Greentown Dim Sum Cafe @ Ipoh, Perak

TJ: I love chinese food. I grew up on chinese food. If you share this love, you'll understand my frustration on finding good, affordable chinese food. I know there's a lot of chinese muslim restaurants popping up in Klang Valley but, despite the rave reviews I hear from others, are just "meh" to me.

Yeah, yeah, my standards are too high I guess.

Most of the halal dim sums in Klang Valley tend to be either pricey or too cheap (cheap is not good when it tastes cheap aka inferior. You can find them at pasar malam. Blergh). On a recent makan trip to Perak, K & I stoppped at Ipoh to try halal dim sum at a reasonable-ish price (cos let's face it, dim sum isn't cheap lah).

The restaurant has a good spread of dim sums to select from, price ranging from RM3.20 to RM5.20.

BBQ Chicken Pau (left, RM3.60) has a soft, fluffy bun that wasn't over steamed (I hate wet pau, don't you?). The filling was smooth and sweet, but it can't beat Yut Loy's pau though! The Prawn Dumpling (centre, RM4.90) had a nice springy bite but was outshone by the succulent Chicken Siew Mai (right,RM3.60).

Under the fried dim sum category, we had the (top left panel) Fried Beancurd Roll (RM4.60), the Hive Yam Puffs (mid left panel, RM4.60), the Prosperity Chicken Ball (lower left panel, RM5.20) and Fried Radish Cake (right panel, RM4.20). The fried items were not greasy, so major points for that! 

The beancurd was nice, the yam puffs better and the chicken ball, which comes with a mysterious brown sauce dip, tastes like a dim sum karipap ayam. I personally didn't care for the latter but if you're adventurous and want something a little different...

Fried Radish Cake was the spiciest dish of the day and we were too full by then to truly appreciate it. It had a nice char and like their other fried items, was not greasy but too much taugeh for my liking.

I wanted the Chee Cheong Fun but alas, habis hari tu. I'll have to come back again some day and hope it'll be available! I must also make a note to try their porridges.

For dessert, we had the Egg Tarts (RM4.20) which would've been better had the buttery crust been thinner.

The Greentown Milk Tea (RM3.80) is a must order on the menu. The light layer tea is not too sweet and has a distinct but not overpowering pandan flavour. The addition of fragrant pandan makes this drink a winner! The Sea Coconut and Longan (RM2.70) was good but couldn't stand up to the outstanding Milk Tea.

In short: Definitely worth a visit for dim sum lovers.

Greentown Dim Sum Cafe

No 10, Persiaran Greentown 4,

Greentown Avenue, 30450 Ipoh,

Perak, Malaysia.

Price range - $-$$

Halal - certified lagi