Restoran New Holly Wood @ Ipoh

Another place that came highly recommended in Ipoh is Restoran New Holly Wood, a halal chinese kopitiam. It's on the opposite end of Restoran Canning Corner.

Apparently the must have is the char koi (RM0.70)

Looks good yes?

But it was a let down, as we found it to be rather oily and chewy compared to Canning Corner's char koi which we had the previous day. 

K: It was also saltier. 

Thankfully this dish made up for the disappointment! I love Hong Kong Chee Cheong Fun, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to have this halal dish. Can you see all those generous sized prawns? So fresh and crunchy! If you can find ones of that size with that price (RM3.50) in KL (that is halal or pork free of course) then do tell.

K: One thing we didn't do here was order drinks. Why, you ask? Well, in the course of researching places to go, we surfed the web to find reviews. And in a review for the New Holly Wood Restaurant, the operator was apparently caught red handed recycling straws. Yuck!! The idea of sucking drinks through a straw that has been used by God knows how many countless strangers is really gross. So, no drinks, only food.

But to be fair, the straws didn't seem to be of different lengths when we went. 

K: Compared to Canning Garden, none of the stalls here have Halal certs. 

However this place, which has been established for a longer period, is the more happening of the two. You'll see a lot of people here.

K: Yeah, we saw Mamat Khalid of Hantu Kak Limah fame, younger brother of Lat, having his lunch here.

Restoran New Hollywood
38, Jalan Lee Kwee Foh,
Canning Garden,
Ipoh, Perak

Price - $
Certified halal meat sources (not that we saw them that day)
Apologies, we forgot to take the operating hours but it's open for brunch.

Restoran Capati Maju Rapat @ Ipoh

Truth be told, I was a bit reluctant to come here. I like capati but what's so special about this one that we'd drive all the way from Klang Valley to Ipoh for? It sure looks like your typical mamak shop, and it wasn't even crowded (but to be fair, we did come at an off-peak hour).

K: We came with middling expectations and we went away with great appreciation of the modest capati. All hail the capati!!

 

We came here quite late, around 11ish, I think so we didn't get any freshly made capati - it was all reheated stuff. That was already a bad sign since most capatis would get tough once it gets cold and no amount of reheating will change that. Imagine my surprise when I bit into the capati - it was as tender and soft as the moment it was first fried. A sign of good quality material used in the dough.

Then there was the sardine. I've had roti canai with sardine before but it was usually sardine with tomato sauce, straight out of the can. This was different. They took the sardine but they did not use any of the tomato sauce, instead they cook it in curry. 

 

Now that was something! Good curry + good sardine = mouthwatering deliciousness.

To top it all off, it was dirt cheap. A capati costs RM1 while the sardine curry was RM1. Yes, a RM2 meal!

The shop actually has a lot more curry choices recommended (beef, mutton, etc) but sardine was all that was left for that day. In fact, I think we had the last bit of sardine.

Verdict - Delicious, healthy(ish) and cheap. Must makan!

Restoran Capati Maju Rapat
Jalan Lapangan Terbang
31350 Ipoh

Price - $
Halal

Mee Daud Mat Jasak @ Ipoh

Wah, I didn't know Ipoh was famous for mee kicap. One of the most popular malay noodle shop in Ipoh is apparently Restoran Mee Daud Mat Jasak (or just Mat Jasak), their specialty being mee kicap and curry mee.

K: My friend told me to try mee kicap Mat Jasak as that's what it's famous for. I have to wonder, is the business really started by Mat Jasak or is it just people shortening the name to Mat Jasak and omitting the Daud? Well, since the business is started in 1972, it could well be Mat Jasak's recipe.

So does it live up to the hype?

Erm. 

The curry mee (RM3.50)  is surprisingly mellow, more lemak (coconut cream) than spicy. As it was Malay, I was expecting something with more kick. If you prefer something less spicy, this is for you. As for me, I'd give it a miss cos I find it tawar.

K: Since we just had curry mee at Canning Corner, I couldn't help but compare both. The curry mee here is also thin but it lacks flavour. Thumbs down from me.

The curry mee comes with fishball and "prawns". Have you seen those prawns balls now shaped like the real thing? Yuck. I personally never liked prawn balls, this new shape doesn't improve the taste either.

Thankfully, the mee kicap (RM3.50) was much better. It comes with yong tau foo

K: Mee kicap was definitely better than the curry mee. In comparison to mee kicap at Canning Corner, I think the mee kicap here is better. The kicap is not too sweet or too salty, just nice. The soup with the yong tau foo has more flavour, while the soup at Canning Corner was drowning in white pepper.

I forgot to taste the soup at Canning Corner but I will say I prefer CC's yong tau foo over Mat Jasak. I think their fishballs/ cake and bean curd skin tastes better. Mat Jasak's mee kicap, btw, uses yellow noodles.

K: Also had a nice conversation with the operator. Apparently the 3 siblings take shifts to operate the shop. One prepares the food in the morning, the other one on the afternoon and the last one at night. So, the taste and flavour might differ depending on which sibling is preparing the food.

Verdict - stick to the mee kicap, skip the mee curry unless you like it tawar.

Mee Daud Mat Jasak
Jalan Datuk Onn Jaafar
Taman Jubilee,
30300 Ipoh, Perak

Price - $
Opening hours - 8am - 10pm daily but if food finish early, tutup awal.

Restoran Canning Corner @ Taman Canning, Ipoh

 K: The elusive hunt for halal roast duck continues! We were actually looking for halal roast duck which were supposedly sold at Restoran Hong Kong but the restaurant is there no more. 

Eh, go check the address again? Right address... Let's go around the block, nope, no Restoran Hong Kong anywhere. Ah well, might as well just eat here then.

It turns out that Restoran Hong Kong's previous owner sold it, and the new owner has renamed it Restoran Canning Corner. It's still the same concept though, a kopitiam housing several operators serving halal-ish Chinese hawker food fare. Alas, no halal roast duck. Aisey.

Nevermind lah, janji got makan. No roast duck? No problem. There's always curry mee and mee kicap with yong tau foo. :)

The curry mee was deceptively thin looking, maybe even watered down. Wah, so wrong! The soup was very robust, just kurang lemak (less cream), which is healthier anyway.

K: I agree. The curry was not thick but it certainly was not lacking in flavour. Thicker is not always better! I also like the generous sprinkling of mint leaves in the curry. 

The noodles had the usual fishballs and tau foo pok. The kerang (cockles) was lightly cooked, therefore deliciously succulent. 

I'm not usually a fan of yellow noodles as they tend to have a strong chemical taste (too much perservatives?) but these tasted great and had a nice springy texture.

The mee kicap was like wantan mee but no wantans. It's a popular breakfast/ lunch meal in Ipoh served with crunchy fried shallots, sesame seeds and a side of yong tau foo soup. It also came with a generous amount of fresh mint leaves and of course, taugeh.

Sedap but overshadowed by the curry mee.

K: I agree. Curry mee is better than the mee kicap. The mee kicap supposedly costs RM1.50 while the curry mee is supposed to cost RM1.80 but since I added cockles in the curry mee as well as extra yong tau foo for the mee kicap which costs RM0.70 per piece, the total bill for both came up to RM9.10. Still quite reasonable.

Char kueh/ chakoi (70 sen per piece) was a big hit for us. Wah, best! It was not oily, with a crispy exterior but surprisingly soft, not chewy. The dough is more sweet than salty (but not too sweet) and delicious unadorned or dipped in your kopi/ cham/ curry mee, etc.  

K: Cheap chakoi is quite chewy, probably due to the cheap flour or maybe there's some secret recipe which keeps the chakoi soft even though it's no longer warm? Not this one. Naisss....

Chee cheong fun with curry (RM3)

Slippery smooth rice noodle roll served in black sauce with fried shallots and sesame seeds, no yong tau foo. This dish is normally not halal cos the sauce usually has pork. You can order it with or without curry, if you don't like spicy food. The curry boleh tahan pedas jugak!

Verdict - So coming back for the chakoi! Extra bonus points: The stalls have halal certs for their food products. That should allay some worries.

Restoran Canning Corner
Corner of Lorong Cecil Rae and Jalan Jaycee Park
Next to a big field, on the opposite end of Restoran New Holly Wood
Ipoh

Price - $
Certified Halal meat sources
(Apologies, we forgot to take the telephone number and opening hours. But we came for brunch, and unlikely open for dinner)

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