East Ocean Seafood Restaurant (Menglembu)

Ipoh is a foodie’s paradise and there’s never short of a good food place. East Ocean is one of the more popular Cantonese restaurants in the city and serves a wide array of Cantonese dishes. Without a menu, it’s hard to know what they exactly serve and probably you need to be an expert to know what’s good there.

We pre-ordered the suckling pig (RM 210) which is a third of what one would normally pay in Singapore. The nicely roasted pig had crispy, glistening skin with a good layer of fat which is of course the main attraction. The meat was nicely seasoned, tender and not too dry. What I’ve noticed is that in Malaysia, steamed mantou is served alongside this dish.

This was certainly the highlight of our meal here and worth our calories. But the rest of the items (not pictured) were just decent.

Having savoured the local specialty of 大头虾 (Big Head Prawns) prepared in other ways, my sis-in-law @laiyoongchin decided to order the crustaceans cooked with “hor fun” for our recent dinner at East Ocean Seafood Restaurant Menglembu. It was stupendous! The roe from the lengthwise-halved giant prawns gave the gooey gravy a deep orangey-brown tone and a rich umami sweetness. In fact, I’d go as far as to say eating the prawns took a backseat to slurping up the rice noodles in that unforgettable gravy.

When you are in Ipoh, “East Ocean Seafood Restaurant” is where you ought to zero in on if you want an indulgent feast. Just check my hashtag on Instagram: #veronicaphuaeatsipoh and you will see a number of my posts show dishes from that place.
On my second visit there, my sis-in-law pre-ordered a special menu that was a series of superlatives. I kid you not, we were presented with one jaw-dropping dish after another, starting with the most immaculately roasted suckling pig I have ever eaten - it was impossibly even in colour, perfectly crunchy of skin with moist and tender meat beneath. Then came a delicious steamed chicken (I heard it was sourced from one of the homes in the nearby kampung) accompanied by a beautiful and refreshing salad of purple onions, tomatoes, spring onions and cilantro. A platter laden with the massive 大头虾 (”Big Head Prawn”) followed. This specimen’s very sweet, firm and bouncy flesh was a joy to eat. Weighing 3.1kg, the gigantic Marble Goby that arrived next was steamed simply with soya sauce and a dash of oil. We enjoyed the fish’s exceedingly fresh and cottony-soft flesh as well as its liver and innards that were arranged alongside. The stirfry of asparagus, almonds, “wai sun” (Chinese yam) and goji berry was our unusual but delectable vegetable dish. For the mandatory carbs to end our meal, it was fried egg noodles adorned with scallops galore and cloaked in “wok-hei”. It was pretty rich so the chilled dessert of homemade jackfruit jelly was very welcome.
In case you are curious, the bill for our group of thirteen diners cost RM1,360 (about SGD 450).

East Ocean is a must visit for my family every time we visit my dad’s hometown in Menglembu, Ipoh. This unassuming restaurant that is perpetually crowded serves up really great food in generous portions at reasonable prices. Pictured is the first course in a 8-course set menu for 10 pax (RM 1188 before taxes). On the upper deck was a poon choi like dish with lots of good stuff including baby abalone, sea cucumber, dried scallops, dried oysters and dried shiitake mushrooms etc. Given the portion, there’s more than one of each item to go around for the entire table! On the lower deck was cold platter like with many items, and my personal favorites were the breaded scallop with almond flakes and the amazing deep fried yam balls (not pictured).

My brother-in-law highly recommends this Chinese restaurant that specialises in seafood. And boy, is he right.
We feasted like kings last night on what the Chinese call 好料 (or “ho leow” in Hokkien). Essentially, it means premium produce. One of which was this platter of 大头虾 (“dai tow har” in Cantonese). Steamed with julienned spring onions on a shallow bed of egg white, these huge prawns (check out how small my spoon looks in comparison) were truly sweet and juicy with a firm crunchy bite.

Maybe I have been unlucky when it comes to “Poon Choi” but I have never come across one that has gotten me excited. As such, I had developed a notion of it being a dish with rather pricey ingredients braised into the bland boredom of a singular tasting note, coupled with two kinds of textures - mushy and mildly rubbery.
However, I have Malaysian relatives to thank for introducing me to the “Poon Choi” at East Ocean Seafood Restaurant in Ipoh. The rendition here was so good, I eagerly reached out for second and third helpings.
To me, their gravy seemed extra flavourful and rich. Also, the pot packed a mind-boggling array of premium ingredients such as extremely tender, large whole abalones, sea cucumber, dried oysters, chunky cuts of roasted pork belly, mushrooms and more. It was pure decadence done deliciously.
Such a feast naturally needs time to prepare, so do note that orders for this must be placed days in advance.