As a recipient of the coveted Michelin Star, what can you expect from Hot Bowl White Curry Mee? Can it live up to the high expectations surrounding it?
What else can you try here besides their namesake? And what is it like to dine here?
Find out all this and more in this post!
Food
We’ve had our fair share of curry mee in Penang and Ipoh. And while this one did not look at all appetizing with its initial white curry, we changed our minds immediately after tasting it with the added sambal.
The soup is neither too thick or thin. And is very flavorful. The mee hoon (type of noodles) had a great consistency too.
It is worth noting that their sambal has a real kick to it so add it gradually to your taste to avoid burning your throat.
The white curry scored full marks for us.
But in contrast, the steamed chicken was not on the same level. At least to us, since we are used to steamed chicken from Ipoh. Their chicken meat was too soft, and the seasoning was too sweet.
Drinks (iced barley and teh ais) were both decent.
Ambiance
This eatery is air conditioned, but the front is left open too.
So, the further you sit back in the restaurant, the cooler the air is. But you’ll also be closer to the kitchen where all the staff enter and exit continuously. As well as the single toilet.
At the very front of Hot Bowl White Curry Mee are a few big tables and their precious few parking slots for customers.
Not all the eatery is pretty to look at. The more attractive tables are closer to the front of the eatery. Regardless, it’s quite packed in the restaurant since tables are packed for maximum seating capacity.
There are a lot of people even on weekdays. Thus, at peak hours, it is not uncommon to share a table with people you don’t know.
Note: Most of the seats are limited to stools.
Service
Many of the wait staff are foreign workers who don’t speak much or have a strong grasp of English. The staff at the counter are multilingual though.
But instead of communicating with the staff, you are encouraged to place your orders by scanning the QR codes at each table.
There are a lot of options (like what noodles you prefer) that you can choose for different items in the menu.
Cashless payments are acceptable here.
What surprised us the most is how fast we got our order of steamed chicken and rice. The bowl of white curry mee we ordered came a little later.
Sambal doesn’t come with the curry mee. It is already on the table in a little container.
Pricing
Eating here is by no means cheap. With their reputation, Hot Bowl White Curry Mee can afford to charge higher.
So, expect a meal for 2 (with drinks) to cost more than RM30.
Portions are not generous and are more suited to small eaters.
Parking
You could be lucky (unlike us) and get one of the parking spots right in front of the restaurant. For this, your chances will be higher outside of peak hours.
But parking at the garage of the restaurant means cooperating with other customers to maximize the available space (i.e., double parking).
Other parking spots along the same street are hard to come by but not impossible to get if you are patient.
Still, we arrived before 12pm and only managed to get a spot one street away from Hot Bowl White Curry Mee.
Note: Don’t forget to pay parking fees here
Conclusion
The curry mee alone is worth the effort of finding parking and waiting for a table here. If you’re here for steamed chicken, we think there are much better places to try this dish in Ipoh.
We suggest avoiding peak hours as much as possible for the best experience at Hot Bowl White Curry Mee. And in case you can’t make it, here are other places for great food in Penang.
If you’re looking for breakfast spots in particular, check out this list instead.
