La Vita coffee: unexpected place for fine dining

This will be a short one. The restaurant is not open for a very long time, the menu is still new. And hopefully they will make some adjustment to the whole pricing. La vita, situated at the corner on a row of shop in Bercham, is a new addition to the choice of food in the area. Look for the row of shops with banks, perpendicular to the main road, this is just next to a former vegetarian shop. 

The menu is true to fine dining. Since the menu is still new, I will concentrate to what is there. I chose the signature breakfast (RM25.90) over breakfast set (RM18.90) or light breakfast (RM13.90). Well, you get the idea. The food is good. However, I am still scratching over my head that would I pay for it a second time.  And given that I am eating in Bercham, would I prefer to eat in a simple stall that would cost a fraction of the price? The logic is the food has to be really good to stand in this location and have people travelling here for the western cuisine rather than the usual fried noodle or roasted pork. The foot long sausage taste good but frankly, is not the best I tasted. I would prefer a good German sausage anytime. The toast is what I would expect, toasted well with bit on the crispy side. The scramble egg is cooked with a tinge of herbs but still taste conventional. Baked beans is ... well, beans. The beef salami is only a thin slice but then again, I am not a fan of salami anyway.

Being a new place, the food is cook real slow. So expect to spend a long while here if coming in a group. However, the place is comfortable so I would not spend the whole Friday lunch here. The only thing that still bugged me until the end of this review is still the price. Then again, I am a real China-man. 

ratings: 2 half poink!

comments: anyone who knows me would know that on I seldom pay that much for food. A friend kept on telling me that free food taste better, in the same argument, would expensive food taste lesser then? 

Li Yuan Dimsum: simple simple menu

I simply love dimsum. Just that I think a dimsum meal cost more and given that I am after all a stingy fella, dimsum is not my staple meal. Dimsum  for lunch? Now, that is a great idea for a long Friday lunch break. With all the new shops opening in medan bistari Ipoh area behind Tesco Ipoh Garden, there bound to be a dimsum shop opening in time. Tucked in the middle of a row of new shops behind Spice of Penang, opposite Zento Sushi in Ipoh Garden, is this small dimsum shop, Li Yuan DimSum. 

It is a small shop, so do not expect the usual crowd in most dimsum shop. Service, given the small crowd, tend to be faster and better. The place, being new, is rather clean and simple. The place though small, is rather spacious, unlike other typical Chinese dimsum shop which try to squeeze patrons next to each other. 

And most important thing, the food... one would expect dimsum here. Although you still get a few pages in the menu dedicated to dimsum, it is still rather too simple compare to most similar shops. One of the beauty of eating dimsum is the varieties in bite size. I would expect to eat at least few types of dimsum at a sitting. There I am, browsing through the menu with the simple prawn or pork dumpling. After eating in Dragon-I in the last weekend, it did not help the issue. Not many choices here, but fear not, the simple dimsum are still around. The prawn dumpling (hagao) is average, the prawn do taste fresh enough. The pork dumpling (siumai) tasted ok, not the best ones around. The bun such as chasiu pao is rather average, nothing to shout about. Do not expect more complex stuff such as Shanghai soup dumpling here.

What it lack in varieties in dimsum, they make up for in varieties in other main course. Expect some noodle and rice dishes here for lunch. We tried the Shanghai style ramen (lai mian). Cost only RM5.50 per dish, it is rather reasonably priced considering this is a dimsum shop. However, the portion is not big so it is suited to have together with a few dimsum servings. Ramen in chicken stock or sour/ spicy variant do taste good. The noodle taste rather like factory made with poor consistency. But the soup and stock do make up for it and lift the ramen above average. The steam rice with pork, according to my friend, SQ, tasted bit bland.It did looked bit simple.

Overall, it is an average dimsum joint. It did lack on the dimsum side but make up for it in other offerings. For lunch, it is rather a good option. Not that expensive, but I would still prefer Dragon- I. 

ratings: 2 half poink!

comments: sorry, I was hooked to Shanghai soup dumpling and laosa pao so anything without those would get lesser ratings. Bias!!! 

Oz the Great and Powerful: finally a good reimagination of old tale

Seriously. Lately we had been bombarded with remake of popular children tales. Hansel Gretel. My last outing with Jack and the giants. Now. We had Oz.Oz the Great and Powerful.



This served more like a prequel to the story of Wizard of Oz and Dorothy. James Franco plays Oz, a small town travelling circus magician. While escaping enemies, he was brought by the tornado to the land of Oz. There, to make the story short without giving away too many spoilers, he was involved with the war between a good witch and the evil ones. In the middle of it is the battle to control the Emerald Kingdom. Finally, he managed to outwitted the evil witches and became... the wizard of Oz.



Now, James Franco shines as Oz. Somehow, even though he is this womanizing con man, but with his fake smile, I could not bring myself to hate his character but just love to see him fulfilling his destiny. His face expressions in this whole movie beats the total of Neo's expressions in all the 3 Matrix movies. (Do not mistaken, I totally love Matrix). However, the other 3 witches pale in comparison. Mila Kunis is nice in the beginning as the naive witch, but the chemistry is lacking between Oz. Rachael Weisz looks stunning but is not evil enough. Michelle Williams look too "clean" to the point it became sterile as the good witch. However, the other characters such as the monkey Finley and China Girl make up for the lack of chemistry. They shared some of the movies' funniest lines and moments with Oz.



The CGI looks bit fake, but probably that is what it was intended. Watching it reminded one of Johnny Depp's Alice in Wonderland. Colourful and intentionally cartoonish. The whole movie suffers from uneven pacing. Some moments were simply brilliant. For example, the opening was genius. Using black and white sequence in a 4:3 format and later change to colour and wide screen format once arrived in Oz ... is simply brilliant. Some moments are really funny, usually involving the monkey or china doll. Other moments are just simply average.



However, given its overall impression, I hardly notice the 2 hours passed. Compare with others, this is one of the better re-imagining children's tale.

ratings: 3 poink!
comments: I am a James Franco by now.....

Dragon One: different Shanghai dimsum

I have always enjoy dimsum; they have this special place in my heart. And even more so, after going to Shanghai and tried the food there. It is different from our usual southern style dimsum. Frankly I had not tried many other Shanghai dimsum but finding one in Ipoh is indeed a blessing. 

custard egg yolk bun: top recommendation

Dragon One ( there had been so many restaurant with Dragon etc so do not be confused) is not new. It had open for business for quite some time in De Garden complex opposite Aeon Ipoh Garden. The complex is rather small so one would not have difficulty finding this place on the ground floor facing the main road. 

shanghai steam dumpling with soup

pretty lady bun do look pretty

steam prawn dumpling

Typically a chain-restaurant, expect to find the similar booth like tables and simple deco. The food? A mixture of typical dimsum and Shanghai counterparts. I had been here so many times, the one thing that I keep on ordering is custard egg yolk bun (RM4.50 for 2). I first have this in Shanghai and I can tell you that the ones here is equally as good. The bun is made with a tinge of pandan and mint flavour for the local touch. The custard filling is filled with egg yolk taste. The filling, like the Chinese name suggests, flows out graciously. Simply delicious. Each time I come, I would order something different from the menu besides the bun. The other dimsum that people would recognize is the steamed Shanghainese meat dumpling with superior soup (RM6 for 3). This famous dimsum is like a small steamed bun with actual soup in the filling. Take a bite and drink the soup. Or, like how I like it, dip it in ginger and vinegar and eat it whole. However, do not expect a lot, I actually tasted better ones elsewhere. Do not misunderstand me, this is rather good, but just that if compare to the ones in Shanghai, one would definitely notice the difference immediately. Today, I ordered other dishes as well. Rice flour roll with crispy prawn (RM 6.80) is rather good. The prawn is rather fresh mix with a outer crispy deep fried layer. This felt more like variant of the local dimsum though. The Steamed prawn dumpling with spinach (RM3.50), though looks more like the local "hagao", but with the fresh prawn do taste bit more superior. Lastly, I tried the pretty lady bun (RM 5). Though the filling do taste sweet but not overly saccharine sweet; the bun felt bit lacking. Especially I ate it last after finishing the rest, it felt flat. 

rice roll with prawn, reminded me of nice chucheongun

Overall, do expect to spend RM15-20 per person for a small decent breakfast here. That is not cheap, but given the environment and it is after all a dimsum breakfast (option is to come here for supper), I could not complain much. Definitely my favourite Shanghai dimsum joint. 

ratings: 4 poink!
comments: tried many of their dishes, most are quite good. Extra points for the custard and egg yolk bun. The only deterring factor probably is the price (and 10% service tax). Then again, eating in other dimsum shops probably would end up paying the similar price.

Dragon One
GR 15, 16, De Garden,
3, Psn Medan Ipoh,
Ipoh
05-220190

Jack the Giant Slayer: good example of mediocre

It was a memorable show. Not that the movie was great, but it was the opening of the first cinema in 20 years (or so they claim) in my own hometown. So, I told myself, on that opening day, I shall, I must catch a show. And so as I went, there was not much choices though. After what they did to the Astro CNY movie last year, I was really skeptical about Jack Lim's movie. So, on the other end, what wrong can they do to a child fairy's tale?



Seems like Hollywood is going to revamp all these children stories. There were Hansel & Gretel and the coming soon Oz. Last year was 2 Snow White stories, which both of them was a waste. And that is exactly the reason why I have low expectation when I stepped into the cinema. But watching a movie in the afternoon would really test your patience.



Stories is simple. Instead of Jack who foolishly swapping his horse and cart for magic bean and climbing up the beanstalk and stealing gold and singing harp from the giant.....We have here Jack who accidentally got hold of the magic bean which was banned since long time ago. Seems that long long time ago someone created the bean but when they climb to the Giant's land, the Giants retaliate and invaded the human's kingdom. Jack meet princess (there has to be a damsel in distress), went up the beanstalk to rescue her. Throw in a villain who got hold of a magic crown which can be used to control the giants. Of course the villain want to use the giants to control the kingdoms and rules the lands. Jack save the day, princess fell in love, and throw in a final epic battle where the giants came down to earth to invade the land. The end. And they live happily ever after.



Duh. The story is sooooo predictable that by watching the trailer and the first 5 minutes into the movie (which they explain the magic bean and the magic crown), one can see the end already. Chemistry between Nicholas Hoult as Jack and Eleanor Tomlinson as Princess Isabelle is acceptable but still does not surprise anyone. The only character that stood out is Ewan McGregor as Elmont, the royal guard. The whole movie appeared to be in the middle of everything, wanted to achieve everything but in the end none. The character was not develop fully. The humour was spread evenly but too few moments that made me laugh and none that I can recall when I stepped out. The action is utterly none until the epic battle in the end. The CGI is great and breath-taking but at this age, great CGI is in all films. The whole show, in the end, ended up as a children show, but there are lots of scenes which are not suitable at all for them. Imagine Giant eating human. Still could not beat Stephen Chow's roast human scene though.



Do not be mistaken, this is still a fair movie. But a fair mediocre movie is not what I want to watch today. Definitely something I would forget by next week.

Ratings: 2 poink!
comments: probably the low ratings due to the fact I watch this at 3pm, my usual hibernation time.

Shin Chan Ramen: nice noodle house

It had been a while since I last posted anything to do with food. Not that I had give up on gastronomic delight, but completely opposite, I had been stuffing myself crazy for the past Chinese New Year with mostly Chinese cuisine that I felt it was bit pointless to write about them anyway. Anyway, back to routine now, so expected more to come since I finally got hold of my new S3 mini to capture pics.

Friday afternoon is another good opportunity to try out new things, so me and a colleague sort of drove bit further to Ipoh Garden area for lunch. We decided to try out new shops that both of us had not try before so we scouted for new joints. Along the road from Redcom, few doors from Spice of Penang, sort of side alley from Michaelangelo and within walking distance from Tesco Ipoh Garden, is this new shop. It look more like a Japanese gift shop from outside but the signboard do not lie. Sin Chan Ramen. Ah! What better way to spend lunch than a bowl of hot Japanese noodle.

even Japanese would choose this joint

real paperback manga

not for customers' consumption

The shop deco is minimalist, I really like it a lot. There is even a rack filled with Japanese alcohol. What attracted me is a cupboard full of manga. Not the cheap Taiwanese/ HongKong translated paperback but the one with Japanese words. And the owner even let me have a look at the volumes. Yup, it does give a authentic feel to the whole shop. The whole shop was rather empty for lunch, therefore the service was fast and good.

Hoikoro Ramen (RM15)

Food. I was never a fan of Japanese food. Not that I do not enjoy them, I just do not think they are worth the price. And I am not a fan of shashimi either. However, I do enjoy the usual sushi and bento sets. Ramen?  Am bit on the fence on this one. Probably I had never had a ramen that is out of this world. So, being in this shop with more than half of the menu items are dedicated to different ramen. However, I cant make out the items from the Japanese names and brief one line description. Luckily the waitress was there to help us choose. Basically the idea is few ramen choice plus 3-4 soup choice plus a few accompanying ingredients choices. I chose the Chasu ramen (RM13), which basically is ramen with slices of pork in pork soup. The ramen is rather expected, I would probably have a good plate of wanton mee anytime. However, the soup is rather sweet with meaty taste. Simple but nice. The pork slice is the one that lift this bowl of noodle above the rest. Marinated lightly, the slice taste of... pork. Friend choose Hoikoro ramen (RM15), and the soup base is also similarly simple and nice though I did not taste the noodle. In addition to that we tried the dumpling, gyoza (RM9). Nothing special, it is the usual pan fried dumpling you would find in any dimsum shop. But mix it with vinegar, it did make a good companion to the ramen.

Chasu ramen (RM13)

Overall, the lunch felt rather simple, but sometimes, less is more. It is still cheaper than eating in other Japanese shops in the area, in which I would be ordering either sashimi/ sushi/ bento which will cost a bomb.

ratings: 3 poink!
comments: lack of other staple Japanese choice of sashimi/ sushi. However, the choices of ramen would appeal to some. There is even a table of Japanese people sitting next to our, which is a good indicator.

Shin Chan Ramen
20 Medan Ipoh 1D
Medan Ipoh Bestari
31400, Ipoh
05-5459357
Mon-Fri 11.00am-3.00pm; 6.00pm-10.30pm

Weekends/ Public Holiday: 11.00am- 10.30pm