An impromptu visit to Red Star during a weekday lunch sometime in Dec last year, thanks to a colleague who drove us out to enjoy good food. It has been too many years since I last visited and would like to say that I had enjoyed the dim sum. Delicious food and a special treat from the said colleague. 谢谢你!
entrance
The place was bustling during lunch time. Lots of foreign friends were spotted dining there. We went without reservation and luckily, there was a table available for us.
interior
dim sum menu cum order chit
Started with porridge because the service staff was pushing the porridge cart over, so we ordered two bowls to share amongst the four of us. Flavourful and thick, plus loaded with chunky chopped century egg, minced pork bits, deep fried crispies, and spring onions.
scooping up the porridge
century egg porridge @$4.70
loaded with ingredients
Then, the usual suspects of har gao, siew mai, chee cheong fun and char siew bao. Loved the plump har gao that was packed with prawn meat. But we had to eat fast lest the skin hardened.
har gao @$4.70
siew mai @$4.70
Siew mai was also topped with much fillings and each bite was devoured quickly because the next item had arrived! Char siew bao (BBQ pork buns) were piping hot, but it was so good! The scallops chee cheong fun was good but I liked the char siew bao more because imagine hot, fluffy bao with savoury fillings, doesn't that sound yums already?
char siew bao @$3.70
so fluffy and savoury
Scallop Rice Roll @$4.90
Of course, we didn't forget the steamed pork ribs and chicken feet. The chicken feet was rather spicy and quite shioks to eat. The steamed pork ribs trumped with its flavourful, tender meat that's slippery smooth.
chicken feet @$4.70
pork ribs @$4.70
Of course we didn't just stop there, we ordered a bunch of other things such as seafood beancurd skin, carrot cake, carrot cake, prawn rolls, and yam puffs.
seafood beancurd skin @$4.10
fried carrot cake @$4.90
banana with prawn @$4.70
yam puff @$4.70
not sure what this was but it was nice
yang mai @$4.70
fried prawn dumplings @$4.70
For the finale, we got the special of the day and that's the sugar cane prawn which the staff said was a special item and may not be available everyday.
sugar cane prawn @$4.90
can't wait to bite
The sugar cane prawn was of a good size, and easy to hold. It's a prawn paste on a sugar cane stick and coated with bread. After deep-fry, the bread became fluffy and crispy while the prawn paste inside remained succulent and tasty. It reminds me of 面包虾.
We were so full after the meal. The above fed 4 guys and 2 girls.
When things are back to normalcy, would like to revisit to try their other items.
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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!
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