Top Wok Seafood Restaurant @ Ipoh – Of Familiar Tastes & Tung Poh Yuk Cravings
June 14, 2010 | 6,700 viewsThere was once in my post somewhere when I wrote about good Tung Poh Yuk (Braised Fatty Pork Belly with Soy Sauce)in Ipoh, and how I could not forget the nearly melt-in-mouth experience back at Bee Gaik. So imagine the gleeful look on my face when I glanced around and saw the other customers surrounding our table at Top Wok Seafood Restaurant, all blissfully wiping their gravy off the same dish with the complimentary portions of fried mantou bun.
Half fat, half lean. Only with a much, much more gelatinous layer of fat that is both smooth and has an extremely soft texture; Tung Poh Yuk (RM16/USD4.80)
Top Wok Seafood Restaurant is situated in Taman Ipoh Boulevard Timur (Boulevard East Garden?), an area densely populated by a majority of Chinese residents, en route to Tambun from Ipoh Garden East. For the specific directions, jump to the end of the post ….
A pot of Curry Fish Head, packed with flavours and brimming with ingredients (RM28/USD8.50)
Top Wok actually has a rich history behind them. Okay, maybe none of those decades after decades of legacy, but worthy enough to regain all the customers the place once lost. The restaurant was a hit back then, sometime during the beginning of the new millennium. But they moved (for reasons unbeknown to me) for a short stint, leaving the premise to another ‘chu char’ restaurant. And things started to go downhill from there.
Don’t let the picture above mislead you, for the steamed grouper (RM28/USD8.50) arrived in juicy, thick slabs of boneless meat, then cleverly topped with the fragrant black beans and minced garlic
Thanks to rumours travelling at lightning speed through the grapevine, we jumped at the opportunity to revisit this familiar air-conditioned Chinese seafood restaurant, to do the place justice.
Okay, maybe a little overboard there, but we were indeed crossing our fingers in hopes of tasting that same, home-cooked varieties of dishes that we so loved back then. Thankfully, Top Wok managed to satisfy our palates, even the discerning diners in the family.
Sizzling Hotplate Tofu with Minced Pork and Mushrooms (RM9/USD2.70)
Homemade Beancurd with Seafood (RM12/USD3.60)
Wait, TWO beancurd dishes, and TWO fish dishes?! What were we thinking? Let me clarify this. The food shots in this post were actually accumulated from TWO separate visits.
For the first meal, we had the Claypot Curry Fish Head, the sizzling Hotplate Beancurd with Minced Pork and Mushrooms, and a plate of Stir-fried Shu Miu, or sweet potato leaves. The meal came to a little less than RM50/USD15 for the four of us.
For the revisit (about less than a week’s apart … yeah, we’re mad right?) we ordered the Steamed Grouper Flesh with Black Beans (their signature item, aside from steamed fishes with ‘choy pou’ or preserved mustard), the perennial favourite Tung Poh Yuk, Homemade Beancurd Braised with an eggy sauce with seafood, and the same Stir-fried Shu Miu; because grandma has an obsession with Shu Miu. Or so she said. The feast came to about RM70/USD21 for the four of us.
And this one got the Grandma saying YEAH, BABY, YEAH !!! 🙂 (RM6/USD1.80)
And thus, we rested our worries regarding this Top Wok being an entirely different establishment. We found ourselves a ‘new’ place for dinner on those nights when we do not wish to venture far,seeking for some safe and delicious choices, as well as dining in a relatively clean and comfortable manner.
# By the way, how’s the Tung Poh Yuk at Top Wok, you wonder? Lip-smackingly fine, I’d say. But still ….. NOT the die-die-must-try version. Sigh ……. Now in search of the Holy Grail again ….. #
TOP WOK SEAFOOD RESTAURANT
No 12-1, Lebuh Perajurit 3/1,
Taman Ipoh Boulevard Timur,
31400 Ipoh,
Perak, Malaysia.
Telephone : 605-547 6392, 6012-506 1503
Business Hours : 12pm-3pm (Sunday only) 5.30pm-10.00pm (everyday)
Closed on Thursdays.
Here’s a GOOGLE MAP to Top Wok Seafood Restaurant
Directions : From Ipoh Garden East (or Jusco Kinta City) towards Sunway City/Tambun, you can use the shortcut on Jalan Perajurit. Before you reach Citrus Wine & Dine on your right, take note of a few rows of shops on your LEFT. Turn left in between the shops (a certain QQ Kopitiam, and another restaurant) and you will see Top Wok at the far end on your left.
Tung Po Yok yummy! 😀
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may you find the holy grail and spread the love by telling us all!
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J2Kfm Reply:
June 15th, 2010 at 8:16 am
Thanks Joe. I wish to find the best version of the TPY as well …. still, there’s always the fun in searching. Right? 🙂
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I can see the quality of the dishes, very impressive!
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woww… the tung poh yuk picture was simply picture perfect…. 🙂
searching for the holy grail… try the hoi seng & iph gdn’s east ocean version of the TPY…
but do avoid Kok THai’s version…. it was way way way… off the trail… to the grail
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J2Kfm Reply:
June 15th, 2010 at 8:33 am
Oh, Hoi Seng does serve a good TPY? I went there only once, not long after they opened.
But ever since, the thought of dining there never surfaced again …. I wonder why ….
You mean the Kok Thai diner? Or the one at the end of the row, same row with Olivenz?
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D-Tourist Reply:
June 15th, 2010 at 8:38 pm
hoi seng does serve a fairly decent TPY….
I meant Kok Thai restaurant near the traffic light..
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hmm… yummy..
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very reasonably price looking at the portions. hearty meal indeed. 🙂 but the dong poh rou’s sauce looks starchy though..
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J2Kfm Reply:
June 15th, 2010 at 3:37 pm
Starchy? Yup, it was indeed thick, but a little too salty if eaten alone without the rice.
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OMG – that plate of Pork Belly looks sooo sinful! And the garoupa slices – yumms…. i’m so gonna order this too! And curry fish head and that tofu…sigh!
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Toh poh Yuk is a big no no for me, i usually just eat the meat and leave the fatty part behind. Dont judge me, lol
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There are different different types of dishes on the tables. And most of them are my favorite! Seeing the tung poh yuk already make me drool.. and the Sizzling Hotplate Tofu with Minced Pork and Mushrooms looks good too, almost every time we’ll order that dish when we dining out.
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Such a thick layer of gelatinous fat! I still can’t bring myself to enjoy fatty meat, sad to say…
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Oh, this restaurant had been closed down long times ago, if i am not mistaken….When they reopen??? The taste is ok, they cater for those tourist group before
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J2Kfm Reply:
June 15th, 2010 at 8:17 pm
They reopened recently, last few months, if I’m not mistaken.
Yeah, they’re rather skillful in cooking up a storm. But minor gripe here; the surrounding can get really noisy when crowded, as there’s no padding on the walls or floor.
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I prefer the “black sauce” Tung Po Yok, next time if you happen to be down south, do try the Tung Po Yok at Loon Sing Restaurant, Nilai. It’s very good!
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J2Kfm Reply:
June 16th, 2010 at 10:24 pm
Loon Sing in Nilai? Okay, thanks.
I rarely go to N9 though ….. but should not be a hassle when on the way to Melaka.
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My family has just tried this restaurant last night, tung po yok , steam black bean river fish, claypot tau fu, 2 taste chicken, mixed veg etc, all were so tasty that we make sure we’ll be back again for other dishes. Thank’s for the recommendation.
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J2Kfm Reply:
June 19th, 2010 at 8:45 pm
You’re most welcomed, Joan.
Glad you had a pleasant outing.
Was the place packed?
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Joan Reply:
June 22nd, 2010 at 2:13 pm
It was 80% full that day.BTW, the service was not bad either. They didn’t serve peanuts, appetizers and tissue, which also save some money for customers …… hehehe …
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J2Kfm Reply:
June 22nd, 2010 at 7:47 pm
Yeah, true. Don’t really agree to tactics like forcing the wet serviettes to customers, in order to earn a few more bucks.
[…] Top Wok Seafood Restaurant @ Ipoh Garden East (NEW!!) […]
Love the food! Love it i would definatley give it 6 stars out of 8 and in my opinion the best food is tofu and kings vegtabable (??vegtabable) 😀
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[…] away from the aforementioned Tammy’s Kitchen. This was not the first visit, and you can read my previous experience at Top Wok if you […]
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