A Tall Order - Fifteen Tower Tauge Ayam in Ipoh

A very very short post. That's a promise. :)

Don't be fooled by the duo of fat chicks. There are WAY more hidden somewhere, to be freshly prepared on the spot

Ipoh is famous for the Tauge Ayam, or Boiled/Steamed Chicken with Bean Sprouts served with Kuey Teow (flat rice noodles). Names such as Lou Wong, or Onn Kee have garnered enough limelight/attention of their own, successfully placing them on almost all tourists' must-eat list, and enough copycats to warrant a laugh (or snigger) or two.

But if you're wondering are those the BEST that Ipoh has to offer? Well, think again.

The fat bean sprouts of Ipoh. They say it's the water that miraculously fattens the sprouts. What say you?

Other worthy contenders such as Cowan Street Ayam Tauge & Koitiau (on Cowan Street/Jalan Raja Ekram) Got MAP!, Kam Hor at Ipoh Garden (MAP here), and this one, near to Buntong, but not quite.

A portion for 3, not the smoothest chicken, yet thankfully not as RAW as Lou Wong's.

Fifteen Tower Tauge Ayam, situated at Pusat Makanan Zui Xiang Cun at cross between Jalan Tun Abdul Razak and Jalan Tun Perak, somewhere near to Buntong (where the Indian community dominates in Ipoh), and Medan Kidd (the former main bus station of Ipoh).

The name of the stall probably refers to the nearby dilapidated 15-storeys flat in Buntong, visible from the food court itself. The place only opens for dinner, and highly advised to come early to avoid a long and restless wait. No TV to entertain your children, nor finger food to satiate that growling tummy. But there's a satay stall which opens from about 7.30pm onwards, and another stall at the other end selling fried rice, noodles and such.

The Wet and the Dry version of the Kuey Teow noodles. Simply garnished with chopped scallions, a dash of pepper, and liberal serving of the sweet stock. Notice the pale colour of the dry version? They were out of dark soy sauce. Hmm.

Once seated, do not be anxious and walk over to order. They'll come over and take your order, no matter how long it may take. No menus (duh), thus no need to crack your head on what to order and what not to order. Just perform a simple head count, ask for chicken, bean sprouts, and side orders of chicken's 'spare parts' (innards, offals, or whatever you call them) or braised chicken's feet. We opted for the latter, but sadly they were not serving them that evening.

Tastewise? The noodles are good. So smooth they required practically no chewing, and slithering down one's throat with ease. The flavourful broth was no doubt boiled from the extras, bones and all from the chicken, and complemented the flat rice noodles perfectly. The dry version was equally good, if not better. A dash of soy sauce, sesame oil, some pepper, but without the usual dark soy sauce, my only gripe was the small serving. Yup, one or two mouthfuls, and voila! You'll be staring at an empty bowl. No joke.

The chicken on the other hand, was not as smooth though still tender & succulent enough. Not the best I've tasted,but previous horrifying experience at Lou Wong (with blood and all!) had me thanking the heavens above for the (slightly over) cooked chicken.

Dinner for three came to RM17. Possibly one of the most economic option out there, and definitely one of the better ones in Ipoh. Now, I wonder why not many have blogged about this place before? Hmmm .....

Pusat Makanan Zui Xiang Cun @ Jalan Tun Abdul Razak (Got MAP !!!)

If you need further directions to this one, feel free to ask. Slightly off the tourists' tracks, this may be trickier than expected. But if you know where Ipoh's railway station is, then this should be a no-brainer.

Any idea where's this place? NOT an idol's villa. NOT my house, certainly! But a place for one of Buntong's most famous product.

Guiness Out. Motormouth's Out.