Just as many restaurants in Damansara Utama (Damansara Uptown) have closed down, there are new ones opening. One such eatery is Restoran Ipoh Famous Ayam Tauge & Koitiau.
Ever since the MCO, businesses are finding it hard to survive but these brave souls have the courage to open at a time of uncertainty. Maybe this is the right strategy, since we are now in RMCO and many people are coming out to dine again.
Ever since the MCO, businesses are finding it hard to survive but these brave souls have the courage to open at a time of uncertainty. Maybe this is the right strategy, since we are now in RMCO and many people are coming out to dine again.
A new restaurant always attracts attention what more when the name "Ipoh" and the word "famous" appears in the name. Just like everyone else, I was curious and eager to try the food.
After my first visit, I held back my review. I did not want to base my opinion just on a single visit. It may not be fair to the eatery since they have just opened for business.
Now after three visits, I can finally give my honest to God opinion.
Visit #1 - Underwhelmed and Bewildered
It was a Saturday evening, following opening day, when I suggested to my partner that we should try this new restaurant. He readily agreed and there we were.
It was a busy evening with many eager customers. The menu is compact, all items contained in a single laminated sheet.
From the name of the restaurant, the three default specialties are chicken, tauge (beansprouts) and koitiau (flat rice noodles).
There are two types of chicken - Fragrant Oil Beard Chicken (basically free range chicken) and Fragrant Oil Chicken (regular chicken).
We opted for the Fragrant Oil Chicken (1/2 chicken), Oily Rice (2 big, 1 small), Ipoh Beansprouts (small) and one loh hon guo to share. The Ipoh koitiau would have to wait for another day.
We eagerly tucked in to our so-called "Ipoh Famous" experience.
We were taken aback as the chicken was devoid of the taste and aroma of "fragrant oil". The oil and soya sauce used was just bland. It was so ordinary and unremarkable.
The beansprouts were overcooked and like the chicken, the sauce was bland and flat. As for the oily rice, it was just oily, no aroma and no flavor. Again bland and flat. Same thing with the chili dip. Oh dear. We were terribly disappointed. Total damage (RM42.00).
Visit #2 - Mixed Feelings
I came back on my own as I doubt if my partner would want to return.
I wanted to try the Chicken Prawn Koitiau Soup (what we know as kai see hor fun) and to taste the chicken again, this time the Fragrant Oil Beard Chicken. And I saw Ipoh White Coffee in the menu, I had to try that too.
When I placed my order, I specifically stated (in the order chit) that I wanted the leg portion. A guy came over to ask if drumstick was what I meant. So I said yes.
When the chicken was served, I absentmindedly took a piece (after taking photos) and then realized, crap! This is breast meat! But since I had already touched the meat, it would be bad form to return it.
Again, no fragrance from the sauce (oh dear, oh dear) and the chicken was just meh. The only way I could tell that it was free range chicken was from the bones. But the chili dip seemed to have improved.
Fortunately, the kai see hor fun made my day.
The broth was very robust and the koitiau (I usually spell it as koay teow, but just follow their spelling here) was soft and smooth (with no unpleasant smell). There were generous strips of chicken in the broth but only one prawn.
I drank the broth to the last drop heh..heh...
As for the Ipoh White Coffee, let's just say that I won't order it again. Not here anyway. Total damage RM18.70.
Visit #3 - Finally, I Can Say Good Things
Some people may think I am crazy to come back after two dismal visits but that's me. If I am going to say something good or something bad, it must be with proper basis.
"Ipoh beansprouts are the best in the world". Hear that?
My order this time is the Oily Rice (small), Fragrant Oil Beard Chicken (1 pax, making sure that I get my drumstick), Ipoh Beansprouts (small) and Chrysanthemum tea (cold).
I told myself, if the rice, chicken and beansprouts were anything like the first time, this will be my last visit.
My drink was very refreshing and only lightly sweetened. Thumbs up for that.
Yes! Drumstick! And oh my. What a world of difference. The fragrant oil was really fragrant and tasty while the chicken was succulent and moist. Why wasn't it like that before?
The beansprouts this time were cooked just right, crunchy and the sauce was fragrant and tasty.
And the oily rice? Not oily but so flavorful. The chili dip was so good that I had a second helping. Goodness me. It was like a 360 degree turn, this experience compared to Saturday's.
Total damage RM17.00.
What I can say is, based on my three visits, these guys have to be consistent in dishing out the good stuff. Otherwise, customers are either going to have a good or not-so-good experience depending on which day they visit. That's when all the mixed opinions will come in.
Based on this third visit, I will return but not so soon. But when I do, I hope to have another good experience.
After my first visit, I held back my review. I did not want to base my opinion just on a single visit. It may not be fair to the eatery since they have just opened for business.
Now after three visits, I can finally give my honest to God opinion.
Visit #1 - Underwhelmed and Bewildered
It was a Saturday evening, following opening day, when I suggested to my partner that we should try this new restaurant. He readily agreed and there we were.
It was a busy evening with many eager customers. The menu is compact, all items contained in a single laminated sheet.
From the name of the restaurant, the three default specialties are chicken, tauge (beansprouts) and koitiau (flat rice noodles).
There are two types of chicken - Fragrant Oil Beard Chicken (basically free range chicken) and Fragrant Oil Chicken (regular chicken).
We opted for the Fragrant Oil Chicken (1/2 chicken), Oily Rice (2 big, 1 small), Ipoh Beansprouts (small) and one loh hon guo to share. The Ipoh koitiau would have to wait for another day.
We eagerly tucked in to our so-called "Ipoh Famous" experience.
We were taken aback as the chicken was devoid of the taste and aroma of "fragrant oil". The oil and soya sauce used was just bland. It was so ordinary and unremarkable.
The beansprouts were overcooked and like the chicken, the sauce was bland and flat. As for the oily rice, it was just oily, no aroma and no flavor. Again bland and flat. Same thing with the chili dip. Oh dear. We were terribly disappointed. Total damage (RM42.00).
Visit #2 - Mixed Feelings
I came back on my own as I doubt if my partner would want to return.
I wanted to try the Chicken Prawn Koitiau Soup (what we know as kai see hor fun) and to taste the chicken again, this time the Fragrant Oil Beard Chicken. And I saw Ipoh White Coffee in the menu, I had to try that too.
When I placed my order, I specifically stated (in the order chit) that I wanted the leg portion. A guy came over to ask if drumstick was what I meant. So I said yes.
When the chicken was served, I absentmindedly took a piece (after taking photos) and then realized, crap! This is breast meat! But since I had already touched the meat, it would be bad form to return it.
Again, no fragrance from the sauce (oh dear, oh dear) and the chicken was just meh. The only way I could tell that it was free range chicken was from the bones. But the chili dip seemed to have improved.
Fortunately, the kai see hor fun made my day.
The broth was very robust and the koitiau (I usually spell it as koay teow, but just follow their spelling here) was soft and smooth (with no unpleasant smell). There were generous strips of chicken in the broth but only one prawn.
I drank the broth to the last drop heh..heh...
As for the Ipoh White Coffee, let's just say that I won't order it again. Not here anyway. Total damage RM18.70.
Visit #3 - Finally, I Can Say Good Things
Some people may think I am crazy to come back after two dismal visits but that's me. If I am going to say something good or something bad, it must be with proper basis.
"Ipoh beansprouts are the best in the world". Hear that?
My order this time is the Oily Rice (small), Fragrant Oil Beard Chicken (1 pax, making sure that I get my drumstick), Ipoh Beansprouts (small) and Chrysanthemum tea (cold).
I told myself, if the rice, chicken and beansprouts were anything like the first time, this will be my last visit.
My drink was very refreshing and only lightly sweetened. Thumbs up for that.
Yes! Drumstick! And oh my. What a world of difference. The fragrant oil was really fragrant and tasty while the chicken was succulent and moist. Why wasn't it like that before?
The beansprouts this time were cooked just right, crunchy and the sauce was fragrant and tasty.
And the oily rice? Not oily but so flavorful. The chili dip was so good that I had a second helping. Goodness me. It was like a 360 degree turn, this experience compared to Saturday's.
Total damage RM17.00.
What I can say is, based on my three visits, these guys have to be consistent in dishing out the good stuff. Otherwise, customers are either going to have a good or not-so-good experience depending on which day they visit. That's when all the mixed opinions will come in.
Based on this third visit, I will return but not so soon. But when I do, I hope to have another good experience.
I am all about the bean sprouts. I like mine plump, crisp and juicy.
ReplyDeleteThat's how beansprouts should be and they are nutritious too!
DeleteThe rice looks like it is bursting with flavours - very few chicken rice here like that, most fail big time...like the nasi lemak. The hor fun looks very nice too.
ReplyDeleteEeee...I see the tails on the taugeh, surely for a nice place like this, they can get their workers to remove them? If you eat anything with taugeh at Payung, no tails...and no heads too! According to the boss, Peter, the head is where the uric acid is, will trigger gout attacks!
I admit that I don't top and tail taugeh before I cook them. Oops! When I was a child, my grandma used to make me help remove the tails. Not my favorite chore hee..hee..
DeleteHopefully the dishes will continue to be like your 3rd visit. You are a good food reviewer to give a new place 3 chances.
ReplyDeleteI hope so too because I want all new restaurants to do well.
Deleteooo, third time truly is the charm! hopefully i'll be as lucky as your third time during my first visit. and maybe your fourth visit will be even better than your third, heheh :D
ReplyDeleteI am hopeful that the standards of the 3rd visit will be maintained because it is nice to have a good place to go for fragrant chicken and crunchy taugeh!
Deletethey need to keep up with consistency...the 3rd one definitely looks better with chicken leg and big fat tauge...yummmzz!
ReplyDeleteI hope to have another good experience :)
DeleteBusiness is not as good as before as lesser patrons due to uncertainty and fear.oooh. Chicken rice. Is it?? Ipoh beansprouts the best??
ReplyDeleteI would say yes, it is chicken rice. Based on the last experience, yes, Ipoh's beansprouts is the best hee..hee...
DeleteFunny that the taste is not consistent, right? Maybe chef was off during the first two visits.. hahaaha.. anyway it happens, I mean the food being different taste on different days... and you did not give up after one try nor two but giving them 3 chances! Thumbs up for u!
ReplyDeleteYou could be right! MCO, hard to travel from Ipoh to KL hah..hah... If they dare to call themselves "Ipoh Famous" and open during RMCO, they must be good, so I was willing to try the 3rd time.
DeleteTo get it right the third time only means they would have lost many customers during the other two times. Many would not have come back after the first visit (me included..especially if the location is out of our way). Perhaps they didn't get their stock of oil and soya sauce in time from Ipoh when they first opened...hehe! ;) Glad the Ipoh kai see hor fun turned out good. I'm tempted to try but can't since my family is not into poached chicken (nor noodle soup)..and there are no other alternatives here. P/S: How come your chicken breast has bones?
ReplyDeletePerhaps! But there are many more who would have visited after that and I hope they had a good experience. That's what I thought too, due to RMCO, their special soya sauce and oil had trouble reaching PJ hee..hee.. And the head chef was probably stuck in Ipoh then hence the below par food. The bones are from the chicken wings hee..hee..
DeleteI usually will not go when the eatery newly opens, at least for about a week. Give them some time to settle. You are so kind to give them 3 chances and good for them that they got it right the 3rd time.
ReplyDeleteYou are very wise! Usually there are teething problems at opening.
DeleteGood that you gave them chance and lucky that the third experience was good but yes you are right to say they must be consistent otherwise they will lose their customers.
ReplyDeleteI see many people during lunchtime and some more had to queue! Hope that the food stays good from now on.
DeleteConsistency is indeed important to retain customers.
ReplyDeleteHope they get it right soon!
They have and hope they can maintain the standard.
DeleteOo they need to be consistent in order not to lose their customers. In the pictures all look so delicious!
ReplyDeleteI hope that they continue to dish out good food based on my third visit.
DeleteI just about to comment that I saw the "drumstick bone" from the photo of your second visit, and eventually it was from chicken drummet. :P
ReplyDeleteBookmarked this and will plan a visit to check out and hopefully my experience is a delightful one.
I am waiting to hear about your experience!
DeleteSemua makanan di sini menggoda selera!
ReplyDeleteAduhai PH!
hee..hee.. PH suka ayam masak macam ni :)
Delete