The Reunion @ Tuck Kee Restaurant, Ipoh
February 3, 2011 | 17,013 views
Epitome of a Perfect Family Feast – It does not matter whether you’re a child of 3.5 years old, an adult deep in the tribulations of life, the parents with hopes beaming and on the brink of retirement, or a great grandmother satiated and enriched with almost 9 decades of life experiences. This annual “Lou Sang” tradition never gets old.
Last year’s reunion dinner was half a disaster. Since we should be forgiving and forgetting the past mistakes, hiccups and trivial issues, let’s not look back.
In fact, we have been dining out every year without fail, since cooking at home has become too much of a hassle. Plus, the surge in prices of fresh ingredients from the market during the days leading to the festivity. Over the years, we have dined at KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken, in case you’re curious as to why there is a Chinese restaurant named as such), Secret Recipe, Kenny Roger’s, Pizza Hut, Kok Thai, Han City, Mun Choong, East Ocean, etc etc.
But none of those managed to impress us as much as this year’s pick; the perennial favourite of many, a down to earth eatery named Tuck Kee Restaurant in Pasir Pinji of Ipoh. Read on to discover why ……
Braised Pork Knuckle with Sea Moss – A downright generous portion; almost to the point of humongous, this ‘Zhu Shou’ was braised in a light yet flavourful soy-based broth in a starchy/gelatinous manner thanks to the scarily (yet much revered) thick layers of fat underneath the skin. The lean meat was far from fork tender, requiring some chewing but a perfect foil to the soft, melt-in-mouth texture of the fats.
Roast Duck + Roast Chicken – A half-half combination of Tuck Kee’s strong points; their roasted meats. If you have been an ardent fan of theirs since ages ago (like us, back when we were staying in Pasir Puteh), you would have known that they roast good ducks and Char Siew/Siew Yoke (roasted pork) and sells them from the take away counter on the outside.
Pan Fried Prawns in Soy Sauce – “Kon Chin Har” is one of Mun Choong’s signature dishes; but Tuck Kee does theirs equally good. If not better, as the size of the prawns was almost uniformed and big enough to satisfy the most discerning of seafood lovers.
Braised various Mushrooms, Beancurd Sheets and Chinese cabbage – One of the weaker dishes of the evening, this was good but not exceptional. Maybe lacking in greens?
Steamed Cod in Soy Sauce – Hands down THE dish of the evening, you have to see to believe the sheer size of the slabs of cod. VERY thick cuts, with delicious flaky and sweet flesh. Miles better than any cod dishes I have tried in the other Chinese diners in Ipoh. (*We chose this over pomfret)
Glutinous Rice with Chopped Mushrooms & Pork – Usually the rice dish (fried rice, glutinous rice) would be there JUST for the sake of completing the meal; providing a contrasting balance of proteins and carbohydrates. BUT, at Tuck Kee, the “Lor Mai Fan” was SO good, I could not help but finish a full bowl myself. And I rarely sang praises for glutinous rice, since I am not a fan. But this was absolutely delicious with the grains cooked to a right consistency and texture, and the flavours combined well to end the meal on a high note.
Our set of 8 dishes (inclusive of the starter platter of Yee Sang, and a forgettable serving of dessert consisting of sweetened longan in syrup with ice) came to RM468/USD150 per table of 10 pax. Extremely worthy of our money, since we could not finished most of the dishes and had to pack them up for today; the First Day of Chinese New Year.
Now, ain’t I’m craving for a bowl of the Lor Mai Fan from yesterday !!!
Kids are honest creatures. This one is groomed to be another Motormouth in the future! 🙂
Tuck Kee Restaurant @ Jalan King, Pasir Puteh, Ipoh – Still a crowd-pleaser after all these years.
“HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR from Motormouth, and Remember ; Don’t Stop the Eating !!!”
Tuck Kee Restaurant (non-halal)
1, Persiaran Tokong,
Pasir Pinji, 31650 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia.
Tel: +605 – 254 1906 / 241 9071
Opens for lunch and dinner daily.
Near to the famous Big Tree Foot (Dai Shu Geok) Yong Tau Foo stall.
i believe a favourite for the family too when we are down in ipoh during CNY..however havent been back in a while!
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Nice wo! Will be going for this dinner later 🙂 The restaurant was too fulled until people have to eat outside?
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Hey Motormouth
Kong Xi Fatt Chai to you, whoever you are. You make me want to come to Ipoh already. Have not been back there for a few years.
cinafong
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RM468 for 10 pax? That is so cheap, man! And a nice number, with an ‘8’ in it, hehe.
Happy Chinese New Year, bro – and may it be filled with love, joy and many blessings! 🙂
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Hi, MM! Nice to know you’re back in Ipoh for the Chinese New Year. Yeah, I do agree with you that one gets a good deal (tasty cooking & nice price) at Tuck Kee.
Wishing you & your family a Very Happy, Peaceful & Prosperous Chinese New Year 2011!
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Happy Chinese New Year to you and family! What a great reunion dinner, although I am getting a bit bored with the Chinese dishes nowadays! LOL!
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Gong Hei Fatt Choy!! May the rabbit year brings you lots of joy and happiness…and not forgetting abundance of good food!
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A very nice reunion dinner!
Happy Lunar New Year!
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Gong Xi Fa Chai to you and family! The food at Tuck Kee is always good, but just that it’s too noisy most of the time, if they have private room for gathering purposes would be better huh….
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Last night having my reunion dinner there…but the foods is so so only not cheap also..As usual when crowded the taste will out of track.Wishing everybody ”Gong Xi Fa Cai”
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Happy CNY, miss tuck kee’s food. btw is that joey..
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J2Kfm Reply:
February 7th, 2011 at 10:31 pm
Yeah, that’s Joey … hehe, so big girl jor right?
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Happy new year to u n family. I had my reunion dinner here too. The suckling pig was good… It’s been a rotation of restaurants in Ipoh since the last few years since the family grew bigger. Hopefully they maintain some standard….. Time to plan to next cny?? 🙂 cheers!
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J2Kfm Reply:
February 7th, 2011 at 10:31 pm
Haha… yeah, maybe next CNY we will go for steamboat instead. Or cook at home finally? Wait til I manage to persuade Mum and Grandma to work up a storm again.
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Hi MM. Gong Xi Fa Cai…..Glad that you have chosen Tuck Kee for your CNY Reunion Dinner. I have attended to a few Pre-CNY Reunion Dinners with relatives and friends and also family Reunion Dinner. 4 Restaurants around Ipoh that is worth mentioning…1. Tuck Kee Restaurant 2. Public Seafood Restaurant 3. East Ocean Seafood Restaurant in Chemor 4. Sun Wen Cau Seafood Restaurant and Mun Cheong Seafood Restaurant. Perhaps you will try them and share with us your comments.
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J2Kfm Reply:
February 7th, 2011 at 10:28 pm
Hi Jimmy! Happy New Year. I have written about all of those, except Sun Wen Cau.
Just a little too far for comfort, since Grandma can’t stand travelling too long.
Thanks anyway. Will do so in the next trip back home.
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Fuiyo, crowds spilled till to the outside!
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J2Kfm Reply:
February 7th, 2011 at 10:22 pm
Yeah, you should have seen the crowd on the inside!!! MADNESS. Can’t even sit in comfort without having to shift the chair every now and then.
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gong xi fa cai, motormouth…
yup.. been there many times during CNYs. good food, good prices.
the only regret is that it’s really too crowded for comfort…
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Gong Xi Fatt Chai J2Kfm! Like your food explorations around Ipoh….great guide for me cause even tho I stay in Ipoh, I don’t always know where the good stuff is!
Just wanted to drop a note that the smoked duck breast at tuck kee is really good. Not overly smoked nor rare, it’s just right with some crispy skin. Bit pricy though, you could give it a try if you go back.
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[…] will YOU be having your Reunion Dinner? I will be having mine at Tuck Kee again this year, so say HI if you happen to bump into […]
I do agree that the food is not bad, was in Ipoh and tried this place for 2 nights, 11 & 12 Jan 2012.
Decieded to return on the following night to try out some of the dishes I saw others eating. Specially called to order Sesame Chicken and it was quite a disappointment. Its was not crispy at all and the chicken had a foul smell. Told the older waitress who took our order and just smiled … The horror came when I noticed there was an eye lash sitting in the gravy of the dish !! I dish it out on the table and pointed out to another waitress who said she will remove this item from the bill.
Upon settling, it was not removed and I questioned the waitress (in black jacket) she simply ignored me and said she never agreed. I had a whole table of 7 diners who can be my witness !! What a SHAME to TUCK KEE !!!
Paid the bill and felt uphappy. Its such a pity how this restaurant can treat its customers. Sigh ….
I am from Singapore and was on hoilday ( Makan Trip ) !!!
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J2Kfm Reply:
January 19th, 2012 at 10:20 pm
That’s a bad experience there, Vincent. The management should not be going back on their words, had they agreed to
deduct the dish from the bill.
Anyway, hope that this did not spoil the whole Makan Trip for you and your gang.
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[…] is the second year in a row we chose to have our Reunion dinner at Tuck Kee restaurant, a restaurant that I practically grew up alongside with, since our childhood days of staying around […]
[…] just so you know, Khoo Eng Chee behind of Tuck Kee and Big Tree Foot is a household name selling various Nyonya kuih by wholesale. You can walk in […]
[…] for Chinese New Year to come and we shall see where to go for our Reunion dinner this year … Tuck Kee has always been one of the safest choices, but there have been talks of finally, after a good many […]
The food was totally not acceptable and the service sucks. This kind of restaurant waiting to close down only.
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