Foh San Restaurant

Name of Restaurant:
Foh San Restaurant

Address & Contact:
51 Jalan Leong Sin Nam, 30300 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
Tel:+605-2540308

Business Hours:
Other than Tuesday, opens daily including Sunday & Public holidays

Price:
Depending on menu

Specialty:
Traditionally  it is the "char siu pau" but now a variety

Rating:
3.0/5-Star. Service ok. Aircon/open air

Remarks & Opinion:
I have not been visiting this famous dim sum restaurant in Ipoh for a long time because there is nothing new and dim sum is just dim sum other than the expertise in creating them. What irks me is not the food quality but the long queue and the chaotic management.Recently, I had a little time on hand, and gave it another shot - to my surprise the queue is still there but the management somewhat is more organised. Another round of surprise, the chef has become more creative and the food served is better. Herein below my views and comment on the food I ordered:-

Loh Mai Kai - This is one of the pivot dish of all dim sum. Glutinous rice steamed with chicken, chinese sausage, and mushroom. At Foh San, I believe the chef select the glutinous rice for steaming as I didn't find any uncooked or bad ones. The chicken is smoth and well marinated and the taste is light but tasty which gives a "feel good" feeling!

Steamed ginger, milk with egg white - This is really superb! Been trying to find this dessert, but none that I have found so far is authentic - they are either too sweet or watery or just BAD! This dessert I tried at Foh San is the real thing! The taste is balanced and smooth - it just slither through the tongue and goes straight in. To know how heavenly it is, you need to try it!

Wok-fry glutinous rice - this is another winner! The glutinous rice is well selected and the aroma is just perfect! This is different from Loh Mai Kai as this is not steamed but wok-fry. Thus the aroma is much distinct! Not oily yet the glutinous rice is not soggy and mushy.

The phoenix claw (chicken feet) - texture not gluey, a bit spicy but just not soft enough. However, it is good enough for me. Fore the older folks, this would have failed.

Vegetable Dumpling - The texture of the skin is crystal-like yet not soggy! It is not gluey but feels good in the mouth. Taste wise is balanced. The filling are dried shrimps with turnips and carrots.

Fish Paste Ball - the fish meat is springy yet does not give you the "false" feel. Taste wise, those that do not like celery will not like it as the chef mixed tiny bits of celery to mask the fishy smell which he succeed.

Char Siew Pau - The star of Foh San. Was told that people from South such as KL or JB and from the North e.g. Penang comes to Foh San for this. It is pork, thus I will not know the taste, but I tried the skin and it is really good. Not sticky yet soft and aromatic.

Fried Carrot Cake - probably I am already stuffed as I somewhat feels that this dish from the old place is better. Nonetheless, it is still good by any standard but a bit pricy at RM5/plate.

Some creative fried new stuff -using fish meat to wrap prawn as fillings. Taste good but a bit oily.

Good Chines Tea - No dim sum should go without a pot of good chines tea. As dim sum tends to be oily and gives you a heavy and full feeling (which surprisingly Foh San didn't), a good strong chinese tea is heavenly when taken with the variety of dim sum.

Foh San - With this newly built restaurant, Foh san ensure that its authenticity is kept and yes they did. One can still feel the authenticity with a cleaner version. They still kept the waitresses pushing carts peddling their food (minus the saliva as food are kept hygienically), and one new addition is that they have specially built carts that allows one to add hot water - the cart has more than 10 hot flasks to meet your hot chinese tea demand. Another new addition is a row of balcony seats which I love - it gives you the "alfresco" feel in an authentic chinese dim sum restaurant. One can enjoy the morning breeze while reading newspaper and tucking in the food! That's what I call LIFE and FOOD enjoyment!