Western food in Taiping

Western food in Taiping.  Yesterday we were at Nagaria to do a round of western food tasting in Taiping during our long break here.  Nagaria has been in Taiping for more than 20 years, an established restaurant in Taiping with enhanced cleanliness and standard after the recent change.  Food is not too bad.  The waiter and waitress were ok, and we got a very friendly waiter who serve us with our orders. We ordered the Bombay steak, chicken chop oriental, chicken chop chambertin that was supposed to be marinated or cooked with red wine, fish and chip (looked too dry) and oriental fried rice(looked too plain).  Will give it 9/10 for ambience and pricing. Taste and presentation of food only earned 6/10. 

My personal preference are the chicken chop at Restaurant Wan Li at Kota Road or the Western corner at Glutton Corner (Padang) though.  They come with better sauce.

Western food in Taiping.

All about Laksa and Fried Koay Teow

It's all about laksa and fried koay teow.  Where can you get the best assam laksa and char koay teow?

I have gone to Penang for its penang laksa and char koay teow at Penang Road.  One can also enjoy its similar version in Taiping.  I have tried the ones at Pokok Assam, Prima, and Cashiers Market in Taiping.  They are now ranged from RM3 to RM3.50 per bowl or per plate.  The best I have tasted would be .....

Curry Puffs & Peanut Puffs

These curry and peanut puffs you see here are the best I have ever tasted. Why? Well, because they home made and are made of high quality ingredients moulded and cooked with love:) The dough which makes the puffs' skin is made of flour, oil, water and the right amount of salt. The ingredients of the curry and peanut are made of ...... let's just call it "Love's secret recipe". The puffs' skin is crunchy and nicely fried to give you the right amount of crisp.

This skill of puffs making are developed in Taiping and can be imported to any place in the world. All you need is a little bit of love and time.

Total costs: Lots of love and effort.

Ipoh Kai Xi Hor Fun

OK, I admit it, I am a sucker for good food and companion. A visit to my pal's place in Ipoh is a must to complete the Taiping food escapade. Well, yes Ipoh is about 45 mins away from Taiping, but it was a worthwhile drive. Well, I am blessed with great companions and complemented with great food. My great pal and his wife even took leave to entertain us and brought us round Ipoh to taste the best of the best in Ipoh town.

What is kai xi hor fun? The food is finger licking good. Well, little Lee Ann who is 5 will support my claim. The innocent never lies. Our dear girl was actually eating ... believe it or not, sucking and cleaning up the chicken feet!! Well, I am no fan of any other parts of chicken except for its breasts, thighs and drumsticks. This food in a medium size coffee shop in Ipoh town makes my stomach growls. Kuey tiow, noodle any mee, just order... The chicken is so tender, juicy and tasty, the bean sprout is stir fried with garlic and tasty gravy, and mind you, the kuey tiow is smoother than lotion on skin!!

Total costs: Actually not sure, cause my dear friend who took leave to bring us around Ipoh paid for it. Thanks Ban Teik!

Mee Rebus

The mee rebus I am going to introduce to you is sold in "Chye Chee" or also known as "Cashier's Market". Don't ask me why they named it that. It was a routine for me and my family to visit "Chye Chee" once a week back then. It serves the many best food in Taiping. Real food lovers should visit this place, regardless of its mass and messy condition. It has many small stalls selling old good Taiping food.

There was only 1 stall selling mee rebus 10 years back. And mind you, these hawkers make big bucks selling this special noodle. They live in big house, boasts of owning plasma tvs and other great stuff money can buy them. Today, there are a few more stalls selling this spicy, potato gravy noodle. Now, one stall is in the same old "Chye Chee" place and another two serve mee rebus in Prima Coffee Shop. Well, they are all equally good. You can't find such rich nutritious mee rebus in Singapore or Malaysia, if I am allowed to boast about my town, I must say that only Taiping serves them.

Well, I usually have several rounds of mee rebus as I need to make sure I patronize all three stalls before I leave Taiping. I will usually order 1 mee rebus and teh peng (ice tea with milk) and a few other great dishes to fill me up.... before I go..go...

For 1 mee rebus and teh peng, total costs is only RM3.60

Address: Cashier Market, Jalan Panggung Wayang. The stall is on the far left of the market.

Taiping Cendol

Don't be deceived by this small shop. This is very place the Cendol Brother serves the MUST HAVE Taiping cendol! Make sure you pay this guy a visit. Brother Cendol does not just serve great cendol dessert, they have good pasembor, mee rebus or noodle and are very friendly too. The father of the Cendol brothers started and operated the cendol business under a tree across St George Taiping then.

Today, the Cendol brothers inherited and expanded their father's business. They are now operating in 3 shops. Yeah! Slowly but surely the business grew and their premises upgraded too. With the new operations, you do not need to worry about fallen leaves in your cendol anymore. The authenticness and freshness of the cendol cannot be duplicated elsewhere. This is the best cendol I have ever tasted in my life. Not one high class restaurant or hotel comes close to serving such first class cendol dessert! Make sure you try this dessert in Taiping or regret it!

I ordered 1 ice cendol and 1 pasembor.

Total costs: RM3.40

Address: Barrack Road, 34000, Taiping, Perak

Newest Discovery in Town

Mr BBQ
























I would like to share with you my latest discovery in Taiping. As any of the 98% of food lovers in the world, I share the same passion for good seafood meal. So, after not returning to Taiping for close to two years, I yearn for all the good food in town. However, my father highly recommended that I return to Mr BBQ who had just moved to a new venue. It has recently moved from its original shabby hut to a nicely renovated restaurant. The good news is, prices of its food did not increase regardless of a better upgraded premise. Kudos to the owners for that. Just looking and remembering the food I took make me drool. I ordered the following dishes, enjoyed a sumptuos meal and paid a very reasonable price for these:

1) Kew Gei Vegetable Soup

Kew Gei vegetable, carrot, prawn, beaten egg, sharlot and ginger. This hot gingery soup was really refreshing and great to boost up my tired body.

2) My Big Time favourite food: Lala(Clams) Kam Heong

Freshly clams are being stir fried with curry leaves, onions, dried shrimp and chilli.

3) Sambal Kangkong (Fried Water Convolvulus with Sambal)

The kangkong does not just taste fragrant, the owner even found its English word for kangkong. The dish was fragrant and spicy with sambal dried prawns.

4) Fried Chicken with Curry Powder

This is an interesting dish, where the marinated the chicken with curry powder and fried them with big onion.

5) Sambal Stingray

The stingray was grilled with lots of chilli and accompanied by preserved onion.

6) Accompanied by one plate of white rice, Ipoh white coffee ice and Lime Juice with Plum.

Total Costs: RM40.10

The pictures look good, don't they! The taste of the food is even much better. Well, you have to taste it to believe it for yourself!