Ipoh Mali Ipoh Mali...

The first thing that comes to most Malaysians' minds when Ipoh is mentioned is food. And what better way to enjoy authentic Ipoh food than a 'makan' (eating) trip there? With that in mind, Calvin, Tracy and me journeyed up north one (dark and rainy) Friday evening in search of good food.

Sunset on the North South Highway before the rain started

After a quick pit stop at Tapah to stock up on some necessities, we arrived at Ipoh around 9. Since none of us were familiar with Ipoh (and the map provided by the hotel was not really great), it took a phone call (for directions) before we could locate Fair Park Hotel. At RM78 a night it wasn't too bad really. The rooms were clean and well equipped, albeit a little bit small. Also the hotel offers a day use rate...

The view from my room window...that's the main road btw

The bathroom has everything you need

The rest of the room

After a quick unpack, we journeyed in search of Ipoh's famed steamed chicken & bean sprouts. And we found it...in fact we found three of them...lol!

We ate here

The competitors!

Crunchy taugeh

Smooth kueh tiao

Steamed chicken

Bouncy pork balls

Despite this restaurant not being one of the two (more) famous ones (Lou Wong and Onn Kee) in Ipoh, the food was darn good. The bean sprouts were juicy and crunchy while the kueh tiao soup impressed us with its silky smooth texture and surprisingly sweet soup. In fact the soup was so sweet that we thought it must have been laden with MSG, but since we didn't get extremely thirsty after the meal it must have been packed full of real chicken stock. THUMBS UP!

The pork balls were pretty good, consisting of more meat rather than filler but the chicken was more on the average side. Although it was smooth and tender, there was not much of the 'chicken taste'. Probably because they used farm bred chicken instead of the kampung ones.

The next day, my alarm clock rang at 6 a.m. and I woke in a daze. At first I was wondering to myself why on Earth would I be waking up so early on a Saturday morning but then it hit me, it was time to savor the famous Ipoh dim sum at Ming Court!

Yes this was taken around 6.45 a.m.

The interior

Their famous siew mai...very addictive!

The har kau was pretty good too

Har kau, exposed

Yee mai...tasty!










Loads of dim sum!

Wu kok, moist on the inside, crispy on the outside

The warm tender inside of a fluffy 'sang yuk' pau

Chicken feet, full of flavour

Tau foo fah jelly with longan makes for a satisfying dessert

Don't forget the tea

The aftermath

Luckily the damage to our wallets wasn't over 9000
(Napoleon Dynamite reference)

What can I say? This was one heck of a superb breakfast. Overall, everything was great, but the siew mai, har kau, yee mai, wu kok, chicken feet, 'sang yuk' pau and the tau foo fah jelly stood out. But don't go expecting a super cheap meal. It's just slightly cheaper than PJ and KL. Just think of it this way, you are getting quality food at a reasonable price. =P

After breakfast it was back to the hotel for a much needed nap before checking out and heading towards Taman Canning for lunch. The menu for lunch today sir? Why it's super crispy roast duck at Restoran Hong Kong!

Re-fried for extra crispy skin!

Succulent tender flesh, melt in your mouth fat, extra crispy skin...

Close up!

One of the best roast ducks I've ever eaten really. Tracy even commented that the roast duck here can compete with the legendary 'Sze Ngan Chai' (literally four-eyed guy) roast duck (at Petaling Street) so you can tell it's darn good. The only downside is the sauce is slightly on the salty side. Perhaps they meant it to go with rice...

Next up, a visit to one of Ipoh's famous coffee shops, Thean Chun. One look at the place and you'll know that it has been around for quite a while. And if a place can survive for so long, the food has to be good. So we literally ordered everything the coffee shop has to offer...lol!

The signboard, you can tell it's old!

The famous Ipoh Hor Fun stall

Check out the reddish soup

Salivating yet?

The perfect mouthful

Pork satay

Chee cheong fun

If the popiah is that thick...

...it must be packed full of ingredients!

The caramel custard that people from KL come all the way here to taste

BUUUUURRRRRRP! Yet another satisfying lunch (second lunch?!!). While the pork satay and chee cheong fun were good, the Ipoh hor fun, popiah and custard were great!

The Ipoh hor fun was as smooth as the one we had the night before at Ong Kee, but the soup this time around possessed more prawn flavour. However on the downside, those who are violently allergic to prawns might want to abstain (or at least keep some antihistamines ready).

The popiah was packed to the brim with with turnips, beansprouts, eggs and some (unidentifiable) crunchy stuff...every mouthful was a superb blend of varying textures and taste.

About the custard, I have a tale to tell. When we arrived at the coffee shop it was packed as usual but luckily we didn't have to wait long for a table. As soon as we sat we quickly ordered three custards but unfortunately there was only one left. The table next to us also ordered up some custards and when they were told that there was no more left I heard one of them saying "Oh no! We came all the way from KL just to eat the custard!" The next table then spent the next couple of minutes enviously looking at the solitary custard on our table...>_> So I guess you can tell how good the custard really is. For the record it was really really smooth and the egg-y taste combined really well with the caramel sauce which wasn't too sweet at all. Lip smacking...I could have downed a couple more.

By now we were totally stuffed so we headed for the Old Town Kopitiam near the Ipoh Padang. One cannot say he/she has truly been to Ipoh without drinking a glass of white coffee right? LOL!

Looks like any other franchised branch...

Tastes exactly like any franchised branch too...

Maybe my expectations have been boosted up a wee bit too much after all that kickass food we had. I was expecting something special from the Ipoh branches of the Old Town Kopitiam seeing that it originated from here. Unfortunately there was no difference in taste. Zilch, zero, nada. I could as well have been drinking at that perpetually packed USJ outlet. Maybe we should have paid a visit to the franchise owner's mum's coffee shop instead...the real 'Original Old Town Kopitiam'.

And thus our Ipoh eating trip came to a close. Yes we were all too full for dinner. But would we return? DEFINITELY!

Oh yes for pomelo lovers, don't forget to stop at the famous 'Pomelo Stall Stretch' located on the exit from Ipoh. Yes those 'pomelo girls' are still around...=P

Green crabs @ Greenview

I love crabs. But the crabs that are usually served at the average (non-classy) Chinese restaurants are pretty small, hence lacking in meat.

Of course I could always pay top dollar to enjoy some real meaty Alaskan King Crabs but then that would bankrupt me, seeing that a kg would probably run more than RM100. And one crab weighs much more than a kg trust me. So how?

In order to save my wallet and still enjoy fresh meaty crabs, I journeyed to Greenview. At RM40 a kg for their smallest size crabs (which is still pretty large compared to the ones you get at the average restaurant), it was an acceptable compromise between price and quantity. Oh before I forget, the price is actually on promotion, the normal rate is RM50 a kg. And they only use crabs imported from Indonesia it seems.

The restaurant actually spans three lots!

For a group of three, we ordered their famous pork knuckle, deep fried honeyed squid (they only use the tentacles here), a vegetable dish, 2 steamed crabs and 2 crabs cooked with salted egg yolk. Thinking back, it might have been a bit too much for just three people...

Pork knuckle

It's big and meaty

Crunchy skin!

The pork knuckle was huge. Overwhelmingly so. The portion served could have fed at least 5 people. No complaints about the taste, it was hearty, full of flavour and the skin was awesome with a thin layer of fat underneath. However there seems to be only one size for this dish, so small groups might want to skip this. Or just pack the leftovers home.

Deep fried honeyed squid (tentacles)

At first I expected the usual deep fried squid (which you usually get at any Chinese restaurant). To my surprise Greenview's version of this dish only uses the tentacles (the 'head' part) of the squid. The sweet honey taste goes well with the spicy 'cili padi'. Real crunchy too, but I think I would prefer the usual version. Once again, the portion was huge. Don't they adjust the sizes of the dishes based on the amount of people per table here? LOL!

Fresh veggies!

I was actually too stuffed to try this dish. But my parents gave it the thumbs up. Fresh and cooked right I guess? The green veggies did look mighty tempting but at that point of time my stomach just couldn't fit in any more food.

Steamed crabs with egg white

Check out the roe!

Crabs covered with salted egg yolk

When the crabs arrived, I was like WHOA! I could really see the size difference between the crabs offered here and the usual mud crabs you get elsewhere. And this was their smallest size...I wonder how large would their giant crabs be...

4 crabs totaled around 2 and a half kgs which means around RM100 for the crabs alone. Yes I hear some of you saying that crabs elsewhere go for around RM18 per kg but then again those are small compared to the ones here. Small crabs equal less meat which means you'll probably end up ordering more anyway.

I really liked their steamed crabs. I always think that fresh seafood is best steamed. Greenview certainly did not disappoint here, with the rich firm crab flesh combining extremely well with the abundant roe and egg white. Ah...heavenly!

As for the salted egg yolk crabs, it was good. The salted egg yolk 'sauce' (fried with curry leaves) did go well with the crab, more complimenting rather than overwhelming. Thumbs up to Greenview for ensuring that this dish wasn't too salty. On the other hand, the generous amounts of salted egg yolk would not go down very well with people who are trying to keep their cholesterol levels in check...

If I was asked to choose though, I would have gone for the steamed version. Call me a purist but to me the only way to taste the pure unadulterated taste of fresh crab is by having them steamed. With plenty of roe. Oh dear...plenty of roe...increased cholesterol levels...not good...LOL!

The promotion runs until July if I'm not mistaken. So if you love crabs (and your wallet), you know where to go. Who knows, you might even bump into me there!