If youโve heard of Ipoh. Youโll recognize foodie terms like Ipoh chicken rice, Ipoh hor fun, Ipoh white coffee, etc. Today, weโre about Ipoh chicken rice.
In Ipoh, a recommended and popular chicken rice restaurant is in Taman Jubilee – Restoran Tauge Ayam Lou Wong Ipoh Sdn Bhd.
โWhen in Ipoh, what to do in Ipoh? Eat. Ipoh chicken rice.โ
How to get there
Address: 49, Jalan Yau Tet Shin, Taman Jubilee, 30000 Ipoh, Perak
Getting around Ipoh is fairly simple; either you take the bus, take a taxi, Grab, or walk.
We took a Grab from our AirBnb nearby in Ipoh. The Grab fare was RM5 for 4 pax for a 1 kilometere plus ride.
Restoran Tauge Ayam Lou Wong
The restaurant canโt be missed, as itโs a corner shop lot with yellow roof and big yellow signboard all around. The name โLou Wongโ prominently displayed in red on the board.
By noon, when we reached there, the restaurant was already in overflow mode. Waiters were setting up more tables along the side of the road. Lots of people were also queueing up outside to get a table inside.
We waited about 15 to 20 minutes to get a table.
Lunch
Unlike most other chicken rice shops, Lou Wong only has steam and roasted chicken, for meat dishes. They donโt serve roasted pork (siu yuk) and BBQ pork (char siew).
In addition to the chicken, you can also order bean sprouts, meat or fish balls, lettuce, and chicken feet to go with the main dish.
Since there were 7 people at our table, we ordered one whole steam chicken, bean sprouts, and a bowl of meat and fish balls in soup.
Whole steam chickenBowl of pork and fish ballsBean sprouts (tauge)
YouTube
During my 3D2N trip in Ipoh, Restoran Tauge Ayam Lou Wong was one of the 7 places I visited in 1 day. Watch the YouTube video below.
Located in the heart of Sungai Bulohโs industrial district is a local Chinese restaurant by the name of Jeff Lee Kitchen.
When my friend sent me the Google link, I thought it was a cafe, but it was not!
How to get there
Even though thereโs an MRT station (Kampung Selamat MRT) nearby, but itโs not walkable. Even when driving, youโll be passing rows of warehouses and trailing trucks and lorries closely behind.
If youโre driving along Jalan Welfare, turn into Jalan Market. Thereโs an empty car park and field in the middle of the area.
As for Jeff Lee Kitchen, it is just conveniently located in front of the open car park. Jeff Lee Kitchen is 2 shop lots side-by-side.
Due to itโs popularity and to avoid the lunch crowd, go early. By noon, the crowd started filling up the restaurant.
Jeff Lee Kitchen
The signature dishes are the standing chicken, Peking duck, stir fried pork belly, minced pork noodles, cold โpaku-pakisโ, and claypot pork or fish porridge.
Among the signature dishes, we had these for lunch.
At the mention of food in Section 17 Petaling Jaya, places like Pizza Mansion, Sistars Kitchen, Kwong Wah Ice Kacang, Cafe Tujoh, and many more come to mind.
If SS26 Taman Mayang Jaya has Kanna Curry House, Section 19 has the original Kanna Curry House, and Gasing has Lotus Family Restaurant; Section 17 PJ has Big Leaf BLR.
How to get there
At the mention of โItโs near the Section 17 corner mixed rice restaurantโ, or โitโs behind Happy Mansionโ, or โitโs before Kwong Wah Ice Kacangโ – people should know where is Big Leaf BLR.
It is a corner restaurant facing a row of double-storey houses.
If youโre driving there for lunch, parking may be challenge. However, if for dinner, thereโll be plenty of parking around.
Banana Leaf
Aside from the given 3 vegetables and rice, you can add-on meat, fish, squid, or more vegetables. We added mutton masala, fried squid, and fried bitter gourd to share.
Browsing their drinks menu, their best sellers are Teh Tarik, Teh Ais, Kopi, Cham Ais, Masala Tea, and Watermelon Juice.
If youโve been to Wong Kok Char Chan Teng, Jordan Hong Kong Restaurant will be no stranger to you.
Jordan Hong Kong Restaurant is a Hong Kong-style restaurant that not only serves authentic traditional Hong Kong-style cuisine but is also committed to combining tradition and innovation.
How to get there
If youโre riding the MRT or monorail in the city centre, stop at Bukit Bintang MRT or monorial. Pavilion is a short 5 minutes walk from the stations.
However, if youโre driving, you can park in Pavilion itself or in the nearby malls like Fahrenheit 88, Lot 10, and Starhill Gallery.
Jordan Hong Kong Restaurant is on level 1 of Pavilion.
Jordan Hong Kong Restaurant
In addition to the outlet in Pavilion, Bukit Bintang, there are already other outlets in Ipoh and other parts of the Klang Valley: Kepong, Sunway Pyramid, Cheras, and Klang.
The restaurant is brightly lit and spacious for small to big group dinings.
Anyway, I ordered the Braised Pork Belly Rice (below) at RM19.90 for lunch.
In addition to the braised pork belly rice, some of the recommended foods with the ๐๐ป are:
Before jalan-jalan at Chow Yang Pasar Malam on Thursday nights or at the SS2 pasar malam on Monday nights, or before supper at Kayu Nasi Kandar; head behind for some awesome Vietnamese food crafted with quality ingredients and lots of love.
Between a game of badminton and supper at Kayu, we had a dinner at Pho King.
How to get there
If youโre not Grabbing to the restaurant and driving; parking can be a challenge. As itโs a two-lane commercial district, youโll be competing with people whoโre also going to Kayu, SS2 Chow Yang, Super Kitchen Chilly Pan Mee, and Hakka Rang Restaurant SS2.
Alternatively, you can park around the residential neighbourhood nearby.
Pho King
At Pho King, youโll find awesome Vietnamese food crafted with quality ingredients and lots of love. Thereโs banh mi, soup noodles, salad noodles, rice, and more!
For the soup noodes, there are two types: Australian Beef Pho and Sanbanto Pork Pho.
We ordered the Braised Pork Rice, Special Beef Pho, Small Beef Pho, Special Pork Pho.
Sliced Beef Pho (RM23.50).
Special Beef Pho (RM30.90) with sliced beef, brisket, and beef balls.
Special Pork Pho (RM25.50) with ribs, pork slices, minced pork, pork balls, and ham.
Braised Pork Rice (RM23.50).
For drinks, we had the coconut coffee, grass jelly coffee, cold mocha, and cold drip coffee.
After dinner in Kota Damansara, why not some Kakigori and waffle for dessert? For us, after dinner at Soru Station, we headed over to MyKori Dessert Cafe Kota Damansara (Dataran Sunway).
According to their website and as of todayโs post, there are 88 MyKori Dessert Cafes in Malaysia.
How to get there
Anyway, back to MyKori Dessert Cafe Kota Damansara, if youโre driving and looking for parking, be prepared to go round looking for it. Like any other commercial district like SS2, Damansara Uptown – Kota Damansara is also notoriously known for lack of parking space.
Alternatively, if youโre taking the MRT, stop at the Surian MRT and walk 900 meters North from the station. It is about a 12 minutes walk from the MRT station.
MyKori Kota Damansara
The Kota Damansara branch of MyKori Dessert Cafe is on the first floor of a shop lot. As itโs not on the ground floor, you might miss it if you walk or drive by. The cafe is long, spacious, and brightly lit. So, even if youโre in a group of 8 or more people, there is enough space, comfortably for everybody.
Dessert
From their Signature Kakigori selection, we had the Mango Cheesecake Kakigori, Chocolate Tiramisu Kakigori, and Cookies & Cream with OREA Kakigori. In addition to the kakigories, we also had a 3 Scoops Ice Cream Buttermilk Waffle.
MyKoriโs Signature Kakigori are shaved ice desserts incorporating fresh fruits, ice cream as well as layers of flavour.
The Mango Cheesecake Kakigori (above) was made up of milk ice, cheesecake, buttercrumbs mango puree, and creme chantilly. Large was RM23, while mini was RM15.
The Chocolate Tiramisu Kakigori (above) was made up of milk ice, tiramisu cake, chocolate crispy balls cocoa powder, shredded chocolate creme chantilly, and coffee syrup. Large was RM25, while mini was RM16.
The Cookies & Cream with OREA Kakigori (above) was made up of milk ice, oreo biscuits oreo crumbs, and chocolate sauce. Large was RM21, while mini was RM13.
The 3 Scoops Ice Cream Buttermilk Waffle (above) had a base price of RM20. You can add on syrup with an additional RM2 and upgrade your gelato from RM1 to RM3 for different gelato flavours.
For the choice of syrup, there were the Honey Maple Syrup, Salted Caramel, Chocolate Sauce, and Mango Puree. We went with the Chocolate Sauce.
Then for the gelato, with RM:
you can get a Mint Chocolate, Cookies & Cream, or Choco Almond Fudge gelato
you can get a Hazelnut, Summer Red, or Fruit Sorbet gelato
you can get a Pistachio, Frozen Yogurt, or Mango Passion Sorbet gelato
We had the vanilla, chocolate, and pistachio gelato.
I thought MyKori meant Malaysian-Korean dessert of some sort. However, MyKoriโs history tells a different story.
During his travels overseas, MyKoriโs founder discovered a unique Japanese pastry, a fish shaped snack, made of croissant with varied sweet and savoury fillings such as red bean, chocolate banana and cheese. He then made the necessary arrangements, including learning hands on how itโs made, securing the signature molds and ingredients that give the Taiyaki its unique shape and flavour and launching with authentic Japanese ranges and then further expanding them to suit local tastes.
Not content with just pastries, he then sought to make MyKori the epitome of the 21st century Japanese dessert house, expanding to include the signature toasts and shaved ice desserts (Kakigori) that incorporate fresh fruits, ice cream as well as layers of flavour. And to not leave out those that seek healthier options, thereโs also the Kenko Kakigori, a guiltless option that incorporates shaved ice, yoghurt / milk, fresh fruits as well as a variety of grains.
Soru Station Kota Damansara only operates from Tuesday to Sunday, 5 PM until midnight.
If youโre driving to the restaurant, there is ample parking around.
Since itโs a corner shop lot, thereโre lots of tables and chairs on the pavements around outside. You can also sit inside the restaurant.
Order Process
We sat inside the restaurant. On the table, thereโs a QR code which you can scan to browse the menu and order online.
Naturally, everyone scanned the QR code. Instead of a shared bill through the code, each phone that scanned was given a bill, individually. Basically, you scan, you pay for your own orders made only.
You can choose to pay at the counter, with credit card, through ewallet, or do online banking.
If you did not pay at the counter but online, make sure to check your order status that it goes from created to submitted to accepted. Accepted means that the kitchen, not the counter, has confirmed receipt of your order and your order is in process.
Online Menu and Dining
True to itโs tagline – Eat big, Eat cheap – you get to eat cheap western food and iced float drinks Penang Heritage style. Grill platters, spaghettis, and burgers were going for around RM10 per plate.
We had the mini platter, mixgrill chicken, mixgrill lamb, and tower honey dew.
The Mini Platter (above) at RM29.90 had grilled lamb, chicken parmigiana, spaghetti bolognese, fries, cheezy wedges, black pepper sauce, and creamy mushroom sauce.
The Mixgrill Chicken (above) at RM14.90 had grilled chicken, spaghetti, fries, black pepper sauce, and bolognese sauce.
The Mixgrill Lamb (above) at RM15.90 had grilled lamb, spaghetti, fries, black pepper sauce, and bolognese sauce.
The Tower Honeydew was under promotion at RM15. It was really tall and the height was equivalent to 3 litres of honeydew drink. It was just enough for 8 pax.
Soru Station comes from humble beginning of a food truck serving Bandar Sri Permaisuri area. They then expanded to a food court, serving almost 20,000 patrons per month. After planning for a year, they opened a new branch in Kota Damansara to serve even more customers after a very good demand at our food booth.
Connect with Soru Station
You can find Soru Station online and social media.
On the way to Xiamen University Malaysia, we stopped by for lunch here: Restoran Lok Hin Seafood. Also known as Lok Hin Seafood Restaurant in Dengkil.
Lot 384, Taman Mesra, Dengkil, 43800 Selangor, or 11 Jalan Susur, Pekan Dengkil, 43800 Selangor.
Since it’s outside of town and 30 to 40 minutes drive from Petaling Jaya or Kuala Lumpur, you’ve to drive to the restaurant. There is ample parking in front of the restaurant and at the back in the neighbourhood.
Before the pandemic, we came here in the afternoon around 1pm and it was full house. We had to sit upstairs on the first floor, as it is a double storey corner shop lot.ย
Today, weโre back here and we arrived just before 12pm for lunch. It was still fairly empty.
We sat downstairs on the ground floor.
This restaurant is that popular among the locals, that by 1pm, the lunch crowd started filling up the restaurant.
We ordered their Sang Har Mee (Freshwater Prawn Noodles, Soon Hock fish, and Yau Mak vegetable.
However, Lok Hin Seafood’s famous chef’s recommendations are Vietnamese Style River Prawn, Claypot Curry Fish Head, Braised “Dong Po” Pork, and Crispy Pork Knuckle.
On the way back from Klang, after a round of Bak Kut Teh? Craving for Japanese food in Subang Jaya or more specifically in Empire Shopping Gallery? Thereโs Robataya Izakaya in Empire Shopping Gallery.
There are 6 Robataya restaurants in the Klang Valley, and 1 in Penang.
Robataya @ PUBLIKA, D4-G3-09, Jalan Dutamas 1, Solaris Dutamas, 50480 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Robataya @ 1 Utama, G202 & G203, 1 Utama Shopping Centre, 1, Lebuh Bandar Utama, Bandar Utama Damansara, 47800 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.
Robata Sushi & Grill @ Nu Empire @ Empire Shopping Gallery, Lot G-16, Ground Level, Jalan SS16/1, Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.
Robataya Don & Ramen @ SS2 , 9, Jalan SS 2/75, SS 2, 47300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Robataya Izakaya @ IOI City Mall, Lot No. LG-262 Lower Ground Floor, IOI City Mall, 62502 Putrajaya, Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya
Robataya Izakaya @ The Exchange TRX, L2T.01.0, Menara Exchange, Lingkaran TRX, Tun Razak Exchange, 55188 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur
Robataya @ Queensbay Mall, Lot 2F-02, Queensbay Mall, 100, Persiaran Bayan Indah, 11900 Bayan Lepas, Pulau Pinang
Todayโs lunch is at the Robataya @ Empire Shopping Gallery, Subang Jaya.
How to get to Robataya
A search on Google Map lists it as Robataya Izakaya Subang Empire.
If youโre taking the train, stop at the Subang Jaya LRT / KTM station, and then walk down to Empire Shopping Gallery. It is a good 15 minutes walk from the station to the mall.
If youโre driving, park at the mallโs basement parking and then take the escalator up to the ground floor. At lot G-16, it is a corner lot on the ground floor. It is just next to Din Tai Fung.
Robataya Izakaya
The founders of Robataya Izakaya wants to bring the most authentic way of Japanese charcoal grill to the diners. Many japanese restaurants use the mordern way of charcoal grill which does not retain the juiciness of the meat. Some restaurants don’t even use charcoal to prepare Japanese grill dishes. The founders went to Japan and was impressed by a century old restaurant which was using an “irori” to grill meats.
Upon entering the restaurant, youโll see an โiroriโ. What is an irori?
An โiroriโ (ๅฒ็่ฃ, ๅฑ ็่ฃ) is a sunken hearth (fireplace) built at the centre of homes of the Japanese many years ago. The irori is used for cooking or to keep warm during winter.
I had the Katsu Toji Set (Pork) for lunch. Set came with Kushiyaki, Chawanmushi, Miso Soup, Rice, and Pickle.
