Monday, August 25, 2008

Good Food Hunting In Ipoh, Part 4 - Final

Early next morning, we stopped by Canning Garden for our usual Chee Cheong Fun but JC and mom shared a plate and they decided to eat curry noodles at Yat Yat Seng in Ipoh Garden later. Before that, we headed off to the nearby Simee Market as I was told that the egg tarts from Choy Kee are delicious.
Choy Kee Stall

Yummy Egg Tarts
They looked really good but I thought the crust looked a bit too thick. So before we decided on how many we should pack, we ate one on the spot! Hahaha...Surprisingly, the thick appearance of the crust was an illusion as a bite into one of the egg tarts revealed the crust to be of many thin layers which were light and flaky. The egg custard part was smooth and aromatic. We packed a dozen of these babies back! Hahaha....



Well, few minutes later we were sitting in Yat Yat Seng. I tried a bite and yet again, the curry noodles didn't score high with me. Seems that my Ipoh trip this time round could not produce a winner for best curry noodles. While Czar and I were having our drinks as JC and mom ate, a cute elderly woman asked me to try their Caramel Custard. Now, I was suppose to go to Thean Chun for this treat as advised but we had no plans to go to that area later, so I ordered one to try.
Caramel Custard
From egg tart custard to another custard, this was just plain caramel custard to me, standard stuff I mean. I am now sitting here, as I'm blogging on this post, wondering how the caramel custard in Thean Chun taste like and asking myself whether I've missed out on a great dessert and if I should kick myself!

Feeling a bit disappointed, we ended up at Sam Po Tong Temple to seek the answer to life or should I say, the direction to good curry noodles and caramel custard! Hahaha...Nah, Czar wanted to drop by the temple to pay her respects to her mom while the rest of us just tagged along and hope that the walk around the area would help us digest the food in our tummies faster.
Sam Po Tong

Tortoises
There were plenty of tortoises around. Apart from the ones on land, can you spot those with their heads bobbing out of the waters too?

Feeding Tortoise
We dangled the Kangkung (morning glory) into the pit, trying to get their attention as there is a grill separating us and we could not get near to them. There was a tortoise mini race of some sort but since we didn't have the whole day to see it end, we decided to throw the vegetables near and far so that most of them would get a chance to chomp on some.

After feeding the tortoises, it was time again to feed ourselves and we headed off to Dai She Geok ("Big Tree Foot"!) in Pasir Pinji for Yong Tow Foo. JC and mom opted to eat at the newer Yong Tow Foo stall which is just next to the original.
Yong Tow Foo stall
There are other stalls operating here too and I spotted Curry Chee Cheong Fun with Chee Pei (pork rind) which I just had to try. From this moment on, the photos turned out greenish as we sat under the green canopy and I still haven't figure out how to adjust the settings!
Dry Flat Noodles

Stuffed Vegetables Yong Tow Foo
The rest of them ordered kon low (dry) noodles to eat along with their Yong Tow Foo selection. I found the Yong Tow Foo and the noodles here to be pretty standard with the kway teow (flat noodles) being nice and smooth. Of course, they had a lot of Yong Tow Foo variety which is most probably their selling point. And what about my Curry Chee Cheong Fun?

Curry Chee Cheong Fun
It was just alright. Maybe I had set too high an expectation and felt somewhat let down. But I guess if one had tasted the Curry Chee Cheong Fun with pork rind from Wai Sek Kai, Pudu, you would concur with me. Maybe the green chillies shouldn't be there, it was kinda weird. The curry gravy was not thick enough for me. Maybe the stall owners were having an "off" day. Maybe...

After lunch, it was time to start our journey back home. However, the four of us had a twinkle in our eyes and soon found ourselves for one last round of Tau Foo Fah from Funny Mountain. Hahaha...that and a few boxes of Aun Kheng Lim's Salt Baked Chicken too which followed us back to Kuala Lumpur that evening. We made more plans to travel during that journey back :o)

Ipoh


We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment. ~Hilaire Belloc



26 comments:

J2Kfm said...

wah ... completely ate up all of Ipoh's resources! haha ...

the YatYat Seng curry mee is NOT good at all. wonder why many claim otherwise. probably personal preference

tigerfish said...

Look at those egg tarts!....yummy...so tempting.

MochaSourcream said...

I like your last photo... very classic... nice

fatboybakes said...

yeah, the thean chun caramal custard was sold out. AIYA, i knew i forgot something in IPOH, the egg tarts! drat!

Anonymous said...

Did I include the egg tart in your itinerary? Haha..

The caramel custard at Thean Chun usually sold off around 10am on weekends.

Where did you take the last pic by the way?

sc said...

the eggtarts were glistening! so tempting..

wmw said...

j2kfm : Not I didn't! Didn't get to eat Thean Chun's caramel custard! Boo Hoo! I also think Yat Yat Seng curry noodles so so only.

tigerfish : Yup, ahh...such sweet memories! Hehehe...

mochasourcream : I like it too! Thanks!

FBB : Hahaha...my friend just called me after seeing my post to tell me that the stall belongs to her cousin! There'll be another time...you didn't prepare a list?

Jason : Yes, you told me about Choy Kee...must try Thean Chun's caramel custard next time! I took the last pic while I was walking along the shops lah...I can't really remember but it was after I ate the Golden Kway Teow, so much be somewhere in that area. Why?

SC : Yeah...I ate one on the spot and it was so fresh! Yummy!

daphne said...

The egg tarts..

looked

sooooo

delicious!

argh!!! :(

Anonymous said...

Awww... those tortoises are soooo cute! Time soon for me to visit Ipoh lah... You just gave us FOUR very good reasons/parts to do so! :)

Big Boys Oven said...

Beside the gorgeous ipoh food and also happens to be where I am from,...... I just love the last photo ... so beautifl, a picture with millions words!

backStreetGluttons said...

one more, wheres your pixs of handsome ipoh chais ?

the st michaelian ones

PureGlutton said...

Ahhh...u make me miss my Ipoh food! Time to go back visiting soon! I want the yong taufu!

ling239 said...

the egg tarts look sooooooooo good !! ^_^

wmw said...

Daphne :

It

WAS

delicious...Hahaha


LFB: Ah yes, we should go for more Cuti-cuti Malaysia!

BBO : Thanks for the compliment!

BSG : I suppose you all would like to pose for me??? :o)

Pureglutton : Luckily for us, Ipoh's not that far ;o)

ling239 : They taste good too! Don't forget to try them when you go Ipoh!

k.t.x said...

hey, cool last pic! i like. look at the table, a double fronter...cool eh?

wonda said...

Yea, we also didn't get to eat Thean Chun's egg custard with caramel syrup cos by the time we found the shop, it was sold out by 10am. I would love to sink my teeth into the egg tarts! Which tastes better - the popiah with with the popiah skin or the egg wrapping?

Jun said...

nvm there's always another time to thean chun! another excuse to go to ipoh eh? ;)

Anonymous said...

hmm-we should go there next time when i am in town-mp

wmw said...

k.t.x : Yah, that pic is so rustic looking.

wonda : Definitely the egg skin popiah tastes better!

Jun : Yup! Another reason to go again! So, it's really that good ah?

MP : Aiks! This is not in town woh but in Ipoh.

Anonymous said...

Oic.. no lah, I'm just curious. Next time we shall go for curry mee, tau foo fah, caramel custard and egg popiah (again!)

Ethan W. said...

Ohh, the caramel custard brings back memories of the snack before the play at church :D Haha.

You think those water tortoises can compare to the dry land tortoise here? :o http://www.flickr.com/photos/ethanwwk/863554153/

wmw said...

Jason : Hopefully that day will come soon!

Ethan : The dry land ones looks more "regal"!

New Kid on the Blog said...

Kampong Simee's egg tarts is one of the best. Don't let the crust cheat you... :)

Anonymous said...

Wow..!! the egg tarts to die for..!! luckily you tried one on the spot.. and didn't let the looks deceived you eh.. :) good for you ..!

wmw said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
wmw said...

NKOTB : I know that for a fact now ;o)

mama bok : Best thing to do when in doubt! Hahaha...