Taking Time Off For A Pleasant Lunch

        Work activities have taken precedence this month with exams, marking of exam papers and preparation for a royal visit to our school. But I managed to sneak in a lunch with one of my partners in crime on Monday.

Opens from noon till 10 pm on weekdays (closed on Wednesdays) and till 11pm on Fridays - Sundays

        Doi Chaang Coffee at Bandar Baru Medan Ipoh is one of the twelve branches in Malaysia. Doi Chaang is a village in Northern Thailand and it is where the coffee beans for this cafe are planted, harvested and processed. Although this cafe started operations in 2015, I'd not given this place a second glance till it was recommended by a foodie friend.
        I was in for a surprise. Before I could even step into the cafe, I was amicably greeted by one of the baristas. "Miss Chan! Remember me?" he enthused. The face was familiar but the name escaped me; to avoid hurting the young man's feelings, I promptly smiled and lied.
        Orders were made and paid for at the counter. I ordered a cappuccino to go with my smoked salmon pesto spaghetti (RM23 for a set) while my partner in crime had the same pasta a la carte (RM19.90).

My cappuccino with its nice coffee art

My smoked salmon pesto spaghetti (love the almond flakes)

        The cafe was cozy, with both sofa and dining table setups, lots of magazines for reading and some interesting artifacts for photoshooting. Service was brisk and pleasant. And the complimentary wi-fi service gave the hare a run for its money.

Eye-catching range of Malaysian-made soda called The Tapping Tapir

Quirky artifacts

Mummy pointed out this vintage radio

        Yes, the coffee tasted good, not too darkly roasted. But I must say that I'm more partial to the coffee at my favourite Six And A Half. Yes, the pesto based pasta was not drenched in oil as the one in Three Little Pigs & The Big Bad Wolf is, but it lacked the extra yum that was served at the latter. 
        All in all, it was an enjoyable eating experience, and I would love to return with my other partner in crime, and especially to triumphantly call my ex-student by name, to prove that I do indeed remember him. I'd spent the entire lunch trying to dredge up his name from my grey cells, but it just eluded me till later. I'd barely driven 5 minutes away from the cafe when all of a sudden, the name popped up! And that's how it is with my failing memory 😎

Finding A Hidden Gem

        The existence of this eatery first came to light when Nancy, a fellow blogger from Ipoh, introduced it earlier this year. Soon after, my colleague, Lee, raved about it. As he's a food connoisseur, this prompted me to rope in one of my partners in crime to stake out the place.
       

Add caption

Mama Noodle Cafe is tucked away at Hala Wah Keong, Taman Mirindy. Its specialty lies in its loh shee fun, a kind of short white noodles made from ground rice flour. Hubby cannot fathom what draws his musophobic wife to these noodles that sound like "rat noodles" in Cantonese. At Mama Noodle Cafe, their loh shee fun is not sourced from any factory, but is proudly home-made (by Mama, maybe?). Their soup is flavourful, making it an exquisite base for the noodles. There are several ingredients to choose from to make up one's bowl of noodles - pig's stomach, signature meatballs (fei yuen), beancurd paste crispy pork (nam yue zhao yoke) and preserved vegetable meatballs (dong choi yuen). Those who are averse to rat noodles can take their pick from other types of noodles that are available.

Their bilingual menu

Their daily specials

        On our first visit, Mummy ordered the crispy pork noodles in soup (RM5.00) while I picked the crispy pork with signature meatballs noodles in soup (RM5.50). We especially enjoyed the soup that was packed with flavours and was so good that I wished they had been more generous with the amount. Some may think the crispy pork is a tad too sweet but I think it complements the noodles perfectly.

Mummy's pick of the day

My bowl of noodles with treasures

        Good things are meant to be shared. Since we were so pleased with the eatery, I brought hubby there a few days later. When his eyes fell on the sole curry item on the menu, he was sold. He had the traditional white curry yellow noodles with roasted pork and skin (RM6.00). As they had run out of roasted pork, they substituted that with crispy pork.  I opted for crispy pork and preserved vegetable meatballs noodles in soup (RM5.50). The popular loh shee fun had all been snapped up for the day so I had to make do with hor fun.

What a delightful brunch!

        Hubby was quite enamoured with Mama Noodle Cafe so we returned to this eatery three days later. His choice for that morning was the pig's stomach, crispy pork and signature meatballs yellow noodles in soup (RM6.50) while I was faithful to the crispy pork and preserved vegetable meatballs loh shee fun in soup.

Looking at the dark vermilion soup, one can take a guess that it's bursting with goodness!

        How could I leave out Papa dearest? A few days after that, I took him there. I decided to let him try the pig's stomach with signature meatballs beehoon in soup (RM5.50), Mummy chose the signature meatballs hor fun in soup (RM5.50) while I unwaveringly went for the crispy pork and preserved vegetable meatballs loh shee fun in soup.

A trio of noodles plus a side dish of fried wantons for Papa, Mummy and I

        Mama Noodle Cafe is definitely on our list of places to have brunch in Ipoh as it's a hidden gem!