Yin Fai Kee 源晖记 : just come for noodle, nothing else

come for the tailokmee

It had been a long time that I did not blog about the typical Chinese restaurant with dishes. The truth is there are so many of them around in Ipoh and Kampar that I did not know which want to write about. Since a colleague suggested dinner here, might as well we give it a try. 

Yin Fai Kee is located right in the centre Ipoh town. It may be a bit difficult to locate; but if one would go from the road which harbour the new FooShan and the old Alishan bus company, just head towards town centre, cross the main road and along the side alley. It is just in the middle of the road, sharing the street with many other Chinese restaurants as well. 

In Chinese stall type of restaurant, we would not be talking about decoration or service. It is all about food. Forget the menu as well since most of them would share the same selection of noodles or dishes. 

fried egg with oyster

belacan kangkong

The main star of this restaurant is the "mee goreng besar" or "tailokmee". Literally it meant big coarse noodle, referring to the relatively bigger diameter compare to other noodle. It is usually fried with lots of dark soya sauce, and in this stall, the main ingredient would be the pork oil cube (zhuyou zha). It will be nightmare for the health conscious public but hey, we only get to live once. Somehow, the pork oil gives a different aroma to it, and with ample oil, the noodle literally shines and invite you to finish it. Is it good? Yes, with all the pork oil; though many would disagree with me. However, due to the more than sufficient oil, it is not meant to be finished alone. 

lala, kamheong style

fried kueitiao

The other dishes however, pale in comparison. The belacan kangkong was average and nothing to shout about. Fried lala "kamheong" style was something to look forward to, since the style of cooking with curry leaves is one of the better way to cook this seafood. However, it turn out bit on the plain side, with just salty and hot. It lacks the aroma of the "kamheong" style. The fried egg with oyster (hojian) was the most disappointing. I had tasted better one elsewhere (Melaka Jln Bunga Raya hojian still hold a special place in my heart) whereby it is a single unified dish with egg and oyster. This, on the other hand, felt like the cook was making an fried egg and decided to throw in some oyster instead of other ingredient. The other noodle dish we ordered was fried kueitiao, which turn out alrite but pale in comparison again with the tailokmee. 

Over all, with all the dishes, it ended up RM80 for 4 of us. Not exactly cheap, but since lala and oyster are expected to be pricey, it is understandable. It is just that the expensive dishes were bit of letdown but the cheaper tailokmee shines instead. 

ratings: 2 half poink!

comments: lower poink due to the other dishes. I would not mind coming back for the noodles especially the extra pork oil tailokmee.