I know that there was a 7-day long Merdeka Raya break but my 'significant' makan-ing only started on the 2nd day of holidays (first day of Raya) when I was on a day trip to Ipoh. Work is the only excuse that I have for my month long absence. Makan trips have greatly decreased and my makan partner's been quite busy himself.
So as an apology, please accept a list of the following makan places that will span across 4 posts for the next week.
1 - Bidor: Restoran Yi Hao
2 - Ipoh: Restoran Onn Kee
2b - Ipoh: Ipoh Parade
3 - Ipoh: Aneka Selera Kam Wan
4 - KL: Levain
5 - PJ: Departure Lounge
6 - Subang: Vanilla Place, Empire Shopping Gallery
7 - SS15: Gong Cha
8 - Mont Kiara: Chilla Cup
9 - KL: Restoran Keong Kee
10 - KL: Snowflake, Sungai Wang
11 - KL: Rakuzen, G Tower
12 - Damansara: Crumbs Macarons
2 - Ipoh: Restoran Onn Kee
2b - Ipoh: Ipoh Parade
3 - Ipoh: Aneka Selera Kam Wan
4 - KL: Levain
5 - PJ: Departure Lounge
6 - Subang: Vanilla Place, Empire Shopping Gallery
7 - SS15: Gong Cha
8 - Mont Kiara: Chilla Cup
9 - KL: Restoran Keong Kee
10 - KL: Snowflake, Sungai Wang
11 - KL: Rakuzen, G Tower
12 - Damansara: Crumbs Macarons
Yes, I was on a rampage. Almost all the places we went to, I've never been before and Ezel was part of the makan places contribution.
For this post, it will be Bidor-Ipoh-Ipoh, 30th August.
Because I was hired even before I finished my studies, I never got a proper holiday/break so I was really looking forward to a one day makan trip to Ipoh.
Our first stop (Jared, Jaslyn, Lee and myself) was at Bidor.
I usually stop by Bidor when travelling to Cameron Highlands so Bidor town was some sort of familiarity. My family usually eats at Restoran Pun Chun which is the most popular wantan mee store there. But instead of Pun Chun, we opted to eat at Restoran Yi Hao which is further down the road.
They have about the same options as Pun Chun but for some reason they didn’t have steamed bread/toast or half boiled eggs so everyone opted for wantan mee.
Jared had the Herbal Duck Drumstick Wantan Mee. In comparison to Pun Chun, he preferred Pun Chun’s.
Jaslyn, Lee and I had the Wantan Soup Mee with only Wantan. We ordered the same dish out of convenience. The noodles was so so but the wantan was alright. There was a whole prawn for each wantan.
The main complaint about this food joint is the cleanliness. The bowls and cutlery were oily when they arrive at the table. If the food is super good, maybe I wouldn’t mind as much but considering it was rather ‘meh’, cleanliness became an issue.
But then again, this may have to do with the next problem we encountered – service. The service was incredibly slow, even with drinks. We waited over half an hour to be served and even then they always seemed unsure of our orders.
Our conclusion? When it comes to Bidor, stick to Pun Chun even if you have to wait. It’s better to get the ‘good old stuff’ that you’re familiar with than venture to new waters.
However, we found something amazing worth venturing into... (why does this line sound like an investment pick-up line?) we found 3-in-1 green tea latte packs for sale at Pun Chun.
And it’s good!! For RM1 per packet (one big pack comes with 15 small packets hence RM15 per big pack), I don’t mind adding in extra milk if I want it creamier or extra sugar if I want it a little sweeter. It’s definitely more worth it than getting green tea lattes from Starbucks, Coffee Bean or any other expensive coffee shop out there. Sad thing is... It's only availble in Bidor! Jaslyn and I have been looking out for it at any local supermarkets and for some reason they don't supply it anywhere!
Next up is lunch at Ipoh town. Ipoh is famous for their tauge (beansprouts) and steamed chicken so we decided that it was a good idea to try it while we’re there.
Every ‘tauge ayam’ (beansprout chicken) shop we passed by seemed to be full to the brim to the extent that people were willing to sit, wait and eat in the hot sun and believe me, Ipoh is blazing hot! Patrons would also risk their lives by dining on the road (the tables and chairs were placed on the roads because the shop frontages were too full).
Judging by the amount of people eating, we assumed that there would be no difference whether we ate at Stall A or Stall B. With that thought in mind, we ended up at Restoran Ong Kee.
Ong Kee was crazily crowded with all tables occupied and patrons standing around waiting for tables. And it was no different from any shops across the road.
So we waited... and waited... and waited till FINALLY a group of people left (we hard to guard 2 tables and wait for either their occupants leaving) and we got to sit down. That took almost 30 minutes. The next challenge was to order.
Drinks were ordered through waiters who held giant plastic baskets, carrying the drinks around. All you had to do was halt them and grab a drink. But even that was difficult to do because drinks were being snapped up to quickly due to the heat wave and waiters were hard to grab hold of. And see what I mean by risking our lives? There’s nothing to protect us if a rouge car thinks that tauge chicken stalls are overrated and decides to crash into them.
By the time we ordered our food, it was already an extra 20 minutes which brings the time from standing to sitting to ordering close to an hour. Our tempers were running short and our patience was close to breaking point.
We should have thought of the fact that it was the 2nd day of Hari Raya and that’s when people usually go on makan trips but darn the crowd was just horrible!
Our food arrived after an hour of waiting and we were close to leaving (but somehow we persevered) and our appetites were pretty much ruined by then by the heat and due to over-hunger (You know that feeling when you’re so hungry that you don’t feel hungry anymore? Yeah, that.)
So after explaining the whole standing-sitting-waiting-ordering ordeal, how was the food?
It was okay.
Unfortunately my judgement is now clouded because of the whole incident. The beansprouts indeed taste different from those we eat in KL but the chicken was not particularly smooth and the soya sauce not particularly tasty.
It was really a timing problem and it’s really sad that our taste buds were drowned by all other factors.
Tired of the hot sun, we decided to wander around in search of a clean toilet and an air-conditioned shopping mall! And that is where we found... really good Green Tea ice-cream.
Unfortunately I got too excited about the really good Green Tea ice-cream and I forgot to take a photo so all you get is the label. It was bought from a tea shop at Ipoh Parade. The tea shop is visible on your left when you come up the escalator. Which floor? I don’t know.
What’s the name of tea shop? I don’t know either. But damn the Green Tea ice-cream was good! It was smooth and just the right blend of sweetness and bitterness.
The last meal of the day is of course dinner and Jaslyn brought us to a food court called Aneka Selera Kam Wan. Do google up the location, I’m really not sure where it is.
I seem to have lost the photos of the food and place but there are lots of good hawker food in the vicinity. Parking is a little troublesome though.