Restoran Ipoh Hometown, Ipoh

Our original plan was lunch at Restoran Wong Koh Kee in Ipoh old town buuut..................the place was packed to the gills and there was a horde of people waiting outside for seats even though it wasn't even 12 noon yet. So, emergency plan - change venue to Restoran Ipoh Hometown. We settled for their set lunch for 4 pax. First to arrive was the crispy skin tofu with mince meat. The tofu was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Very tasty. Then came the fried pork ribs. Something like fried chicken. Full of flavour. Yum, yum. Next was the 'paku choy' (fern shoots, I think) in sambal belacan. A perfect blend of flavours with just the right degree of spiciness. Nice. Then, the soup arrived. There were lots of stuff in it - Chinese cabbage, carrot, seaweed, tomato, meat patties and mushroom. Good till the last drop. Finally, there was the claypot stewed fish with 'kei chi' (Chinese wolfberries) and Chinese mushrooms. Good. Can even taste the 'kei chi' in the fish which was deep fried beforehand. To round things up - dessert of red bean soup. All these plus rice for 4 persons and free flow of Chinese tea came up to only RM42.00. Yes folks, that's right - forty two ringgit only. Now that's what I call a steal, no?
Restoran Ipoh Hometown is located at Jalan Medan Ipoh 1, Bandar Baru Medan Ipoh behind Old Town Kopitiam near Tesco.

All these plus dessert, rice and free flow of Chinese tea for only RM42.00

Crispy skin tofu with mince meat

Fried pork ribs

Sambal belacan 'Paku choy'

Mix vegetables soup

Claypot stewed fish with 'kei chi' and Chinese mushrooms

Food For Thought (13)

A long time ago, in my darkest hour, a wise person told me even though all doors are closed to me, God will still open a window for me. Yup, eventually I managed to find the open window and not long ago, a door opened for me too. Glad to say I could tell the door was opened. So......yes, never stop believing and always have faith no matter how long the wait or how long the search for the open window or door.

Restoran Ko Pi Tim, Ipoh

One of our favourite places to go for breakfast is Restoran Ko Pi Tim in Medan Ipoh Bistari. We will usually order the curry noodles (soup or dry version), siam laksa, pork noodles or fried noodles. We like the curry noodles (both the soup and dry version) with slices of 'char siew' (BBQ meat), shreds of chicken and prawns. Of course, they cannot be compared to the Nam Chau version but still.........they can stand on their own. The siam laksa (from the same stall) is also quite tasty with lots of fish (big chunks too), slivers of onion, pineapples and cucumber.
The pork noodles comes in a huge bowl filled with minced meat, meat patties, pig liver, pig intestines and vegetables garnished with lots of fried garlic. The soup is clear and flavourful. Nice. The fried noodles stall serves up a big variety of fried noodles in different styles. Worth a try. There is also a chee cheong fun stall, a hor hee stall, a pan mee stall, a wantan mee stall, a Western food stall and a 'liu fun' stall. But I should say this about the 'liu fun' stall - the man and lady manning the stall have attitude problems and service is extremely slow even when they have no other customers. Never going to patronise this particular stall ever again. I can't stand bad attitude and bad manners. Guarantee to make me see red.
Restoran Ko Pi Tim is located at the corner of Jalan Medan Ipoh 1B and Jalan Medan Ipoh 1D in Medan Ipoh Bistari, Ipoh behind PC Depot.

Pork Noodles

Siam Laksa from the curry noodles stall

News flash (07.04.2012) : The 'liu fun' stall manned by the man and lady with attitude problems has closed shop. Goes to show that bad attitude and bad manners will get nobody anywhere. Hah.

Food For Thought (12)

The only disability in life is a bad attitude. (Scott Hamilton)
Hmmm.............yup, couldn't agree more.

Northam Beach Cafe, Georgetown, Penang

One of our favourite places to go for dinner whenever we are in Penang is Northam Beach Cafe. Besides the ample parking, the stalls at this place serve up a variety of delicious food. You can opt to sit out in the open and listen to the sounds of waves lapping at the shore or you can choose to sit under the roof.....and listen to the sounds of people talking...... One of our favourite food here is the Belacan Fried Chicken Nugget. Very fragrant, tasty and flavourful with a distinct belacan taste. Nice. Goes well with beer. Also worth trying are the char koay teow, assam laksa, fried rice and hokkien mee; all which are pretty decent. The fried oyster would be good too if it was a bit drier but that's only my opinion lah. The oysters are quite big loh. Another offering worth a mention is the Teluk Kumbar Prawn Mee. Quite tasty but certain members of our group didn't like it, so..... There are also Western food (French and Italian), rojak, grilled fish, mua chi, bak kut teh, porridge, etc, etc being served here.
Northam Beach Cafe is located opposite Ambank at Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah, Georgetown.

An acquired taste????

Hokkien Mee

Belacan Fried Chicken Nuggets

Fried Oyster

Food For Thought (11)

Experience is the worst teacher; it gives the test before presenting the lesson. (Vernon Law)
Huh.......don't I know it. Very well too.....but I will always remember the lesson. So.....thank you, Experience.

Gunung Lang & The Wrong Roast Duck Rice

Being a long weekend due to the Hari Raya Haji holidays, we decided to go to Gunung Lang for a look see. Huh......surprise, surprise!!! Erm....on second thoughts, I guess we shouldn't be too surprised since this is exactly what we would expect from our dear city council (prevention is better than cure : most definitely not their motto). Both boats used to ferry visitors across the lake to the park had broken down and there was no sign of the mechanic. Perhaps it was due to our great disappointment over this incident that we went into the wrong shop for lunch, heh, heh. Instead of going into Kedai Hong Kong for a lunch of roast duck rice, we walked into Restoran Sweet Home Town which is just a few doors away. Don't know how that happened??? One is air-conditioned, the other is not....... Anyway, their roast duck rice was only passable. The gravy was a bit on the salty side and so was the roast duck itself. But.....if they are less heavy handed on the salt, I believe the roast duck rice would be good. The sour vegetables (suen choy or choy kiok) was not good at all. Too bland for us. Not sour and spicy enough. Buuut......you don't have to agree with us lah.
Restoran Sweet Home Town is located in Taman Tasek Damai facing Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman (formerly known as Jalan Kuala Kangsar).

The quite salty roast duck rice

The very bland sour vegetables (suen choy or choy kiok)

Berlin's Bier Houz, Ipoh

Hey, found some photos of the time when we went for dinner at Berlin's Bier Houz in Greentown, Ipoh. Can't remember when leh, no matter how hard I rack this poor brain of mine. Must be getting old........
Anyway,..... let's see. German pork knuckles.........ooowee.....yum, yum. Can still remember the taste. My brain might be slow but my taste buds are not, hee, hee. Goes well with any of the German beers being sold at the outlet. Crispy, crackly skin and juicy, tender meat......mmmmm....... I'm hungry already. Next up, Berlin Spare Ribs.....one dish you must eat with your fingers. Ditch the knife and fork, people. A bit chewy though. Still.........it's not bad. Worth a try. Finally, the German sausages.......ahah! Very different from the normal pre-packed sausages that we find at the supermarket freezers. Sort of gives you a crunchy feel when you chew on it. Very flavourful. I think I shall make another visit to this place soon. Who should I get to go with me.......hmmmm??????
Berlin's Bier Houz is located at Persiaran Greentown 4, Greentown Business Centre, Ipoh.

Restoran San Chai, Ipoh

After passing by this coffee shop so many times, we decided to go in one morning and see what they have to offer. Hmmmm....there's fried noodles, pan mee, curry noodles, prawn mee, wantan mee, western food, pork noodles, etc. Mum and I decided to try the curry noodles. Mum had the curry noodles with 'liu'  and pork skin while I chosed the dry curry noodles with pork skin and 'char siew' (BBQ meat). Mum's choice was good even though it didn't look like it but the noodles were a bit overcooked lor. Ahhhh........my choice brought back sweet childhood memories of eating the same thing during visits to the grandparents' place in Pasir Pinji. A trip down memory lane, no?
Meanwhile sis and Dad ordered the chicken noodle soup (kai see hor fun) and prawn mee respectively from the prawn mee stall. According to sis, the chicken noodle soup was good but not good enough to make her want to come back just for it while Dad said the prawn mee doesn't have the 'prawn-y' taste to the soup but.......not too bad overall.
Restoran San Chai is located at the corner of Persiaran Bercham Selatan 1 and Persiaran Bercham Selatan 8 in Taman Desa Kencana, Ipoh.

Food For Thought (10)

Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we respond to it (Albert M Wills Jr)
Life is the sum of all our choices (Albert Camus)
Hmm.........must respond and make my choices wisely, no?

Food For Thought (9)

In this world where almost everyone is chasing after wealth and money, I once read somewhere that if money is our only problem, then we don't have much of a problem after all. Huh???

Kedai Makanan Nam Heong, Ipoh

While going through my stuff the other day, I came across some photos of one of our early morning excursions to Kedai Makanan Nam Heong in Ipoh old town. Incidentally, this is the birth place of the famous Old Town White Coffee that you see everywhere throughout the country. After racking this poor old brain of mine, I finally recalled that these photos were taken some time in September 2010.
So.....white coffee.......not as good as it used to be. Maybe too commercialised and hence the quality is compromised....?? Chicken noodle soup (kai see hor fun).....errr....frankly speaking....never tried it before even though we've been to this place countless times. Anyway, brother-in-law dear who tried it gave it the thumbs up. Maybe I should give it a try the next time I eat at this place. Hmmmm......banana leaf char koay teow (the only thing we've been ordering each time we patronise the shop)....weellll......sometimes it's good, sometimes it's not; depending on your luck at that moment in time. Can count on the element of surprise no??? Heh, heh, heh.
Kedai Makanan Nam Heong is a corner shop located at Jalan Bandar Timah near the 20-storey flats in Ipoh old town.

The very famous Ipoh Old Town White Coffee

Roti Canai (Restoran Nasi Kandar Nasmir, Ipoh)

After deciding on roti canai for breakfast, we elected to go to Restoran Nasi Kandar Nasmir in Bandar Baru Medan Ipoh. Being quite early in the morning (not even 8.00 a.m. yet), there weren't many customers around, so service was quick. The roti canai was soft and fluffy. Nice. The generous serving of fish curry was a bit too sour for us..........errrr..........or was it too sour for us that we couldn't finish the curry and hence we thought it was a generous serving?????hmmmmmm.  But.....the dhal (a sort of err...lentils stew???? cooked with herbs and spices) was good. As for the drinks, the teh tarik was very milky (so if you are not into milk, this is not for you) while the Milo kosong (just plain Milo without any added sugar and milk) was 'kau' (thick). The kopi O was ........weellll..........just sugar water (cannot taste the coffee at all). No more repeat order of this one for sure.
Restoran Nasi Kandar Nasmir is located at Jalan Medan Ipoh 2, Bandar Baru Medan Ipoh opposite Tesco.


Roti canai with fish curry and dhal

L-R : Kopi O, Teh Tarik, Milo Kosong