Ipoh Food | Singapore Travel Photo Blog @ travelerfolio.com

makan ur heart out

Continued from our trip from Penang to Ipoh in Malaysia…

The Chinese have “ang bao” (red packet) and the Malay have “green bao” too! “Green-bao” literally means green packet that is used to contain money and is given out to kids (only?) during Hari Raya Puasa. It’s quite amusing to see green packets with design like Ringgit dollar notes printed on them. Are you generous enough to buy those packets printed with RM100 design and really insert a RM100 note into the “green bao” for giveaway? I would be elated to receive one!

Located at Persiaran Bijeh Timah in Ipoh old town, Nam Heong coffee shop is the famous one among the locals and tourists. It’s very hard to get a seat in this coffee shop which is always crowded even on weekdays. In fact, it was the first time we got a seat there! Previously, when we went to Nam Heong, the coffee was already sold out at 3pm+!

The aroma and taste of the foamy white coffee is good. You can order hot or iced white coffee, and I prefer it hot. In fact, Nam Heong is the distributor of “3-in-1 Ipoh Oldtown White Coffee” popularly sold in supermarkets. However, you can never compare the 3-in-1 pack with the white coffee serves in Nam Heong. To be frank, you can also find good white coffee in many other coffee shops in Ipoh. Just opposite Nam Heong is another one called Sin Yoon Loong coffee shop selling good white coffee and nice custards too.

At Nam Heong, try the delectable dim sum, especially the egg tarts! The fried koay teow is quite good too.

I thought we escaped the rain in Penang but the weather wasn’t good in Ipoh on the first day of our stay. We were always dashing in the rain.

As a rule of thumb, be very patient if you want to try out the good food in Ipoh. I bet you definitely heard of Nga Choy Kai (芽菜鸡 | bean sprouts + steam chicken) if you are a foodie in Malaysia and Singapore. I guess most tourists will go to “Lou Wong” (老黄芽菜鸡) or “Ong Kee” that’s opposite “Lou Wong”. But the locals strongly recommend me to try these local delicacies at Kedai Kopi Kam Hor (literally means “Kam Hor” coffee shop) which is located just next to Woolley Food Centre at Jalan Canning Estate, 31400 Ipoh Garden.

The stall is manned by an elderly couple and they start business in the evening and may be off on every Tuesday. Be prepared to wait for at least half an hour to 45-min for all the food to be served on your table if there are only a few patrons around. As more tables were taken up, I overheard a man telling his friend that they would need to wait for an hour!

Sometimes, being patient does pay off. The smooth steam chicken and juicy bean sprouts are lip-smacking good and less oily than those serve in “Lou Wong” restaurant. It’s a nice dinner that only cost RM17+ for a plate of bean sprouts, three plates of dried noodles, a plate of steam chicken portioned for two persons and a bowl of fishballs.

At Kedai Kopi Kam Hor, what I like most as compared to other Nga Choy Kai (aka Ayam Tauge) that I tried before in Ipoh is the dried Hor Fun (flat rice noodles) that is soaked in broth. The dish may look simple but the flavour and texture of the Hor Fun mixed with rice vermicelli and garnished with fried shallots and spring onion is just so right!

Want to taste some mouth-watering buns in Ipoh? Grab some from the stall named “Pau Langkap” at Golden Point Food Court at Lot 106885, Persiaran Bercham Selatan 20, Taman Bercham Jaya in Ipoh. They are famous for char siew (BBQ pork) buns and also offer a great variety of steam buns, of which many I’ve not tasted before. Like what? Some special ones like the fermented beancurd buns, er… I dunno how to translate from Cantonese to English anymore… LOL

A typical scene of Ipoh surrounded with a range of limestone hills. You can read all my previous posts about Ipoh that cover on what to eat and see in Ipoh.

Next, a trip to Genting Highlands.

Posted by eunice Posted in Ipoh, Malaysia Comments (14)

Ipoh Street Food

Hype about Ipoh? Food! Again, time for some nourishment!

Try some Malaysia local food at Ipoh stadium food centre. I like Seng Kee’s Hong Kong Chee Cheong Fun (steamed rice roll). They make the rice roll on the spot when you order it. You can choose to wrap meats like prawns or char siew (BBQ shredded pork) in the steamed rice roll.

Freshly steamed chee cheong fun with soft and silky texture; it melts in your mouth! Prawns are wrapped in this steamed rice roll sprinkled with sesame seeds.

ABC (abbrev. of a Malay name for it) or Ice Kacang is a popular dessert of finely crushed ice topped with sweet corns, grass jelly, chendol, grounded nuts and added with syrups and evaporated milk.

What else? Warm egg tarts. I am always crazy over them.

This dish is mee Jawa or Jawa mee (or Java mee?). It looks like mee Rebus but is less spicy… How to continue blogging when I am hungry now after looking at all these yummies that I once savoured?

This rojak is next to the stall selling Mee Jawa (which is next to Hong Kong Chee Cheong Fun). It’s very tasty!

This food centre is near Jusco shopping mall.

Ipoh Wan tan Hor (滑蛋河) is my all time favourite! As mentioned earlier, Ipoh rice noodles melt in your mouth! ^^

I think most of the food stalls at the stadium close by evening. Any recommendation for lip-smacking food in Ipoh or anywhere in Malaysia?

Read Hype about Ipoh> Food | Ipoh yummies in Perak, Malaysia.

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Hype about Ipoh > FOOD!

You like curry mee? This coffee shop called Xin Quan Fang (新泉芳) sells Ipoh famous curry mee (noodles). It’s located in 174 Jln Sultan Iskandar Shah, Ipoh. Business hour: 7am to 2pm.

Just like any popular eateries in Ipoh, you need to wait patiently for good food. So, you see why I was aiming at myself…

The little stall that serves the famous curry mee to every patron, some from countries as far as Singapore. ^^

A bowl of roasted pork, prawns and chicken slices, with curry sauce for dipping. The curry mee are soaked in curry that I think has no coconut milk in it, so I find it less fattening. It’s really good! Read More »

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Ipoh Yummies!

Tuesday, 5 Feb 08

We waited at the bus terminal for a relative to fetch us. There were some men smoking at the terminal, “treating” us “breakfast” with choking cigarette smell. I learnt that our lungs go through detoxification from 3:00am to 5:00am, and these people could still smoke at this hour, it’s really bad.

Always eager to taste the authentic Ipoh food. Had brunch at Xin Dong Qu (新东区) Kopitiam. There are a few stalls with good food: Hakka Mee stall, Curry Mee stall (the one with longer queue), Popiah stall, Wonton Mee stall, Hokkien Mee stall and “Chao Fun” stall.

Ipoh is famous for its food, particularly “Sar Hor Fun”( 沙河粉)– flat white rice noodle served in soup with shredded chicken meat and prawns; “Hor Hee”(河喜) served with fish cakes; “Nga Choi Kai” (芽菜鸡)- chicken with stout and juicy beansprouts; “Hakka Mee” (客家面)and “Hiong Piah” (香饼)– flaky and crisp biscuits filled of smooth, thick and sticky sugar syrup.

I love Ipoh rice noodle for its soft and silky texture attributed to the local water. Even the yellow noodle is nicer and not so much alkaline in it.

Pointers:

The Singapore version of “Ipoh Hor Fun” is the Ipoh version of “Chicken Hor Fun”; and “Penang laksa” is the Malaysian version of “Asam Laksa”.

Jacky ordered Mee Jawa (yellow noodles with gravy like mee rebus but it’s lighter) for me and I think the taste was quite plain, not better than the Mee Jawa at the Malay stall at New Hollywood which is beside the Hollywood Kopitiam. The coffee was very nice but the Lou Han Guo drink was too sweet.

We went to The Store. I couldn’t find anything nice there but I bought 2 Daniel Hechter collar T-shirts for the guys, each T-shirt cost around S$15.

At home, we watched Singapore homemade movie 881. It’s not my kind of movie, probably because I don’t understand Hokkien well. We went out to find good food again, after watching the movie half-way.

Eat, eat and eat. After all, the hype about Ipoh is food!

We had our dinner at Woolly Food City. This was the first time we were there after it was renovated. Next to Woolley Food City is also another popular food centre known as “Dong Ku Teng”(冬菇亭;Restoran Kam Wan).

I ordered shredded Chicken Hor Fun (flat rice noodles) and a dish of bean sprouts. Green chilli padi are usually served instead of red chilli padi, and they are as hot as the red ones.

Trust me, Ipoh bean sprouts are one of a kind – they are shorter, stouter and juicier! The Ipoh folks have been saying that it is due to the water from the limestone hills surrounding Ipoh that produces such juicy bean sprouts and delicious food. It is known that Ipoh has one of the cleanest and clearest water supplies in Malaysia, as the source is from the waterfalls in the nearby Tanjung Rambutan.

Jacky also ordered his favourite dish – Fried Kuay Teow (flat rice noodles).

ABC (a mixture of peanuts, beans and jelly with ice and syrup) and Iced Teh (iced milk tea). Think it’s not common to get peanuts in ice kachang in Singapore. But this ABC tasted so good with the crunchy nuts; and the Iced Teh was just right too.

Chinese New Year’s Eve!

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Chinese New Year’s Eve in Ipoh

Wednesday, 6 Feb 08

Supposed to wake up early for Dim Sum but slept till noon.

Most hawkers were closed for Chinese New Year eve and many people were doing their last minute shopping at Jusco shopping mall, the nearest mall to our home. I bought two tops from Padini at 50% discount, and gave one to Melissa as it was too small for me.

We had lunch at Kenny Roger restaurant and were quite disappointed with the food and poor service. The vegetable salad was very little – as little as one piece of small leaf being torn into halves! Kenny Roger restaurant in Malaysia should be cheaper than Singapore’s, but with smaller portion of side dishes.

Drove around Ipoh and passed by some cave temples. Surprisingly, we didn’t see any worshipers there. It could be due to Lunar New Year eve and the Chinese were preparing for reunion dinner.

Ipoh is also famous for its pomelo. The flesh of this large fruit is juicy and can taste sour, sweet or bitter. I remembered my first meeting gift from Jacky’s mother were two big pomelos and we had to carry them all the way back to Singapore! We checked out the stretch of shops selling pomelos along Tambun. We used to see young girls standing in front of the pomelo shops to welcome customers, but this time, we only saw older ladies.

The big pomelo statue.

Whenever I am in Malaysia, I will definitely buy cheese cakes from Secret Recipe. They are so much cheaper than Singapore’s outlets! A big and yummy cheese cake in Malaysia’s Secret Recipe costs RM6.30 whereas it costs around S$5 in Singapore. Good buy!

Surprised to see this grocery shop selling big bottles of Diamond water which are filtered from the Diamond water system to walk-in customers. Seemed like the business was quite good.

Free Ad: Bungalow land for sale at RM50 per sqft, Lot size: 8751 sqft. Good Fengshui with “mountain support”, any taker?

The family from Penang finally arrived in the afternoon. My mother-in-law was preparing for reunion dinner. Her maid ran away in January, leaving behind her belongings including passport and stole Melissa’s Nokia handphone. Most handphones in Malaysia are selling a few hundred Ringgits more than the same models in Singapore! We helped Melissa to buy a new Nokia 6500/slide handset in Singapore at S$510 (w/o contract) and a 1GB memory card at S$20. In Malaysia, Nokia 6500 costs RM1700+ and a 1GB memory card can cost RM100+!

Before the reunion dinner, my mother-in-law set up an altar for praying. Desmond’s joss-stick was seen catching a big flame!

Good wishes written in Chinese characters on the candles, before and after the candles were burnt.

We had roast duck, roast pork, lettuces and other vegetables for the reunion dinner, and mostly importantly a family get-together dinner.

This was the first time I prepared “ang baos” (red packets loaded with $$) for the kids. Fireworks were heard and seen everywhere in Ipoh. I could see some fireworks from the room window, but mostly were blocked by trees.

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

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Bizarre Limestone Cave in Ipoh

Visit the bizarre limestone cave in Ipoh that let imagination running wild – “Kek Lok Tong” (极乐洞; Cavern of Utmost Happiness).

When we saw this big cotton tree. Can you see the cottons hanging on the branches? Anyone knows what is the real name of this tree?

Three children joyfully sticking out of the car roof and waving at everyone on the road.

The entrance to the cave temple – “Kek Lok Tong”. It is a limestone cave with karstic formation around it. It has a cleaner, quieter and more cooling environment and I personally think it has the best scenic cave view among other caves in Ipoh.

Spot a stone formation that looks like a rat here. Melissa spotted it first. (Photo taken upward) Hint: See left side. It is “coming” out of the “burrow”and has a long “nose”.

Does it look like a toad? (See circled.)

There used to be lightings producing special effects on the karst formations. But that day, it was quite dark without much lightings. So, use your imagination! Below is a crater-like formation.

Melissa checking out the texture of the cave.

Left photo: Cave lines. Right photo: A black hole on the cave ceiling.

Let your imagination runs wild on these karstic formations.

The other side of the cave, or “exit”, overlooking the most scenic view among other caves in Ipoh. There are many monkeys too. (Note: The cavern closes at 6:00pm daily.)

And all about yum-yum!

We went to Jusco shopping mall. Ipoh city is always very crowded with people who return home from other states and countries for festive seasons; and Jusco is the newest shopping establishment is that area.

All time favourite: Loaves of long bread at Delifrance. The breads are always hot and crisp straight from the oven, and filled with Kaya and butter. They are appetizing, but one needs to be extra careful of the Kaya and butter dripping from the bread. Cheap and good!

Melissa wanted to watch CJ-7 (Hong Kong movie starring Stephen Chow) but it was selling like hot cakes and all seats were filled up except those midnight slots. So in the end, we bought tickets for KUNG FU DUNK (功夫灌篮) Hong Kong movie starring Jay Chou. Guess what? We would be watching the movie the next day at 11:00am, the only slot left. If not for Melissa and her friends who were going for the movie, I guess I would prefer to laze in bed!

The movie ticket was cheap. It only cost RM6 for morning show. Melissa bought five tickets for her friends and that summed up to be only RM30. I told her, in Singapore, we could only buy 1 ticket for a weekend movie for the price of that!

We drove to New Hollywood kopitiam (next to Hollywood kopitiam), a place where I crave for Mee Jawa. But too bad, the stall was closed.

I ordered “Wan Tan Hor” (flat rice noodle with a thick gravy mixed with egg). It was quite tasty. And Melissa ordered “Yong Tau Fu” (in red bowl).

Jacky’s Nasi Lemak – looks good, tastes better!

Melissa’s favourite drink since a child – Ice-cream float, with Sprite. This time, I also ordered one for myself, despite that I don’t like gassy drinks.

Tea break at Old Town Cafe! It is located near the famous “Hiong Piah” – Yee Hup Bakery. At least this cafe was not so crowded and we got seats. Those coffee cafes in shopping malls were usually fully occupied.

Peanut Thick Toast – It has a thick layer of peanut plus some condensed milk on the warm and crispy toast.

Traditional Kaya Toast – It is freshly toasted and sandwiched with Kaya and butter; so crispy that it melts in the mouth. It’s much thicker than “Yat Kun” bread.