Ipoh Food in Jakarta: Jakarta, Indonesia

By Barrie | December 16th, 2006 | 1 Comment »

I adore my Asian food and last week A. Junaidi wrote a fabulous restaurant review in the JP about a recent newcomer to the Jakarta food scene – the House of Ipoh.

House of Ipoh and fish head curry

Jakarta food lovers have another cozy place to dine, thanks to the recent arrival of the House of Ipoh, a Malaysian restaurant offering a combination of Malay and Cantonese dishes.

Located at Jl. Wahid Hasyim 59 in Central Jakarta, the House of Ipoh, which originates from Ipoh, the capital of Perak state, Malaysia, provides dishes that are sweet, sour and spicy.

The fusion of Cantonese and Malay could be expected to attract food lovers from China, Malaysia, Indonesia and other Asian countries.

Instead of being a franchisee, the House of Ipoh bought its original recipes from Ipoh Old Town, a famous restaurant in Ipoh, and sent its chefs to study for three months at the Malaysian restaurant.

To maintain its authenticity, the House of Ipoh uses fresh and natural ingredients, and imports some ingredients, such as shrimp paste, directly from Ipoh.

Served as an appetizer, Rojak Ipoh (made from selected fresh fruits, including pineapple and guava, in shrimp paste) is one of the original dishes from Ipoh.

Rojak or rujak is also popular in Indonesia and is served with a mix of chili, peanut and palm sugar sauce, and usually eaten as dessert.

Besides Rojak, the restaurant offers deep-fried shrimp with mixed fruit salad, deep-fried Wonton served with sweet and sour sauce, deep-fried squid with spiced salt, deep-fried dough fritters filled with shrimps paste or deep-fried spring rolls.

The restaurant, with its ethnic minimalist design with wooden furniture, bamboo ornaments and black dominant color, also serves various soups, such as beef ball or beef tendon ball soup, claypot chicken in yellow wine, ginger soup and clay pot beef tripe soup.

Ipoh’s fish head curry is the restaurant’s signature dish. It is made from fish heads and tofu in coconut milk sweet and spicy sauce. It’s similar to the fish head curry served at Padang restaurants.

The restaurant’s other main courses are deep-fried marinated chicken with shrimp sauce, pan fried tenderloin with Cantonese sauce, poached water spinach and squid in satay sauce.

Almond cream with glutinous dumpling, mango pudding, almond bean curd with assorted fresh fruits, ice cendol and ice cincau are among the desserts.

With its affordable prices — dishes range from Rp 12,000 (US$2.20) to Rp 100,000 — strategic location and calm ambience, the restaurant could become a favorite dining spot for families and executives.

A. Junaidi