of dark, fiery and robust spiced Beef dish) RM2.50/USD0.70 per portion.

Bismillah Restoran in Taiping is a century’s old establishment, and has been around at this same building for close to 80 years now. Yes, count them, EIGHT DECADES of legacy.

Famous for their Roti Canai, and also serving Roti Telur, Thosai, Nasi Briyani, and the usual ‘mamak’ (Indian-Muslim) fares, this charming eatery should not be mistaken for that famous Bismillah Cendol on Jalan Barrack, although they are sharing the same name … Read the rest of this entry »

Hainanese Chicken Chop (RM6.50/USD2.00) – Gravy-licious serving of a tender chicken chop battered, fried and topped lavishly with the brown sauce with onions, carrots and peas.

I wrote about Yut Sun Restaurant in Taiping before, a famous kopitiam that serves a wide array of Hainanese dishes, including the perennial favourite of many; Hainanese Chicken Chop, as well as the not-so-common Roti Sayur, and they even have an ‘Egg Steak‘ to pique your interest. Best of all, Yut Sun’s PORK-FREE, hence you’ll see people from all races dining together in harmony …..

Corny but true.

However, this time around, I was aiming for Wan Li Restaurant on Jalan Kota instead. Situated on the same side as Kok Beng Hainan Chicken Rice (amongst the TOP 10 Chicken Rice in Malaysia!!) and opposite of Kum Loong Dim Sum, most people would pass by this place without even batting an eyelid; judging from the disdain and rather rundown outlook of the premise. But DON’T come to conclusion just yet. For more often that not, it’s places like this that holds promise, and dishes out foods that arrest your attention; ensuring perpetual revisits …….   Read the rest of this entry »

Since I haven’t been writing much about outstation travels around Perak, allow me to get back into the groove, and share a simple post about this restaurant (or rather, coffee shop?) that serves Taiping’s version of chicken noodle soup for breakfast. The name of the shop? Restoran Kakak.

One glance and you’d be forgiven for thinking this is another bowl of “Kai See Hor Fun” from Ipoh, or even a toned down version of Penang’s Koay Teow Th’ng.

The name of the shop is actually “Jia Jia” (literally translated to Every Family), but when converted to Malay (or English), it becomes Kakak.

A little misleading, for a traditional Chinese coffee shop to be named as such?

Read the rest of this entry »