Cowan Street Ayam Tauge And Koitiau Restaurant In Ipoh - travelswithsun

Only open a few times a week, it’s hard for even locals to dine at Cowan Street Ayam Tauge & Koitiau Restaurant.

When it is open, you will know it by the long queue that begins before the restaurant even opens.

But is the chicken rice really worth the wait or is it just empty hype? See what we as locals think of Cowan Street Ayam Tauge & Koitiau Restaurant in this post.

Table Of Contents:

Location Of Cowan Street Ayam Tauge & Koitiau Restaurant

Cowan Street Ayam Tauge & Koitiau Restaurant is in a corner lot at the intersection of Jalan Raja Ekram and Jalan Sultan Abdul Jalil.

Streetview Of Cowan Street Ayam Tauge And Koitiau Restaurant
Streetview Of Cowan Street Ayam Tauge And Koitiau Restaurant

It is not far from Ming Court Hong Kong Dim Sum or Restaurant Pusing Public.

Ease Of Parking At Cowan Street Ayam Tauge & Koitiau Restaurant

On the days that Cowan Street Ayam Tauge & Koitiau Restaurant is open (and this can be random), parking will become scarce from 6pm onwards.

There are a row of parking lots at either end of the shophouse row where Cowan Street Ayam Tauge & Koitiau Restaurant is, as well as parking directly across from the restaurant.

Front Of Cowan Street Ayam Tauge And Koitiau Restaurant
Front Of Cowan Street Ayam Tauge And Koitiau Restaurant

Ambiance Of Cowan Street Ayam Tauge & Koitiau Restaurant

There’s not much when it comes to ambiance ofCowan Street Ayam Tauge & Koitiau Restaurant.

This is a typical no-frills kopitiam setting with no air conditioning. The restaurant has ~17 tables and more plastic chairs and stools on standby.

Dining Environment At Cowan Street Ayam Tauge And Koitiau Restaurant
Dining Environment At Cowan Street Ayam Tauge And Koitiau Restaurant

Cleanliness is so-so.

Despite the simple dining environment, it is always full-house at Cowan Street Ayam Tauge & Koitiau Restaurant so expect to be dining close to other tables.

And if there is a crying baby at the next table, you’ll just have to tolerate it. At least the staff have no need to yell to each other from one end to the other end of the long shophouse.

Service At Cowan Street Ayam Tauge & Koitiau Restaurant

The queue begins at 5:30pm even though the restaurant opens at 6pm.

Early Queue At Cowan Street Ayam Tauge And Koitiau Restaurant
Early Queue At Cowan Street Ayam Tauge And Koitiau Restaurant

Serving is concise and fairly systematic from what we observed. There’s no queuing system and once they open, just find a table and sit down.

The waitresses will come to your table eventually as they make their way from table to table in an orderly fashion. Calling out to them doesn’t work here.

Staff Preparing Chicken At Cowan Street Ayam Tauge And Koitiau Restaurant
Staff Preparing Chicken At Cowan Street Ayam Tauge And Koitiau Restaurant

Also, there is a separate server for drinks. When we went, there was only a choice of sugarcane juice or barley water.

It took 20 minutes from sitting down before we got our food.

Food At Cowan Street Ayam Tauge & Koitiau Restaurant

Now this is where Cowan Street Ayam Tauge & Koitiau Restaurant really shines. We did not expect the food to be as delicious as it was.

Food At Cowan Street Ayam Tauge And Koitiau Restaurant
Food At Cowan Street Ayam Tauge And Koitiau Restaurant

The poached chicken is sweet, incredibly tender but still has bite to it. There is a generous use of sesame oil (this gives a pleasant smokey flavor to the chicken) and soya sauce.

Close Up Of The Poached Chicken At Cowan Street Ayam Tauge And Koitiau Restaurant
Close Up Of The Poached Chicken At Cowan Street Ayam Tauge And Koitiau Restaurant

If you order beansprouts (nga choy) on the side, these are not the plumpest we’ve seen in Ipoh, but still juicy and crunchy at the same time.

For those hoping for rice, there is none. And they only serve koitiau (flat rice noodles or hor fun) with the chicken and some green chili.

Noodles And Soup At Cowan Street Ayam Tauge And Koitiau Restaurant
Noodles And Soup At Cowan Street Ayam Tauge And Koitiau Restaurant

The soup by the way, is very tasty and they only give just enough to cover the noodles even when it is just the first wave of customers.

Note: Besides chicken, you can get chicken innards as well as chicken feet too.

Pricing At Cowan Street Ayam Tauge & Koitiau Restaurant

We ordered half a chicken, a plate of beansprouts, 2 bowls of noodles and 2 barley drinks and this cost us ~RM53.

With a full house of close to 20 tables, we imagine that the restaurant makes an average of RM1,600 just from the first wave of customers.

Conclusion

Yes, we can say that it’s worth queuing at Cowan Street Ayam Tauge & Koitiau Restaurant for their poached chicken and beansprouts. This is one of the best chicken rice in Ipoh!

But don’t be too disappointed if you find that they’re not open on the day you go – because they are equally well-known for their inconsistent opening times!

There’s also more great Ipoh food you can check out besides the chicken rice in Ipoh.

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