Restoran Wong Koh Kee (高记饭店)

“Hiding in plain sight” is a phrase that has never rung so true. Situated within the first few metres of Ipoh’s Concubine Lane, family-owned “Restoran Wong Koh Kee” is easily overlooked by visitors who are invariably caught up with the charm of the tourist hotspot. But if you are like me and love “zi char” (homestyle cooked-to-order dishes), this retro-looking-by-time-not-by-design eatery is where you need to stop for lunch.
Having existed for decades, the dishes are all cooked by a solo chef who is over seventy years of age. The following list is what you should consider ordering:

1. Beansprouts stirfried with ikan bilis: When the iconic fat, juicy “towgay” of Ipoh meets crispy dried anchovies, it’s proof that simple can be fantastic.

2. Steamed trio of egg: Basically a localised chawanmushi due to the century and salted eggs.

3. 1960s-style Fried Fish Head smothered in a braised stew of mixed vegetables, crispy pork belly and mushrooms: A traditional dish that seems to have disappeared from menus everywhere.

4. Sweet & Sour Pork: We loved its none-too-sweet sauce and the puffy but not overly crunchy pieces of battered pork. The recipe has not changed over the decades, so eight types of flour are still used to make the coating.

5. Deepfried “Kam Fong”: The very crispy fish did not have not an iota of the muddy taste that sometimes plague freshwater species.

6. Stirfried watercress with “siew yoke” (roasted pork belly): MY FAVOURITE DISH of all. Loved the insanely appetising belachan sauce.

Our bill came to RM 215 for the 9 of us. This included double servings of the Sweet & Sour Pork and the Steamed Trio of Eggs.