IPOH, July 12 — One of the more happening neighbourhood-cum-commercial areas in the city, Ipoh Garden South attracts everybody from parents sending their precious offspring to ballet classes, hungry souls searching for good hawker bites to rich tai-tais making their rounds of the boutiques. 

Last week, I covered some of my preferred char kuey teow stalls in Ipoh Garden South. This time, let us focus on the other good eats that you should not miss when you happen to be around the area or are keen on exploring this neighbourhood.

One of the better dim sum outlets in Ipoh that is located away from the tourist-packed city centre (where Foh San is) happens to be Chooi Yue Dim Sum; a corner shop that has been constantly attracting a steady stream of customers in the mornings, especially on weekends where you can observe dozens of tables lined on the walkways and spilling out onto the streets.

The dim sum sifu or master in this case, hails from the kitchen of Yoke Fook Moon — a grand sum of 11 years of learning how to make delectable char siew buns and fish balls, which the restaurant is famous for.

Stir-fried with lots of crunchy Ipoh bean sprouts and spiked with a mild kick of sambal chilli paste, the fried lor bak gou (radish cake) at Chooi Yue Dim Sum was excellent.
Stir-fried with lots of crunchy Ipoh bean sprouts and spiked with a mild kick of sambal chilli paste, the fried lor bak gou (radish cake) at Chooi Yue Dim Sum was excellent.

The prawn dumplings, sweet and sour rolls, stir fried radish cake with bean sprouts and their special scallop dumplings are really good.

But judging from the constant crowds, I daresay in this part of Ipoh city, Chooi Yue’s only rival could be Kao Lee in Ipoh Garden, or even Hong Xing opposite the Giant hypermarket in Bercham.

But what if dim sum is not something you are desperately seeking to kickstart your day?

An excellent Hong Kong chee cheong fun in Ipoh is this one at Kafe Sentosa Ria where the combination of silky smooth rice noodles rolls stuffed with char siew and shrimps is always a winner in my book.
An excellent Hong Kong chee cheong fun in Ipoh is this one at Kafe Sentosa Ria where the combination of silky smooth rice noodles rolls stuffed with char siew and shrimps is always a winner in my book.

No fear, hop over to Kafe Sentosa Ria and tuck into the steaming hot Hong Kong chee cheong fun, filled with crunchy shrimps or BBQ pork cubes, or a mix of both, served with a generous spoonful of fried shallots and a side of piquant sambal chilli paste. 

This stall has consistently won us over despite fierce competition from the stall at Gourmet Square in Ipoh Garden, or the one at Stadium Ipoh hawker food centre. But nothing beats the predictably piping hot serving of silky smooth sheets of rice noodles in soy sauce and shallot oil, served with a humble smile from the uncle. 

I mentioned the fried noodles stall before, so I shall refrain from repeating myself, but don’t forget to try a bowl of prawn wantons from the wanton mee stall. Every dumpling is filled with a whole prawn that is fresh, plump and succulent, in a clear, savoury soup. The springy egg noodles ain’t bad either, but the obvious highlight here is definitely the prawn wantons.

The fluffy and soft capati with sardine curry at Kafe New Weng Fatt is definitely one of the better ones in town based on my humble opinion.
The fluffy and soft capati with sardine curry at Kafe New Weng Fatt is definitely one of the better ones in town based on my humble opinion.

Along the same road, almost directly behind Kafe Sentosa Ria, is Kafe New Weng Fatt featuring the neighbourhood favourite Thum’s Western Food stall with a menu packed with greasy, deep fried chops and grilled delights, including an incredibly indulgent batter-coated deep fried onion rings. 

The same shop also houses a capati stall that can best be described as “refined” and not what you would expect from a run-of-the-mill mamak stall. 

The Punjabi owner manning the stall is one patient fellow, painstakingly dishing out his perfectly cooked capati, served with sardines in curry with potatoes and onions. Although he also serves various curry dishes with rice, his capati has been “the” item that has been luring me back over and over again.

Last but not least, should you wander around the area a little, you would stumble upon what could be one of the smallest Old Town White Coffee outlets in Ipoh. Although you must have seen or dined at one of the hundreds of their franchised outlets all over Malaysia and overseas, do you know that the FIRST ever outlet is this one in Ipoh Garden South and not in Ipoh Old Town?

Frothy and robust Ipoh white coffee at the Ipoh Garden South’s Old Town Kopitiam, their first outlet in Malaysia.
Frothy and robust Ipoh white coffee at the Ipoh Garden South’s Old Town Kopitiam, their first outlet in Malaysia.

This first Old Town White Coffee outlet even serves a slightly different menu from the rest; a rather limited one but somehow still as tasty if not even more so. 

I covered but merely a handful of the eateries around the neighbourhood, but there are several other notable omissions such as East Ocean Seafood Restaurant, Scotch Pub, Coffee Tag, Yam Yam Restaurant, Mi Cong Yin pork noodles, and etc. 

My recommendation? Spend some time walking around the area, get yourself fed and be satiated by the bountiful food finds here. 

Chooi Yue Dim Sum,
2, Tingkat Taman Ipoh 12, Taman Ipoh Selatan,
31400 Ipoh

Kafe Sentosa Ria,
Lebuh Taman Ipoh,
Taman Ipoh Selatan,
31400 Ipoh

Kafe New Weng Fatt,
1, Lebuh Taman Ipoh,
Taman Ipoh Selatan,
31400 Ipoh

Old Town Kopitiam,
Lorong Taman Ipoh 1,
Taman Ipoh Selatan,
31400 Ipoh

James Tan loves good food and blogs at Motormouth From Ipoh (www.j2kfm.com)