Ipoh Mali..Makan (Ipoh Food)

During the school holidays, we made short trip to Ipoh. Being northerners ourselves, we have been missing the food up north since we left Penang. So, all filled with gluttony, my son, hubby and I made this road trip....

The first day, we went for dinner to Tung Koo Ting(Medan Selera), opposite Woolly hawker's centre. We were welcomed with wonderfully scrumptious fare of different types of hawker delights.

Definitely one of the best Popiah(Spring Roll) that I have ever eaten. The Popiah skin was thin and nice, with the generous amount of filling, and topped up with the crunchiness of the dried shrimps, it was simply divine....

One more photo, just to show, how much I liked it!!

We also had the Hong Kong Chee Chong Fun, which had the option of either prawns, or char siew (cubed barbecued pork), or a combination of both.The Chee Cheong Fun is served in soy sauce and garnished liberally with fried shallots on top, giving it that extra fragrant and crunch. It was served with their own concocted ‘sambal belacan’ (spicy condiment made from pounded chillies, fermented shrimp paste, and a squeeze of lime),yum...yum...

For dessert, we had our favourite nyonya kuih-the kuih talam and pulut kaya.

The next day, we took our breakfast at coffee shop at Jalan Bukit Timah, Ipoh Old Town. A trip to Ipoh would not be complete without tasting the ever so famous Ipoh White Coffee. So, although we had our breakfast at the hotel (which was really a disappointment), we still ventured out to find more.

The coffee was good(kau-kau) for me, but most importantly, the caramel pudding here,  is to die for. I found the custard nice; wobbly, eggy and slippery smooth and the brown sugar syrup was just nice-not too sweet.

Since, we already had our breakfast, we could only stuff ourselves with a Popiah and the Chee Chong Fun(shared by the 3 of us).

On our way back to KL, we stopped by the one place that springs to our minds whenever we make a trip back up north, that is Pun Chun Restaurant. Highly acclaimed for their duck noodles, and yam puffs, this restaurant has been in operation since I was a small kid. Even back then, my dad will stop by here, whenever we make that Penang-Johor trip.

Their duck noodles remain as one of my favourite, though, I don't really like duck meat. Sad to say,the quality and quantity somehow dwindled over the years, and the price is escalating too. You get a whole drumstick that has been sufficiently marinated and roasted/fried, served with egg noodles (wantan mee-type), vegetables and lots of herbs in the soup, providing an aromatic, calming concoction of herbal goodness. Finish the soup with ease of mind, as no MSG is added, supposedly. NICE!!!

And head back to KL....Bye-bye to yummy hawker food!!

Souled Out, Hartamas

Last night, we went to Souled Out at Hartamas. We have been trying to go there for some time, but it somehow never happened. Well. it was a good thing that we finally made the trip. Souled Out is placed suitable for for friends and family to foster the spirit of friendship and togetherness. The vibe that I felt was  a  big happy family, which is great !. You would feel  comfortable and at home at Souled Out. In fact we had two kids and an infant in our group and we felt right at home!!

Now let's move on to the food....

We had the creamy carbonara fettuccine, which was simply delicious. The pasta was cooked al-dente, and the creaminess of sauce was simply perfect. Simple, light and yet satisfying.

My son had the lamb gosht from the North Indian kitchen, which was lamb cooked in spinach gravy.  It was served with pulau rice, cauliflower dish, pappadum and raita. The lamb was tender, flavourful and just melts in your mouth.

The lamb chop was also very nicely prepared. We asked for medium rare and we got ours cooked just as what we wanted. It was served with roasted veges with had the right amount of seasoning, and the black pepper sauce was not overpowering at all. To sum it up, it is definitely one of my favourite lamb dishes.

The salmon steak, was not to our liking, though, because we felt it was a little overcooked. 

Nevertheless, in general the food can be said as above average in standard and for the ambience, it was just perfect. The good note, of course is that, Souled Out has an all-embracing menu features which appeases both Eastern and Western palates.

So if you have a large family with different tastebuds...Souled Out is just the place you should go to !