in response to aunt terri's request, here's a list of well known places to eat in ipoh, as well as a few of my personal favourites thrown in.. forgive me if i cant supply the names of the shops, i just know the food there =P i'll try to find out the names and also supply pics and pricings when i go home on sat.
the populars
taugeh (beansprout) chicken is a must in this city, served with soupy hor fun, and the 2 most famous restaurants are lou wong and also ong kee.. they are both side by side, and they dont need to compete as there are more than enough (most times overflowing) customers to pack both places out. i personally prefer ong kee but lou wong is the most well known. i find that lou wong's chicken has sort of a powdery melt in your mouth texture, whereas ong kee's has more of a bite. taste-wise they're both good. also, there's a more oily feel to the food served in lou wong (my opinion la..)
kwong heng is another popular place to eat. the shop, and the one next door to it (which i dunno the name) serve a variety of food. people come here for the popiah and also the kai si hor fun (hor fun in soup with chicken shreds), the shop next door also has kai si hor fun (i prefer the this shop), chee cheong fun and satay (chicken, beef if i remember correctly, pig intestines and pig liver). however, this shop is well known for its egg custard. everything here is good. i usually go for the kai si hor fun, the satay (intestines and liver! awesome.. even though i'm not that great a fan anywhere else), and the custard (its super smooth)
further down the road from kwong heng, there's a restaurant that serves hakka mee with beef soup. the beef & soup and beef balls there are the best! they make their own beef balls. the beef n soup is sorta like the one served in menggatal except that its a lot nicer =P best to visit this shop in the mornings as they sell out at around 12-1pm
yook fook moon in greentown serves hk dim sum. i always love to go there. they are open for breakfast, lunch and dinner! so cooool~
there are also 2 other popular dim sum restaurants in town, one is opposite yook fook moon. the restaurant is called ming court. i've never eaten there but i know its popular. but the most popular one of all is called foh san. it's been around for ages, though i havent eaten there since i was in my primary school days i think.
hoong tou is a restaurant in old town that we sometimes go for fried noodles. we dont eat there much even though the food is good because you normally order big plates of stuff, so if its just 2-3 ppl, not so nice to eat there =P one thing i love there is their deep fried wan tan with plum sauce!
further down the road from hoong tou is the famous old town white coffee shop (the original, not the chain). they also serve penang char kue tiau there. opposite that shop is where people have their half boiled eggs with toast, in the old town traditional way, right down to the cups and saucers and little spoons.
on the next block, there's a restaurant serving northern indian food. what i love most about the place is their naan!! i absolutely love the cheese naan there. it has just the right texture and there's no oil on it! best eaten hot but it tastes great even when cold (i know cos i ta pau-ed it back after a super filling lunch just so i could have more later.. i ate it late at night)
speaking about indian restaurants, there's an indian restaurant called lotus that my chindian relatives love to go to. thats where my aunt and my mom would bring ppl for indian food. i remember trying something special there but cant remember specifically what.. (years ago.. forgive my memory..)
there's an arcade called woolleys in ipoh with a food court opposite from it, there's tons of food there but i think what's popular there is a stall serving seafood. i remember the deep fried squid was great! and they also serve clams and other shellfish.
tuck kee restaurant is also a popular place for ppl to have big dinners (like wedding dinners etc etc) but what i like abt that restaurant is their vegetarian curry. my mom would go there just to ta pau the curry for meals.
near to that restaurant is a food place we call tai shu geok (which means feet of the big tree). they serve noodles there with liao (those deep fried fish cake / eggs / wan tan etc etc). 3 ways to have it : curry, clear soup or dry.. curry's what i always have.
a popular stall for satay is endoh satay. the stall is in a food court right in the middle of town.. some square.. the meat's very tender and juicy. malay satay btw (the one in kwong heng is made by chinese.. )
for a vast variety of food, there's also tong sui kai (sweet water street?!) which is a popular place that ppl go to eat cos there's soooooooo much food there, a whole street.. i especially like the wan tan mee there. some others like the ngau lam fun and the lolo (i dunno why its called that.. its basically shaved ice with a variety of fruits, sago and milk i think)
ipoh's also famous for its hiong peng and also its yim guk kai (salted chicken... well its actually herbed chicken cooked in a mountain of salt)
those are the more well known ones.. some of my personal favourites not already mentioned are..
lok lok (blah translations suck! its skewers of diff foods that u cook in boiling pots of soup) at either the tuesday pasar malam (night market) near jaya jusco or in ipoh garden (near wijaya tuition centre)
chicken chop rice at siew wan teng which is like 5 mins walk from my house and che jai mien (translation: little car noodles?! basically wan tan mee served a bit differently from the norm way) at hilltop, which is opposite siew wan teng
another place i love is a vegetarian shop opposite super kinta in town.. quite a large selection of dishes, with super cheap prices!
also, a good place to have roti canai is opposite my house! at a restaurant called salim. there was also a place i used to love having mutton curry n cabbage at which was 2 streets down from my house but i cant remember the name (and i think it's closed down or moved..)
clay pot yee mee at the shops surrounding the ipoh stadium (the yee mee is NOT fried like the kk ones.. i really dislike them fried.. makes it taste so oily n.. fried!)
there's a restaurant in greentown business area called fridays that serves real nice deep fried breaded chicken chop with a garlic sauce thats mmm mmmmm...
and the last on my list.. my mom's western food! i especially love her roasted pork with apple sauce served on a platter of oven baked cherry potatoes, pumpkin, carrots n cherry tomatoes! (preferably tomatoes and potatoes from cameron highlands). other favs are her quiche, moussaka, apple pie and a few others i'm lazy to recall
if i have the chance, i'd love to eat at all all these places but i dont think i can fit that much food into the numbered meals whilst in ipoh, so my short hit list are
ong kee
the one next to kwong heng
yook fook moon
vegetarian shop
the cheese naan place (lol!)
tai shu geok
lok lok
the hakka mee place
siew wan teng
hilltop
mom's roasted pork
sooo like me to have such a long post on food.. and here i set out to briefly (note the word BRIEF) write out a list..
for those ipoh ppl who read this, what are your favs? what additional places would you suggest?
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*ahem* DR ding, please be warned that i WILL call you out to participate in my culinary exploits this trip back (as i do every trip i'm back, lol!). you free on tues to go to the pasar malam? might ask my dad to go too if he's free.
me..
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January 15, 2009 at 10:00 PM
i wanna eat d...haha
January 15, 2009 at 11:05 PM
thanx johanna, this is invaluable! i am putting ipoh on my visit list when/if i go to kl :)) n if i do go, can ur mom cook her roasted pork for me??
January 16, 2009 at 12:22 AM
i'm sure i can arrange something! i in turn love ur blog and i will be referring my mom (already planned to but she's in nz, so will do when she returns) to it as she too likes to cook (though probably not as much as u). i'm sure she will benefit a lot from your blog ^^
January 16, 2009 at 7:19 PM
what's happening next week? isnt it the season in ur life when partying's SUPPOSED to be the norm? =P
i wanna go visit COP leh, but i dont think i have the chance.. wanna see elijah n angela n the baby (i think not baby anymore right?)! n all the rest i know
January 17, 2009 at 8:14 AM
if rush i know can, but the prob is that i'll prob be spending only one sunday in ipoh, prob need to catch up with my church ppl.. i dont think i'd know many youths back home, but the aunties n uncles sure wanna see me n ask the usual "how are u? what u doing? when u coming back?" etc etc questions.. so gotta stay back loh..
hmmm.. hmm.. i'll see how on that day la.. maybe if can i ask my dad to send, but prob late for service lo.. play by ear..
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