Motormouth From Ipoh – Asian Food & Travel Blog

This article was originally published on The Malay Mail Online. Click HERE for the feature.

Mee Rebus from Pokok Assam Market Food Court is a delectable treat for breakfast; the crunchy prawn crackers studded with sesame seeds added oomph to the yellow noodles in sweet and spicy broth.

The previous story on Taiping’s amazing street eats stirred up a whirlwind of emotions inside some of us. If you’re a Perakian and wondering how in the world you missed all these delectable treats, don’t blame yourself.

It took me a good deal of travelling between Ipoh and Taiping a few years back to discover these incredible eats in Taiping.

And that explains the expanding girth of one hungry soul plying this route constantly.

But there is more; the suburbs of Taiping are no pushovers when it comes to housing great food finds. Kamunting, Pokok Assam and Aulong are smaller towns around Taiping that require almost next to none travelling time. The entire Larut-Matang-Selama district may be large but the populous towns are adjacent to one another.

Let’s start off with Pokok Assam; the third largest town after Taiping and Kamunting. A short distance away from town and in fact nearer to the North-South Expressway’s Taiping toll exit, Pokok Assam is primarily a serene neighbourhood without any high-rise buildings or commercialised retail outlets.  Read the rest of this entry »

This article was originally published on The Malay Mail Online. Click HERE for the feature.

Lake Gardens in Taiping exudes a tranquil sense of wonder; a breath of fresh air from the traffic and making you walk or jog without you even planning for it.

Being the second largest town in Perak after Ipoh, Taiping is blessed with an assortment of wonders; Lake Gardens with its magnificent century-old angsana trees (golden rain trees), Maxwell Hill with its cooler climes, the many firsts in Malaysia (railway, police station, museum, etc), the only night safari in the country and of course, its plentiful lip-smacking street food. 

We used to go on day trips from Ipoh to Taiping, all within a span of eight hours. And the hungry side of me would always have a list in hand; squeezing in at least three meals within the allocated time whenever possible.

The frequent commuting between the two towns means I have eaten at a majority of the famous eateries in Taiping; yet I still find myself craving and looking for more undiscovered gems.

Larut Matang Food Court – The perfect grazing spot for the indecisive. You even can choose to eat from the Halal or non-Halal section of the food centre.

Thankfully, travelling on the North South expressway from Ipoh to Taiping usually takes about 45 minutes, or an hour, tops. This allows for spontaneous day trips; or at times, even random food hunt excursions. Plus, Taiping being between Ipoh and Penang makes this town an attractive stopover for travellers both north and south bound. 

Let’s start with breakfast. If you’re the indecisive kind or plain eager to sample as many items as possible, you can’t go wrong by paying the Larut Matang Food Court a visit. Come early for breakfast for a splendid selection of hawker fare ranging from Taiping’s famous char kuey teow with fish balls, mee rebus, Nyonya kuih, chee cheong fun with steamed radish cake, chicken rice, oyster omelette and many more.  Read the rest of this entry »

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 »