CRIZ BON APPETITE

If you are a pan mee noodle lover and you think that you have found the best place for your favorite noodle in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor or even Penang, you should now pay a visit to this pan mee outlet in Ipoh Garden East, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia. Since its operation on 9 June 2010, the restaurant has endless flow of customers patronizing the place. What made this restaurant so unique? Instead of the plain noodles that you would get, the restaurant would also offer other flavors such as spinach (菠菜), pumpkin (金瓜) and wolfberry (杞子). Every single strain of the noodles were made fresh daily and there was no usage of preservative at all. When you think that these noodles would be served either dry or in soup, you would be surprised with the varieties of concoction they have come out with and the portion was real huge.

Let me share with you a few of the noodles that I had tried out here. There was the Ginger Wine Chicken Pan Mee (姜酒雞板面 – RM10) which would only be available on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. This was the chef secret recipe where choice pieces of chicken were slowly cooked with 3 types of Chinese wine, ginger and seasoning. It came with wolfberry noodles. The specially made noodles from the extract of soaked wolfberries have the right al dente texture. The soup base was rich in flavors with a strong hint of ginger but mild in wine flavor while the chicken pieces were tender. The dish was fine for me but it might not be the perfect dish for those who would detest strong ginger taste.

The next dish which was the Dry Ginger Duck Pan Mee (子姜鴨板面 – RM5) would surely please those duck meat lovers. The amount of duck meat given was over generous for that price and the portion was huge! Each piece of the duck meat was perfectly braised for hours with dark soy sauce, ginger, seasonings with a mild touch of Chinese wine. Everyone immediately fell in love with this unique version of pan mee.

The Wolfberry Pan Mee (杞子板面- RM5) was served next. This was another awesome dish. Not only was the soup so flavorful, the ingredients used were very generous. There were carrot, wood ear fungus, mushroom, sweet leaves (star gooseberry leaves), high graded anchovies (I was surprised with the quality of the anchovies used here) and homemade fish balls, garnished with lots of chopped coriander. This order would indeed be great for those health conscious patrons.

Just to clear my curiosity on how a plain bowl of Soup Pan Mee (上湯板面 – RM3.80) would taste like, I ordered one to try out. Gosh! This was my best bowl of soup pan mee in ages. The soup indeed has the required meaty punch. No wonder… on top of the wood ear fungus, mushroom, sweet leaves, anchovies, it had many chicken slices. The garnishing which consisted of chopped spring onions and fried shallots sure pepped up the taste further. Thumbs up!

You might want to take note of other unique combination of pan mee available here such as Dry Curry Chicken Pan Mee (乾咖哩雞板面 – RM5), Curry Fish Head Pan Mee (咖哩魚頭板面 – RM7), Spicy Fermented Soy Bean Fish Head Pan Mee (鼓椒魚頭板面 – RM7) and Pickled Vegetables Fish Head Pan Mee (鹹菜魚頭板面 – RM7). Each dish is nett price. There would also be special herbal drinks and desserts available daily.

If you are exiting through the Ipoh South Toll, just drive all the way left into Jalan Tasek which would lead you to Jusco Ipoh. From here onwards, watch out for the first left junction (McDonalds). Slow down and go towards the second junction (Jalan Medan Ipoh 1). Turn left into the road and again turn left into the second junction (Jalan Medan Ipoh 1E). Drive further on and you will see the restaurant at a corner shop lot.

Name: PEKING PAN MEE NOODLES SHOP
Address: 30 Jalan Medan Ipoh 1E, Medan Ipoh Bistari, 31400 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia.
Contact: 012-728 8727, 012-514 0782
Opening Hours: 7.30am – 4.30pm
GPS: 4.619845, 101.117119

RATING:
Ambience: 8/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 8/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 8.5/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 6/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 9/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

I had tried so many types of Pan Mee from many parts of the country which include places such as the Bukit Jambul flat area (Penang), Green Lane Genting Café (Penang), Petaling Street Chinatown (Kuala Lumpur), Klang’s Mee Hoon Kuih (Selangor) and Seri Kembangan rural area (Selangor), that came in many shapes and flavors. No doubt each individual shop has its own style of cooking and flavor but I have yet to see one that has the uniqueness as I had experienced at I Mum Mum Pan Mee shop along the starting point of the Jelutong Expressway, somewhere in Georgetown, Penang. The little restaurant hidden away below a block of flats had some great versions of Pan Mee to cater to the ever flowing appetite of not only to the residents there but many others who had heard about them by word-of-mouth.

Initially located as a stall in one of the prewar coffee shop in Pulau Tikus, Penang, more than 5 years back, the husband and wife team who were stationed in London for sometime had decided to come back Malaysia to open up a Pan Mee specialist restaurant. Some may ask what’s Pan Mee (Board Noodles/Ban Mian/板麵). It’s actually a Hokkien dish originated from Fujian, China. The noodles comprised of flattened hand kneaded noodles, usually served either in broad pieces, angel hair spaghetti like thinness or slightly thicker as shown below.

The choice of Pan Mee here can be quite limited. That’s because the locals here prefer the original version rather than those purple sweet potatoes, orange carrot, yellow pumpkin, green spinach versions as I had mentioned earlier. Let’s look at the Pan Mee Soup (RM2.80/RM3.30). Normally most health conscious people would go for this as the soup base would be vegetables filled with the sweetness coming from the fragrantly fried anchovies. The bowl of Pan Mee would have your choice of noodles, minced pork, fried anchovies, wood ear fungus, sweet leaves (sayur manis/star gooseberry/馬尼菜), garnished with some garlic oil. It was perfect!

You can even have the dry version – Dry Pan Mee (RM2.80/RM3.30) which has the exact ingredients except that the noodles would be stirred in some dark soy sauce and sesame oil. It was real delicious. This set would come with a small bowl of anchovy soup.

For those who love to have their noodles a bit spicier, you can opt for the Spicy Pan Mee (RM3.20/RM3.70). Basically, everything would be the same as the Dry Pan Mee except it has some dried chili flakes and meatballs. This set would come with a small bowl of anchovy soup too.

The next option would be the Minced Pork Pan Mee with Special Sauce (RM3.50/RM4.00). This would be a dry version and you would get quite a generous portion of the chef’s specially stir fried minced pork, wood ear fungus, sweet leaves and some sliced omelette, garnished with chopped spring onions. This was very tasty with a hint of fermented bean paste and chopped carrots emitting from the minced pork. This set would come with a small bowl of anchovy soup too.

The last option was the Crispy Pork Pan Mee (RM3.50/RM4.00). This is my all time favorite. On top of the selected choice of noodles, I had a generous portion of wood ear fungus, sweet leaves and some delicious sliced crispy pork chop, garnished with some chopped spring onions and toasted sesame seeds. The accompanied sauce on the pork chop has a combination of mild spiciness, sweet and sour taste. This is a must order dish!

There are about 8 items you can add on onto your noodles here in this restaurant but I love to have some soup based ingredients. Thus I have a bowl of rich and aromatic soup with some pork dumplings (水餃 – RM0.70/each), fish dumplings (魚餃 – RM0.50/each) and meatballs (肉丸 – RM0.50/each).

The restaurant would also provide some wonderful homemade condiments to go with the noodles which consist of blended chili, bird eye chili and also the fragrantly fried chili paste.

Please take note that this is a non air-conditioned restaurant but you can always cool yourself down with their daily home cooked herbal tea. If you are coming from Komtar/Prangin Mall area along Jalan Dr. Lim Chwee Leong, drive all the way until the Jalan Dr. Lim Chwee Leong/Lebuh Carnavon traffic lights. Drive on until you have reached the Jalan Dr. Lim Chwee Leong/Lebuh Pantai traffic lights. Drive on again into Gat Lorong Prangin until you see the Weld Quay/Pengkalan Weld traffic lights. Turn right and drive towards the Pengkalan Weld/Gat Lebuh Macallum traffic lights. Slow down and keep to your left after the traffic light. Watch out for a service road (barely few meters away) on your left. Turn in and you would see a few I Mum Mum signs on your left. That’s where the restaurant is.

Name: I MUM MUM RESTAURANT
Address: No, 294, PDC Flats, Pengkalan Weld, 10300 Penang, Malaysia.
Contact: 012-518 1827 (Mr. Choo/Ms. Carmen)
Business Hours: 7.00am-3.00pm (Closed Alternative Monday)
GPS: 5.406715, 100.332001

RATING:
Ambience: 7/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 7.5/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 8.5/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 7/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 9/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

Name: FATTY MEE HOON KUIH HOUSE @ RESTORAN SIN HOOI HUA
Address:
19, Lebuh Bangau, Taman Berkeley, 41150 Klang, Selangor, Malaysia.
Contact: 012-336 6183, 017-336 6183 (Mr. Choo)
Opening Hours: 10.00am – 11.00pm
GPS: 3.058158, 101.465113

RATING:
Ambience: 6/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 7/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 7.5/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 7/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 7/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

Petaling Street or Chinatown as most tourists would call is not only a haven for good bargains of items such as clothes, DVDs, watches, bags and shoes. It is also a haven to please your appetite up to the wee hours of the morning. If you know how to explore further into the many lanes and corners of this street, you will discover many delicious hawker stalls hidden from the main shopping area.

One such stall which I have discovered some years back served the most amazing Hakka Mee and Pan Mee in that area. Not only are the noodle portions quite a lot, they are also cheap. RM3.50 per plate compared to RM4.50 in any of the cafés on the main road. Now you know why I have never stopped visiting this place. The stall also served many other noodles variety such as the Curry Chicken Wan Than Mee which is just as good. Here are the two noodles which we had ordered.

Finding this noodle stall would be quite hard as it is hidden in one of the lanes. If you are walk into Petaling Street, Chinatown’s main entrance from Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock (opposite Kota Raya) and you will reach a crossed junction. Hong Leong Bank is at the corner on your left. Turn left into the road (Jalan Hang Lekir). Walk straight up until you see a lane on your right. There will be a shop selling DVD there. Walk inside and you will see the stall. Next to the stall is a Roasted Chicken/Pork (Char Siew) Rice which is just as good.

Name: PETALING STREET (CHINATOWN) HAKKA/PAN MEE
Address: Jalan Hang Lekir, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Opening Hours: 9.00am – 8.00pm
GPS: 3.144298, 101.698025

RATING:
Ambience: 4/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 7/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 8/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 6/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 7/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

I have tried so many different versions of Pan Mee from all over Malaysia but this is the first time I had come across this unique version. Normally, Pan Mee will come with minced pork, green sweet leaves, mushroom, black fungus, anchovies, etc but this stall along the rural area of Seri Kembangan served the Pan Mee differently and simple.

Other than the normal kneaded dough for the noodles, it comes with three other options such as spinach, purple sweet potato and pumpkin. Each bowl will come with lots of sweet leaves (Sauropus androgynus, sweet leaf bush, sayur cekur manis, sayur Sabah), deep fried stuffed fu chok (soy bean skin) with fish paste and some garlic oil, accompanied by crunchy anchovies and chili paste. This is one of the best chili pastes I have ever tasted as it was cooked along with blended dried shrimps. Each bowl only cost RM4 which is considered cheap. Here are the three special noodles (we did not order the original version at all). My recommendation – The Spinach Noodle

It might be hard for those people from outstation to find this small coffee shop within the inner part of Seri Kembangan. The stall is situated in a village area and only locals will know how to find this place. Fortunately, I managed to get the address and search for a map that will lead you there. Happy hunting!

Name: PO CHOI PAN MEE @ LIN CHIN COFFEE SHOP
Address: No.6 Jalan SK 5/2, 43300 Seri Kembangan, Selangor, Malaysia.
Contact: 012-233 2498
Opening Hours: 7.00am – 3.00pm
GPS: 3.029634, 101.704302

RATING:
Ambience: 4/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 6/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 8/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 6/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 7/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)