Restoran Choong Kee "Pokok Besar" 兵如港忠记大树头炸料粉

One of the popular destinations in Ipoh will be the eating places called the Big Tree Foot or Big Tree Hawker Centre. While the environment may not be as clean as the restaurants, one may not be used to the hygiene here. 

The pouring rain during my visit had left me more impression of this place for the floor was flooded by rainwater in its perimeter with sand running through my toes. The pitter-pattering of the rain hitting on the zinc roof and the experience of walking through the greasy ground of Hawker centre being wary that I might fall the next second was definitely one of a kind adventure to someone like me that comes from a clean and green environment where these scenarios had been long gone.

Stall 

There are two sides of the hawker center at the Big Tree Foot. No doubt it was a weekday afternoon and the unfavourable weather - raining heavily, the place was still almost full house like nobody's business. While the roof was not 100% water proof, there are still some water leakage dropping onto the table. We headed for this Yong Tau Fu Stall and start picking the selected fried items into a basket.

Picking Yong Tau Foo

The variety of YTF was mostly fried staff and items were not as much as what I can usually find from a YTF stall in Singapore. 

Picking the fried items YTF

The queue for Choong Kee was long but fast clearing with the teamwork and efficiency of the staff. 

Writing down the details

One of the staff will start to calculate the number of items taken, while the other will start to write down our table number and additional orders of noodles. 

Behind the Scene

Shortly after, the other staff will start sending the orders to our table. Unlike the Singaporean YTF, this YFT were not re-fried but served at room temperature. 

My Order

Its just that the items were cut into smaller pieces only. I had fried beancurd skin, dumplings, green chilli, brinja and Ngoh Hiong etc.

Well, some may question the standard of hygiene here for items had not been heated up thus this place may not suit all. For me, I'm easily adaptable to environment like this.

Fried YTF

 
Despite the run down environment, I braved myself to have a bowl of spicy noodle ~ the Ipoh hor fun with laksa. The laksa has good hints of lemon grass fragrant and coconut milk was not too cloying. Laksa has a certain level of spiciness. Texture of hor fun was smooth and narrower in size as compared to Singapore. Tau Geh aka Bean Sprouts were also part of the Laksa.

On a side note, the common sight in overseas will be those foot peddlers that go tables after tables to sell their tissues / souvenirs / snacks. As much as I wanted to enjoy the food in the open, we had to be at high alert at all times especially in such crowded area.

Hor Fun in Laksa

The minced meatballs were tender and served in soup. The tad spicy laksa and this minced meatballs soup were the only hot items that kept my stomach and body warm during such rainy weather. 

Minced Meatballs

Even though the taste to me was quite ordinary, it was a good experience to have sank into the local culture, experiencing the environment and food there.

Rating: 3 / 5

Restoran Choong Kee "Pokok Besar" 兵如港忠记大树头炸料粉
Location: 1213, Jalan King, Taman Hoover, 31650 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia