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 »

Story of Ipoh in A Cup – The first coffee shop in old town that has popularized Ipoh white coffee; Sin Yoon Loong is still a force to be reckoned with despite the waves of challengers coming from all directions

About 3 weeks back during the Merdeka long break, I had the privilege to play (food) tour guide to a bunch of out-of-town eager beavers in Ipoh. The instinct to hunt for food felt almost second nature; a trait that’s more or less expected of Motormouth after the years of chowing down every single type of cuisine possibly found in Ipoh. And let’s not talk about the undying, flaring passion to discover good food in peripheral towns.

Since that was a mixed bunch of gluttons; some with considerably more experience with some of Ipoh’s best street food; while others were lagging slightly behind, I had to put on my Tourist Cap and ventured to the more classic establishments (read: tourist’s haunt, local’s nightmare).

What better way to kick start the ‘makan’ tour than with a cup of original old town white coffee. And no, there’s no air-conditioning or WiFi access here. Read the rest of this entry »

Dry Chicken Kuey Teow (Kai See Hor Fun) from the new stall at Macy Cafe was good; yet a pale shadow of the former stall operated by the grumpy duo.

Time flies. Cliched as this may sound, it sure felt like yesterday when I kicked 2014 off with this BEST OF 2013 post; a series of 13 dining discoveries (or re-discoveries in some cases) of the previous year. We are now drawing the curtains on June and the first half of 2014, ushering in the second half of the year with heads held up high and prayers for better weather and haze-free skies ahead (in Klang Valley, at least) or your favourite team to win the World Cup.

For Motormouth, the thought of leaving Malaysia for a year in slightly less than 2 weeks time is daunting. An exciting yet disturbing sensation overwhelms me; a dreadful realisation that I may take time to cope with the change in environment, work load and well, to some extent, the longing for delicious Malaysian street food.

Dear readers, I will be moving down south to Singapore for a year.

Read the rest of this entry »

Pusing Famous Curry Mee @ Dong Long Coffee Shop, Jalan Sultan Yussuf (Belfield Street), Ipoh Old Town – The stall was previously operating at Lim Ko Pi. Famous for their freshwater prawns curry mee (for only RM5.80!), and their homemade Hakka noodles (tao ma che) with a springy texture; like pan mee.

Still on the prowl armed with a phone in hand (instead of my trusty Nikon D7000), I spent most of the long weekend break hopping around Ipoh town for food. Slightly liberated from the neverending ‘task’ to seek out for the latest food joints in town, I fell back on firm favourites of mine; interspersed with a few new experiences here and there.

Ready for the Delicious Ride? Here we go!  Read the rest of this entry »

The iconic landmark of Ipoh old town; the 20-storey flats now painted in an outrageous fashion. Anyone knows what the orange and blue symbolize?

Every once in a while, I will take my own sweet time exploring and rediscovering the charm of Ipoh. More often than not, the mission will inevitably takes me to the alluring senses of Ipoh old town; a tantalizing combustion of sights, sounds and flavours to reinvigorate the flagging soul.

Should there ever be a spot for first-timer to experience the very essence of the city built from tin mine, one can’t go wrong with this older part of Ipoh town.

Still heavily reliant on the thriving food and beverage business (refer to my old town posts in case you’re hungry and have no time for small chats), banking industry and law firms, the stretches of colonial buildings speak volume of their rich history and the story beyond the facade.

A cup of Nam Heong’s white coffee paired with piping hot, fresh egg tarts from the oven

More captivating shots of Ipoh old town to beckon … Read the rest of this entry »

Majie Dry Curry Noodles (RM4/USD1.30) – Slivers of poached chicken, sliced barbecued pork and bean sprouts with Ipoh’s signature ‘sar hor fun’ (flat rice noodles); in an orange-coloured, tongue-numbingly-fiery curry paste.

Before I start, I do apologize for the possibly incoherent thoughts, random choice of words and jumpy demeanour. After an entire week of traveling (for work, and partly play over the long weekend), this frazzled brain and battered body developed a resistance towards external stimuli.

Just touched down from Kota Bharu; the capital of Kelantan that has never ceased to amaze me ever since my first visit to the state. The stunning array of Kelantanese food, splendid architectures of old buildings, mosques and temples, the palaces & the beach, as well as the sheer camaraderie shared between people from all walks of life; all come together to infuse life into the “1Malaysia” concept.

For today, grab a piece of napkin (or your sleeve) and let me bring you back in time … for a curry mee stall that has since stood the test of time in Ipoh.

Read the rest of this entry »

Menglembu Wantan Mee; staying true to its roots, the egg noodles here promises a bounce (more like a crunch) without any lingering curse of alkaline taste, nor soggy over-cooked noodles gingerly decorated with ‘generic’ red-dyed char siew. In short, this was delicious.

After the umpteenth posts on Ipoh, I guess you must be dazzled not by the mouth-watering shots but confused by the sheer assault of posts from up north and all over the place instead of sitting still in KL/Selangor.

To set the record straight, I AM still staying and working here in Petaling Jaya. The backlog of photos awaiting to see the light of day has been inching closer to push me off the edge. Heck, I lost most receipts and recollection of the dining experience has been on a gradual decline.

On that note, I began to wonder. Is there NO restaurant, cafe or stall in the Klang Valley that can conjure up something vaguely reminiscence of good old street fares from my dearest hometown of Ipoh? Yes, anyone can claim to serve authentic Ipoh hawker food yet the claim may hold no water, but Annie 1 is another story altogether (cheesy pun, I know … )

Read the rest of this entry »