THOSE of us from Ipoh just love our kai si hor fun or koay teow with chicken in a bone broth with prawn flavours. When we head back to Ipoh, our first stop would be at Kong Heng or Thean Chun in Old Town for its inimitable Ipoh hor fun.

Now that Ipoh Ipoh Kafe is open in SS2, Petaling Jaya, there’s no need to travel so far to satisfy our craving for this hor fun dish.

As we know, only hor fun from Ipoh has that silky feel, made with the hard water from its limestone hills.

Just as important is the broth the noodles are steeped in. It’s a milky bone broth packed with flavours, and laced with prawn oil. Prawns, shredded chicken breast meat and crispy fried shallots complete a delicious bowl of hor fun at this cafe.

According to Chef Eric of Ipoh Ipoh Kafe, he has recreated the Ipoh hor fun bone broth of the ‘80s, with the perfect balance of prawn aroma.

It enhances, not overpower the bone broth that had been simmered for more than 10 hours, then for another one and a half hours with black sugarcane and the signature pre-fried prawn shells.

I loved Eric’s Ipoh hor fun. The soup had layers of flavours and the hor fun had that expected silky smoothness. We had a basic kai si hor fun soup (RM8.50), then another kampung chicken hor fun soup super jumbo, with extra prawns and chicken thigh. At just RM15, it’s a steal.

The chicken was served separately, topped with a ginger sauce, and Ipoh buntong taugeh (RM6).

Ipoh is also well-known for its chee cheong fun and we ordered two versions – with Ipoh sweet sauce (RM7) and minced meat and mushroom gravy (RM7.50).

The Ipoh sweet sauce one was excellent – the sweet sauce was well balanced with a tangy chilli sauce, and the chee cheong fun was topped with lots of fried shallots and a generous sprinkling of sesame seeds.

With pickled green chillies added to it, the noodles were perfect. The mushroom gravy was a little bland for the other chee cheong fun.

The signature pillow char siew (RM30) had a glistening caramelised “skin” wrapped around tender pillowy half fat, half lean meat. Altogether they made sticky sweet, tender bites. It’s one of the better char siew or barbecued pork I’ve had.

I only wished it had been cut into thick slices instead of served in chunks. The mouthfeel would have been so much better.

We also shared a bowl of curry noodles with kampong chicken. In the curry too were pork rind, tofu puffs and long beans, with fresh mint garnishing it.

I would have liked it better if the curry had been more fragrant: it lacked oomph.

The kampung style wantan mee with char siew and wantan (RM9.50) stands out for its a generous portion of yummy char siew and crispy fried wantan.

We also ordered a basket of 10 wantan (RM5) to crunch on. Apparently, they are a bestseller in the shop.

The white coffee here (RM3.80) is aromatic and creamy with a slight bitter edge, and is one of the best I’ve had.

The cham (coffee and tea mix) is good too. We had wanted a fruit rojak (the famous Ipoh one) for dessert but we couldn’t put it in any more.

Ipoh Ipoh Kafe is at 26 Jalan SS2/10, Petaling Jaya. Call 017-873 6733, for enquiries. It is open from 9am to 2.30pm and 5.30pm to 8pm daily except Monday. It opens an hour early on weekends and public holidays. – January 22, 2022.

* Eu Hooi-Khaw has been writing about food for the longest time, covering all aspects, from restaurant reviews to cooking and recipes, as well as the healthy side of it. She has written for major newspapers and magazines, published the cookbook Fresh Ingredients, and also writes for her website hooikhawandsu.com.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.