Short trip to Ipoh, Perak
Malaysia now allow cross border travelling, my buddy prince William going back to visit his family and he invited me to tag along. The deal is, to bring me for not so commercialized hidden gem, so, why not!
We departed from Kuala Lumpur around 5.30pm, manage to arrive approximately 8pm. I requested for 1 of my favorite dinner spot in Ipoh, guess where is it? Yes, It's Tuck Kee (德记)
Whenever I visit Ipoh, I will definitely stop by at this shop. This place has many years of history.
My first visit was back in 2001 (19 years ago), I was there to attend a friend's wedding. Upon arrival, my Ipoh friend brought me to this shop and I could never ever forget the dishes served until today!
Normally, this shop is full of people and many people would be queuing up, but we were so lucky, we manage to get a table straight upon arrival.
I was thinking... Hmm.. why isn't it full house? Has the food quality dropped?
I was ABSOLUTELY WRONG! Have a look at the photos below!
The signature dish is the above, moonlight kuey tiaw (月光河), they actually put 2 raw eggs on top of the fried kuey tiaw, it looks like moonlight isn't it? How do you eat it? Just stir it then eat it, the taste is the same as the first time I had it 19 years ago, it's marvelicious! The portion is so huge, we only wanted to eat a little as we still have second round to go. My friend recommended another dish, which is the cuttlefish meatball (吊片猪肉丸).
What's next? Also another favorite place I requested, restaurant Sun Yoon Wah (新元华)
What attracted me to revisit this place? Have you heard about snow beer? This is the first place (which I know) where they will serve the beer in super cold mug ( approximately -6 degrees), upon pouring the beer into the mug, the beer will turn into freezy beer, looks like snow! Popular way to drink it is to mix between Guinness and any white beer, it taste so good. The food is also quite good to go with the beer, seafood, fried intestines etc...
After our stomachs were filled with lotsa beer and sinful food, we call it a day, we need to rest earlier for next day's agenda. Upon arriving at the airbnb, I saw something interesting at the lane, it reminded me to take some nice photos of the street wall painting. It has become a trend in many places i.e Penang, Kuantan, KL etc.. Have a look at the wall painting I took with panorama mode.
The next day morning, prince William brought me to a restaurant to have the food he had since he was a kid. Hakka noodle. I was thinking, isn't this the popular food in Seremban? Never heard about this food in Ipoh. Anyway, prince William is a foodie so I always trust him.
This restaurant is an old school shop where there isn't any decorations. I had the traditional Hakka mee and prince William ordered some other side dishes to go together with it. The noodle looks so plain. It was topped with small pork chunk on top of the noodle, nothing special, but, after the first bite, I was like mmm.... so nice, never expected that. So, don't judge a book by it's cover. The sauce is so special, couldn't really tell what's inside, but, you won't be disappointed for sure. This won't be my radar if it wasn't prince William, it is definitely not on my Ipoh food list, but it will now!
After this we went to visit a popular "haunted" place.
Yes. it's Kellie's Castle! Kellie's Castle (sometimes also called Kellie's Folly) is a castle located in Batu Gajah, Kinta District, Perak, Malaysia. The unfinished, ruined mansion, was built by a Scottish planter named William Kellie-Smith. According to differing accounts, it was either a gift for his wife or a home for his son. Kellie's Castle is situated beside the Raya River (Sungai Raya), which is a small creek to the Kinta River.
Kellie's Castle is now a popular local tourist attraction, with some believing it to be haunted.
It was used as a setting in the 1999 film Anna and the King and 2000 film Skyline Cruisers.
In 2015, Kellie's Castle was the site of the first ever 24-hour comic challenge in a castle. A collaboration between Port Ipoh and the Malaysian Comic Activist Society (PEKOMIK) and Malaysian Animation Society (ANIMAS), the event took place on 21–22 March 2015 and was claimed as the "scariest" 24 hour comics challenge.
After completed the short tour, it's time for good food again!
This restaurant is in a small town which is about 30 minutes from Ipoh town called Tualang. They are very popular with the fresh seafood, especially the prawns. Food is good, however, due to their popularity, the bigger prawns were out of stock, the 1 left is only the medium size. Anyway, it is worth the journey, the food is good, shall try the bigger prawns in future trips for sure!
Time for an afternoon nap as more food is lining on the way!
When I arrived the shop, I gave a good laugh, Seremban restaurant in Ipoh... ok.... By the way, no reservation, no table, I must see what is it so good...
This place is popular with the crab. The crab we pre-ordered was 1kg/ crab, look at the 2nd image, it is really giant crab. Other than the crab, they also have a few dishes worth mentioning. They are the pork chop yam cake, this isn't the typical yam cake, it is mixed with sweet potato; Another 1 would ne the pork knuckles, meat is really tender, the seasoning is also very special.
After the satisfying dinner, it's time to have some good wine!
Miners Arms was highly recommended, the place serves good food and also reasonably priced alcohol. I love the ambience of the place, place is well decorated, nice menu and friendly staffs. They even have their own tea brand STG. You may have a look at the many in the gallery, it shows the function of each and individual tea. I have a minor sleeping problem, so I opted for the lavender tea.
So, we ended our night here with good conversation and also a few bottles of good wine. Before I forget, you must try the tiramisu! it is no too sweet and the taste of tiramisu is so rich! Good night.
Good morning, it's time for breakfast! Yes, most of the people would go for dim sum in Ipoh, we too. Normally, I would go for Ming Court (明阁), but, prince William brought me to this Chooi Yue restaurant (翠月楼) to try out.
Same as other sim sum shop, place is super crowded with long queue, we waited approximately 30 minutes before getting a table. Luckily they have the numbering system.
Food is good and i would say they are above average. Price is quite standard. The only down side of the place is that we are only allowed to have 50 minutes meal time, kinda rush. Would I revisit the place, it's yes. I love the giant size Pao, it's really delicious, it reminds me of the taste of the giant Pao during my kids day.
Before heading back to Kuala Lumpur, another item is yet to be checked, it's the popular white coffee.
The name of this shop is called Chang Jiang White Coffee (长江白咖啡). I am not boasting, this is the BEST white coffee I've ever had! I am not a frequent coffee drinker, but, it gave me a WOW! The taste of the coffee is so rich but it is not too sweet. You must visit this place, they have all the traditional coffee shop food too. They also sell their white coffee, in case you know you will miss the coffee, you may buy a few packets back.
It's time to depart back to KL now, ciao!