Hardly any secrets...

My first visit to Secret Garden at Lorong Cheah Cheang Lim is definitely going to be my last visit as well. I do not want to pass negative comments on this high end  restaurant (???) which is trying to imitate the most prestigious fine-dining restaurant in Ipoh, Indulgence. At the back cover of their menu, they actually claimed that the best kept secret is about to be revealed here. I wonder where the secrets are... Only weakness and lousiness in all aspects of this restaurant have been made visible to everyone. If I have to pay through the nose for food and beverage which is utterly unacceptable, I will never ever come back for a second torture. To try or not to try, it's up to you.

Secret  Garden @ Ipoh

The menu

The interior of the restaurant

A simple setting

Iced Cappuccino @ RM12.90

Espresso @ RM8.90

Secret Club Sandwich @ RM18.90

Baguette with smoked salmon, olive and tobiko fillings

Ciabatta with tuna flakes filling

Poppy seed bread with egg and cheese fillings

Cross section of the club sandwich

Secret Garden Hotel

42, Lorong Cheah Cheang Lim 30350 Ipoh, Perak. Malaysia +605-241-0421

San Francisco Steakhouse, Coliseum Square

I love eating escargots. My first experience of eating escargots was during my visit to Malacca. Being an adventurous foodie, I was willing to try anything that is edible. My first trip to Malacca was guided by a Malacca unimate who shared my interest on food. She introduced to me a variety of exotic Malacca food and I had had one of my most memorable eating experience when she led me into a back alley near the historical sites in Malacca. We stopped in front of a few stalls selling blanched shell fish and we settled for 3 plates of unhygienic shell fish - garden snails, cockles and clams. I therefore tasted my very first local escargots beside two rows of  filthy drains in a back alley. 

I then had my second plate of escargots at San Franscisco Steakhouse at Mid Valley Megamall about six years ago. The mollusks were cooked with garlic and parsley butter in the shells and some special cutleries were used to extract the flesh from the shells. 

Years later, I had my third escargot meal in Brussels. As I was walking around The Grand Place looking for the Mannicken Pis, I spotted a roadside stall selling escargots cooked in broth. The small serving of escargots was an eye-opener to me as it was the freshest I'd ever tasted. I was later told by a friend from France that Burgundy serves the best escargots in the world. Since then, I have fallen in love with escargots.

Last week, I took Mum to San Francisco Steakhouse at Coliseum Square. I ordered escargots again! When the dish arrived, I couldn't help but frown when I saw the whole presentation of the food. Instead of serving it in the shells, they discarded the shells and baked the flesh in a special dish with six tiny compartments. It was quite disappointing because making an effort to hold the shell firmly and extract the flesh from the shell are part of the enjoyment in eating escargots. 

Brew of the day @ RM6.50

Complimentary thin bread slice served with fresh herb butter 

Baked escargots in garlic cream sauce @ RM15.90

Chicken Maryland @ RM20.90

The escargots were not as good as the one I had in the outlet at Mid Valley Megamall. Mum was complaining    the battered chicken being tasteless. She doesn't have the habit of dipping food in sauces but had to resort to requesting for extra ketchup for the chicken. Consequently, we left without ordering any desserts to avoid further disappointment. 

San Francisco Steakhouse

Coliseum Square

Jalan Gopeng

Ipoh

Best Prawn Noodles in Ipoh

Penang Prawn Noodle is an all-time favourite. The fragrant prawn stock, made from both fresh and dried shrimps, has a robust flavour which is loved by all Malaysians. The aromatic soup generally goes well with all types of noodles but I always find the combination of yellow noodles and vermicelli the best companion to the stock as I see how well they complement each other when the slurping action is taking place. Being a PR in Taiping for so long, I can assure you that none of the Taiping food stalls serves good quality prawn noodles. Hence, this dish is never in my food list whenever I go to the hawker centre. As in Ipoh, I manage to discover a few places selling palatable prawn noodles. Below is one of my most-patronized prawn noodle stalls in Ipoh. Have you tried it before?

Kedai Makanan and Minuman Taman Timur is located strategically at the cross roads connecting Tambun, Bercham and Ipoh Garden East. If you have been to Beacon Point before, I am sure you have seen this shop at the corner. There is no reason that you would miss it because you have to pass by this shop before reaching Beacon Point.

Look for this stall beside a large stall selling bread and pastries. 

Words are not necessary because the colour of the stock has proven itself.

Prawn Noodles @ RM3.50

My favourite dessert to round off the meal: Caramel Custard @ RM2.20

(I'm not being bias but I just can't find any caramel custard that tastes better than Tin Chun's)

Kedai Makan and Minum Taman Timur

Lintasan Perajurit, Taman Perak, 

31400 Ipoh.

Poon Choi at Oversea Restaurant

Poon Choi is a traditional type of food originated from the Hakka cuisine and served in a basin. Literally, it is translated as 'basin vegetables'. This 'Big Bowl Feast'  is composed of many layers of different ingredients and eaten layer by layer. A typical Poon Choi includes ingredients such as chicken, pork slices, abalone, sharks fin, scallops, goose feet, fish maw, mushroom, prawns, crab meat, dried oyster etc. 

We ordered the package that comes with abalone, dried scallops and goose feet @ RM 680 ++

Due to the slightly larger-than-usual size of the bowl, the ingredients were not neatly assembled. 

Prawns

Fried wonton

Abalone, Fish Maw and Mushroom

It's a birthday celebration!

The mousse cake was just nice to feed the nine of us after the sumptuous meal. 

Oversea Restaurant

57 - 65 Jalan Seenivasagam

30450 Ipoh

Tel: 05-2538005

Abalone Promo Set

Good news for the Ipoh kaki! Unique Seafood Restaurant is now having a value-for-money abalone promotion. When you order the abalone set, two sets of meals will be delivered to you while you are paying only for one. In other words, the second set comes absolutely FREE! The entire abalone set is made up of six dishes:

1. Braised abalone with mushroom and broccoli
2. Sweet and Sour Fillet
3. Fresh water prawn cooked in superior soy sauce
4. Sharks fin soup
5. Fried Rice
6. Dessert (Canned fruits)

Guess what? All the above costs merely RM69.90 ++ per set! I shall remind you again that this is a Buy One and Get One Free promotion. Therefore, each set costs a painless price of RM34.95 ++.
So what are you waiting for? Go to Unique Seafood Restaurant today and savour abalone at the most affordable price ever. (Sounds like an advertisement)

Sweet and Sour Fillet

Sharks fin soup

Fresh water prawn cooked in superior soy sauce

Braised abalone with mushroom and broccoli

Fried Rice

Dim Sum Breakfast at Foh San, Ipoh

Foh San Dim Sum in Ipoh needs no introduction as it is so well known among the bloggers. Frankly speaking, the dim sum has nothing to shout about but the shop has got its charm that makes it stand out among the rest. I particularly like the ambiance which resembles one we use to see in Hong Kong movies.

So, what are we paying for? Food? No... we are actually paying for the ambiance.

Our choice of morsels for the day

Congee with century egg and pork

Siu Mai

Har Mai

Fishballs

Fried Raddish Cake

Double Skin Milk

Egg Tarts