Tuesday, September 30, 2014

YummY! - Ngai Choy Kai @ Lou Wong Ipoh

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                                                               YummY!                                                                 
                  Jotaro's Food Review              
NGA CHOY KAI @ LOU WONG IPOH
Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia - September 2014
I have many a times heard about the renown Nga Choy Kai (Bean Sprouts Steamed Chicken) from Lou Wong in Ipoh. Many had praised it, while others have mentioned that it is overrated.
While on a night bike-strolling of Ipoh, we stopped there to eat. It's my first time at this famous chicken joint as I tend to be biased towards it's detractors.
Since we are here, why not give it a shot; taste it for myself and see whether my view of this place will change.



Ipoh is famous for its Nga Choy (Bean Sprouts). Grown with water from springs sprouting  from the surrounding lime-stone hills, the bean sprouts here grows thick, short and stubby and with only a short root.
The Nga Choy served here was as expected, very good. Serve boiled with a simple soy sauce-oil sauce and topped up with garnishing of slices of red chilli and spring onion; it was a colourful delight to the eye. Fresh and crunchy to bite into, it definitely lived up to expectations.


 Pork Meatballs Soup.
The\is soup was not that tasty; but it did its job of making the meatballs more juicy. The meatballs themselves were bouncy and yet easy to bite into; with each bite came a succulent dose of porky flavour.


Now comes their mainstay - the Pak Cham Kai (literally translated it means Cut White Chicken). It's chicken boiled to tenderness and cut into thick slices. It is boiled without any seasoning giving it that whitish look; hence the name White Chicken.
Lou Wong's version was not up to par though. Seems like the chicken has been over-boiled as it's meat tasted bland and was wanting in chicken juiciness. The skin too seems a bit thick and lacked that smooth silky texture. I have tested better from Chong Thoong Kee at Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur.
In short, good but not good enough; one needn't have to go all the way there to get chicken of this quality.


Bowls of Keow Teow Soup came to complete our meal set.


The Keow Teow Soup was rather bland too. To boost up the taste I added in some chicken and sauce from the chicken platter. A good dose of bean sprouts also oomphed the dish up.
That improved the taste but it came nothing close to the Kai Si Hor Fun from Kong Heng.
I guess Lou Wong's saving grace is that their food is fairly good AND they open up till 2:30 in the morning.


RESTORAN TAUGE AYAM LOU WONG
  • 49, Jalan You Tet Shin, 30300 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia.
  • Tel: +605-254 4199
GPS: 4.593996,101.084185


View Nga Choy Kai @ Lou Wong Ipoh in a larger map



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YummY! - Wheel Noodles @ Ipoh Old Town

You are at - Jotaro's Blog  / FootSteps / YummY! / Chinese Food / Noodles / Wheel Noodles @ Ipoh Old Town
                                                               YummY!                                                                 
                  Jotaro's Food Review              
WHEELS NOODLES @ IPOH OLD TOWN
Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia - September 2014
There is this place in Old Town, Ipoh where the noodles cost only RM1-90 per bowl and many who goes there sort of challenge to see who can eat the most bowls.
There's a reason for it to be cheap and there is a reason why people can eat many bowls of this noodles; but we will come to that later.


First thing first, although the shop is listed as being in Jalan Market, it's understandable if you have difficulty finding the place. You WON'T be able to find Wheel Noodle along the whole stretch of the street. We were on a cycling trip from Ipoh to Teluk Intan and it took us a bit of time ot locate it.
Don't look for Wheel Noodles along Jalan Market Instead look out for this cafe called 1981. Wheel Noodle is at the back portion of this shop.


One can enter from the front through 1981, but it is more interesting to use the back alley that runs parallel to market street. Ride in through Jalan Bijeh Timah and look out for white umbrellas hanging over the back alley. Yes, umbrellas!


With a name like Wheel Noodle, I wonder whether the owner is an avid cyclist. Around the shops there are a few miniature bicycles framed up and also sketches of bicycles too.

Okay.... let;s get see how the food is like:
The menu here is simple. Other than the drinks, they have only three items on their menu; two noodles and one dessert.
The above is the beef noodles that came with a beef ball, a small slice of beef, bean sprouts, salted vegetables and a little bit of soup. The noodles is the thick white noodles variety, somewhat akin to the Penang Laksa noodles - smooth and bouncy.


The soup had that nice beefy flavour, combined with the saltiness of the vegetables it made a good impression on me. The  slice of beef was tender but not that juicy as it was too small a slice to really give that juicy tenderness. Still it had just enough taste of beef.


The other is the fish noodles; sorry - there is no slices of fish here. It came with half a fish ball, a slice of fish cake, a slice of yau char kwai, bean sprouts, some salted vegetables and a slice of red chilli to give that colour and spicy contrast.


The noodles used for this was the thin ones, even thinner than vermicelli and soft like mee suah egg noodles. The soup had just a light flavour.
Personally, I preferred the beef noodles. I had a stronger tasting soup and nicer noodles.


The noodles are cheap per bowl, but the each bowl is very small - probably about 4 inches in diameter and only half full.


It will probably take a few bowls to fill up ones tummy!
But then, this is the concept of the place. What Is Your Limit?


Bowls of Coconut Jelly ready for steaming, a spruce of pandan leaf inserted to give it a nice aroma. These are small bowls too.


The jelly is made with santan (coconut milk) and after steaming, a tinge of Gula Melaka syrup is added on top with a sprinkling of grated coconut. The jelly itself has only some santan, so it is not that flavourful by itself; it's the syrup and grated coconut that gives it a more wholesome taste.


WHEEL NOODLES
26, Jalan Market, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia.
Tel: +605-242 3777  |  Hotline: +60-1700-81-7773
Hours: 8:00am-2.30pm | 6:00pm-9:00pm (Closed on Mondays)
FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/Wheel.Noodle.TSG
Website: www.tsg.my
GPS: 4.595565,101.077483



View Wheel Noodle @ Ipoh Old Town in a larger map


Related Blogs :






You may also like :




Salted Duck Egg Factory @ Kuala Kurau, Perak : September 2014
A look at how the humble salted duck egg is made at a cottage industry.









You are at - Jotaro's Blog  / FootSteps / YummY! / Chinese Food / Noodles / Wheel Noodles @ Ipoh Old Town
If you like this, view my other blogs at Jotaro's Blog
(comments most welcomed. if you like this pls share via facebook or twitter)