Uncle John Cheong, my cycling buddy from Ipoh, Perak once said: “Eh Sam, if you are ever in town, eat like the locals!”.
HE was referring to some makan places where residents would have their meals, unlike the “tourist traps” in Ipoh’s old town.
During my last visit to Perak’s state capital, I managed to catch up with Uncle John who introduced my cycling buddies to Medan Selera Stadium Ipoh.
It is located near Simee.
For a food lover like me, discovering stall number 39 in the Medan Selera was like hitting the mother lode in a gold rush.
Local delights at Medan Selera Stadium Ipoh’s Stall 39.
I found a stall specialising in fishball noodles and ngau lam meen (beef brisket noodles).
At RM4.50 for a bowl, for both the fishball noodles and beef brisket, I have no complaints.
It is definitely cheaper than having it in the touristy part of the city.
So, what is appealing at stall number 39?
I found the ikan parang fishballs to be springy and really smooth in texture.
Best of all is the stall’s speciality, the fried fishball that tasted like keropok lekor.
The beef brisket noodles (top pic) is rather different compared to those offered in other places around Ipoh.
The soup is clear and what I like about stall 39’s ngau lam meen is the soft and tender choice morsels that comes with it.
This clearly shows the skill of the cook who took a lot of effort in preparing the beef broth and meat including the cow’s entrails.
Fishballs and foochuk in clear broth.
On a scale of 1 to10 on the Samo-scale, I would rate stall 39’s fishball noodles at 6.
The ngau lam meen, on the other hand, scores a moderate 6.5.
Ipoh’s Medan Selera Stadium (GPS N 04°36’37.0”, E 101°06’06.7”) opens for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
However, the noodle stall serves only the day crowd.
To get to Ipoh, KTMB offers ETS services via KL Sentral on a daily basis with trains departing as early as 6am.
The last train from Ipoh bound for Kuala Lumpur is at 9pm.
Now, to get the most out of your makan and jalan-jalan session in this town, I would recommend a night’s stay as there are many affordable accommodation in the city.
This is the writer’s personal observation and not an endorsement of StarMetro.
