Ipoh's hawkers's food anyone?

I have not venture south to Ipoh since my last posting in Manjung several years ago.I still remember briefly that Ipoh do produce good food.So when Bee Chooi calls me to run errand in Ipoh, I grab this opportunity to do what I really want to do that is to sample and revisit as many interesting eating places within the short time frame. Of course,things would have changed after ten years and so far I do some research on some of the foods and drinks Ipoh is famous for. Let's roll on....

Ipoh is famous for its Chinese food.

.Ipoh bean sprouts chicken"芽菜雞" , which consists of chicken meat, assorted chicken innards and bean sprouts boiled in hard water and served with soy sauce and sesame oil. Ipoh's bean sprouts are very fat, short and tastier than those produced outside Ipoh; thus, Ipoh's beansprouts also receive orders from other states. Famous bean sprout chicken noodles include Onn Kee （安記芽菜雞沙河粉）and Lou Wong (老黃芽菜雞沙河粉） Restaurants, both of which are located at the junctions of Yau Tet Shin Street 姚德勝街 and Osbourne Street.

Ipoh Sar Hor Fun"怡保沙河粉", which are rice flat noodles prepared in hard water and served in clear chicken and prawn soup with chicken shreds, prawns and spring onions. Famous sar hor fun purveyors include Thean Chun and Kong Heng Restaurants, located along Leech Street 列治街 in the Old Town. Other popular food choices include chicken and pork intestines satay, curry pork skin chee cheong fun, and their custard! Custards are usually sold out around 3pm weekdays and noon on Saturdays and Sundays.

Ipoh Chicken Rice. The famous Ipoh Chicken Rice can be found in Bak Gong restaurant located near the Foh San restaurant in the city centre, open in the afternoon.

Hor Hee noodles 河熹粉. This is a very delicious kuey teow noodles with fish balls and fish pastes. The most famous stalls selling Hor Hee include those located in Heng Heung restaurant next to restaurant Sin Yean Lee in Ipoh Old Town (open only at night), and also the "Gao Peng" restaurant at Chamberlain Road in Ipoh New Town (again, night only).

Dim sum“点心”(fish balls, fried items, dumplings, buns, served in small quantities). Foh San(富山) restaurant, located nearby the tauge ayam outlets, is a famous dim sum restaurant. Yuk Fook Moon Lau(玉福满楼） (open in the morning and also at night), located behind Excelsior Hotel, sells excellent dim sum too. Ming Kok （明阁）, which is just opposite, is the best dim sum restaurant in Ipoh. Also try out or take away the Cha Siew Bao", Chinese pork pao (bun) sold in Yuk Fook Moon Lau. Be warned: Go there early in the morning, around 6am-7am, because it is quite difficult to get a table at a later time.

Beef noodles 牛腩粉 The famous Buntong restaurant sells very delicious beef noodles, beef balls and yong tau foo (stuffed tofu). There are three other restaurants in Ipoh famous for Beef Noodles, run by three brothers originally from the Buntong Village of Ipoh: 1) Kong Meng Restaurant in Old Town Ipoh (morning till noon); 2) Taman Rishah Restaurant, between First Garden and Menglembu (noon till evening); 3) Jalan Theatre, near the Rainbow food court, in the Ipoh city (evening till night).

Chinese restaurants (a favorite place for holding Chinese wedding dinners; but also for casual dining) which serve excellent seafood and meat. The famous ones among Ipoh natives are Overseas（海外天） restaurant opposite Excelsior hotel, Mun Zhong （民众） restaurant in Jalan Pasir Puteh, Pusing Public Seafood Restaurant （布先民众海鮮酒家）on Jalan Verasamy (Try their signature dishes: Pan Fried Prawn in Special Soy Sauce, Sweet and Sour Crab, Shark Fin Soup, and Abalone in Chef's Special Sauce), “Tung Hoi （东海） restaurant in Menglembu & branch in Ipoh Garden South, and Lee How Fook （利口福） restaurant on Jalan Kampar. Two restaurants that serve very good Nyonya (Straits Chinese) cuisine are Yum Yum restaurant at Persiaran Greenhill near Excelsior hotel and A-Ssam House restaurant near Jalan Yang Kalsom.

Fish ball noodles鱼丸粉/yong tau foo攘豆腐. Some of the recommended outlets are Nam Fatt （南发） on Jalan Kampar, Tai Kar Lok （大家乐） - the best one in the city centre near Hotel Excelsior - and also one stall located in Pasar Pasir Pinji (open nights only).

Chow hor fun炒河粉 or Kueh teow basah are rice noodles fried in such a way that it is a little wet with dark gravy (as opposed to the Penang char kueh teow which has no gravy but is fried with egg, prawns or cockles and the Cantonese-style wat tan hor 滑蛋河, which is completely immersed in clear, egg gravy). You can get chow hor fun in all Chinese restaurants in Ipoh. The best chow hor fun can be found at a street stall in the Mengelembu town area and one restaurant near Xin Hup Zi (originating from Buntong; only open at night).

Hakka noodles客家麵. A few restaurants around the city sell delicious Hakka noodles with yong tau foo. The most popular Hakka noodles are offered by Yin Yau Kui at Hugh Low Street (Jalan Iskandar). This shop specialises in noodles rather than yong tau foo. Another lesser known favourite, known to local old-timers is located at Majestic Food Centre at Osbourne Street (Jalan Tahwil Azar). This stall offers much better yong tau foo compared to Yin Yau Kui but Yin Yau Kui's noodles are superior. There is one near the Mun Zhong restaurant in Jalan Pasir Puteh and one in a food court behind the Olympia College or Jalan Yang Kalsom (both open mornings only).

Salted chicken or Yim Kok Kai 盐锔鸡. The chicken is baked in salt in such a way that the skin and meat is so delicious that you will finish it all. Whole chickens are wrapped in "oil paper" and then baked in large woks filled with heated salt. The restaurant that sells salted chicken is Aun Kheng Lim Restaurant, located at Theatre Street, opposite Martell house or near Bak Gong restaurant in the city centre. It is so popular that you must call to order before you drop in. Tel: 05-254 2998.

Roasted duck 燒鴨. The duck is roasted in such a way the skin of the duck is so crispy, smells great and tastes delicious. Recommended famous restaurants that sell roasted duck: Yeong Wai （楊威） restaurant in Greentown Business area and Tuck Kee （得记） restaurant in Pasir Pinji, Ipoh. There's also a restaurant called Kedai Hong Kong in the Tasek area. The chef famously studied his duck preparation in Hong Kong. A couple of ex-staff have opened their own duck restaurants in adjacent restaurants.

Curry noodle 咖喱麵. In old town Ipoh, Sin Seng Fatt （新成发）, which is located near Kong Heng restaurant in Market Street, sells very delicious curry noodles. The curry paste of the curry noodle is so good that it's packed and sent to franchises in Hong Kong. They have a franchise at SS2, Petaling Jaya, Selangor. (open mornings and afternoons only). Another famous shop known to the locals is Sin Chuan Fatt (新泉發) on Jalan Pasir Puteh, which is known for its very spicy and thick curry paste, fried chicken and pork to go with the noodles. Lesser known are the restaurant facing the roundabout beside MGS secondary school (open mornings and afternoons only) and a coffee shop called Sin Chuan Fong （新泉芳） on Hugh Low Street.

Prawn mee 蝦麵 or Hokkien mee. This is the same as Penang's Hokkien Mee. This noodle soup tastes spicy and sweet. Recommended for prawn mee is the roadside stall on the road between Yik Foong complex and Super Kinta shopping centre (open from night and until early morning).

Sze Chuan food 川菜. There is a very good Sze Chuan Restaurant located in Fair Park. (There is only one, along the way from Ipoh General Hospital to Ipoh Indra Mulia Indoor Stadium.) They serve some very authentic Sze Chuan-style dishes that can only be described as heavenly. Don't forget to order the deep fried "Man Tou" “馒头” or Chinese "Pau", Cheong Chang Arp (sauce-layered duck), Sze Chuan fried long beans, Taufu cooked Szechuan-style and Tong Por pork meat. These are signature dishes at this establishment.

Chinese Vegetarian Food 素食店. There is one restaurant, Restaurant Sin Meng Kee 新明记, in the city centre that offers good Chinese vegetarian economical rice. It has many dishes in its menu. Main shop located at Jalan Dato Onn Jaafar and branch located at Jalan Lau Pak Khuan, Ipoh Garden and Kinta City food court (open morning until evening).

Claypot Chicken Rice 瓦褒鸡饭. This is a hot and delicious. Ipoh's famous exponent of this dish is located in the Bercham village area, at Lorong Bercham 4, opposite the Old Bercham wet market (open only at night).

Chinese-style Satay 沙爹. This is skewered meat seasoned and flavored with spices and served with cucumbers, onions and a chunky peanut sauce. Please note that the Chinese-style of satay (compared to other satay) contains pork and is thus unsuitable for Muslim tourists. The preferred stall is in Thean Chun Restaurant, Ipoh old town (open mornings and afternoons).

Malay/Indian Food

Laksa Perak 叻沙. This is a noodle dish which is similar to Penang's famous Asam Laksa but with a different taste. Laksa in Ipoh tastes a bit sour and spicy but not as sweet as Penang's Laksa. The ingredients of the noodle soup include prawn paste. There is one very good Laksa stall in Farlim, Ipoh (opposite the Setapak driving institute, on the way to Mengelembu from Ipoh; open Sunday afternoons only). The other one would be the Laksa stall in Kong Heng Restaurant.

Cuttle fish 鱿鱼雍菜, served with kangkung or water convolvulus vegetable and a sweet and spicy sauce on top of it.

Soup and fried rice. Try Darus sup in Tawil Azar stalls in Ipoh town-simply delicious. The best soup in Ipoh.

Samosas. There are great samosas and other great foodstuffs to be found in Little India.

Food courts. If you just want to eat a variety of good Ipoh food in just one place, go to Anika Selera or Gourmet Square and Woolley Centre in Canning Garden. Try bubur cha cha (at the first drinks stall counting from the Woolley Centre) and seafood in Aneka Selera (Toong Koo Theng) 冬菇亭. Try the Marmite Crab or the sweet & sour crab and the fried balitong. Also try the ABC dessert (Ice Mix 杂雪) in Woolley Centre. It is made up of a bowl of sinfully delightful mixture of red bean, cendol (green strands of pandan flavoured rice flour), jelly, peanuts and palm seed kernels topped with shaved ice, rose syrup, evaporated milk and corn. For the more health conscious, there is a fruit variant you can order. The other two great food courts are Rainbow City food court opposite Sam Tet primary school in Ipoh and all the street food stalls in Mengelembu old town (all opens at night only). You can find a lot of choices of good Ipoh food in these food courts.

Note that it is quite difficult getting a table at many coffee shops during weekdays and especially on weekends and holidays, so try to go early, not at busy times.

Drinks

Ipoh White Coffee, which are coffee beans specially roasted (with palm-oil margarine). Its colour is similar to that of cappuccino when served with milk. The best can be found in the few coffee shops located opposite the Kinta Heights flats in Ipoh's old town such as:

• • Nam Heong Restaurant (Distributor of "3 in 1 Ipoh Old Town White Coffee")
  • Xin Yun Loong restaurant (Open mornings and afternoons only)
  • Xin Yuan Hoong and Xin Yuan Foong (All open mornings and afternoons only).
  • The aroma, taste & texture of the original thing is definitely superior compared to the commercially-packed sachets or the Ipoh White Coffee sold elsewhere. These coffee shops are likely to be crowded during teatime, especially on weekends. Food-wise, you can get fried noodles/vermicelli, satay, congee, kuih, etc. at these coffee shops. Also order tasty toasted bread with kaya (coconut jam) and butter to complement a good cup of white coffee (known as a "Yin-Yang" toast). Nowadays you can get a good cup of white coffee in coffee shops around Ipoh city.

• Tau Fu Fah (豆腐花), or soybean curd. It is claimed that Ipoh or Kinta Valley water makes this drink tasty. This drink is good for the body after travelling on a very hot day. The soya bean is fresh, sweet and smooth. Once you are drinking this soya bean curd, you can feel the smoothness and freshness of the soya bean smoothing down through your throat. It is served steaming hot with pandan syrup. The stall named Kei Foong, or Funny Mountain in English, is located at Osbourne Street (Jalan Tahwil Azar), near Restaurant Foh San. It has a drive-in delivery service. Also try the following delicious varieties:
  • soymilk only
  • soymilk mixed with cincau
  • soybean curd with soymilk.

The Funny Mountain shop is open from 10.00am to 7.30pm. Tau Fu Fah and its variants can also be found in stalls by the roadside in various places.

• Tong Sui (糖水), sweet dessert drink that will definitely refresh your body on a hot day. The most famous, located at what locals call "Tong Sui Kai" (糖水街) or Desert Drinks Street, is opposite Sam Tet Primary School (noon till late night). The most popular tong sui at this place would be black sesame (芝麻糊), mo mo cha cha and red bean (红豆沙). Also recommended is one located at Restaurant Cha Yong, behind Pizza Hut in Ipoh Garden South. Another few stalls are located in the Ipoh Stadium's food court and in a food court near the former Ocean (now The Store) supermarket.
• Anyone game to join me in my adventure to Ipoh?