Gastronomic Delights in Ipoh

 

Warrens of Gastronomic delights in Kinta Valley, Ipoh.

Lee Heng Lye ,Jerry .

On my trip back to JB from Perlis during  my Jan 2021 trip , I decided to break the journey at  Ipoh because I wanted to see Ipoh as well as to get a good night rest.

I told the taxi driver at Amanjaya Bus Interchange in Ipoh to bring me to a hotel smack in the centre of the best restaurants in Ipoh. He lamented that this is not his job but I threatened not to pay him if he brought me to a bad location.

He brought me to Jalan  Seenivasagam in Ipoh. True , there were many Chinese restaurants there and Excelsior Hotel stood  majestically at the end of the road. Opposite it is the famed, Overseas Chinese Restaurant.

I couldn’t get a room at Excelsior so I checked in at Belmorris Greentown  Hotel. I crossed the road and took in my dinner at Restaurant Soon Fatt.The ambience was not superb but the service was immaculate. Every customer is precious to them . I ordered the Sweet Sour  Prawn dish with steamed rice. I also asked for Jasmine tea. I heard so much about the freshwater prawn Udang Galah  but they did not have stock. The sweet, sourish, chilli taste of the gravy was most excellent so was the consistency of the steamed rice. The rice grains cooked so well , each came out as a jewel to be devoured. The wisps of fragrant jasmine perfume emanating from my teacup was intoxicatingly delicious.

The next morning, I was bent on trying the best Dim Sum in Ipoh. I scanned the Instagram and got  in touch with a friend called Grissly. He suggested I try Ming Court.

Grissly was busy so he couldn’t join me for  breakfast. Ming Court just behind Excelsior was a small Dim Sum shop in comparison to Foo Sun just across the road from it. You are shown the menu with pictures of the morsels and a sheet of paper form for you to tick off  your selections. Small morsels-  but all so delicious in  looks, smell, texture, colour and taste. One bite into these morsels and the smell the freshness of the ingredients together with their herbal scents will exude out.

 Siew Maiis....pork minced wrapped in a wanton skin wrapper, Har Kow.....prawns  wrapped in a translucent white tapioca flour skin wrapper and Chicken Legs Soya steamed till wrinkled and soft with ligaments  were my favourites. My favourite dessert was Red Bean Soup ....the beans are so soft, all totally broken down into a paste when touched . Also  the  lovely yellow custard tarts-the pastry cup so creamy and crusty.

I had to catch my bus back which I prebooked but I promised myself I would be back to explore the warrens of gastronomic delights that I had accidentally discovered in Kinta Valley .In my subsequent trips, I had discovered more restaurants and more delights.

I tried Foo Sun on my next trip. For 2 days, I took my breakfast there. There is an upper floor where you could sit in their terrace to watch things happening in the streets below. Every dish, I ordered  was absolutely perfect. I could feel the ingredients oozing out of the morsel I bite and the smell was heavenly-fresh and nicely scentful. I was told by their old lady staff that a Master Dim Sum maker from HK was engaged to teach some Ipohrians the art of the trade during Foo San early days. Today, there are many Master Dim Sum makers at Foo San.

I also ate at the Overseas Chinese Restaurant. They are famed for their Sar Siews-red roasted pork strips  and their Sio Baks- roasted pork belly  with their 4 layered meat. They served them with steam rice and a dash of their gelatinous meat gravy....sticky and fragrant. It is indeed pricey to eat at Overseas but it was really a mouth watering and memorable experience.

I also tried the other Dim Sum joints namely Chef Fatt and Chang Keong at Seenivasagam.

They were all good with their special signature morsels to show off. I did walk into many other joints.

Knta Valley is a gastronomic rabbit hole that I so accidentally fell into and had also so madly fell in love with too. So many warrens and joints yet to be discovered...in my future trips.