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photo credit: Hotel G Singapore
photo credit: Hotel G Singapore
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photo credit: Hotel G Singapore
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What other things to eat in Ipoh besides the famed beansprouts chicken, ipoh gai see hor fun or dim sums? Well, we went to check out their zichar and the only place with some hope for a seat (it was drizzling that night) was Sun Tuck Kee. Everyone else seemed too crowded. The photo of the shopfront below was taken on another day when they were less crowded.
restaurant facade
Waited for about 15 minutes before we got a table and another 15 minutes before anyone came to take order. Yes, they were super busy and my dad was getting grumpier by the minute.
menu
Ordered three noodles as mains and 3 side dishes. There's baby octopus that's pretty chewy and good with the chili dip otherwise, not much taste. The braised chicken feet was good and falls off the bones but skinny. Meatballs soup were good. These took forever to come actually.
side dishes of boiled baby octopus (@RM17), chicken feet (@RM7) and meatballs soup (@RM1.10 per piece)
We were still hungry by the time the noodles came.
Hokkien Noodles @RM17
Fried Tang Hoon @RM13
The Hokkien noodles were well fried and tasty but the sambal was a letdown. Fried Tang Hoon was surprisingly good and one of the better dish that night. Awesome flavour for this rustic looking dish.
Next, was the wat dan hor which warranted a double-take. Why? Because it's the first time I'm seeing this dish served in a large soup bowl. I was like, did we order soup? Hahahaa, the noodles were all drowning in the gravy!
滑蛋河 Ipoh style
yes, correct.. this is 滑蛋河
Actually, the wat dan hor was nice. The hot gravy was flavourful and tasty (from msg maybe?) and made it more satisfying for us who were really hungry at that time.
where has all the gravy gone to?
Overall, the food is good and reasonably priced.
Sun Tuck Kee 新德记
Address: 65, Jalan Yau Tet Shin, Pusat Bandaraya Ipoh 30300 Contact: +60 12 514 2228 Business Hours:
Daily:12:00pm - 03:30am
As alfresco dining may be the better option for now, let's take a look at the beautiful scenery that Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel's alfresco dining offers:
Nearest MRT would be Telok Ayer, and the restaurant is within 5 minutes walk from the station. Botan prides itself in using premium ingredients from Japan and serves authentic and traditional Japanese cuisine. Helmed by Executive Chef Thomas Kok, he is one of the first few local chefs who introduced Japanese food to Singapore in the early 1980s. Thanks to chefs like Chef Thomas, there are now an abundance of options for Japanese food in Singapore.
Thank you Jennifer from JY Consultancy for the invite to the tasting, special thanks to Chef Thomas Kok for the delicious meal and Botan for hosting the dinner.
restaurant interior
The experience begins once the customer is seated and an oshobori is presented. Wipe your hands on the hot towel before eating. Lovely Japanese hospitality.
おしぼり
For the discerning diners, one could start with the appetiser of pidan tofu, or the delectable onsen tamago with Hokkaido shoyu ikura, or the mirin fugu. I spied the board outside the shop where drinks such as highball and Asahi beer (draft) are going for just $5.80++ and $6.20++. WoOHooO! Excited much? For teetotallers, don't worry as there's the good 'ol ocha. I had mine cold.
iced green tea
pitan tofu 皮蛋豆腐 @$6++
Let's see how wobbly and bouncy the tofu is.
Overall, the pitan tofu had a balanced flavour where all the ingredients are in harmony without outshining the other. Palate tingled but anticipating for more.
Next, we had the fugu mirin which is the grilled marinated dried pufferfish glazed with mirin. I thought it tasted like bak kwa! Sweet, and a good snack with alcohol.
fugu mirin 河豚味醂 @$15++
Next, I tried the ankimo. Never had this before, so didn't know what to expect. Monkfish liver wasn't as rich in flavour as say, foie gras and it definitely wasn't gamey. Its texture was smooth and rather delicate.
ankimo 鮟肝 @$18++
For another light appetiser, one could opt for the ikura onsen tamago with Hokkaido shoyu ikura, served room temperature. No further sauce is required as the ikura had been marinated in shoyu (soy sauce). Served in a pretty little bowl, I actually hesitated for a while as to whether to break the yolk or not.
ikura onsen @$15++
Eventually I did, and made it into a short clip. For those who likes to see yolk swirls. Hahaa!
Next up, we enjoyed a selection of sashimi with premium ingredients; salmon belly, scallop and aburi otoro. Enjoyed the natural sweetness of fresh ingredients.
sashimi trio; 鮭, 帆立貝, 大とろ @$48++
so good!
They say good things come in threes. Indeed, we had good sushi at Botan. No other sauces are needed with the sushi. Each piece was a favourite!
Sushi 寿司 @$24++
pretty from all angles
Hirame (flounder)
going for the next one, kanpachi!
botan ebi ぼたんえび
If you crave for A5 Miyazaki Wagyu Beef, try it at Botan. The beef cubes are served with beef fats and garlic crisps. The wagyu beef itself was tender and with good oily mouthfeel. There's a sprinkling of salt if you need that extra seasoning. I used it for the tomato instead. Such sweet tomato! I was pleasantly surprised by the burst of flavours from the beef fats!
A5 Miyazaki Wagyu Beef @$80++ (100g)
mesmerized by the glistening oil
For friends who doesn't take beef, you could try the Japanese pork instead. Braised till tender and with good ratio of fats for the almost melt in your mouth feels. Looks good and tasted fantastic but I won't trade my A5 Miyazaki wagyu beef, nope.
Hokkaido Pork Honey Black Pepper Yaki @$18++
Another first for me, is the Kuruma Ebi. Eh, it's actually Japanese Tiger Prawns. The prawn is of a good size and grilled with mentaiko sauce. Guaranteed flavourful! This has been elevated to one of my favourite dish at Botan.
Kuruma Ebi 車海老 @$18++
Here's a short video of the fleshy prawn.
To end, let's have a plate of hot noodles. Ramen? Nah, that's too mainstream. Let's go for a Nagasaki Sara Udon. Interestingly, sara udon means 'plate noodles'. Here's the link to wiki on the noodles.
Nagasaki Sara Udon 長崎皿うどん @16++
This plate of noodles tasted homely, and it was almost as though I'm eating at a mom and pop shop. Plenty of vegetables in the plate. There's much feels to this. Served hot, the noodles tasted like our
"生面" or sang mien (crispy noodles).
For dessert, we had the yuzu sorbet. Loved the candied peels in the ice-cream.
yuzu sorbet @$7++
Once again, thank you Jennifer for the invite and Chef Thomas and Botan for the food. ごちそうさまでした!
There are tons of write-ups on where to go for 芽菜鸡 aka taugeh chicken (beansprouts chicken) and Lou Wong would be frequently mentioned as the spot for tourists. Well, we headed towards that direction anyways and decided to try Ong Kee (安记芽菜鸡) which is like beside Lou Wong. Similarly, Ong Kee has a big shop and busy with tourists. We sat alfresco, and the service staff will bring you the menu (has photos of the dish and prices).
shop front
menu
You have the option to choose either rice or sar hor fun (沙河粉). My advice is, go for the sar hor fun because the soup was so darn tasty and it would make a good base for the gai see hor fun (thin flat noodles with chicken shreds). Of course, we didn't know because we were first-timers, and all of us ordered rice.
Bun Tong Bean Sprouts (文冬豆芽) @RM12 for large
Farm Chicken (whole) 菜园鸡 @RM66
must have chili
rice
super tasty chicken soup
The sprouts was really good and refreshing. It came as a mountain on a plate but we finished 'em all. All us 7 adults. The farm chicken was lean but not too chewy. The soy sauce on it was good. Slightly sweet savoury. Rice was cooked with ginger and garlic and not too oily.
Just beware of the streetside vendor who goes from tables to tables. She sold me an overpriced packet of biscuit which I later found out, was also available at the biscuit shops around that area.
night fall
Ong Kee Bean Sprouts Chicken Restaurant
Address: 48, Jalan Yau Tet Shin, Taman Jubilee, 30300 Ipoh, Negeri Perak, Malaysia Contact: +60 5-253 1562 Business Hours:
Daily: 10.30am to 2am
Next, we sampled the best gai see hor fun at Thean Chun Coffeeshop but the wait was super long. At least 15 to 25 minutes to wait for a table and another 45 minutes for the noodles. That is considering we went after 1.30pm.
Thean Chun Coffeeshop
the famous stall for 鸡丝河粉
First, be warned that the coffeeshop is kinda old and dingy looking. Definitely crowded and we stood behind some tables to wait for our turn (like food-court!) and in-turn, sometimes got scolded by the stall assistants for blocking their way. And, often times, the table will have like a few that are already done with their lunch and one who was still waiting for the hor fun. So those are no-go as well.
Not easy when you're in a group of 7 pax and wants to eat at a crowded coffee shop. Finally, we got our table and since we had to wait 45 minutes for the hor fun, we went and ordered chee cheong fun and satay while waiting.
chee cheong fun and satay stall
Most of the stall owners are above 50 years old. So you'll get to taste authentic and old school recipe for the dish.
chee cheong fun
Old school chee cheong fun does not have the additional yong tau foo items as other places in Malaysia, and is served simply with pickled green chili, some shallots and good drizzle of the sauces. My mom says this was what chee cheong fun tasted like when she was growing up.
The satay stall had run out of the innards and only remained a few sticks of pork satay. So we had a mix of chicken and pork satay.
pork and chicken satay with peanut sauce
pork satay
Satay was good and the peanut sauce was thick and chunky. Not that spicy though.
Finally, the wait was over and we were served the hor fun. My first impression was...how come the soup got so many bubbles one? Putting that aside, the soup was flavourful and the hor fun was slightly soft. Loaded with lots of shredded boiled chicken meat and there were some prawns too.
鸡丝河 Chicken Shred Hor Fun Soup
close-up view of the noodles
After Thean Chun, we tried other gai see hor fun at other coffeeshops, but their soup couldn't match up with the stall at Thean Chun (maybe the Ong Kee tauge chicken one can).
Would I want to wait another 45 minutes for a bowl of gai see hor fun again? Well, if you have not tried Thean Chun's version, will recommend to try at least once.
Restoran Thean Chun 天津茶室
Address: 73, Jalan Bandar Timah, 31650 Ipoh, Negeri Perak, Malaysia Contact: +60 5-255 3076 Business Hours:
Fri to Wed: 8am to 3pm Closed on Thurs
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