Yoke Fook Moon Hong Kong Dimsum

Ipoh, is a town with lots and lots of Cantonese people. Therefore there are lots of Cantonese food around too. Dimsum is a true cantonese fare. And Ipoh hails to have the best in Malaysia*

YokeFook Moon is situated at a walking distance from Ipoh Parade and Excelsior Hotel. Along this road are the 3 big dimsum players in Ipoh, Foh San, Ming Court and Yoke Fook Moon. The first 2 only operates in the morning til afternoon, and the latter is open for business twice, morning and night. We always come here, because both Mike and me are late birds, we can only afford night dimsum.

Dimsum can be a glutton affair.. U feel like eating everything. Don't think these tiny morsels are pretty easy to ingest, they are quite filling actually. Made mostly of out meat, very little vege and with somestarch to bind plus seasonings. Desserts are also part of dimsum, tarts and stuffed tofu. It's actually pretty pricey to eat dimsum outside compared to making ur own, but how much variety can u make???? It's not about the amount u can eat, but it's the variety that u want to eat.

This time, we picked out these. It doesn't seem to be a lot..but it's just enough. One porridge and 1 lor mai kai is not in the picture.

First I want to talk about the Jumbo Harkow. It consist of 3 large prawns. U can see how thick the flesh is by comparison to my index finger. They cost RM6 each tray.  Good thing is, not a bit of black vein is in the prawn. All cleaned up. But I won't say it's very very good. The skin's fine, not thick, but the workmanship, is not so good. The harkow came looking not in very good shape, and the skin tears easily. Prawn not very very very fresh, just acceptable(if for stir fries or fried prawns then it's good, but harkow demands ultra fresh prawns), still with a crunch.

Siew Mai is... I dunno, I never eat Siew Mai, not that it's not good, but I just don't eat Siew Mai. But it's a must for Mike for each dimsum session. Lor Mai Kai, is the soft type. If u like the firm rice grain type, then I don't think u'll like this one. But I like it soft and slightly mushy especially around the meats. The flavour is fine to me, but nothing to shout about.

Now... both have charsiew fillings. The Char Siu Pau is fine. The typical smiling bun loaded with Double Action Baking Powder that doesn't give a chew, but sticks between teeth type. Not this restaurant's fault, this is dimsum shop style. The pau skin looks clean (Some paus can be really dirty, that's why we peel the bun's skin before eating). The filling today is nice, taste wise, but as usual, the CSP here is loaded with fatty pork.

The picture on the right is Wu Kok (Taro dumpling). Today it's really really nice. The filling's very fragrant, skin fluffy and soft on the inside, crunchy on the outside.

Ok, this is sweet dimsum. The brown one is MuaChi with black sesame filling. The brown thing is ground roasted peanuts of which are not nicely done. I can't smell the peanut. Filling is not too sweet and the skin is nice, not too thick, not too chewy. The one on the right is their version of ondeh-ondeh. Green is filled with pandan lotus paste and the purple one is taro. Generously served with coarsely grated fresh coconut. The coconut is not salted, just the way I like it. And it is still juicy. It's hard to find coarsely grated coconut, it's always the oh-so fine type. I quite like this one.

In the main pics, there's porridge. This is something that I'd say is good. Everytime I come, I'll take one bowl of this, this time one for Lyanne one for me. It's made with peanuts, mussels, Fatt Choy , salted egg and minced pork. Another dimsum that we order each time we come is the Yue Mai, fish dumpling of which is actually steamed fish paste. It's good, not fishy, and it's springy, but I'd say, Foh San's better. Lydia's fav.

The dimsum ladies will always recommend u egg tart. I'd say... take at ur own risk. I don't like it.

There's another sweet dimsum that I like here is the Sesame Balls, which they all Jee Ma Joe. It's filled with pandan lotus paste, coated with sesame seeds, deep fried to a crisp. The skin's texture is nice. But I didn't order it this time. The Yong Tofu or Stuffed Eggplants/Chili here is nice too, served with bean sauce. Hmmm.. what else.. Fried stuff.. Ok, there's this Dragon Beard Prawn Roll, which is very good, not available that day. Actually there are so many varieties here, how can I talk about them all.

Come and judge for urself. It's the only night dimsum restaurant in Ipoh. There are other smaller dimsum stalls around at coffeeshops, but not restaurants.

Tonight's cost: RM52. (for all that u saw on the table, 3.60 went to Chrysanthemum tea for 2pax) Not cheap huh!!!

Rating: 7/10

Yoke Fook Moon Hong Kong Dimsum

No. 67-69, Jalan Leong Sin Nam,

33000 Ipoh

Tel: 05-2416589

*According to me