Motormouth From Ipoh – Asian Food & Travel Blog

Just look at the deep, mahogany red-hued, concentrated stock made up of chicken and shrimp essences, accentuated by the flavours of fried shallots, chopped fresh spring onion and slices of firm, clean bites of poached chicken and boiled shrimps.

If you are one die-hard fan of ‘kai see hor fun’ (or chicken kuey teow soup), you would have had your cravings fixed at Thean Chun in old town or its ‘friendly’ competitor Kong Heng next door, or the now closed down Macy Café in Ipoh Garden East, or braced the wait for a taste of Moon De Moon’s version in Simee. I could have missed some of the others (such as Loke Wooi Kee‘s) but that could also be due to personal preference.

But then, just when I was ravenously gorging down my curry mee at Tim Shun Loong recently, the affable man who is the owner of the coffee shop (and also a distant relative of ours) came seated and shared a few top notch picks with us; in particular, this stall in Pasir Puteh near to Peng Tau Restaurant (oh well, just one of the best ‘chu char’ restaurants in Ipoh!) that sells incredibly famous ‘kai see hor fun’ in the mornings. You would need to be there as early as possible (try before 9am on a weekend if you can withstand the grogginess after a week’s full of work), else you could be putting your attempt at risk and ending up with a gloomy scene of observing barren, chicken carcasses, empty bowls and satisfied customers walking away patting their stomachs while sniggering at your misadventure. Read the rest of this entry »

 Ah Loi Restaurant in Pengkalan area of Pasir Puteh is one of the three stalls within walking distance from one another that specializes in Ipoh ‘nga choy gai’ (bean sprouts chicken)

Now, there could be a dozen or so reviews that I have done on Ipoh’s bean sprouts chicken outlets, so you must be wondering when is the next post or rather, where will the next stall be?

Although once again, the hankering was more for Cowan Street’s version, but knowing full well that they choose to close for what seems to be 3/4 of the year and from past experiences, they should still take routine, weekly breaks on Mondays and Tuesdays, I would rather save myself the heartbreak.

Venturing slightly off the mark towards Station 18 in Pengkalan area of Pasir Puteh, there are a couple of ‘nga choy gai’ (which means bean sprouts chicken) stalls along the main road, located on the right side of the main road after passing by the crossroad traffic lights.

One is named 33, another used to be 101 (I hope I got the number correct) but has since moved to the corner coffee shop opposite of 33, and the one we went for dinner earlier was Ah Loi, a stand alone premise designated to please fans of firmer, chunky poached chicken with a toothsome bite.  Read the rest of this entry »

Not the most common sight – To go along with your fiery bowl of curry mee; at Chuan Fatt in Pasir Puteh, Ipoh, the sheer selection and quality of the sides overshadow the noodles sometimes.

Dear readers. I’m sorry. For I have sinned. I tried my best to work out the reviews in between the feasts this past weekend. I was even planning on a live update of review; streaming food shots and stories throughout the last 3 days. But I faltered.

Or should I say, the weather failed me. Ipoh was scarily hot; to a point of getting that feeling of being trapped in a perpetual convection of heat within a cramped oven.

Or maybe it was time. The rush of adrenaline to write between meals tampered by the even more invigorating choice of in-between snacks (you know me, and you’d better know what Ipoh’s famous for now); rendering Motormouth incapable of penning his thoughts. More to nonsensical rants at times.

Or it must have been the hassle of moving between homes and attending to my grandma‘s 49th day prayers.

Nonetheless, if you even had that slight assumption that I had missed a beat on my Ipoh food reviews recently, let me prove you wrong. Let’s start with a curry mee story. Again.  Read the rest of this entry »

Steamed Saito Fish (Wolf Herring) Belly in Spicy Bean Sauce (MYR9.00/USD3 for 100g; this portion for 3 – 4 pax was priced at MYR72.00/USD24) – Very fresh catch; the prized belly parts are used in steaming to a velvety smooth/gelatinous texture; then liberally doused in a spicy bean sauce.

Pasir Puteh hosts an astonishing number of noteworthy Chinese eateries; from small hawker stalls to coffee shops and food courts, wet markets with delicious finds to full-fledged restaurants and then some. But more importantly, spending the first 12 years of my life growing up within this neighbourhood has created strong memories in my mind that last until this very moment.

Back for the lengthy weekend on a break; my initial plan to dine in Bercham (I’ll leave that to Sunday instead) had to be shelved at the last moment; giving way to a quick feast in Pasir Puteh for we had other errands to run in tandem. And so, this slightly rusty food hunter’s mind connected into overdrive mode and came up with few solutions; either a fish ball noodles fest or one of the many ‘chu char’ places around the neighbourhood.

Since I have yet to find one exceptionally good steamed fish place in Klang Valley (not that I invested much time and resources into finding one, by the way), the craving for a serving was ever so strong. Thus, off we ventured to Restoran Ikan Air Tawar Chai Chee in Shatin Park. The name’s unfamiliar? Read on.

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Braised Egg Noodles with Freshwater Prawns (Sang Har Meen) @ RM55/USD18 for three pieces of large, succulent and fresh prawns; really, really good stuff.

Aaah… that blissful moment of returning to a place where shared memories are built within the bonds of a family; and a long, enduring 30 years of legacy proving themselves to be worth the mettle time and again; Lucky Ipoh Restaurant dishes out seafood beyond your ordinary crabs, prawns and fishes.

It has been on the to-blog list for years now. I daresay,  since this blog was started way back in 2008. You see, Lucky Restaurant has this imposing aura of an intimidating outlet charging beyond an arm and a leg when it comes to fresh seafood. No joke.

It’s not uncommon to see customers driving up in shiny BMWs, Audis and Mercs just for a taste of their extravagant seafood dishes; cooked up in more imaginative ways than you would normally expect.

But if you ask me, is this worth the hype (or mortgage)? It’s a solid YES.  Read the rest of this entry »

 Traditional Hakka Mee with a variety of stuffed ingredients at the background served at Restoran Hakka @ Jalan Pasir Puteh, Ipoh

If you ask me which is the best meal that represents Ipoh, I’ll crown breakfast as the winner. Hands down.

Even though the most iconic dish (or dishes) as far as the name Ipoh is affiliated with happens to be bean sprouts chicken, and you can only get them in the evenings (mostly), the breakfast selections trump lunch’s and dinner’s any day.

We are talking about dim sum, curry mee, white coffee, fish ball noodles and of course, the food that has slowly crept up my radar as of late; Hakka mee.

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They could have been in business for easily a decade and a half. Soon Lee Bak Kut Teh‘s the name, and the establishment is run by a bunch of pretty awesome people; friendly with no air surrounding them. 

I used to study at SMK Jalan Pasir Putih for a good 5 years; the secondary school infamous for a variety of headlines-worthy reasons. If you are a baby of the 80’s, then you must have gone through the ordeal. And occasionally, when asked about my educational background, folks would go “What?! You mean you endured 5 years in that school?”

To which I would nod with a smug look on my face. So what? I was pretty darn proud to be a student from SMKJPP, really. And no, my head was not burst open by a flower pot, nor did I suffered from the wrath of gangfights, or led to a dark, damp tunnel of life courtesy of disastrously horrible teachers.

Claypot Bak Kut Teh; a comforting start to the day … or the potion that might put you to sleep. Siesta comes early?

Why the story of my secondary school? Soon Lee Bak Kut Teh is situated behind of the mentioned school. Widely regarded as one of the best bak kut teh restaurants in Ipoh (not that there are dozens of them in the first place), the place attracts fans especially on weekend mornings.

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