Old Man Restaurant @ Jalan Canning Estate, Ipoh

Tucked away in a small residential area in Jalan Canning Estate, hides an amazing food establishment with an unassuming name.

Restoran Makanan Laut Old Man a.k.a Old Man Restaurant is a hidden gem in Ipoh, that is starting to build serious momentum and reputation. Known for its good home style food, my family decided to head there for dinner. It was recommended that we go there before 7pm as it will be crowded.

Real old school right here. Note the make shift notice board

With simple and honest interior, the place was almost full when we arrive.The food they serve consists of the usual suspects you would get in a "tai chao" restaurant, with a few house specialties to be eaten with rice. The menu is easy to read and has  great variety. But the real gems are the ones written on their marble-tiled wall, where the daily and weekly specials are highlighted with a white board marker. And when its finished, it will be erased away.

For the night we ordered four dishes, which were all recommended by the staff. They were mustard greens dish stir fried with roast pork, home made tofu with mince pork, claypot chicken with rice wine, and finally more pork with honey glazed char siew. It should be noted that the char siew is an "on the wall" special and 30 minutes in our meal, it was erased away. It seemed to be very popular and soon we found out why.

Not the healthiest vegetable dish, that is for sure.

Every dish was great and tasted special. The mustard greens had a porky flavour, which is obviously due to the roast pork. Imagine mashed peas with fried bacon, and you get the idea. It is a great way in inducing a meat lover to finish their veggies, although not the fashion the doctor might recommend.

Tofu done right

The tofu was silky and smooth, and by the taste of it you know it is not bought from the store. It had a chawanmushi like flavour and complimented with the topping of mince meat and salted fish. It was very savoury. Pairing it with rice tempers the flavour a bit, which is great as eating it on its own can be very overpowering. But that is not a knock on the dish as it was indeed very tasty.

A pot of epic proportions, and portions. In here is half a chicken

The chicken was another flavour explosion. Loaded with mushrooms and flavoured with liberal amounts of rice wine, and further flavoured with several chinese herbs, very few dishes can define "traditional" like this chicken dish. And cooking it in a clay pot? That takes the cake. There is some serious kick to this dish. The alcohol was quite balanced and not totally cooked off. There were dried berries and dates in it to give it a fruity edge and a good amount of ginger for some heat. And to top it all off it was free range chicken. Great on rice or on its own, this was real comfort food.

The real star of the night. I can come back just to eat this. 

And last but not least, and to me the best dish for the evening was the char siew. It was tender, fatty, sweet and salty. It is everything you want in a char siew. With honey into the mix, it gives a depth of sweetness you do not usually get if you use sugar or syrups. The fat just melts in your mouth and having it with rice complements the dish really well.

Cleaned them all off!

Overall, this was a great home style dinner and a place I would visit again if I am around Ipoh. The food is great, service is quick and it was cheap. For all of us , including rice and a pot of tea, it was only RM77!  A real steal if you ask me for exceptional quality of food. And I got to thank my brother for paying the bill this time around.

If you are in Ipoh, I strongly recommend that you take a drive down to Old Man Restaurant. Even when I am writing this post, I am starting to salivate. The food is really that good. Do give this humble establishment a try. It would not disappoint. The address for Old Man Restaurant is as follows:

75, Jalan Canning Estate, Taman Canning, 31400 Ipoh, Perak

Front of the house