Foh San Dim Sum @ Ipoh

Foh San

I was probably the last one to be writing about this place. This restaurant has been a household name in Dim Sum in Ipoh as well as KL. Everyone I knew has been to Foh San before and I was probably the last one to visit their new outlet at Jalan Leong Sin Nam which is just opposite another famous Dim Sum outlet called Ming Court.

I must say that from the outside, the building does look very impressive. It's much bigger than its previous outlet which has now turned into Purple Cane Tea Gallery. This new place is spacious, airy and more classy. Last time the tables used to be cramped together in a tight space but now you have ample space in between tables to walk around.

There will be stations where different Dim Sum is offered. One has to go to these stations to select what you fancy and bring along the card where the staff will tick on the price accordingly and then you can take the dim sum back to your table. To sum up, it is almost like self service although there are some other items that they still do it through cart pushing.

A few of the must-eat-dishes for me at the Dim Sum restaurant is the dumplings (siew mai, har gaw and yu mai), then Foh San's famous huge fried fish balls, lo mai kai (glutinous rice with chicken), ma lai koh (steamed egg cakes with melon seeds), fried sesame balls with lotus paste and the steamed chestnut delicacy.

The char siew pau (steamed pork bun) at this place used to be really good. I could still remember that everytime we go back to Ipoh, we had to take away at least 10 of them back to KL. However, that day I didn't feel that it was as good as it used to be. Would it be because they have changed the chef or has gone really commercialised?

No dim sum meal is perfect without a plate of steamed Hong Kong Chee Cheong Fun (rice sheet rolls) with either char siew (roast pork) or shrimps. The secret to enjoying this dish is to have it warm, served with lots of sesame seeds and fried shallots and belacan chilli. It's best served warm because when it gets cold, it's not as smooth anymore.

Waitress for the day...

Actually I was quite disappointed with some of the dishes as it seemed that the quality has some sort deteriorated. Although big improvements in facilities and the ambiance, it has somehow lost its nostalgic touch of good tasting dim sum. They still is allowing patrons to wait by the side of the tables for seats which I think they should improvise and provide numbers for waiting instead so that the patrons would not feel obligated to leave.

So far, for good tasting dim sum, I will still visit the outlet opposite which is Ming Court. It's not easy to get a table but if you can wake up early, you will definitely be rewarded.

Foh San
No.51, Jalan Leong Sin Nam,
30300 Ipoh, Perak.
(just behind Hotel Excelsior)
Tel: +605 254 0308

6.30 am to 2.00 pm
Close on Tuesday

www.fohsan.com.my