I requested buddy Gary who was born and now retired in Ipoh to show me some places off the tourist belt which he and Ipoh people love. Gary suggested a few names and we quickly settled on Yee Fatt as he mentioned a tea known as 蛋茶 or literally egg tea which I have never tried before. Christine chimed in which made me even more excited as I couldn't make out her description except that it is something very special 😬
Kedai Kopi Yee Fatt was busy when we arrived on a Tuesday morning, the first stop of our Ipoh food trail.
Yee Fatt has a big airy space which is bathed by the morning sun. We were here just a bit after 8am.
Though busy, Yee Fatt has quiet corners for folks to have their own space to slowly savour their morning coffee and last night's news just like in 1955 (the year this coffee shop was founded).
The huge poster shows all of Yee Fatt's signature dishes. So ordering is easy - one each of everything lo... i.e. lo mai gai (glutinous rice chicken), dry curry noodle, soupy curry noodle, and egg tea.
First to arrive was the lo mai gai which uniquely comes with a big bowl of thick curry - I mean the bowl of curry is bigger than the lo mai gai 😬
By itself, this lo mai gai is already the best that I have ever tasted.
The pieces of chicken meat were relatively flavourless but that doesn't matter as all its flavours had been leached into the soft creamy sticky rice which made it richly sweet savoury. The mound of glutinous rice was not greasy.
The "icing on the cake" was the thick, richly aromatic savoury spicy chicken curry which complemented the sweet savoury lo mai gai perfectly. The curry is made with a blend of over twenty spices. This unique Ipoh style of the Cantonese food icon has no equal in the Cantonese world, as far as I know.
Must Try.
Yee Fatt's claim to fame, their famous dry curry noodle with char siew slices and meaty chunks of chicken.
The thick soft yellow noodles came smothered in thick, pasty, rich chicken curry packed with spice and herb flavours and aromas which were robust but not overwhelming. The tender juicy chunks of chicken had slight natural sweetness though it was enveloped in flavourful curry.
The soupy curry noodle. It was again thick with spice and herb flavours and aromas with embedded potato sweetness. Same generous chunks of chicken.
We had bee hoon (rice vermicelli) which did a great job soaking up the spice and herb flavours and aromas without losing all its subtle soft bite.
Then, the much anticipated egg tea. I recognised it straightaway like a long lost and actually forgotten friend.
Egg tea was part of my childhood and teens as my late grandma used to make it. As the years past, it disappeared from our lives and forgotten.
Egg Tea's gentle herbal sweet taste complemented by the tea infused egg is a definitive Cantonese icon.
If you are in Ipoh for food, you need to stop at Yee Fatt for unique Ipoh style Cantonese icons of curry lo mai gai and egg tea as well as their famous dry and soupy curry noodle.
I wanted to try the white coffee but Gary said we would have it at the next stop. On hindsight, we should have coffee here as well at every stop in Ipoh 😬 Anyway, we will be back.
Written by Tony Boey on 24 Aug 2022
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