Foh San Dim Sum Restaurant @ Ipoh - Finally ....

Phew .... After the initial shock that we got on a Sunday morning, with roads all jammed up, all of the dim sum outlets in the vicinity crowded to the max (even coffee shops also jumped in the fray and business was booming!) and us running away with tails between our legs, FINALLY redemption came on a weekday's morning.

Don't get overwhelmed. Keyword is : DON'T EVER GIVE UP. Practise your steely glance (or puppy-eyed blinks) and stay adamant at one spot. (Or more, if you're in a gang of 'vultures')

Weekends are definite no-no's, unless you come REALLY early, or VERY late. They serve dim sum from about 6.30am onwards, until the day's supplies finish up, or until about 2pm. No dim sum for dinner, sadly. Which is kind of a bummer, really. I wouldn't mind digging into my Char Siew Pau and Siew Mai for dinner, or better yet, supper!

Remember - Don't push your luck, and come prancing and whistling on a Tuesday morning. And sharing a table is a norm at Foh San. Especially if you're in a small group.

Though we arrived rather 'early' (ahem, about 9am+ .... hey, we WERE working after all), the place was already akin to a can of sardines. Yup, you guess it. Everybody's looming over the other customers' heads, projecting their respective aura, in hopes of quickening the pace of the ones chowing on their dim sum. You gotta have patience at Foh San, since no queue system's in check, your eyes must be very,VERY alert and dart back and forth. Trying to determine which table's going to be evacuated first, from the hints given.

How? Erm, here are some tips. If the table's emptying, and you see empty plates, or half-polished off ones dominating, then you're in luck! Better yet, if you see the patrons' eating pace has severely halted, or slowed down to a snail pace, A HA! Sooner or later, they'll give in and submit to your pleading stares.

But if they just couldn't care less, keep on refilling their tea and yakked away like nobody's business (saliva a-dripping back into their porcelain cups and all), then they're the species who won't give a damn even if your butt's perched on their shoulders. Or thighs.

Siew Mai (Pork Dumplings) (p/s : Served in 4 pieces ... someone's too hungry to care), Yue Mai (Steamed Fish Paste), and Nam Yue Pau (Bun with Pork in Fermented Bean Sauce)

I noticed the Siew Mai's size has shrunk slightly. Or maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me. Swear they were much bigger back then. The Yue Mai remained as bouncy/springy as ever (good sign), while the Nam Yue Pau was a tad salty, but the slice of pork was marinated intensely. Very strong aroma of Nam Yue (fermented bean paste), which suits me just fine.

The Fried Items - Fried Prawn Rolls, Chinese Chives (Kuchai) Dumplings, and my favourite; Stuffed Brinjals

Deep-fried Prawn Rolls came in a sparingly stingy portion, served with salad sauce. Forgettable. The Kuchai dumplings were good, albeit slightly cold when served. Best of all, the stuffed brinjals with fish paste, drizzled with the accompanying sweet and savoury sauce. They have stuffed red chillies, and stuffed fried tofu as well.

A new item on the menu - Claypot Chee Cheong Fun with Duck meat (other options include Pork ribs, or Beef)

At RM6.50 per pot, a new item Foh San offers is their Claypot Chee Cheong Fun (steamed rice noodles), served either with duck, pork ribs, or beef. A novelty, nonetheless. Still prefer my CCF steamed and served the HK style, with Char Siew/Prawns (Beef version was practically unheard of in M'sia, unlike in Hong Kong). The rolled up CCF was cooked with our choice of duck meat, in a thick gravy, with heavy hints of ginger and black bean. The duck meat was good, tender and not repulsively gamey, but the CCF got a bit sticky in the end, and we did not finish everything. A pot serves 2-3 person.

Har Gau - Prawn Dumplings

And how does 3 prawns wrapped in a transluscent dumpling skin, with added crunch from the other ingredients, sound to you? Luscious, right? Never failed to deliver, the Har Gau were freshly steamed (it does tend to run out pretty fast, so do check with the trolley staff periodically), and tasted lovely.

Ma Lai Kou - Steamed sponge cake

To cap off the heavier than usual breakfast (normally consist of white coffee and toast only ... I'm working in Old Town, after all), we had a serving of Ma Lai Kou, or 'Malay Cake'. Soft, spongey texture, with lotus seeds as garnishing, and added crunch.

Payment @ the Counter. One on the ground floor, another on the first. DON'T wave helplessly for the staff for billing! Bring your order chit/card over at the end of the meal.

We did not manage to cover other varieties of dim sum, including the newly added Fish or Chicken Porridge in Claypots. Reason being? We went in a very small group of TWO. Yup, FCOE must be still feeling the binge, AND the pinch. LOL. Total for the meal, including 5% government tax came to RM36.75. Rather reasonable, as I expected a price hike after the relocation.

The specially-designed Take Away Counter - So you don't have to wait relentlessly anymore!

Throughout our meal, we shared with TWO different groups of people. Yup, turnover of customers pretty fast and furious here, with people waltzing in and out at an alarming rate. NOT the ideal place for a chat over a cup of tea, as you'll feel 'daggers' from all directions. But nevertheless, where's the fun without the wait? :)

Only at Foh San, folks. Believe the Hype.

OK, I'm done folks!

Location : Foh San Dim Sum Restaurant @ 51, Jalan Leong Sin Nam, 30300 Ipoh, Perak.

Tel No : 605-254 0308. Click here for a MAP.

## And with that, Motormouth's embarking on another HOLIDAY !!! ##

Ching Han Guan Biscuit Shop @ Hugh Low Street, Ipoh

Currently Motormouth's on a roll here !!! Given the situation (rather dire now, with about merely half a month more to go), I dragged FCOE for a run all around Ipoh town today, covering as much eateries as possible before the inevitable.

How tragic you say? Nah .... none of those soapy, pathetic & dramatic endings.

Tucked in the middle of a row of almost-forgotten shoplots, a few doors away from the ever-expanding Yee Hup, Ching Han Guan certainly did not catch my attention before this .....

Tummythoz really had some fun making us bewildered with speculations, wild (and some idiotic) guesses! (Refer to her post HERE). But seriously, born and bred in Ipoh throughout the decades of my life, I've never known there was this confectionery here, aside from the ever-prominent Yee Hup.

Not to mention a DAMN famous one as well. Blame da Mother, who had actually frequented this shop since I was a very, very tiny (erm, as in AGE, puhleaze ....) and naive young soul, prancing around and pouncing on any types of biscuits available in and around the house. And yet she never bought anything from the same shop ever again, since days of yore. Hhhmmm.

Be it the colourful, evergreen child's pick; 'Tou Chee Peng' (literally translated to Biskut Pusat or Navel Biscuits) which coincidentally, is DA FOOD OF CHOICE comes Qing Ming or Ghost Festival (whoopsie, no sharing please).

Meat Floss Biscuits (12 for RM13.80)

Or the other perennial favourite of mine (which spurred my interest once again, somewhat revived/rediscovered/reintroduced to this 'old flame' of mine, the traditional coconut husks-smoked Heong Peng from Seng Kee in Gunung Rapat); Don't miss the traditional Heong Peng or Hiong Piah or Fragrance Biscuits from Gunung Rapat, I tell you. Not even Yee Hup's commercialized version comes close.

A combination of pork's meat floss, and lotus paste became the filling of choice, and remained a hidden gem of sorts, attracting visitors near and far.

Thanks to Tummythoz (who's currently on a roll herself, probably rolling around on grasses and such in whichever country she picked as her target - oh bless those poor citizens! Hehe), I vowed to seek, and destroy .... wait, I meant, devour those morsels of crumbly goodness from Ching Han Guan, even if it means I have to fix my raft and sail to the ends of the world!

Which of course, is a bit far-fetched, given the very strategic location of this biscuit shop, along Hugh Low Street (or Jalan Sultan Iskandar) in town centre. In fact, I kinda felt silly as I've been passing by this road EVERY single day (except weekends of course. ze Motormouth no work for da weekend in da office. Work takes place elsewhere, which sucks equally, oh well), yet I did not for once, set my eyes on this shop with a red signboard.

Still not sinful enough for ya? Go for the ULTIMATE Meat Floss/Lotus Paste/SALTED EGG YOLK combination ... and be wowed instantly !!! (10 pcs @ RM20!)

Calling to order your biscuits is HIGHLY recommended, especially if you're from other parts of the world (or universe) and a revisit to Ipoh is highly unlikely. But if you wanna bump into ze Motormouth, feel free to revisit again and again ..... =P

The pastry is not of the crispy kind, nor too crumbly. But rather flaky, just like those wedding biscuits (those yellow/pink ones with lotus paste filling), and the dense filling of meat floss + lotus paste sounds odd on paper, but complements each other perfectly. To the right balance of the sweet and the savoury.

With black sesame seeds to differentiate the KING of all biscuits, and the less caloric-laden salted egg yolk-less ones.

Like munching on a mooncake before the 8th month on the Lunar calendar!

A break from the norms. If you're already sick of the Heong Peng's, the Chicken Biscuits, Kaya Puff (oh, but please do give them a try if you're a first-timer here in Ipoh) and the Sat Keh Ma (cannot translate as it sounds REAL odd, but you'd have seen those sweet, sticky snacks in block, made from crunchy egg & flour, sweetened by sugar/molasses).

The other traditional, modernized and everything in between varieties .....

Ching Han Guan has a long, long standing history of baking delicious biscuits (Teochew style) for the masses, way before I was born. And it's fine time they get their due recognition. Remember to call first and order your biscuits before walking in. Much alike the OTHER success story, Sin Eng Heong Kaya Puff, which is coincidentally, situated 3 streets away. Talk about competition.

Location : Ching Han Guan Biscuit Manufacture @ 145, Jalan Sultan Iskandar Shah (Hugh Low Street), 30000 Ipoh, Perak. Tel No : 605-254 5126. Here's the ever useful Google MAP of Ching Han Guan.

Opens seven days a week, from 8am until 6.30 pm. But half day only on Sundays.

# The salted egg yolk variety MUST be pre-ordered at least ONE day before. #

Crispy Skin Roasted Duck @ Sri Taman Mas Restaurant, Falim, Ipoh

Back from a weekend getaway to KL. I'm in dire need of a vacation, to prepare myself for the impending bouts of travelling that's beckoning in the near future. Wait, that did not sound right huh? :)

The orange signboard is attracting curious stares, and hungry souls .....

A short, short post on one of my favourite food, the Roasted Duck. You see, to find a restaurant or stall serving roasted duck (and other roasted meats) may not seem that hard at all. Lurking in every corner, in most coffee shops and food courts, you're bound to discover a stall chopping away at their most-prized meats, though most of the time only chicken and pork are commonly dished out. Duck is a rarity, more so for goose. Which explains why I went all the way to KL for my fix sometime ago. (Curious? Click HERE for Pudu's Famous Roasted Goose)

Crackly & glistening skins, sweet & sticky gravy. If only the portion's slightly larger, for a change. Roasted Duck Rice @ RM4 per serving

My brother recommended this restaurant in Falim of Ipoh, noted for their famous roasted duck. Okay .... But of course, given the many bad experiences I've had with ducks (the quack quack type, of course) in Ipoh, I merely nodded and took it all with a pinch of salt.

One word : Fabulous. Combination of Char Siew and Siew Yoke @ RM6

One fine afternoon, we ventured all the way to Falim for lunch. For the sake of escaping office's pathetic working condition. OK lah ... maybe not so, but the freezing air-cond plus mundane workflow got us bursting from the insides, in the end. We seriously were in need of some good grubs, on top of the endless slew of office food they're stuffing us with!

The condiment of sweet and spicy sauce - A delightful combination of 'hoi sin' sauce and chilli oil

What a pleasant lunch it was. Though marred slightly by the subsequent downpour, and some flaring temper (hehe).

The skin was crispy, as if bathed in hot cooking oil on-the-spot, and the meat was neither too tough, nor too fatty. Just right tenderness, with just a slight layer of fat underneath. Minor gripe? The serving was rather measly, but justified the reasonable price of RM4 per plate of duck and rice.

Fearing of famine from the lack in protein supplies (yeah, right), we ordered another small plate of Char Siew (barbecued pork) and Siew Yoke (roasted pork) to share. And both choices of meats were met with positive feedbacks, and thumbs/toes up in the air. The Siew Yoke's skin remained crackly crisp, while the lean cuts of Char Siew was 'dressed' with their sweet and thick sauce. Though I still prefer my Char Siew with a layer of fat that melts in the mouth.

Stir Fried Sweet Potato Leaves with Fu Yee (Fermented Beancurd) @ RM4

And some fibres to save the day! Yay! A cheap meal for RM29.70 served 4 ravenous souls. Come rain or shine, heatstroke or maelstrom, opens seven days a week except for the 2 days break come middle of the month. Yup, a little funny, as their rest days are on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in the middle of the month. Unsure when? Call them.

They serve cooked dishes (dai chow) from the kitchen as well, aside from their roasted meats.

Location : Restoran Sri Taman Mas @ No 12, Jalan Mas, Taman Mas, Falim 30100 Ipoh, Perak. Tel No : 012-529 5338 or 016-591 8793. Here's a MAP for those trying to search for this place. However, take note that the map may NOT be accurate, as I can't find Jalan Mas in Google Maps. From town towards Menglembu using Jalan Lahat, you'll reach a traffic lights that allow right turning into Menglembu/Lumut. Take that right, and go straight until you see this restaurant on your RIGHT, a few doors away from the new budget hotel, Fresh Hotel.