When it comes to food, the action in Ipoh pretty much centers around the new town area regardless of time of day it is, and if you’ve already gotten enough of the various rendition of chicken rice and are longing for some good old fashion fried noodle, then Tuck Kee is certainly a place to check out.
Ipoh Tuck Kee, Ipoh New Town
Located at Ipoh New Town along Jalan Yau Tet Shin, the middle lot occupied by Tuck Kee sprawls over the parking area outside the old shop houses at night. If the weather cooperates, alfresco is a great choice, otherwise the place may get a little bit packed and you may even have to queue up for a table during busy weekends.
Menu is a simple two page affair – one with the various types of noodle, the other with a selection of 5 different side dishes (menu photos below).
braised yee mee, wat tan hor, hokkien mee, yu kong hor
For the five of us, we ordered just about a little bit of everything from the menu.
Of the four types of noodle we ordered, the moonlight hor (yut kong hor) was the best, followed by a pretty good braised yee mee and wat tan hor. The Hokkien mee though, was a bit of a let down with the texture of noodle being too easily torn. If you only have to order one dish here, get the moonlight hor.
The accompanying sambal is on self-served, take all you can basis, which was awesome cos the sambal was legit.
baby octopus, chicken feet, bean sprout
The three side dishes we ordered were all quite spot on. You can always count on bean sprouts in Ipoh and this one did not disappoint. The baby octopus reminds me of the version they served at Teow Chew Meng, which was good, and those chicken feet is almost as satisfying as the version in Kimberley Street in Penang.
Best of all, at Tuck Kee, service is super fast, and prices are super reasonable. A portion of noodle in the photo above was at RM 7 or RM 8, with the only dish over RM 10 being the octopus, no wonder the locals flocks to this place.
Address: Restoran Ipoh Tuck Kee 61, Jalan Yau Tet Shin, Taman Jubilee, 30300 Ipoh, Negeri Perak GPS: 4.593996, 101.084530 Tel: +6016 220 9361
When it comes to Ipoh, none is more famous than their chicken rice and those sweet, crunchy bean sprouts. While many places offers the same dish all over town, tourists and locals alike will often congregate around middle of new town for this dish over lunch.
ipoh pak kong chicken rice
One of such place that is favored by the locals is none other than Restoran Nasi Ayam Pak Kong, a stone’s throw away from the more famous Ong Kee (often packed with tourists).
The shop offers quite a good selection of dishes you’d often associate with chicken rice – roast chicken, steamed chicken, roast pork, bbq pork, bean sprouts, and some of the other dishes you don’t usually find at these sort of establishments, such as sambal petai, acar, spicy sour vege, and more.
chicken, pork, and most importantly, petai side dish
Prices at Pak Kong is more “local friendly” compared to the more touristy shops at the intersections, dishes here are very good as well, I particularly love their chicken (either version), and really lovely charsiu (bbq pork), the wild card here is their sambal petai, if you like them pungent and full of aroma, this is is not one you’d want to miss.
Roast pork and spicy sour vege would be something I skip the next time around and perhaps order a big plate of bean sprout instead. (and more of those petai!)
Address: Restoran Nasi Ayam Pak Kong 27, Jalan Theatre, Taman Jubilee, 31400 Ipoh, Negeri Perak GPS: 4.594754, 101.083627 Tel: +6012 588 6618
When it comes to food in Ipoh, the most famous of them all has got to be chicken rice with bean sprout, and for those who love this dish, there’s no other place that is more popular than Restoran Tauge Ayam Ong Kee right in the heart of Ipoh town, which was where we stopped by for lunch on New Year’s day.
Ong Kee Ipoh Chicken Rice
If you get to Ong Kee on weekends of during public holidays, getting there in itself can sometimes be a problem, and parking too can be quite a challenge. After all those, you may still end up spending a bit of time waiting for a vacant table. Though thankfully, food usually doesn’t take too long to be served, so there’s that.
innards, bean sprouts, poached chicken
The menu choices are simple, there’s poached chicken, innards, bean sprouts, and there’s also pork balls should you want to indulge yourself in some non-avian meat.
Most popular eateries get the “used to be better” and “overrated” labels quite a bit, but honestly speaking I do find Ong Kee’s chicken right on par with expectations. They are tender, not overly complex, and soak in properly balanced cocktail of soya sauce. The bean sprouts too is of rather good quality, as with most bean sprouts from Ipoh, probably due to the water quality.
the amount of chicken they sell each day is astounding
Overall, lunch proved to be quite a satisfying affair, and at RM 36 including drinks, it was quite an affordable option as well. Happy eating!
Address: Ong Kee Tauge Chicken Rice 48,51 & 53, Jalan Yau Tet Shin, Taman Jubilee, 30300 Ipoh, Perak GPS: 4.593838, 101.083929 Tel: 05-253 1562