Kedai Kopi Kwong Hong, Ipoh

Date visited : 27 May 2018

When I came here for the first time last year, I immediately fell in love with this place. I only regret that I didn't know about this place much earlier. This is a place that serves Ipoh style Yong Tau Foo. However, the locals don't call it Yong Tau Foo, they call it Zhao Liu (Fried Ingredients in Cantonese).

Their business starts at 12pm but the shop is open for preparation at 11am. You can sit around and order drinks but they will only start the food ordering when they are ready at 12pm.

Just by sitting around and watch them prepare made me so excited. For me it's like watching food porn. Just look at the spread of ingredients you could choose from!

They even have variations of noodles to choose from. They have 4 types of noodles, mee hoon, yellow mee, Ipoh kuey teow and laksa noodles. After choosing your preferred noodles, you then choose the method of preparation or soup base. You can have it dry (noodles tossed in dark sauce with no soup), clear soup, curry and sometimes they even have assam laksa.

Assam laksa

Curry soup

Don't expect the normal thick and strong tasting soup from the usual assam laksa and curry laksa, the soup base here is lighter in taste so that it does not overpower the taste other ingredients.

These are my selection of the day. We ordered some fried stuff and some soup based ingredients. The fish paste used has a soft and bouncy texture. Each ingredient has their own special taste and each so delicious.

All the ingredients are so tasty. There's nothing I don't like here. I just wish I had a bigger stomach so I could eat them all.

So if you were to come here, try one of everything. I promise you won't regret it.

OUR RATING

Ambience : 3/5

Service : 4/5

Food Quality : 5/5

Price Range : $

Status : Non Halal

Other information:

Address : No 309 Jalan Gunung Rapat, Taman Rapat Setia, 31350 Ipoh, Perak

Business Hours : 12pm - 5.30pm (Closed on Mondays)

Transaction : Cash

Tai Soo No 1 Ipoh Famous Dessert, Ipoh

Date visited : 26 May 2018

When we talk about dessert in Ipoh, almost everyone that I know will mention Funny Mountain Tau Fu Fah. But to me, Funny Mountain is no longer funny as it is highly commercialized and it is too crowded with tourists. So I decided to look for another alternative for good Tau Fu Fah (Soybean Curd)... and I found it.

Tai Soo No 1 Ipoh Famous Dessert is a humble store located along the busy street of Jalan Raja Musa Aziz. And here they offer more than just Tau Fu Fah. They have Tau Fu Fah in different variations, cendol and ais kacang as well.

So if you are among a group of friends or family who would appreciate more variety, this would be a good choice.

Now let's talk about their Tau Fu Fah first.

This is their plain Tau Fu Fah with Gula Melaka (palm sugar). Tau Fu Fah with Pandan Syrup is nice but Gula Melaka gives the Tau Fu Fah an added caramel toffee like taste. The Tau Fu Fah here is very smooth and served in a reasonable portion.

This is Tau Fu Fah with Soya Bean and Pandan Syrup. It's a mixture of both hot Tau Fu Fah and cold Soya Bean drink. I will usually choose this on days I'm torned between a hot serving of tau fu fah or a cold and refreshing soya bean drink.

This is their Red Bean Cendol. The red bean and cendol is soft and sweet. However, when mixed together with the shaved ice drenched in Gula Melaka, it's not overly sweet.

And this is their Ais Kacang Special. Their Ais Kacang Special consists of shaved ice drenched in Gula Melaka, Rose syrup and evaporated milk, cincau (grass jelly), cendol, sago, red beans, sweet corn, roasted peanuts and then topped with a scoop of corn flavoured ice-cream. I actually preferred my Ais Kacang without ice-cream but I forgot to inform the staff on that and by default, it came with the ice-cream.

So if you want to try something new or enjoy your dessert away from the tourist crowd, why not come here for a change.

OUR RATING

Ambience : 3/5

Service : 4/5

Food Quality : 3.5/5

Price Range : $

Other information:

Address : No 24 Jalan Raja Musa Aziz, 30300 Ipoh, Perak

Contact No. : 012-527 8881

Business Hours : 11am - 6pm (Closed on Wednesdays)

Transaction : Cash

Links : https://www.facebook.com/ipohfamous/

Lian Thong Restaurant, Taiping

Date visited : 26 May 2018

When I browsed through blogs for food recommendation in Taiping, Lian Thong Restaurant was highly recommended for the best place to have breakfast. But since I've already made plans for breakfast, I saved stomach space to try this place out for lunch.

From the look of this place, it is easy to tell that this place has been around for quite a long time. Judging from the customers I see in this place, this place is popular not only with the local adults and elderly but also teenagers as well. 

The first thing I ordered was their Fried Taufu Pok.

The skin of the taufu pok is thin and deep fried till crunchy while the meat filling remains moist and juicy.  

Next I ordered their signature dish, the Bomb Mee.

It is similar to the normal Cantonese Fried Noodle or also known as Kong Foo Chau. The difference is in the noodles. The Yee Mee noodles in this Bomb Mee is fried till it is all puffed up and that creates the light and spongy texture on the inside. It is then topped with egg gravy, vegetables, chicken and prawns.

And last but not least is their own made Salted Lime Juice.

This drink is perfect for a hot weather or when you have a sore throat. It is slightly salted, slightly sweet plus a hint of sourness. And with all these combined, it makes it so refreshing and yummy.

The salted limes used for this drink is own made in this restaurant.

You will see jars and jars of limes in different stages of fermentation on their cashier counter and on top of a car bonnet outside the restaurant, under the sun.

They also have other worth trying dishes like Fried Mee Jawa and Kerabu Rice. I didn't have enough stomach space for them this time but I will definitely come back to this place again to try them out.

OUR RATING
Ambience : 3/5
Service : 4/5
Food Quality : 3.5/5
Price Range : $

Other information:
Address : No 5 Jalan Kota, Perak, 34000 Taiping
Contact No. : 05-807 2645
Business Hours : 8.30am - 2pm (Monday - Friday) / 8.30am - 12pm (Saturday) / Closed on Sundays)
Transaction : Cash
Links : https://www.facebook.com/LianThongRestaurant/

Restoran Kakak, Taiping

Date visited : 26 May 2018

I've heard of this place for quite some time now but I have never been here in person. 

The reason I've heard about this place is because of their signature coffee called Kakak Peng (Kakak Ice). My colleague bought it for me to try during my last visit to Taiping for work and I loved it.

Kakak Peng is a mixture of milk coffee and barley. It may sound strange and a bit exotic to some but you have to give it a try to appreciate it. It can be served hot or cold but I personally liked it cold. The sweetness from the barley gives the coffee a unique taste.

Other than their signature coffee, people also come here for their Kai Si Hor Fun (Kuey Teow Soup with Shredded Chicken). 

The texture of the kuey teow (flat rice noodles) here are similar to the ones well known in Ipoh. As you can see, they are generous with the portion of shredded chicken. If you are not comparing to the ones found in Ipoh, this is easily the best in Taiping.

OUR RATING
Ambience : 3/5
Service : 4/5
Food Quality : 3.5/5 (4.5/5 for the Kaka Peng)
Price Range : $
Status : Non Halal

Other information:
Address : No 111 Jalan Pasar, 34000 Taiping, Perak
Business Hours : 5.30am - 1.30pm (Closed on Mondays)
Transaction : Cash

Kolo Mee, Kuching

Date visited : 20 May 2018

Other than the Sarawak Laksa, there's another noodle dish which is also iconic to Sarawak... and that's the Kolo Mee.

The Kolo Mee noodles are almost similar to wantan noodles only springier and does not come drenched in dark sauce. It is usually tossed in clear sauce, topped with spring onions, minced meat and slices of barbecued pork.

I asked my colleague who was born and raised in Kuching, Sarawak, to recommend me the best Kolo Mee in town and he told me this is one of the best... Red Kolo Mee in the old open market near Kuching Waterfront.

Here you are given a choice of original Kolo Mee, clear in colour, and Red Kolo Mee, which is red in colour. Since my colleague ordered the original Kolo Mee, I ordered the red one so that I can try both to see what is the difference.

The toppings are the same for both and the difference is in the way the noodles are prepared.

This is the original Kolo Mee with the choice of flat noodle. It is tossed in clear sauce and topped with spring onions, mince meat and slices of barbecued pork. It may look very plain but the clear sauce used to toss the noodles is very tasty and compliments well with the toppings.

This is the Red Kolo Mee with the choice of curly thin noodles. What made it red in colour is not colouring nor chilli or tomato sauce. The noodles are tossed with the red oil from the barbecued pork used in the noodles. And because of this addition, it made the taste of this Kolo Mee different than the original ones. The aromatic taste of the barbecued pork is infused into the noodles thus making it very tasty and different from the original ones.

My colleague was right, this Kolo Mee is really nicer than the ones I had in Klang Valley.

Right opposite this stall was another interesting stall that sells soy bean drinks, steamed buns and Sio Bee. 

At first I was wondering what is a Sio Bee. Then my colleague explained to me that Sio Bee is a Hokkien word for our well known Siu Mai. In Kuching, the locals call their Siu Mai, Sio Bee.

The difference of Sio Bee and the normal Siu Mai is the meat used. Siu Mai uses a mixture of shrimp and pork while the Sio Bee uses only pork. The skin colour is also pale compared to the yellowish ones of our normal Siu Mai. The meat is very tender and is best eaten with chilli sauce.

So if you're here to try the Kolo Mee, why not give this Sio Bee a try too.

Other information:

Address : Tower Market Hawker Centre, Jalan Power, 93000 Kuching, Sarawak.

Contact No : 016-855 5665

Business Hours : Opens daily from morning till 11.30pm

Transaction : Cash

Other links : https://www.facebook.com/redkolomee/

Sarawak Laksa, Kuching

Date visited : 19 May 2018

Sarawak Laksa is an iconic Sarawak dish. It's a noodle dish served in an aromatic spiced coconut milk soup, topped with shredded chicken, shredded omelette, bean sprouts, prawns, and garnished with coriander.

Since I had the opportunity to travel to Kuching for work, I decided to make the most of my trip... to introduce to you the best Sarawak Laksa in Kuching. That's not just what visitors like me say, but it is acknowledged by the locals here. I came here twice before but the last I came was more than 3 years ago. I was told that even famous celebrity chef, Anthony Bourdain, has been here twice for the Sarawak Laksa.

The Sarawak Laksa here is the star of this humble neighbourhood coffee shop, Choon Hui Cafe. Other than the Sarawak Laksa, there are 3 other stall that serves Kolok Me (also a local Sarawak dish), porridge and popiah. However, every time I'm here, it would be just the Sarawak Laksa and a side of popiah for me.

The Sarawak Laksa stall is operated by two elderly ladies and not once did I see them take a break from the never ending orders. 

Every bowl is skillfully and tirelessly prepared by these two ladies.

Just look at this bowl of mouth watering Sarawak Laksa! 

What makes each laksa different is the broth and the broth that comes with the Sarawak Laksa here is so delicious. The thickness of the broth is just right, the sourness and spiciness of the broth are at the right balance.

While you're here, you may also want to try the popiah available in this coffee shop. It is the next popular dish in this place. There are many who come just to pack these popiahs for take away.

So if you happen to come to Kuching be it for business or for pleasure, make sure you make a stop at Choon Hui Cafe to taste the amazing Sarawak Laksa.

Other information:

Address : No 34, Jalan Ban Hock, 93100 Kuching, Sarawak

Contact No : 082-780 369

Business Hours : 7am - 2pm (may be sold out earlier than that) / Closed on Tuesdays

Transaction : Cash