Clay Pot Chicken Rice @ Menglembu

          It's been a while since I last updated my previous post. Now I am back because I found another hidden jewel in Ipoh. Since I am back to my lovely hometown about 4 months ago, I have been constantly craving for more yet-to-be-discovered Ipoh foods.

         I don't know the history of this shop but I believe it must be there for decades judging by its appearance. Its name is Cheong Kee Clay Pot Rice 昌记瓦煲饭. Although they put 驰名(English translation: famous) on their signboard, I wouldn't know its existence if it weren't for my friends. Well, you can blame me for not being observant because it's just located next to the Tenaga Nasional Berhard outlet behind Menglembu's Wet Market/Pasar Pagi.  

The owner seems to be in his 60's or 70's. Yet he has to take care of all the clay pots. As you can see, he uses the most traditional method for cooking the clay pot chicken rice. This makes the rice taste much better! 

          The rice is soft but slightly too oily to my taste. Hmm, I didn't smell any aroma of salted fish albeit they put a big chunk of it. Overall, I am quite satisfied with this traditional clay pot chicken rice. It's worthy to mention that the price is affordable compared to same food in other areas in Ipoh; only RM 4.50 for small one and you just add RM 4.00 for a big one. I will pay you another visit!

       

A Spaghetti Expert Eh?

          I just want to say: I am good at cooking.

          Well, not really. I am sucked at cooking Chinese cuisine. I was living in Canada for the past four years, and you know that eating outside is super expensive. The only solution is to cook at home. This trained me to become an expert, ahem, in cooking spaghetti and pasta.

          I never knew spaghetti can be cooked in Chinese style until I was inspired by a sales promoter in a shopping mall. The story begins like this:

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          I am sure you're not quite interested in listening to the long story. So use your imagination.

          Anyway, the picture below shows my creation. Spaghetti cooked with green bell pepper, carrots, Chinese cabbage, red onions, and garlics. Trust me, it is toothsome! Moreover you don't have to buy the expensive spaghetti sauce. One stone kills two birds eh?

最怀念的回忆和食物

人，总爱在夜深人静 ，万籁俱寂的夜晚，回忆过去美好的时光。

我是凡人，当然也不例外。

我最怀念的是三个月前的美国西部之行。

五个男生。一辆车。

蔚蓝的天空，辽阔的草原，笔直的高速公路，无止境的沙漠，白色的雪山，惊险万分的悬崖，朴素的乡镇，热闹的大城市，痴肥的快餐，可口的西餐，难得的中餐，还有那贵得要命的Little India。

还有，还有，还有太多的回忆。

这不是一张出色的照片。但当时我们在看腻了的沙漠公路里行了好几小时，终于看见了餐馆。朋友都犹豫不决，我却坚持要在这间西餐馆Timberline Inn Restaurant 吃，因为已经受不了快餐了。

可能是太饿了，我到现在都一直觉得这个是我一生中吃过最美味的食物 （包括最爱的猪肠粉）。

现在，我多了一个梦想：回到Timberline Inn Restaurant! 

"Eating" the Old Memory @ Kampong Kuala Kluang, Chemor

Yesterday noon I drove to Chemor's Kampong Kuala Kluang -- a small community located 17 kilometres from Ipoh. The night before, I was craving for 河婆菜粄-- a pink coloured skin stuffed rice cake that (I believe) can only be found here in entire Perak state. 

On our way (along with mother and sister), I recalled how mother used to bring us here to buy rice cake on our way to grandpa's home at Kuala Kangsar when I was young. It had been many years since she did that. Now that I have grown up, I am the one who sit on the driver seat and stir the wheel. 

The memory is old, history is old, and yet the taste remains the same. 

 RM0.70 each; four choices provided: garlic, salted veggie, yam bean, Chinese chive   

Seafood Hunt @ Amu Coconut Villa Seafood Restaurant, Kampung Cina, Sitiawan

Faster, Higher, Stronger. This is the motto of modern Olympic Games. Yet, I am heavier, rounder, fatter.

Last week, me and my mother headed to Amu Coconut Villa Seafood Restaurant at Sitiawan for dinner after our visit to 大伯公 temple. Needless to say, the temple is beautiful and magnificent.

The restaurant is conveniently located at Lorong Satu, Kampung Cina and about 5 minutes car ride from 大伯公 temple. 

Refreshing coconut juice 

Though I prefer eating food without chili sauce to retain the food's original taste, this handmade chili sauce is real good and a perfect combination with the deep fried squid. I actually tried to re-produce this deep fried squid at home but in vain >.<

Never a big fan of oysters, but yet this oyster omelette with sweet onions changed my mind. The eggs were very crunchy outside and yet it was slightly juicy inside. Maybe the sweet onions add to this juiciness. The oysters were fresh and enjoyable to eat.

These two dishes are among the most popular dishes of this restaurant. So don't miss out! Too bad there were only two of us with a kid eating at that time, otherwise I will definitely order more dishes. My diet plan? Aiya, next time lah ~ ~ ~

揾嘢吃 @ Yeolde English (Ipoh)

The purpose of this trip is not solely to satisfy my appetite, but also celebrate my mom's 52nd birthday. The number of Western cuisine restaurants is springing up like mushrooms after the rain in this small town city. But one of the most price affordable and tastiest Western cuisines has to be this restaurant -- Yeold English.

Fresh Tomato Juice RM3.50; Fresh Watermelon Juice RM2.90; Fresh Kiwi Blended RM7.00 (from left to right)

They offer various kinds of fresh juices and smoothies which I think is a brilliant idea since veggie and fruits help to reduce the fats absorbed by our digestion system and cleanse our body from toxins produced during the high-temperature cooking process. However, the drinks are too dilute. I ordered a fresh kiwi blended which supposed to be masam, but it tastes sweet. Dafuq???

Barbecue Chicken RM11.99

This BBQ chicken is quite tender but it wasn't so special.

Fish & Chips RM11.99

I am a huge fan of fish & chips. This fish & chips is one of the best that I have ever had. Unlike many fried fish which has very thick coating, this fried fish has a very thin coating so it feels like I am biting a fish, not a layer of flour. Regrettably, it wasn't beer battered. And the sauce is sooooooooo refreshing, so you must dip the fish with the sauce. The french fries is a must-try too!

Seafood Spaghetti RM9.99  

Spaghetti is also one of my favourites. I only got a bite on the two juicy oysters, so no comments on the taste of other items. From the display of the foods, it sure looks promising.  

Mangoes Cake RM5.90

We ended the lovely dinner with a mangoes cake. 

p.s.// If you do follow my blog, you will have notice a huge improvement in my photography of food. That's
        because I have bought a new set of macro lens filters. A new Nikon macro lens is not financially afford-
        able, lens filters work fine, if not better. 

揾嘢吃@ Old Town White Coffee, Falim

          If you live in Falim or Menglembu, I think you have heard of the new Old Town White Coffee recently opened just next to Jalan Kledang Utara. As far as I know (correct me if I am wrong), this is the 12th outlet store of this renowned kopitiam restaurant chain in Perak state. As a Chinese born and raised in Ipoh, I am truly proud and lucky to be an Ipohan because I can taste the most famous kopi in Malaysia each and everyday! 

   

White Coffee (cold) RM3.90

 Xi Mut Milk Tea (hot) RM3.50

 Nasi Lemak Special RM8.50

Kaya Butter Toast RM3.40 

Address: 62 & 64, Laluan Perusahaan Menglembu 1, Kawasan Perusahaan Menglembu, 31450 Ipoh.

揾嘢吃@新合记饭店 Sin Hup Kee Restaurant（怡保）

          Recently, I have been hunting for Ipoh foods. I realized that I wasn't so Ipohan, because there are a lot of great foods and places that awaiting me to explore. While I am still at Ipoh (unemployed sadly), I will continue to search every corner of Ipoh for FOODS before I regretted!

          新合记饭店 has been around for quite some time, and this was the third time I visited the restaurant. The restaurant had undergone expansion since my last year visit, so it is much more spacious now.

          Steamed eggs (水蛋) is one of my all-time favourites. This dish consists of three types of eggs: 皮蛋，鸭蛋 and of course 鸡蛋. It wasn't extremely good, but it is definitely worthwhile to taste.

          Yard-long beans + Eggplants + 菜埔仔 is one of the 镇店之宝 (English translation: The Sacred Treasure of the Shop??? LOL) This one is a must-order!!!

          咕鲁肉 is too sour and not too crunchy, so......

          

          I don't know why I hate vegetables after I came back from overseas. Maybe I ate too much vegetables there (what to do, Western foods so tempting and oily, must eat more vegetables). Nevertheless, this romaine lettuce (油麦) is very tasty (but spicy). 

Overall score:

Food              3.5/5.0

Price               3.0/5.0

Service           3.0/5.0

Environment    3.0/5.0

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p.s./ I want to buy a macro lens for my DSLR, for food/flower shootings, but I will wait patiently till I get a job.  

揾嘢吃@鸿图酒楼 Hoong Tho Restaurant（怡保）

          The 揾嘢吃 series is back again! The last episode was posted almost a year ago. Now that I am unemployed and searching for jobs online while waiting call from JPA, I will have more time to blog.

          This episode is about a 60 years old plus restaurant in Ipoh. To be frank, for the past 10 years, I always passed by this restaurant either in school bus, in car or on my motorcycle but I never knew it is this famous until I just came back from study overseas two weeks ago. This restaurant has undergone some major renovations recently and its business has been rocketing since then. 

          I'd never stepped into the restaurant until I came with my family 2 days ago, so I have no idea how it was like before the renovation. But I will say the new interior design is retro and clean. Thumbs up!

          Initially, I didn't order this Fried Wanton. But I saw almost every table had one, so I also ordered one. I saw the newspaper on the walls reports that their fish balls are made from 西刀鱼. It comes with a special sauce with taste like dilute sweet tomato sauce. To me, the taste and Q-ness of the Wanton is ordinary, however,  it is very crispy. So I will recommend you to try at least once.

          甜酸猪脚 was quite nice, especially the sauce. I normally don't eat the skin because of the fats, but I ate one big skin this time and it was actually quite tasty. Haha, a new entry added to my 'unhealthy-but-must-eat list".

           This 姜蓉鸡 was totally ruined by the overdosed ginger. They put so much ginger and it becomes too spicy to eat. 

          The thing I like about this 八宝豆腐 is its colour and variety of ingredients. The thing I don't like is the tofu. If the tofu was replaced with hand-made soya tofu, this dish will be great. 

          This veggie is a big surprise! The 油麦 is cooked with chillies which gives some spiciness to the veggie but not overdone it. Love it ~ ~ ~

           This restaurant is famous for its 广府炒 noodles. For your information, if you don't specify 干炒, they will do the  广府炒  style for whatever noodles just like the two picture above. The 滑蛋河 was yummy, but 火候不够. The 广府炒米粉 (as shown above) is a disaster. In my opinion, 米粉 is only suitable for 干炒. 

Overall score:

Environment     3.0/5.0

Food                3.0/5.0

Service             3.0/5.0

Price                 2.5/5.0

Address: Jalan Bandar Timah, 30000 Ipoh, Perak.

揾嘢吃@Sungai Petani + Penang

I'm back! And I'm sick, again. This is due to my can't-stop-eating syndrome and it's impossible to cure. Haha...

Last Friday, I went to Sungai Petani with a friend that I haven't met for 2 years. Before he came to Ipoh, he volunteered to bring me tour around SP. And I said "Yes". 

There's an unhappy event that happened when we were purchasing bus tickets in Medan Gopeng. But I won't describe it here because it's a long story.

We arrived at Butterworth around 10.55 a.m. and we took half an hour City Liner bus to Sungai Petani. 

This is the hawker center that we had our lunch. The hawker center is very old but clean and it reminded me of the 糖水街 in Ipoh. 

壽面 RM2.80 (small)

Basically, this dish is a combination of egg, sprouts, char siews, and chicken slices served with special soup.  It is not too unique to me. 

竹蔗水 RM1.00

 Did you ever see 竹蔗水 in light green color? I thought it was 甘蔗水.  

Our second destination is this old store to drink the famous Red Bean drink. 

Red Bean Drink RM2.00

Hoho, this drink is really good!!! The red beans are grounded together with ice cubes and approximately a spoon of Milo  powder is put on top of the drink. This fusion is simply creative, original and yummy! 

蒸滑蛋河? RM 6.00

At night, we had our dinner at a restaurant far far away from the house. Honestly I don't know what is the name of this dish. My friend introduced this dish as 蒸滑蛋河, so I'm just following. Haha~~~ However, it is definitely not 滑蛋河. The Hor Fun is steamed and served with tomato slices, steamed and fried fish pieces, gingers and an egg. 

Sting ray RM 12.00

This is my first time to eat BBQ sting ray. Usually sting ray is cooked with curry at home. The taste is ordinary and I don't like it. Haha...

The next morning, we came to this old stall for breakfast. 

This stall is well-known with her Wanton Mee. Customers have to take one number from the stall owner before sitting down and wait to be served. We got number 27 when number 18 was being served and we waited like half an hour. 

Wanton mee RM ???

Ooops, I don't know the price because my friend's father treated the meal. And I can't understand Teochew dialect at all.  To me, the taste is OK, no surprise. Maybe I am expecting too much. 

A moment after the breakfast, we crossed the Kedah's state border to Penang! This time, we were joined by his friends at this famous Kampar Fish Jelly Restaurant. 

This restaurant sells Hakka mee, Yam Rice (actually it is Taro Rice), and many side dishes such as Yong TauFu.  

Unfortunately my phone was out of batteries so I didn't take photo of the Hakka mee. And I don't have any special fond towards Hakka mee ><

After the lunch, we went to Penang Hill to ride the Funcular Train!!! The ticket price is RM8.00 for adults and RM4.00 for students (round trip). However, this is just for Malaysian. For foreigners without the Malaysian identification card, they must pay RM30.00 for adults and RM15.00 for children. 


[Tricky: They deliberately show the "Malaysian price" info in Malay, and the "Foreigner price" in English so that only Malaysian(that can understand Malay) will get the cheaper ticket price]

ABC Ais Kacang @ Penang Hill

Char Kuay Teow (Halal) @ Penang Hill RM4.00


Last but not least, this Assam Laksa was highly recommended by a friend of my friend. The Farlim Shell Station Laksa is located nearby the Farlim Sunshine Square. 

What made the Shell Station Laksa stands out amongst all Assam Laksa in the Penang state was the big chunks of kembung fish and freshly made kembung fish balls served in one beautiful bowl of  Assam Laksa. 

Recently, Penang's Assam Laksa is placed in No.7 of CNN GO 50 Most Delicious Foods in the World. Be proud of it! 

Tata for now!