Ipoh Garden - Malaysian, Millbrae

100 El Camino Real, Millbrae CA 94030
(650) 652-9588
Parking: street parking
https://ipohgardenmalaysiancuisine.eat24hour.com/

Last Visited: December 9, 2018

Food: 2 to 3 stars
Atmosphere: 3 stars
Service: 3 stars
Price: $$ to $$$

Rob recommended Ipoh Garden as a good Peninsula alternative for Malaysian food and from his perspective, shared that it is more authentic than other places nearby.  As Rob is from Singapore, I trusted his determination of Ipoh's authenticity.  This location was previously a bar, so it's not much to look at from the outside, but inside, they did a nice remodel and the restaurant actually fits quite a few tables.  The colorful walls and long bar and the whimsical painting on the wall of a boy reaching for his paper airplane (which is actually the 3D part of the art) show the character of the owners.  The first four dishes were ordered in April, and then I visited again for in December.


- Roti Canai - Just about every table ordered this.  Two rounds of slightly crispy roti is served with a spiced curry sauce.  These are served very hot and are a little bit flaky.  The dough inside is soft and you can see the many layers within the round.  I wasn't too crazy about the sauce - not enough curry flavor since the spice sort of conflicted with it.  I also found the roti thicker than I prefer.  Okay.  $4.95

- Crispy Calamari - This was easily the best dish of the meal.  The batter on the calamari was light and the calamari was tender and fried to a light golden brown.  Pieces of red and green bell pepper and red onions had been cooked with a little bit of spicy red sauce.  All was lightly stir-fried with the calamari so that every few bites, you would get a little extra kick of flavor.  Four stars.  $12.95

- Laksa Mee - The noodles in the laksa mee were pretty standard - yellow noodles, but the flavor of the broth was just okay - nothing outstanding, maybe even slightly bland.  Considering that it's a red coconut curry based broth, it should have been spicy and rich. Usually, a hot broth that has good flavor makes me pretty happy - here, it was nothing to write home about.  Tofu, chicken, and okra accompany the noodles. The freshness of the vegetables was good.   $10.95

- Pad Thai - Of all the dishes ordered, I found this one to be the most disappointing.  While the tamarind based sauce was pleasantly stronger than many other local restaurants, the wide flat noodles had too much moisture causing them to be pretty broken even before we stirred the bean sprouts and lettuce into it.  There was also very little meat - two shrimp and very few pieces of chicken.  The tofu strips were ok, but overall, the noodles were falling apart so much that it was pretty disappointing and getting to the point of being mushy.  This dish also took a long time before it finally arrived.   $11.45

On my second visit, the food experience was slightly improved.

- Beef Satay - Four skewers of marinated beef are grilled and served with peanut sauce.  It's served with slices of cucumbers and red onions.  While the beef is tender, it's not as good without the sauce.  The sauce was flavorful, but could use more ground peanuts. Good. $6.95

- Kang Kung Belachan - A hearty amount of kang kung is sauteed with a belachan sauce.  The greens were tender and the shrimp paste sauce was fine.  Jalapeno slices add extra spice to the dish.  Okay.  I personally prefer the version that one of their competitors in the next city over makes.  $11.95

- Hainanese Chicken - Served with fragrant flavored rice which you can notice in the flavor, not just the color, this steamed chicken comes with two dipping sauce - one is ginger-based and the other is chili-based. All of the chicken sits in a light version of soy sauce.  The dark meat was tender and juicy, but the white meat could have been more moist.  It's a good portion, but the chili sauce is not hot, so you end up gravitating towards the ginger sauce.  The rice was fragrant, but I wouldn't have minded more salt.  Good value for the price.  $10.95

- Chow Koay Teow - It's probably unfair to do a review of this dish after coming back from Singapore.  While the stir-fried flat rice noodles held up significantly better than the pad thai noodles from my last visit, the flavoring was too light.  Of the dishes tried this evening, this one stood out the least.  Shrimp, squid, bean sprouts, chives, and egg are served with the noodles. $11.45

- Singapore Chili Tofu - Large pieces of tofu are fried in a chili tomato sauce with strips of red onion.  The tofu was good, but the dish as a whole is a bit on the sweet side for my tastes.  Okay.    $13.95

Service during my first visit was fair - while we weren't neglected, it just took a while for food to come to the table after the order.  We added the pad thai at the end, but it took a lot longer than expected to arrive.  It also took a while to get a bill.  During the second visit, we sat a lot closer to the register, so the servers passed by much more frequently.

Ipoh offers some dishes that its competitors don't, and if you're craving this style of food, they have a good variety.  Try the crispy calamari and avoid the pad thai.