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 !!! ##