Chuan Fatt Curry Mee Shop is a favorite local spot for curry mee. But the curry mee alone is not the highlight here.
So what draws perpetual morning crowds to this humble kopitiam (coffee shop) in a busy area full of sanitary shops and car service shops?
Here’s what you need to know about Chuan Fatt Curry Mee Shop before your first visit!
Table Of Contents:
About Chuan Fatt Curry Mee Shop
Chuan Fatt Curry Mee Shop is a family-run business which has been running for 3 decades at this point. They still have framed photos up on their walls of who we presume are the original owners of the shop.
The menu consists of curry mee which can be served with different types of meat. These includes char siew, siew yok and fried chicken wings.
Most notably, there’s another kind of fried pork here that isn’t very common. It’s thin with crispy edges and not as salty as siew yok.
Ease Of Parking At Chuan Fatt Curry Mee Shop
Peak times at Chuan Fatt Curry Mee Shop is at 9am so finding parking (legal ones, that is) at this time of day (even on weekdays) can be a challenge.
If you don’t mind walking through old alleyways, you can park behind one or two rows of shophouses after turning the corner before the Petron gas station.
Ambiance At Chuan Fatt Curry Mee Shop
While clearly old, the coffee shop has charm of its own in the framed black and white photographs and striking mint tiles that line the shop from floor to ceiling.
There’s no air conditioning here, and there are tables all the way to the back of the shop. The stall where they prepare the curry mee and chop up the meat is at the entrance of the shop.
If you want to wash your hands, there is a small sink right in front of the kitchen.
For its age, Chuan Fatt Curry Mee Shop is not in bad shape and is reasonably clean.
Service At Chuan Fatt Curry Mee Shop
At peak times, service can be slow. It depends on how many tables are waiting for their food in front of you.
We got there with 3 tables ahead of us so it took about 15 to 20 minutes before our food came.
It appeared to be the entire family unit at work when we came here on a Thursday morning at 10am:
Grandpa in the kitchen, mum in front multitasking (dishing out curry and chopping up the fried chicken), daughter serving food and cleaning tables, grandma serving drinks, and dad taking orders.
At around 11am, the crowds started to dissipate, and we noticed that later tables got their food pretty quickly. This might not be the case on weekends.
Food At Chuan Fatt Curry Mee Shop
We got one bowl of mixed noodles with dark soy sauce and beansprouts and another with their signature dry curry.
For toppings, you can specify whether you want just one particular type of meat or a mix of them.
After getting to try a mix of all their available meat sides, we think that the thin crispy pork slices are the cream of the crop.
On the other hand, the fried chicken wings are crispy, not oily with just the right amount of salt. They serve the fried chicken with a small dish of curry that you can dip your chicken into.
If not for the meat and fried chicken wings, the curry mee is just average. Don’t get us wrong, it’s good and flavorful, just not exceptional on its own. Some may find that it’s not thick enough.
The non-spicy version is fine and not too salty although you’ll definitely need to order some meat with it as it is plain.
For drinks, we ordered one iced coffee and one hot barley drink. Both are decent (the barley drink is thick and not sweet and I prefer it that way).
PS: The iced coffee is not Ipoh white coffee.
Pricing At Chuan Fatt Curry Mee Shop
Everything we ordered came up to RM23.50 which we judge to be fair.
Although some may feel that the portion of curry is little – you might want to ask for more. One bowl costs ~RM6.50. A small plate of fried chicken wings (the size that we got) is more than RM3.
- Address: 294, Jalan Pasir Puteh, Taman Hoover, 31650 Ipoh, Perak
- Location: Google Maps
- Opening Hours: 7am–2pm
Conclusion
Chuan Fatt Curry Mee Shop is evidently a local food haunt for breakfast in Ipoh. We would consider coming back to try the wet version of the curry mee!
This simple kopitiam with its equally simple menu doesn’t have the same hype surrounding its more famous neighbor (3 minutes’ drive away), Yee Fatt Dry Curry Noodles. But we really appreciate the quiet atmosphere here and lack of queues!