I've always been skeptical about curry noodles that I consume at places out of home because I've had terrible experiences, i.e. diarrhea thereafter. It's not quite of an aftermath that one would fancy, coupled with the worry and fear, hence making curry noodles the least favourable order option when I'm out.
Ipoh is a definite food haven and trust me, dim sum and bean sprouts steamed chicken are NOT what Ipoh is made of. Plainly overrated, if I may add.
I hereby present to you the BEST curry noodles in Ipoh @ Xin Quan Fang.
Don't say good things never share hor!
Tips:
1) Be there by 8am to get yourself seated comfortably. Else, be prepared for a minimum 30 minutes wait in the queue to enter the eatery. This 30 minutes wait does not include waiting for aunty/uncle coming to you to take your order and subsequently having your order served to you.
2) Please queue outside the eatery and wait (in line) to be allocated a seat/ table-sharing with other customers.
3) Wait for aunty/ uncle to come by your table to take your order. Do NOT go up to aunty/ uncle at the preparation front to place your orders.
4) Be quick in placing your orders. Uncle can get quite impatient. It is BEST for one person fluent in Cantonese to collate everyone's order preference as soon as you get seated so when aunty/ uncle comes by, that one person can inform aunty/ uncle quickly instead of going one by one around your group. This saves up time and patience. (please refer link on how to order)
The outlook of Xin Quan Fang from across the street
Also known as "Mata Liew" because it is located nearby a police station.
Photo above was taken mid-2015 when there was no queue system yet. Back then, we just walk into the eatery and hawk on customers who SEEM like they're about to finish up their food LOL
The cozy (I meant, stuffy lol) coffee shop. Nothing fancy, except butts and armpits dripping with sweat hehe
Basically, the options are -
Noodles:
- Yellow Mee; or
- Bee hoon; or
- Kuey Teow; or
- Combination of yellow mee and bee hoon (common / the ideal way of a good bowl of curry noodles).
Note: They have an option of clear soup noodles for kids or the faint hearted ones ;)
Ingredients:
- Served with noodles; or
- Served separately (MOST PREFERRED option!).
Types of ingredients (if ingredients served separately):
- Steamed chicken
- Roast pork
- BBQ pork (it's a different style of "Char Siew", definitely MUST TRY!)
- Prawns
- Bean sprouts
- Pork everything else ranging from pork ears, pork skin etc. (gross... eww)
Note: The price is fixed where you'll be served all of the above ingredients, even if you opt to exclude any of them.
The link enclosed above is "How To Order at Xin Quan Fang For Two Without Fats".
The next photo is an indication of when your order will be served right up REAL SOON.
Presenting to you, the MAGIC SAUCE that spikes up the flavour of the whole BEST-CURRY-NOODLES experience. What's the use of this magic sauce, you may ask?
It is a DIP for you to dip (duhh) the ingredients served later on. It is rich in curry sauce mixed with garlic (oh yeaaa), onions and (I suspect) a magical drug. Hahaha I kidddd. But this sauce is SERIOUSLY THE BOMB.
Point to note, you will only get this if you order your ingredients to be served separately from your noodles.
As forewarned, one requires a great amount of patience. After all, good things come to those who wait, right? ;)
My usual orders would be a dry bowl of mee+beehoon combo. I love how it is served with a spoon of lime juice. It doesn't make that big of a difference but it definitely adds flavour to the simple bowl of dry curry noodles.
With this bowl served, you are ready to dig in!
They layer the bowl (bottom up) with juicy bean sprouts, steamed chicken, roast pork (left in pic), BBQ pork (right in pic) and prawns.
Uncle will try their level best to cater to your request of lean pork if you request for it. However, do note that when they're really busy, they may not entertain such request. Key message? GO EARLY! :D
The char siew is tender and very different than that of KL's or anywhere else in Malaysia. Outlook and taste wise - it is tender, not much fats and it is flavourful.
The roast pork is one of the best I've had. Crunchy top layer and melt in the mouth fats. However, this can be quite a hit and miss. Nonetheless, dip it into the magic sauce and the world goes round again. No biggie! :)
No trip to Ipoh is complete without a bowl of Xin Quan Fang curry mee. It is a personal must-have like how putu piring is in Malacca :)
That being said, the BEST CURRY MEE comes with quite a price. It is the most expensive curry noodles you'll ever get from a coffee shop.
Priced at RM12 per pax (as at December 2015), it is frickin' expensive for Ipoh standards. Heck! It's even expensive for KL standards. Try it! Who knows, you may even be hooked onto it like I am and there's no turning back henceforth.
*****
Address:
174, Jalan Sultan Iskandar
30000 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
Opening hours: 7:30am until finished (approx about 12:30pm)
Do try it out and share with me your thoughts! Let's get drugged with this curry meeeeee! Haha!
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