Ipoh Part 1

(With thanks to my host, KL, whose enthusiasm in bringing us round to savour the best of Ipoh food brought on 3KG to my already shocking weight.)

Well, here comes 3KG worth of yummy food:

We had dinner at this "food court" named Restoran Kam Wan (Aneka Selera) or known as Gourmet Square.

Gourmet Square is at Ipoh Garden and it's home to all kinds of yummy food!! They have Laksa, Popiah, Claypot Chicken Rice, Fried Noodle, Char Kway Teow, Satay, Grill Fish, Curry Mee, Seafoods, Bak Kut Teh, Hor Hee and the list could just goes on and on.

Just next to it is another big food court called Woolley Food City but since my host didn't bring me there to eat, I assume Restoran Kam Wan is better.

These two places are best if you have not much time to spend and not a lot of stomach space to spare. Why, the variety of Ipoh food here is super a lot and definitely a great place for a group of people to each order something and share.

OK HERE THE FOODIE COMES!

1) Claypot Chicken Rice (瓦褒鸡饭)

If I had a better appetite then, I would have personally "kao tim'ed" (finished) this whole pot. It's really very very nice! I don't really know how best to describe the feeling of putting a spoonful of warm, tasty rice with salted fish and chicken into my mouth. Shiok. Omg I am turning into a pig.

Here's the store I ordered from! Tony tony bon bony banafana fo fony fee fi fo mony, TONY! (For the uninitiated, that was the NAME GAME. I grew up in that era. And I can go on all day long!)

Ok the next dish......

2) Char Kway Teow

I LOVE CHAR KWAY TEOW. I, who eat wholemeal tortilla wrapped with cheese, ham and a lot of lettuce for lunch, LOVE CHAR KWAY TEOW.

It's a little weakness of mine. Ok maybe I just have many weaknesses (like chocolate, like crabs, like dim sum, like ok you get the point), so what! I can control! *chants to self*

My cousin, Sophia, ordered that plate of yummy Char Kway Teow. The prawn... so big. The noodles are my favourite!! Ipoh hor fun! The smooth kind. Damn damn nice can.

According to my host, who thinks I don't know that he ate very little while he happily watched us grow fat, the best Char Kway Teow is at Stadium. But when we got there in the evening, it was closed! DAMN! Stadium food stalls are separated into those that are opened in the morning and those that are opened at night. Unfortunately, this Taiping Char Kway Teow (signboard doesn't give me much confidence coz it says: Taiping Goreng Mee) is located in the morning side.

So no choice, already at Ipoh how NOT to have Char Kway Teow (cooked with the flat white noodles Ipoh is famous for)???

Oh yea, this Char Kway Teow I had at Gourmet Square is YUMMY by the way. Can you believe I'm still at Gourmet Square! So much food lah.

3) Bean Sprouts Chicken (芽菜雞)

I still love the Hor Fun a lot!! Its yummy no matter how it's served!

Apparently, Ipoh's bean sprouts are special. Different from what you get out of Ipoh wor! My host was too busy to elbaorate on this or was I too busy stuffing my face to ask. Either way, I goggled for the answer and here it is:

Ipoh's bean sprouts are very fat, short and tastier than those produced outside Ipoh.

I only have one stomach. So it is with regret that I have to settle for this "not-so-famous" stall. I'll post my host's recommendations in another post.

4) Ice Kachang with Gula Melaka

I love Gula Melaka (I know, by now you are thinking, what the hell does Ju Ann not love? But but, there are always exceptions!!). So anything with Gula Melaka I also like. Same goes for this.

5) Hor Hee (河喜)

What is Hor Hee? When I first heard it from my host's mouth, I was twirling the two words around till I sounded like a horse. -_-"

Well, Hee Haw Hor Hee is kuey teow noodles with fish balls and fish pastes. The soup is made yummier with the addition of the, erm... yellow thing... gives flavour to the soup. For the life of me, I can't figure out the name of that thing. ARGH!

I didn't really like this, but only because it paled in comparison to other more flavoursome food on the table. My host says this is his favourite for breakfast. It seems there is another place where there's better Hor Hee.

Greedy me was once again too busy eating to note the place he mentioned.

Xin Feng Wie Tauge Ayam is where I ordered the Bean Sprouts Chicken from and on the right of the picture, where you see Hor Hee, that's where I ordered my Hor Hee from.

Well, this place had a bit of everything Ipoh has to offer but my host, who feels very strongly about slightly inferior Ipoh specialties, insists that what we had isn't as nice as the individual stalls that's located all over the town selling solely the famous food.

But hey, there's always NEXT TIME. And I'll definitely be back - this time, armed with overnight stuff and 10 stomachs. Hahaha!

Details to note:

Medan Selera Stadium Perak
Business Hour: 8:00am - 11:00pm.
Jalan Wei Sek Gai (Menglembu)
Business Hour: 6:00pm - 12:00midnight
Gourmet Square at Ipoh Garden
Business Hour: 6:00pm - 2:00am.

This site is not bad for an overview of Ipoh food!