Motormouth From Ipoh – Asian Food & Travel Blog

Sipping or rather, hastily downing a cup of freshly brewed cup of white coffee in old town in the midst of the long Lunar New Year break two months back

Ahhhh. Heaving a sigh of deep, deep relief with the weekend crawling from the horizon and the (imagined) sea breeze caressing my lethargic cheeks (from all the talking, eating and well, sulking to some extent). There will never be a better time to travel than in the midst of spring, although the destination that I will be traveling to has no four seasons nor a reason to even bring anything thicker than cotton.

Anyhow, after a prolonged dry spell of writing on anything remotely close to home, let me dig out a story with shots captured two months back during the Chinese New Year in Ipoh. The reason for the delay being ….well, conventional Motormouth procrastination I guess. And the fact that Heng Fatt coffee shop; this bright yellow-painted three storey shoplot at the junction of Market street and Jalan Bandar Timah in old town is probably one of the lesser known coffee shops among the sea of giants from Kong Heng to Thean Chun, Sin Lean Lee to Nam Chau and Sun Seng Fatt.

But what does Heng Fatt has to offer and stood the endurance sprint against the almighty competitors listed above? Read the rest of this entry »

Uncle Lau and his amazing spread of Loh Bak / fried snacks at Kheng Pin Cafe on Penang Road

Oh wait, you mean we’re still on the Penang food run this week?

Yup, guilty as charged.

Okay. I will be truthful. The Penang getaway happened almost a month back, while I have not even gotten to the Cameron Highlands road trip two months back. Call it procrastination or sheer laziness. But finding time to write amidst the crazy schedule lately is a blessing.

The beauty of eating street food in Penang is the uncanny ability to really live up to the ‘street’ food moniker

Ultimately, I strive to complete at least, a few of the travel chapters before the end of the year. And yes, Motormouth will be going on a fairly long break during Christmas (more on that in the coming weeks), hence there probably won’t be any more updates to local eats for some time.

But take it with a pinch of salt. After all, here I am started drafting this post in Kuala Lumpur, and about to depart for Ipoh (on an emergency notice, no less) in an hour’s time.

Quit the yapping and start the erm, food-talking shall we? Read the rest of this entry »

Wanton Mee dressed in a mix of soy sauce and lard oil, with a handful of bean sprouts from Buntong, finely-chopped scallions, and bits of pork fat (notice those tiny, white speckles on top of the noodles?), served with a side of  fish balls and stuffed beancurd sheets in peppery soup.

There probably isn’t any other way to fully immerse in the Ipoh hawker experience than by zooming in with a bunch of equally (if not even more) voracious eaters, picking a seat by the streets or a table set up on the sidewalks, order a crazy load of food to be shared, and tucking in with hands and all.

Come sundown in this sleepy city of Ipoh, the number of hangouts made possible for the night owls (okay, depends on your definition though … in a serene, slow-paced city like this, anything beyond 10pm on a weekday is considered late) are seriously limited.

The wantan fish ball noodles stall is operated by a family with a somewhat short fuse.

I have always been thrown with this challenge to recommend supper spots in Ipoh. First of all, 24 hours establishments are limited to a handful of Mamak stalls and the fast food chains.

But obviously, one does not come to Ipoh for a serving of we-hope-they-are-chicken nuggets or a plate of freshly smoked Tandoori chicken.

The choices for hawker fares are aplenty, though most of these are situated at odd ends, for instance, the Menglembu Glutton Street (Wai Sei Kai) that I am going to cover in today’s chapter. Read the rest of this entry »

Super lean Char Siew (BBQ pork) sliced thinl, accompanied the bundles of joy – thin strands of crunchy egg noodles tossed in a light soy sauce and dark soy sauce combination, with a few stalks of ‘choy sum’ to inject a touch of fibre to the plate.

In a few more days will mark Singapore’s 49th National Day, and also my first month here completed. Felt like a milestone in every sense of the word. Yes, I will only be here for 12 months (can be painfully long for some readers given the hiatus between Malaysian food reviews; let alone Ipoh food stories), and with another 11 months to go, I foresee more discoveries on Singaporean food (let’s shift focus to hawker fares; however sterile they might have become) and the monthly homecoming will be packed intermittently with food from Klang Valley and Ipoh.

Let’s take a break from Singapore food chapters and revisit one of the better Chee Cheong Fun stall that I have come across in Petaling Jaya, in the old neighbourhood of Section 17 to be exact. Read the rest of this entry »

Nobody really knows how long Ming Kee has been around. The neighbourhood wanton noodles stall has been one of the most recognized, renowned and revisited eatery within the vicinity of Bukit Maluri in Kepong; tucked in the middle of a row of old shop lots facing the bustling wet market in the mornings.

I was brought to this place one fine Saturday morning when we had nothing better to do, really. To be waking up that early and reached the breakfast haunt before 9 am. That’s almost unheard of, especially on weekends when time is better spent on …. well, snoozing.

However, we trusted his instinct and constant raves about this really delectable plate of wanton noodles all the way in Kepong that opens very early in the morning and sells out pretty quick too apparently. Traveling to Kepong from Petaling Jaya or Kuala Lumpur on a weekend sounds much better than crawling our way amidst the congestion over the weekdays ….  Read the rest of this entry »

 Hung Kee Wantan Mee takes pride in their springy egg noodles tossed in a mix of soy sauce, sesame oil and lard oil; topped with a stalks of ‘choy sum’ and scattered with chopped scallions.

OUG, or Oversea Union Garden in full, is an area populated with Chinese eateries and the place of birth for Steven’s Corner; one of the pioneers of the 24 hours Mamak stalls frenzy back in the late 90’s.

Aside from this solitary review of Yang Kee beef noodles that I did a couple of years ago, I haven’t been back to the vicinity for subsequent food excursions. Then, about 10 months ago, the famous Hung Kee Wantan Mee (original location – Jalan Loke Yew) opened up a second branch in the heart of OUG, along the relatively quieter row of shops on Jalan Hujan Rahmat 3, parallel to the morning market.

Read the rest of this entry »

Siam Laksa @ Restoran Ko Pi Tim (the name sounds like an overkill, really) in Medan Ipoh Bistari; aka the ‘Little Japan’ of Ipoh. Don’t ask why … just go and see for yourself.

Almost a week of disappearance. And no, I have not been traveling outstation, holidaying overseas or strapped to a chair and bombed to oblivion. The sheer barrage of workload and pending matters post-CNY (okay, technically speaking, it’s not even over yet. It’s Chap Goh Meh; the 15th day tomorrow!) got me hurling myself towards the monitor on a 24/7 basis.

Plus, no thanks to the crappy Internet speed lately, the frustration just kept building up to a crescendo of flames in my head.

Phew. And then there’s always light at the end of the tunnel. Or a shimmering glimmer of hope to feed the dire soul. Sunday’s always the best day to recharge and expel the accumulated toxins over the week.

Wantan Mee & Hakka Mee @ Ko Pi Tim

So here goes nothing. A story conjured up to feed the cravings. Wanted to write about the Lou Sang experience at Gao Ren Guan, New Paris and subsequently Le Meridien. Yet, the lure of reliving the pleasurable moments of digging into a slab of greasy pork chop from the hawker stall or a plate (yes, a plate) of Siam Laksa bursting with coconut milk is so much stronger.

Read the rest of this entry »