The broth has an orange sheen made by boiling chicken bones with prawn shells. And everything comes in one bowl -- topped with poached chicken slices, prawns, beansprouts and spring onions. There's also a dry curry version. We recommend ordering the curry mee soup with your noodle of choice, and a mixed bowl of roast and barbecue pork, prawns, chicken and beansprouts. Don't forget their special gravy, reportedly a mixture of curry oil, garlic, pork lard and lime.
It specializes in perfectly springy, flat egg noodles, topped with bean sprouts and minced meat caramelized with soy sauce and fish sauce, with an accompaniment of chilli and garlic-ginger sauce. It's also possible to order it with a bowl of soup with meatballs and fishballs.
On weekends, it's best to arrive well before 11 a. They sell out fast. Contrary to the name, there are no suspicious substances in this rice dish. It's just really good. Ask for the usual -- biasa -- and you'll get a plate of fluffy steamed rice served with their specialty ayam merah a red-hued fried chicken , okra, salted egg, cucumber and a generous dollop of chilli and curry sauce. This is a patty of yam bean and fish paste, rolled up in a bean curd sheet, and deep fried.
It's Ipoh's signature variation of yong liew -- vegetables stuffed with fish or pork paste, which also come boiled. Recommended is the wat tan hor -- kway teow immersed in a creamy egg gravy, peppered with pork slices, prawns, vegetables and lard fritters -- or yu kong hor, the dry version topped with a raw egg and then stirred in.
Either way, it isn't complete without the boiled octopus doused in garlic oil and soy sauce. Sin Eng Heong 4 Jalan Mustapha Al-Bakry is synonymous with Ipoh's famous kaya puff -- filled with a jam made with coconut milk and egg -- and on weekends you'll see a long line outside the bakery all day.
