OIC: try to look past the cheesiness

I had meant to try OIC for a long while. I had been passing by the place in Ipoh Garden south festival walk area for a few times, but everytime, I ended up at Suhshi Zento

Anyway, imagine my surprise when OIC open in Kampar. And to add to the surprise, it is such a enormous joint, it felt like the main branch compare to the rest of the branch. It is situated in the corner of the row of shop opposite Kampar Gravel Pump museum, within walking distance to Grand Kampar Hotel in Kampar New Town.

Still, I had to wait for months before I got the chance to come here. Coming back from Ipoh, my stomach was growling for food, so me and Colleen decided to stop by for brunch. It was 11am, and the place is still relatively empty. Service is rather attentive given that there are not that many clients. The place appeared spacious, however, the decoration is really cheesy. Imagine colour changing LED lights on the ceiling. Better still, imagine them heart shape. Yup, I can imagine this to be a 80's version of a drinking pub.


Next comes the menu. As expected, it is the usual kopitiam stuff. The pseudo western choice, the Asian rice and noodle, some bread derivatives, and don't forget the pasta also. However, for a big place, the choices are really limited. Imagine only few types of pasta (the usual bolognese, carbonara and aglio) and the usual chicken chop with mushroom/ black pepper sauce. The focus here probably would be eastern delights as there are more choices in term of rice and noodle variants.

We wanted something heavy so Colleen ordered the fried noodle (mee, beehoon) with duck eggs (RM6.50). The presentation, again is rather cheesy with custom printed heart shaped OIC plates. It is the usual charkuetiao with the duck egg; one would expect to pay up to RM5 for a dish in the usual stalls. It is surprisingly nice, though could not beat the roadside stall version for the lack of "wok-hei". I can really taste the duck egg unlike some stalls which the noodle taste overpowered the egg so much so that it would not make difference in between duck or chicken eggs. However, the bean sprout was a bit on the raw side, but it did not sink the dish, luckily. Next, is my carbonara spaghetti with duck slice (RM 13.90). The carbonara sauce is really disappointing. Given the price, I would expect a better rendition but the although the sauce is creamy, there is not much taste which led to a bland dish. However, the roast duck slice is the saving grace here. Nicely roasted, it has the perfect amount of charred smell with the aroma of duck meat. It had been a while since I tasted such nice duck meat. The RM2 addition for the set lunch was bit disappointing though. The extra RM1 for the soup of the day made me felt like being short changed. I know it will be the usual "mix-with-water" cream soup, but the amount is so little that I practically can finish it at one gulp.

Overall, dining here is rather average, but there are few gems here and there. Worth a try.

ratings: 2 half poink~!
comments: look past the cheesy deco. And there are even steamboat at night, I heard.

OIC Cafe Kampar
2198-2201, Jalan Timah
Taman Bandar Baru
Kampar
05-4660128, 4658268
open for lunch, dinner until late supper