As I prepare the 10 reviews for my “Best Chinese Restaurant in IPOH” list, Choy Kee was one that trailed at the bottom of the list.
It is inevitable for any meal in a Chinese restaurant to score hits and misses but it remained a big negative impression if all 3 dishes for dinner is bad.
For Choy Kee, it is either a stroke of bad luck or the food is truly of mediocre standard.
Our sweet and sour pork was acceptable at best, the salted egg yolk squids were rings of rubber and the pork ribs truly cloying sweet.
Our usual modus operandi has always been to test out a few dishes and add on to our orders if we find the earlier dishes to our liking.
For Choy Kee, we left as quickly as we could and I had to return to the hotel to munch on some tidbits as I could barely swallow anything during dinner.
Thankfully my dining companions finished the food since I hate wastage and I’m the one paying for the meal!
The restaurant is popular, the place is packed and the business has expanded from 1 to 2 shoplots over the last decade in business.
Their nearest competitor Yeh Lai Ong is literally next door but only Choy Kee pulls in the crowd. Yeh Lai Ong remained empty, night after night.
How and why is beyond the 4 of us, for our Choy Kee dinner was a let – down.
Perhaps we ordered the wrong items, but even then it is unforgivable to serve us tough, rubbery squids.
Or overly saccharine bony pork ribs.
As for dining condition, Choy Kee is your standard Chinese restaurant in a shoplot set-up.
You dine on wooden tables and sit on plastic chairs. Fresh chopped garlic and chilli padi plus the obligatory hot water basin are on the table for you to wash your utensils.
Ambiance is hurried, busy and every table features either a large group of friends or a family busy tucking into their meal.
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Conclusion:
I’ve lost the receipt but the bill came up to about RM60 for 3 dishes as above with 2 rice, non-inclusive of drinks.
All in all Choy Kee is NOT a restaurant I would recommend for NOW, but I’m open to hear from any Choy Kee fans if there are other dishes that warrants a revisit.
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Restoran Makanan Laut Choy Kee
111, Jalan Dato Lau Pak Khuan, Taman Ipoh,
31400 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
No fixed off days.
Hours: 6pm – 10pm
Tel: +60 5-549 9127.
Ipoh Best Restaurants series:
Part I: Kedai Makanan Rasa Lain –> https://www.rebeccasaw.com/ipoh-best-restaurants-for-dinner-part-i-kedai-makanan-rasa-lain-bercham-claypot-crab-fishballs/
Part 2: Ipoman Seafood Ipoh: https://www.rebeccasaw.com/ipomanseafoodipoh/
Part 3: Restoran Cathay Ipoh: https://www.rebeccasaw.com/ipoh-best-chinese-restaurants-part-3-restoran-cathay-for-old-school-pork-chopchicken-chopfish/
Part 4: Restoran Yum Yum Ipoh: https://www.rebeccasaw.com/ipoh-best-chinese-restaurants-part-4-yum-yum-for-halal-delicious-nyonya-thai-food/
Part 5: Wong Koh Kee: https://www.rebeccasaw.com/ipoh-best-restaurants-part-5-wong-koh-kee-a-classic-cu-char/
Part 6: O Cafe, Canning Garden: https://www.rebeccasaw.com/ipoh-best-chinese-restaurants-part-5-o-cafe-canning-garden-ipoh/
Part 7: Yam Yam Restaurant: https://www.rebeccasaw.com/ipoh-best-restaurants-part-7-yam-yam-restaurant-for-dai-chow-in-tmn-ipoh/
Part 8: Restoran Makanan Laut Crab House: http://www.rebeccasaw.com
Part 9: Choy Kee: https://www.rebeccasaw.com/ipoh-best-restaurants-part-9-restoran-makanan-laut-choy-kee/
