Ipoh Buntong Famous Beef Noodles @ Jalan Theatre

Having a short trip to Ipoh and Google search results yielded a long list of must try food in the town put us into a conundrum. Therefore, we decided to drive randomly in the town and stop by any restaurants that look appeal to us. Then we spotted this Kedai Makanan dan Minuman Sri Mahkota which is packed of crowd in the rather dim lighted Ipoh town. Apparently, they are one of the renowned beef noodles in the town and was known to Ipoh folks as Buntong beef noodles. 

So we walked into the shop and have zero clues about what is being served here, apart from seeing different types of noodles, fried dishes and yong tao foo on different tables. Unlike the other restaurants, Buntong beef noodles practice an unique way of ordering which you must oblige to follow. Allow us to explain how it works, otherwise you would not be able to get your food.

1) Walk in the restaurant and find a counter manned by an uncle. Grab a ticket number there and put it on the stand at any table you are seated. If you cannot find the counter (in case the restaurant is crazily crowded), just follow any newcomers and they should walk to the counter directly too if they are regulars.

2) Wait for the service crew attend to your at your table. Place your order with her.

3) Food will be served in a relatively fast pace.

Remember to get the ticket number, otherwsie no people will ever attend to you even you get a table!

We had no idea what to order at all and randomly ordered an Ipoh Hor Fun and Hakka Noodles. The other things we ordered were Yong Tao Foo, Ngau Chap (beef brisket) and fried stuff. Ordering was simple as there was no need to choose which items to have for your yong tao foo or fried stuff. Just tell them how the portion of how many people you are ordering and they will randomly pick accordingly.

The food here is great, albeit more to a salty and oily side. The Hakka Noodles are topped with pork lard and minced pork, then generally coated with a oil. It was cooked al-dente and goes really well with the chili sauce provided on the table. Ipoh Hor Fun soup was heavily seasoned and salty, but it still tasted alright. 

Our favourite goes to the Hakka Noodles of the two.

Salt was not spared from its Yong Tao Foo and fried stuff. I can immediately sensed the brininess when my teeth crushed upon the fried stuff. Truth is the fried stuff was average and nothing spectacular. On the other hand, the Yong Tao Foo was good. The fishballs and other stuff in the soup are of good quality.

The Ngau Chap is one of the king item here. It comes with different beef items, ranging from beef balls, tripes, beef slices and etc. The broth was brimming with nice flavour and taste pleasantly, while the beef slices are tender and cooked perfectly. 

The dinner for two cost RM 26.20, which we believed is a fair price. 

We read from other blogs that the stay here is popular too. However they do not entertain any quantity less than 10 pieces so we decided to give it a skip. 

Will we be back here again? Definitely!