Banana Leaf Meal @ Samy Restaurant, Chemor & Chocolate Liqueurs from Langkawi

The sleepy?/bustling? town of Chemor, Perak

Chemor, in case you're wondering, is a small town in Perak, about 25 km from Ipoh, and near to Sungai Siput, and Kuala Kangsar. Previous entry on Chemor's food (and the only one, as far as I can recall!) was on Hoong Wan's Fish Noodles, and that was ages ago.

A name most food enthusiasts in and around Ipoh would be familiar with ....

Samy Restaurant is one of the household name, a force to be reckoned with, so to speak, in this part of Kinta district. Serving delectable Indian banana leaf cuisine, the place is routinely packed with factory workers from the various industrial parks within the vicinity, namely Tasek, Chemor, Kanthan and Sungai Siput. On weekends, even tourists stop by for a finger-licking good meal while on the way to Kuala Kangsar (using the trunk road).

Red, fiery, and tantalising curries in claypots for your choosing

Be there early, before 12pm if possible, to beat the crowd. But the patrons here do not mind sharing their tables, given the fact that the set up mostly consists of long tables (ala canteen style), thus strangers may be sitting next to each other, licking their fingers while seemingly in trance from the addictive curry dishes.

White rice served on a banana leaf, with various vegetable dishes; Pickled cucumber, pineapple and onions, Curry potatoes, carrots and long beans, & The Usual .... Cabbage

First up, march into the shop, all the while stealing glances at the counter up front, picking your dish of preference. From curry chicken to dry mutton curry, as well as crabs, de-shelled prawns curry and squids, you'll be spoilt for choice. Lest you come here with a few companions (makan kakis?), you'll be better off picking ONE dish, rather than being ambitious and try one of each!

Drench your rice with the vegetable curry, complemented by a cup of Rasam and a crispy Papadam. To douse the fire (don't worry, the dishes ain't spicy), wash it all down with a cool, and sweet glass of Cow's Milk


Curry Mutton with Potatoes

Curry Chicken with Potatoes

The portion at Samy's on the larger end, hence hold the rice if you're not in for a VERY filling meal. We ended up feeling very sleepy after the meal, given the high carbohydrate contents, and the hot-as-hell weather. Ipoh's BLAZING HOT lately, no joke.

As popular as Samy may be, I still feel the banana leaf fare at Sri Asoka Corner over at Medan Selera Stadium Ipoh scores a notch above in terms of taste. Personal preference aside, I felt that Samy's curries and side dishes leaned more towards the salty side, especially the cabbage and carrots combo.

People tucking in to their serving of banana leaf goodness, completely ignoring the intrusion of privacy in the form of licking one's fingers on the side

The meal for two came to RM22, including drinks. Not the cheapest option out there, especially in good old Ipoh, but the portion served somewhat justified the price paid. And banana leaf meals don't come cheap, do they? :)

a sweet ending .... in the form of Laddu (50 cents)

The Laddu is a popular Indian sweet, made from flour, and dipped into sugar syrup, with a hint of spices. Samy's Laddu is fortunately, not sickeningly sweet unlike most, and finished the spicy/greasy meal rather well, on a sweet note.

Location : Samy Restaurant @ 70, Jalan Besar, 31200 Chemor, Perak. Specifically? From Jalan Kuala Kangsar, go towards the direction of Chemor/Sungai Siput and you'll reach the town of Chemor with two-storey shoplots lining the road on both sides. Samy's on your RIGHT, hence you'll need to make a U-turn further up the road.

On to an even sweeter note ..... ^_^

RM28.90 for 16 mini 'bottles' of chocolatey goodness ..... with a twist


Makes REAL perfect ornaments for display eh? Pity they can't weather the calls of nature .... as in the threat of EXPIRING.


Oozing REAL liquor ... from vodka, to cognac and such. Blissful stuff.

Remember my lament in THIS post? That I didn't expect my first visit to Langkawi to be tailored to a 5 days boot camp style. Now, destiny has its calling, AGAIN, and I'll be off to the island TOMORROW.

Wow. Now tell me that's not insane, flying off to Langkawi within a short span of 10 days. But at least this time around, I can be assured of a good night's sleep, without the looming threats of bugs and monsters, and hopefully, better food, instead of military rations. Hehe ..... =)

Hoong Wan Fish Noodles Soup @ Chemor

A short and simple post today ....

Situated right behind East Ocean Seafood Restaurant in Chemor

Very up-to-date post, as today after toughing it out around Chemor and Jelapang area in Ipoh, me and KYT decided to have our simple & light lunch in Chemor town itself. The scorching hot weather did not help either, and the countless rounds we went searching for a "needle in a haystack" somehow rendered us hungrier than usual, and dizzy from all the gear-shifting.

KYT's bowl of thick vermicelli soup with homemade fish paste (yue wat)

I for one, never ventured to Chemor in search of good food all this while. Though I was made to understand that Chemor's banana leaf curry rice stands as a strong contender in any foodie's wishlist (Time Warper, mind to guide the way? =P).

Fortunately, KYT mentioned about his mum's previous positive endeavour at one of the restaurant in Chemor town, purportedly serving great noodle soup. Well, something light never hurts, true?

The crowd was somewhat reassuring, as situated at a backlane, directly behind East Ocean Seafood Restaurant (Tung Hoi, in Chinese), was unnerving to say the least. They serve plain noodle soup, or dry noodles, with their famous fish head, fish paste, fish maws (see a pattern here?), crabs (!), and so forth. There is a stall frying noodles as well.

Motormouth's bowl of fish maws and fish paste with thick vermicelli in soup

Once she asked for our choice of noodles, and rambled a looooong list of possible ingredient combinations, we both opted for thick vermicelli noodle, the springy type commonly used in fish head noodles. For ingredients-wise, KYT chose only fish paste (as he's wary of anything too fishy) while I opted for a combination of fish maws and fish paste. No crabs for me, as I'm on a tight budget. Hehehe ....

The broth was thick, and flavoursome, infused with the natural sweetness of the flesh and bones of the fish. Slightly thicker than your usual clear broth (ching tong), the soup was pleasantly devoid of fishy taste (even KYT agreed) and complemented the noodles well. The fish maws were slightly spongy after being soaked in the soup, and one piece of annoyingly reeking of overnight oily taste. Luckily, the fish paste (yue wat) fared much, much better, as they were springy (QQ), very tasty with slight peppery aroma, and generously served.

My bowl of noodles plus iced milk tea was charged at RM6.80, while KYT's noodles plus 100 Plus was RM5.10. Go figure .....

Location : Restoran Hoong Wan @ Directly behind East Ocean Seafood Restaurant in Chemor town. Pretty easy to locate the restaurant. The address is 2, Jalan Silang, 31200 Chemor, Perak. (I think). If in doubt, ask the locals.

*** NOTICE ***: Motormouth will be gone for a week. Not for work, but for some much needed rest, relaxation and recreation. I've uploaded some scheduled posts periodically, to clear my backlog of food endeavours. Do drop your precious comments, and I'll get to them as soon as I'm back. Til then, tata !!!