Ipoh Sa Hor Fun @ Thean Chun, Ipoh

Ipoh is famous in Malaysia for having good eats at great prices. Thean Chun is one of those rare places that serves very traditional food at affordable prices. The coffee shop is old with an old-world charm about it what with the marbled tables and wooden chairs.

This place serves the best Sa Hor Fun I have ever tasted having grown-up in Kuala Lumpur. The hor fun (or rice noodles) were very smooth and very fine compared to the versions we have in Kuala Lumpur. Additionally, the soup was made from chicken and prawn stock and was well flavoured. The bowl of hor fun was generously topped with shredded chicken and cooked prawns with chives and fried shallots.

You can increase the yummylicious factor by further ordering a separate plate of steamed chicken and beansprouts to go with your noodles. The steamed chicken was extremely smooth and was drizzled with a delicious sauce. The short and plump beansprouts (courtesy of the mountain water available only in Ipoh town, so it was said) were blanched lightly and retained its crunchiness and served with a light sauce that complimented the beansprouts perfectly.

I wasn't prepared to have dessert but I spotted many tables ordering caramel custard. I was so excited that I promptly waived to the waitress and ordered the custard myself. It was well worth it and the custard has a very smooth and light texture and was not too cloyingly sweet.

There was also another stall selling "chee cheong fun" which is served in at least 3 types of sauces. If I remember correctly, plain, sweet and curry. I only like my "chee cheong fun" sweet. I just wonder if the "hor fun" in the "sa hor fun" is the same as the "fun" in the "chee cheong fun". Both noodles were very fine in texture and very smooth.

Additionally, one can always order the satay in which we did not order. I am truly regretting it now for not taking the opportunity ordering it. What can I say, Ipoh folks are certainly lucky folks to have food cooked traditionally.

Thean Chun is located at:

73, Bandar Bijih Timah

30000 Ipoh

Perak

Best Hakka Beef Balls @ Syed Alwi

I was never a fan a beef balls until I tried the beef balls at this Hakka stall in Syed Alwi Road.

The beef balls are freshly made by the stall holder himself. The beef balls are served in clear soup with a generous topping for chopped Chinese parsley. The beef balls themselves are bouncy and juicy to the bite.

I also love to order my noodles (usually beehoon) separately or "the dry version" which has a topping on minced pork. Even though the minced pork looks plain, the salty minced meat is a great accompaniment to the noodles. The most popular here is "mi kia" in which I do not really fancy. Oh yeah, don't forget their chilli sauce. Spicy and garlicky. Nice!

Other than beef balls, they also serve a mean "yong tau foo". Whilst it may not be the best, it is certainly better than the normal local stalls because they are also made at the stall itself.

This place also serves other Hakka food such as abacus seeds (made from yam and stir fried with minced pork, mushrooms and black fungus) and "soon kueh" (dumplings with shredded turnip and mushrooms) which is pretty good too.

This stall is located at:

The Beef House

217 Syed Alwi Road,

Gar Lok Eating Hse,

9am-6pm (Closed on Friday)

Full House @ Niu Che Shui, Kelana Jaya

Full House is strictly based on theme "White". The interior of the restaurant is mostly white with splashes of colours and here which makes it extremely attractive to first-timers.

They feature a Mini Cooper in front of their restaurant.

When you walk in to the restaurant the first floor of the restaurant is prettily decorated with pastel colours. So lovely to the eyes.

The menu. So cute!

The view from our table.

We were not feeling particularly hungry. Just ordered some food to sample and share. Appetizer, fried chicken wings. It was well seasoned and crunchy and had us licking our fingers clean.

Pasta carbonara with ham and mushrooms. Delicious and creamy.

Chicken chop. Unlike the regular chicken chop, it was delicious with the sauce and slightly sweet with the raisins. Yummy.

Now, this is a place I do not mind visiting if I have the time. Good food, great pricing and a nice hangout place. You can also order wine too.

Authentic Ramen @ Miharu Sapporo Noodles, Gallery Hotel

I have followed a fellow friend to Gallery Hotel with zero expectations on what we will be having for dinner. This was quite a little while back. Imagine my surprise to find a little Japanese restaurant tucked into the corner of the hotel. The restaurant looked very modest and homey despite being located in the hotel.

The restaurant.


Our table.

The Japanese restaurant is called Miharu Sapporo Noodles. Even though I was quite disappointed with the lack of variety, the restaurant only offers ramen in 3 broth offerings with different toppings with ala carte orders or stir fried vegatables and dumplings or gyoza.

After the food came, I changed my mind. It was one of the most tasty ramen I have ever tasted. The ramen is extremely springy to taste, just the way I like it. The hard boiled egg was to-die-for with its soft egg yolk in the center. The broth is also delicious albeit salty but I like salty. The dumplings were also quite tasty and the stir fried garlic shoots were also okay.

The ramen.


The gyoza.

The stir-fried garlic shoots.

Overall, where else can you get such authentic noodles at such a great economical pricing. Great during these bad times. This place definitely gives Ajisen a run of their money.

After doing some internet search at Singapore street directory, this is what I have found out. "This is the real deal. The only place in town you can get 100 percent authentic Sapporo Ramen. At Miharu, the popular Sapporo Nishiyama brand noodles are specially imported from Japan . Made with well water, these Japanese noodles come frozen and have to be thawed for 3 days, in order to reach the perfect texture. The noodles, wildly popular in Japan , has caused a stir amongst the Japanese community here. Even Singaporeans flock to this little, quaint Japanese eatery to get a taste of this springy and fresh Sapporo Ramen. Food gourmets and connoisseurs have shunned bigger establishments in face of this yummy little joint, for a taste of the real thing. ". Now, no wonder the noodles is so springy.

This place is located at Ground Floor, 1 Nanson Road S(238909), The Gallery Hotel, Robertson Quay, Singapore. Tel: 6849 8686.

Strawberry Moment Dessert Cafe @ Cameron Highlands

Recently, the weather is really hot in Singapore and Malaysia. We have decided to visit Cameron Highlands for a few days to enjoy the cool weather.

During the evenings, the temperature dips as compared to the day time. I reckon the temperature is somewhere between 20 degrees Celcius to 25 degrees Celcius. Wearing a jacket or outerwear is a must.

We have spotted Strawberry Moment Dessert Cafe on our way up and decided to drop by for some hot drinks. They have a wide variety of strawberry-themed cakes and desserts and main courses.

We decided to order their chocolate fondue. Overall, the chocolate fondue was creamy and chocolatey and we enjoyed the chocolate goodness. Even though it was a little strange to have baby tomatoes and cucumber sticks accompanying the fondue, we enjoyed it nonetheless as the chocolate was pretty good.

Their menu.

Chocolate fondue.

The accompanying ingredients consisted of baby tomatoes, cucumber sticks, strawberries, choco-cream sticks and cute multi-pastel colours marshmallows. Nice presentation, don't you think so.

I would not prefer to come here for coffee here though. Somehow or rather, the coffee here may have been made using coffee premixes, I can tell!

Address: 23-24, Jalan Angsana Satu, Brinchang Point, 39100, Cameron Highlands, Pahang.

Japanese Food @ Waraku

One of my favourite places to have affordable Japanese food is at Waraku. The food here is generally good, pretty authentic and they have an extensive menu to please your palate ranging from sushi, sashimi, bentos, ramen, udon and stir fried dishes.

Deep fried squid as an appetizer. Good but a little oily.

Raw tuna (minced) over rice with scallions, seaweed and wasabi. I am not a fan of tuna sashimi but I love this classic Japanese dish to bits. Non-oily and extremely satisfying. Too bad I cannot remember the name of this dish now! I have in my mind creating this dish at home with canned tuna in olive oil instead.

Pork slices with kimchi in soup. The dish is heated and comes with lots of vegetables and tofu. You will need 2 persons to finish off this soup dish.

I have visited Waraku which is located at Marina Square, the nearest MRT is City Hall if you taking the public transport.

I have also visited Waraku about 2 weeks prior to this post for dinner and they have a 1-for-1 promotion for their ramen.

Bak Kut Teh @ Ya Hua Rou Gu Cha

One of my favourite local comfort food is the "Bak Kut Teh". "Bak Kut Teh" is in the Hokkien/ Teochew dialect and it literally means "Pork ribs and tea". The history of this dish goes back to the olden days where Chinese immigrants from China worked in Singapore and Malaysia as labourers. With their meagre salary, they could only afford the boil the pork bones/ ribs with herbs or pepper and eat the humble dish with rice. Their meals would be accompanied by hot tea.

Well, some how or rather, the Malaysian version is cooked with herbs and the Singaporean version is cooked with pepper instead.

Now, this dish is loved by all walks of ages who loves a comforting bowl of hot soup with their rice. One of my favourite places to have bak kut teh is definitely at Ya Hua Rou Gu Cha. The pork ribs are cooked in a peppery and garlicky soup. Dunk the fried fritters into the soup and you will be heaven when you eat the fritters.

Ya Hua Rou Gu Cha also serves additional accompanying dishes such as pig's kidney in soup, lean meat in soup, braised beancurd, braised beancurd puffs, preserved vegetables, vegetables and fritters (yu tiao).

Address: 7 Keppel Road, PSA Tanjong Pagar Complex