Motormouth From Ipoh – Malaysian Food & Travel

Woh Heng Coffee Shop – Still preserving the facade from the yesteryear’s, albeit with a minor facelift that renders the nostalgic charm still intact yet relevant.

This is another God-knows-how-long-was-it post. Dug deep and discovered a treasure trove of pictures left to rot from the olden days (okay, so less than half a decade’s not considered antique … but still, the memories linger). And thus, come this Friday + May 13th, let’s put all revolting ideas to rest.

For one brief moment; just relax, sit back and forget about the mundane day-to-day routine.

Concentrate on the happier times in life, when the mouth works and the senses get stimulated from the myriad of flavours, textures and elements.

Ipoh famous dry curry flat rice noodles (hor fun) – This one came with slices of lean barbecued pork, cockles, shredded chicken and lots of bean sprouts. Conventional, yet can’t help but salivate at the thought of slurping this up with an icy cold glass of Ipoh white coffee or milk tea by the side.

Wanton Mee with Char Siew (Egg Noodles with barbecued pork and dumplings in soup) - Ideally, the char siew should be in chunks, blackened from the caramelization and glazed extensively with a layer of sweetish maltose. But seldom do we find perfection in every plate, hence the more generic/bland leaner slices would do. For now.

On random days, this stall would serve Braised pork noodles with egg, and I tell you this was simply marvelous. Why oh why is this so uncommon in comparison to the usual wanton mee? Beats me.

Woh Heng Coffee Shop + Motel has been there since the dinosaur years. Or so I thought.

But back when the old Foh San was still bustling with hordes of people from all over Malaysia (no joke), Woh Heng was there. Quietly capturing the hearts of many, with the several stalls parked within the quaint premise. On one corner you have the curry noodles stall, parked next to her was this wanton mee stall with an artillery of impressive sides. Or specials of the day, if you would.

Someday they will serve braised pork noodles, complete with an egg. On the others? Mushroom and chicken feet noodles. And then the other combination that sounded atrocious on paper (or on the board) yet complemented the springy, egg noodles so well …. you’d start to wonder why the other stalls aren’t following suit.

The frothy milk tea did remind me of the perennial favourite of Malaysians; teh tarik (pulled milk tea, a sight to behold in case you haven’t seen how they do this).

Bak Kwa. Dried Meat Jerky. Or whatever you choose to call this, but come Chinese New Year, you will bear witness to how fast these slices of pork/chicken jerky fly off the shelves trays.

And then there’s this very traditional yet renowned stall named Lee Eng Kee selling dried pork + meat floss. Unlike the more commercialized Loong Kee etc, this stall might not be a household name outside of Ipoh, yet this amazing old man has stood the test of time. And KYT’s parents swear by his not-so-greasy (but drier) ‘bak kwa’.

I vaguely remember his son or daughter (or who are you again?) once sent me an e-mail to try out the dried meat from this stall, and I just chuckled. For I have been a fan since my younger days, but sometimes still prefer the greasier, commercialized and easily accessible brands come the festivities. But don’t count them out yet, for Lee Eng Kee‘s here to stay.

At least until the next generation decides not to continue this legacy. Which would be a shame … really.

And the clowns used to love camwhoring. Or getting in the way.

These were two separate visits. The first was with TallGal and FCOE, the second with Mr Z and KYT. How coincident, yet bittersweet. Maybe someday we can all gather here again; and catch up on the better times?

*Pardon  the quality of the photos, as some of those were snapped with my Nokia 5610 back in 2008.

Woh Heng Coffee Shop
47, Clare Street (Jalan Mustapha al-Bakri)
30000 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia.
This corner coffee shop is directly opposite Purple Cane Tea House now, and along the same road as Sin Eng Heong kaya puff, and Kamdar textile store. Further down the road would be Funny Mountain Soya Bean and Lou Wong Tauge Ayam.

Here are two surprising posts on Woh Heng - A Chef’s Musings, and Places And Foods.