Never been…

My girl said that she had never been here before so that was why the other day, I took her there for lunch.

She had the signature roasted chicken rice (RM12.80)…

…and no, she was not impressed.

Neither was I merely from the look of it. Ipoh is so famous for its chicken rice, people come from far and near to the city to eat it so I am very sure this is not what it is like there. Why, I can name a few right here in Sibu that are a whole lot nicer. At best, it was edible but it made me think of those forlorn chicken rice stalls at some God-forsaken coffee shops in some obscure part of town where some may go to eat just for the sake of having something to fill their tummies.

The keropok (prawn crackers) was not our celebrated Mukah ones and the fact that my girl tried a bit and left the rest untouched spoke volumes. The only good thing she had to say about it was how she would probably like the chicken hor fun here if served in that complimentary soup that came with the set. Well, I had that the last time I was here and yes, I did like it!

This time around, I tried the supreme prawn noodles (RM13.80)…

…and I had that with hor fun…

It certainly looked a whole lot nicer in their promotional photograph and at best, I thought it was all right – I just did not like the sambal. It reminded me of those canned ones that I simply do not enjoy.

The Ipoh chee cheong fun (RM8.90)…

…was a disappointment as well. For one thing, there was that sambal again and for another, the rice noodle rolls were thick and rubbery/chewy, something like our local kway teow, maybe worse and nothing like the very nice ones that I had here not too long ago.

We loved the yam puffs (RM2.50 each)…

…here a long time ago but for reasons unknown, the stall went missing in action and lately, I noticed that even the bistro had called it a day. I cannot find any nice ones anywhere in town so of course, when I saw the crispy taro puffs (RM9.90 for two)…

…on the menu, I quickly ordered those to try.

The outer crispy layer…

…was absolutely perfect, very nicely done but the yam paste inside was way too mushy for my liking. As for the filling, my girl felt that they might have forgotten the seasoning as it was bland, quite tasteless. Perhaps they should use the filling for their steamed char siew pao or their sio pao (baked buns) – we had those before and we thought they were good.

The total, inclusive of 5% SST, came up to RM56.80, inclusive of drinks. Well, the food wasn’t all that great, to put in gently, but I liked how the place was not crowded. We were the only table in that front section and I think there were a few tables inside, 3 or 4 plus I did see people dropping by to collect their takeaway orders. Service was prompt and the food was served soon enough and I loved the songs that they played – my favourite Malay oldies including this one, this one and this one. I sure enjoyed listening to them.

NAM HEONG IPOH, Sibu outlet (2.301121, 111.843386) is located along Jalan Dr Wong Soon Kai, formerly Jalan Pedada, facing the left side of Gafu Supermarket, round the corner from Kim Hock Premier Food Court.