Kedai Kopi Yee Fatt, Ipoh

After hearing and reading so much about the curry noodles at this place, we decided to give it a try one morning. Hmm.....seems that lots of people are fans of the curry noodles judging from the packed shop when we walked in just after 8.00 a.m. There's only one stall in this shop and that's the curry noodles stall but they do sell the "loh mai kai". We ordered 2 soup version and 2 dry version of the curry noodles. Comes with shreds of chicken, pieces of "char siew" (BBQ pork) and.......yes, pieces of chicken but you can also opt for other combinations with "siew yuk" (roasted pork). Maybe our taste buds are different from the majority but we find that the curry noodles are not at all to our liking. There isn't any of the fragrance of curry that makes the stomach juices flow. It's like there's something missing from the curry or......maybe they didn't 'tumis' the ingredients before putting them to cook in the curry???? Quite oily too. Most definitely we won't we back again.
Kedai Kopi Yee Fatt is situated at Jalan Kampar, Ipoh opposite Methodist Girls School.

Do not cater to our taste buds at all

Food For Thought (18)

Be miserable or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it's always your choice. (Wayne Dyer)
Yup.

Chicken Koay Teow Soup (Restoran & Kafe Macy, Ipoh)

The thing we usually order when we come to this place is the "kai see hor fun" (chicken koay teow soup). It is among one of the best kai see hor fun in Ipoh..........in my opinion only lah. You don't have to agree with me leh. But the standard has dropped somewhat over the years. So......sometimes, it wouldn't taste so good lor. The hor fun is smooth and would just slid down your throat but the soup sometimes tastes a bit sugary sweet these days. There are 2 guys manning the stall. The taller, bespectacled guy is friendlier. At least, he acknowledges you when you place your order. The shorter, skinnier guy is another kind. Surly is the word to describe him. He doesn't acknowledge your order, so, you would be left wondering whether you have suddenly become invisible.
Restoran & Kafe Macy is located at Jalan Perajurit, Ipoh Garden East (next to the highway flyover). Incidentally, this place also serves some of the best "tong sui" in town.

Penang Balik Pulau Laksa

After some 'detective work', we found out that there is this stall that serves really good assam laksa and siam laksa in Balik Pulau, Penang. So.....off we go on another one of our makan trips to Penang, this time, heading straight for Balik Pulau. This stall is located in a coffee shop called Nan Guang at Jalan Balik Pulau.
Waah........big crowd. Our orders - assam laksa, siam laksa and chum (a mixture of both assam laksa and siam laksa). Wow! Best laksa I've ever tasted......so far. All three varieties were equally "ho chiak" (tasty). The assam laksa was just the right combination of sour and spicy while the siam laksa was a perfect blend of sour, spicy and creamy. The chum.......ahah......a first for us. Can taste both the assam laksa and siam laksa equally without one overpowering the other. "Ho, ho, chiak". Yum, yum.
Another must try when in Balik Pulau.......the fresh nutmeg juice. Very refreshing......but it's an acquired taste somewhat. Half of our group loved it immediately while the other half either had reservations about it or plain didn't like it one bit, so......

The chum

Fresh nutmeg juice

Siam laksa

Food For Thought (17)

I once read somewhere that it's not the load that breaks us down, but it's the way we carry the load. Yup. We can carry the load quietly, willingly and happily orrrr.......we can carry the load, complain endlessly and in the process, make our own life and the lives of other people around us miserable. Either way, we still have to carry the load. Well???? What's your choice.......?????

Kedai Kopi Nam Chau, Ipoh (Again???)

We're back at Kedai Kopi Nam Chau again, heh, heh, heh,heh!!!! This time, it's the parents' turn to try out the shop's famous curry noodles. Both gave the thumbs up for this. Sis chosed the Lam Mee which she said is nothing special. Comes with shreds of chicken and half a hard boiled egg. My order of the curiously named "Tar Lan Woon" (direct translation "break a bowl" or, ......... if you like, "hit a broken bowl") ................. is ok lor. This is actually "toong fun" (glass noodles) in soup served with fishballs (fried and otherwise) and "yau char kwai" (Chinese crullers) but this morning, the "yau char kwai" was yet to be delivered to the shop, so, no "yau char kwai" in my bowl of "Tar Lan Woon". The soup could do with the addition of some "toong choy" (some kind of preserved vegetable.........Chinese cabbage, I think?????) to give it more flavour. Without the "toong choy", somehow, the soup doesn't match the "toong fun", if you know what I mean..........?????
Once again.............., Kedai Kopi Nam Chau is located in Ipoh old town (Jalan Bandar Timah).

Nam Chau's "ho chiak" (tasty) curry noodles

Nam Chau's white coffee - one of the best in Ipoh

Not very outstanding

Food For Thought (16)

The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge but rather a lack of will. (Vince Lombardi)
Yes.......when there's a will, there's sure to be a way. Sooooo, don't blame your failures or whatever on anything...........or anyone else.

Prawn Mee (Kedai Kopi Chang Jiang, Ipoh)

Hmm....when did I take this photo of the prawn mee at Kedai Kopi Chang Jiang in Tasek, Ipoh??? Never mind....just thought I'd share it with anyone who cares to read this blog. One of the best prawn mee I've ever tasted in Ipoh. Comes a close second to the one at Kedai Kopi Keng Nam. The soup is full of flavour. Very prawn-y. Comes with a generous serving of pork slices, prawns, kangkong, slices of fish cake and hard boiled egg and garnished with fried shallots. "Hou sik", yum, yum. They are not stingy with the chilli paste leh. Can ask for as much of it as you can take with your bowl of prawn mee. Very fragrant. The white coffee served here is also very good. One of the best in Ipoh.
Kedai Kopi Chang Jiang is a corner shop located in Taman Tasek Jaya facing Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman (formerly known as Jalan Kuala Kangsar). Arrive late during peak hours and you can expect to see the shop bursting at the seams.

The prawn mee which got the thumbs up from a lot of people.

Restoran Kam Wan (Aneka Selera), Ipoh

Since Mum is taking a break from cooking dinner, we decided to go to Restoran Kam Wan or better known as Gourmet Square (or Tung Koo Th'eng) for dinner. Actually, this place is not really a restaurant despite its name. It is a hawker centre and it always seems to be packed to the gills during weekends and public holidays. There are quite a lot of food choices so one can be hard pressed to decide what to eat especially if you are famished. Small example. : ikan bakar (grilled fish), curry noodles, rojak, lobak, char koay teow, vegetarian food, assam laksa, claypot chicken rice, bak kut teh (herbal pork ribs) satay, nasi lemak, seafood, popiah, yong tau foo, 'ngar choy kai' (chicken bean sprouts), what we call 'one dish rice' or 'tip chai farn', hor hee, char koay kak, etc, etc. The list goes on and on and on. Too many to list down everything.
Gourmet Square is located at Lengkok Canning, Ipoh Garden.

Curry noodles - one of our favourites

Fried rice

Some of the food you can find at Gourmet Square

Food For Thought (16)

A long time ago, someone once said to me, if you find yourself with problems in situations that doesn't feel like they will be ending anytime soon, give yourself something to look forward to and give yourself something to be thankful for. Then you will find that, hey, things aren't so bad after all and the end is actually in sight. Very true for me.

Food For Thought (15)

Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference. They bless the one who receives them and they bless you, the giver. (Barbara De Angelis)
Yes.....so be kind and loving even though it may sometimes feel like a waste of time and energy.

Kedai Makanan & Minuman Hua Nam, Ipoh

Ahah.......found some photos taken at Kedai Makanan & Minuman Hua Nam during the Hari Raya Puasa holidays. If I remember correctly (you know lah.......this brain of mine is not too good already), it was quite early in the morning (just after 8.00 a.m.), so there weren't many customers around but the place started filling up rather quickly after that. The claypot 'low shi fun' was quite tasty. Theirs is not the soup-y type but the drier version with thick gravy. The portion was generous with lots of mince meat, meat patties and vegetables (choy sam, to be exact). The curry noodles was also tasty. Came with prawns, 'char siew' (BBQ meat) and garnished with mint leaves. The yong tau foo was equally good. Flavourful and gives a sort of crunchy texture to each bite. Too bad the coffee was not so good leh.
Kedai Makanan & Minuman Hua Nam is located at Jalan Seenivasagam, Ipoh.

Claypot low shi fun

The curry noodles and yong tau foo

Assam Laksa, Penang

After all the hype surrounding the famous assam laksa along Jalan Pasar near the Ayer Itam market, we decided to check it out during one of our almost annual trips to Penang. Huh.......what a huge disappointment! It was quite bland. We had to literally pour in the "heh koh" (shrimp paste) to give it some taste. There seem to be something missing from the soup...... If not for all the fish and the trappings that come with a bowl of assam laksa, I would seriously thought that we had ordered the wrong thing. For the first time, I was not able to finish my bowl of assam laksa (an unheard of thing with me). Never going back there again. Buuut........judging from the crowd, we must be the odd ones out. Oh well, they say one man's meat is another man's poison.....
So, we went in search of more assam laksa to satisfy our cravings. On a whim, we decided at random to pop in to a little shop located on the left side of the road opposite the souvenir stalls immediately upon coming down from the Kek Lok Si Temple. Didn't catch the name of the shop leh.....sorry. Too busy feeling disappointed???? Hah........this assam laksa is much, much better than the other one. Needed only a little blop of the "heh koh" to complete the taste. Finally.........we were satisfied.........for the time being.

A big disappointment for us

Much, much better

Food For Thought (14)

Nobody can go back and start a new beginning but anybody can start today and make a new ending. (Maria Robinson)
Yup......guess I should start now........