The NEW Foh San - And The Astounding Ripple Effects !!!

Unbelievable. That's the word to sum up the experience this Sunday morning. I pushed my luck, trying to see if the hype's justified, judging from the repeated claims that Ipoh's "Dim Sum Street" is perpetually jammed up with dim sum lovers, from morning until early afternoon. Even on weekdays!

The gigantic new lot that was specially built, with a generally more spacious seating area, albeit with modern influences as compared to the previous outlet

9 am should be early enough, on a Sunday morning. Or at least that's what I thought. Given the new location's humongous dining area, it did not cross my mind at all that the place would be soooooo packed. Both floors were fully occupied, and the 'vultures' perched on every corner were daunting, eyeing and scrutinizing every action of the (damn lucky) ones seated and picking on their morsels of choice.

The sea of people everywhere, as if FREE food was being distributed! Notice the specially-designed Take Away counter? SWARMED!

Unlike dim sum restaurants in Hong Kong, or maybe in KL (not so sure, as I doubt there are dim sum restaurants with such impressive traffic flow!), whereby numbers would be given to those queueing up, to ensure everyone gets their table, fair and square. Foh San however STILL practises the same old routine, ie : The "Let's Stand Around with Sharp Stares & Grunts, & Give the Patrons some Pressure, so they DO NOT refill their pot of Chinese tea any Longer & instead Buzz the Hell Off!" rule.

Seriously, this does not bode well, as the customers may feel threatened, disturbed, and their breakfast experience marred by the incessant urge to empty their seats ASAP.

But on a positive note, the place does look spanking clean and new, with a brighter, and generally more pleasing atmosphere. Though lacking in terms of the original Foh San's nostalgic ambience, they compensated with wooden panels, classic windows, and rustic furnitures.

The restaurant can easily fit several hundreds patrons at one go. But this morning, the ones standing/lurking around, with their steel-y glances may even outnumbered the ones stuffing their faces with the sumptuous dim sum. Hence, we made an early retreat and proceeded to Plan B.

The crowd @ Ming Court was spilling onto the sidewalk! WHAT?

Plan B - Ming Court Dim Sum right across the road. With that many people in Foh San (probably half of Ipoh's Chinese population .... hehe), we expected the other competitors along the street (Jalan Leong Sin Nam aka Dim Sum Street) to be swatting flies, succumbing to the almighty Foh San.

But we were dead wrong. Here's some evidences .......

Chef Fatt Hong Kong Dim Sum - A new addition to the scene (not so new though, opened a year or two ago, but without much fanfare)

Ming Court Dim Sum Restaurant has always been the top contender to Foh San's crown. Some may even argue the fact that Ming Court actually serves BETTER dim sum than the old Foh San. Yup, I do agree that the variety of dim sum at Ming Court is a notch above Foh San's, but the dainty morsels had me feeling dissatisfied time and again. Prices are generally the same across all outlets, and tastewise not much difference.

Chang Keong Dim Sum - Many may not even recognize or notice this restaurant beside Kedai Makanan dan Minuman Hua Nam. They operated at a stall in Hua Nam previously, but ventured out on their own now.

Yoke Fook Moon - To complete the BIG 3 of Dim Sum Giants, this restaurant seems to be at the losing end, due to the very near location of both Foh San and Ming Court now.

All the other dim sum outlets around the area were fully packed!!!! Even the lesser-known ones, and even the coffee shops surrounding the area. The whole road was jammed up with cars, people, kids, animals, and whatnots. Hehehe .. OK, maybe not animals.

People from all walks of life, be it locals or tourists from other states, were probably pushing their luck like yours truly, wondering how the epitome of Ipoh's dim sum restaurant; Foh San, looks like now at its new location.

Go and have yourself some Chee Cheong Fun, Dim Sum (again?!) and Egg Toast from Hua Nam, if you're frustrated with the wait!

So we surrendered, white flags and all, and decided to have our breakfast the simple way; at Hua Nam Coffee Shop across the street. Only to be greeted with another mind-boggling sight of a large crowd of people feasting on the hawker fares. Geez .... is there no other place for breakfast in Ipoh?!

Mee Gopeng and Yong Tau Foo (noon only), and Char Kuey Teow on banana leaf

Hua Nam has always been one of my favourite haunt, back then when I was working nearby Greentown area. But since moving to old town (jobwise, of course), my visit to Hua Nam has been lesser and lesser.

But of course, given the fact that this area is no doubt THE hot spot for dim sum, there's even a stall in this not-so-humble coffee shop selling dim sum to the masses! Tastewise? Forgettable. Go for the char kuey teow instead, which is good in its own right; comparison with Penang's authentic versions notwithstanding. The egg toast came in bite-sized cubes, toasted with margarine, then served with 2 half-boiled eggs. Still prefer Nam Chau's version, but this should do on average days.

Bigger than the average budget hotel, this magnificient restaurant will book (or maybe already had!) its place in Ipoh's history ......

Sorry if you're feeling duped into believing that this post covers all of Foh San's delicacies. Promise there'll be another write-up in the near future, ok? As of now, I certainly am not in the mood to jostle with the maddening crowd!

Here's a MAP, with all 5 dim sum outlets around the area, within walking distance from each other. Parking's sure to be a problem here, given the already limited lots around the place even before Foh San moved in. Do bear in mind that this area is a HOT SPOT not only for your favourite dim sum joint, but also a popular target for the enforcement officers from MBI, aka those who write you FREE tickets. ;)