Ipoh Ipoh Cafe SS2 / PJ — Restaurant in Petaling Jaya

This section of Jalan SS2/10 is fast a foodie’s paradise, at about every third shop in the block a food joint. I digress, but on the day I was making my way to Ipoh Ipoh, there was a large crowd gathered along the sides, five-foot way with preparation of a 3-lions, lion dance (along with jumping poles) about to “bless” the opening of a new Pizza eatery a few doors away. Ipoh Ipoh, as the name implies offers a wide range of cuisines from Ipoh; several variations of Hor Fun, Chee Cheong Fun, Curry Mee (wet and dry), and sides like fried wanton, lobak. The restaurant itself is almost always running at full capacity, so if you wish to try out their food, try a time which is well off peak. I believe that the “other” reason is the way the tables are configured; into “cubicles”, which takes quite a bit of space. It was an “open” concept before. Service is pretty good and the food and drinks are served fairly quickly despite the crowds. In a place with so much variety of food on the menu, to get a quick feel for the tastiness of the food, order their signature food, which in this case, no prize for guessing, Ipoh Hot Fun or more specifically the Kai See Hor Fun with Kampung Chicken! The soup of the noddles was outstanding, prawny but not overwhelmingly so, balanced by the taste of chicken stock and bursting with umami flavor that can only be achieved by boiling prawn shell in stock for hours. Perfect umami taste. The hor fun, as one would expect was silky smooth, not too thick nor too thin so as to be able to absorb the sweetness of the soup with each bite. The kampung chicken slices were properly cooked and “sweet”. There were also 3 medium sized prawns in the mix, fresh stuff, not like some more “rubbery” stuff served in some restaurants. These, all topped by freshly cooked shallots, chives and spring onion make the rest of the toppings and added dimension to each bite. Drinks here are good, with Ipoh quality coffee, plus some. All in all, a good place for good tasting Ipoh food. If only it was...

There are restaurants that are so popular and famous that they don't really need to offer dine in when there is still SOP in place that limits the dine in experience. Ipoh Ipoh Cafe is one such restaurant. Was the food really good in this"Cafe"?

Let's start with their signature Ipoh chicken hor fun. The distinctive taste of the soup is there, most importantly. I like the fact the soup tasted sweet without the added sugar (an assumption) like in some other places. Thankfully. This is one thing i would order again if i ever visit this place again. 8/10

The famous Ipoh poached chicken was however slightly let down by the sauce that came with it. The chicken tasted good with the all important chicken flavor, indicating good quality chicken was used. The sauce however overwhelmed the good taste of the chicken for being a tad too sweet. 7/10

What about the chee cheong fun with mushroom sauce? I like this dish. The mushroom sauce was light and complemented the cheong fun nicely. This is a good side dish for 4 people although the portion was quite large as shown in the picture. And we ordered the smaller portion at that. 8/10

The let down was the curry noodle with char siew. The curry soup lacked the Ipoh curry taste that i know and love. This is not Ipoh curry but a watered down version. 4/10

I was pleasantly surprised by their Ceylon milk tea. It was buttery smooth and most importantly, the sweetness level was just enough to let the tea flavor shined through. 8/10

To the Chef who asked about the curry. The Ipoh curry I know definitely has less coconut taste and heavier on the curry taste like you described. That's the problem when you want to introduce "local food" to KL people. You have to cater to the masses. I will try your white coffee the next time I'm there. I do like a good glass of iced cold...

Many months ago when I wanted to try out this restaurant, my friends and family told me, not to bother. “Mm ho sek keh”, “Xx shop is better”.

One day when I was around this area I decided to try out the Ipoh hor Fun. The soup was so good! The red prawn oil made the whole dish so good. I will 101 percent recommend it.

I’m rating this Ipoh hor fun 5 stars. But since I was there, I wanted to try out other dishes.

OK, that’s when the experience went down hill. Chef Eric, take note.

Besides the Ipoh hor fun, I also ordered the wonton and the wat kai, the char siu and the curry mee. Hello, my intention was to try out different dishes so that I could give a more accurate review. Each time I ordered the staff smirked and sniggered at us coz there were only 2 of us and we ordered enough for 5 or 6 pax. BUT, is there a problem? We paid full price coz we wanted to give a proper review.

They made us feel so embarrassed that we left without trying all the dishes we wanted to review.

I want to go back anytime alone or with a companion. But I hesitate coz Chef Eric you forgot to train your staff not to laugh at your guests whether I’m alone or with company, or fat or tall or stunted.

I will not recommend or go back coz, poor quality food I can tolerate. But when you look down on individualism, that’s not to be tolerated. I did not go to your restaurant to...