Ipoh Confinement Noodle in Restoran Leong Enam Satu, Johor Bahru 怡保月婆粉

My JB Foodie buddies like Jeff Tan were talking about a newly opened stall in Taman Setia Indah serving "confinement noodles" 月婆粉. Curious, I quickly went down to Restoran Enam Satu 61 kopitiam to check it out.


I have a thing about confinement dishes - I like them 😄 When I was a small child living in the one room, 3 storey flats at Mattar Road, the "milky" smell of babies and pungent smell of fried ginger, black vinegar and Chinese rice wine hung in the air constantly. In 1960s Singapore, there was literally a population explosion. So much so that the government quickly launched the "Stop at 2" policy in 1972 and implemented it with trademark vigour.



Anyway to this day, I still love the smell of babies, fried ginger, black vinegar and Chinese rice wine. So here I am, at the Ipoh Confinement Noodle stall 怡保月婆粉. It is one of several food stalls at Restoran Leong Enam Satu which is a typical kopitiam.



Mdm Koo who hailed from Ipoh started this stall just 2 months ago. She said that confinement noodle stalls are not uncommon in Ipoh. But, her's is definitely the only such stall in Johor Bahru and Singapore.



The unmistakable aroma from the little pot when Mdm Koo sauteed the julienned ginger took me back to old Mattar Road straightaway.



Only one serving size for confinement noodles at RM8.



The savoury medium body soup made by boiling pork bones and anchovies was laced with Chinese glutinous rice wine 花雕酒 which gave it some sweetness and aroma. The aroma and mild spicy heat from fried ginger was also well infused in the soup.



There's a choice of yellow noodles, loh shi fun, kway teow, bee hoon or mee suah. I opted for kway teow. Found out from Mdm Koo later on that mee suah is the top choice of her customers.

There are lean pork slices, kidney, liver, stomach and intestines. They are fresh and well cooked (though at my age, I should really be cutting down on innards already 😂 ).

There's a freshly made omelette with julienned ginger and crunchy wood ear fungus. Lovely. Besides the tasty soup, this wood ear and ginger omelette is another highlight of this dish.



Information for you 👌 If you are worried that the confinement noodle may be overpowering for you, don't worry as Mdm Koo has toned down the flavours so that it can be enjoyed as a normal day meal. In this rendition, it is just a mee soup dish with well balanced flavours of Chinese wine sweetness, bone and anchovy stock savouriness, and gentle ginger spiciness.

For my next foodie trip to Ipoh, 怡保月婆粉 will be on the agenda 😋



Restaurant name: 怡保月婆粉 stall
Address: Restoran Leong Enam Satu 61, Jalan Setia 3/3, Taman Setia Indah, Johor Bahru
GPS: 1°34'26.7"N 103°45'27.0"E 🌐 1.574088, 103.757505
Hours: 7:00am - 2:00pm (Fri off)




Date visited: 22 Jan 2020