Indulgence @ Ipoh

Indulgence is one of the few places for better western cuisine in Ipoh. Located in a beautiful colonial bungalow not far from the city center.

Some say it's fine dining here. But to me, it's not.
Fine dining to me has proper table settings with a lots of cutlery and the layout is formal and fixed but here, the setting is casual. They let you use the same knife no matter which mains you ordered and there's no lines of spoons and fork for you to figure out.

the view from one side of my table

I can't deny that many years ago, before I first came here, I had high expectations of the ambience as I heard it was a fine dining restaurant. But when I stepped in and looked around... It felt like the restaurant in the hotel where you have your buffet breakfast, and to be specific, a resort, not a city hotel. It's colourful, with a laid back approach.

Ipoh folks are laid back, love good food but would prefer not to be bound by formalities. I've seen men in shorts and sandals each time I go there. It doesn't matter. A fine dining restaurant will require a proper dress code. Indulgence is just a place for finer imported food (by local standards ) and one seriously do not need to feel intimidated by it.

top view from another side of my table

I went here last few weeks to spend my birthday with my family. The menu was downsized a lot since I last visited for dinner 6 years ago. Last time it took me so long to go through it and see what interests me. Lol. You know la, it's not the usual fare that we normal folks are accustomed to, so I took quite some time to read the description.

This was the special of the day, of which isn't in the menu. 

First thing that came, was a complimentary bread basket. It's crusty and made in house. Arrived warm with one piece of butter for each. Good thing it came, because it kept my kids busy while waiting for the food. The wait wasn't long and soon the food arrived.

My hubby as usual will go for red meat. He had Angus Sirloin with crushed peas and Mash. His comment was, it doesn't taste much of beef. Lol. Forgive him as he loves the smell of beef and lamb. The stronger the better.

I had King George's Whiting. Served whole, imported from Australia, fried, tender juicy flesh, served with harrisa potatoes and blood orange heirloom tomato salad. My first time eating heirloom tomatoes and I am totally smitten by it!
The flesh was moist, and nice. But I wish the belly of the fish had been better cleaned. I don't think it's clean enough because I can smell it

My eldest had this plate of not so appealing German cheese sausage with baked potatoes. The plate just drowns everything visually. 

had a horrible time trying to edit it.. orange plate..urrgh!

My 2nd gal had this jacket potato with scrambled eggs topped with a very generous amount of 'not my regular supermarket cheese'. I forgot the name, because I'm not that sensitive to cheese types. Still learning and learning. The scrambled eggs were lovely. The bacon bits were in the small bowl and I forgot to add them in.

For drinks, we had fresh juices and the man as usual, his ice lemon tea. All juices are freshly juiced, not poured from the bottle, even mango juice. Thick and concentrated.

For dessert, I ordered one plated dessert to be shared and it was enough for the 5 of us. This is called 'Poofif'. What's that? Let me try to recall what I ate. It's chestnut purée with milk chocolate mousse, sandwiched with puffed rice crackers. Then topped with a tuille and grapefruit sorbet and a I forgot what ice cream. On the plate is a passion fruit blood orange reduction, probably the cara cara variety as it wasn't very bloody.
Level of sweetness may not suit some as it's slightly higher but alright by western standards.

Some said the service here is bad, but I never had any bad experience here. The server, Eddie offered a custom cooked pasta for my girl, asking me about the things she likes to eat just in case there's nothing in the menu that she likes. I love such flexibility.

Water was even sent without us asking for it after our main course before dessert arrived.

The bill..., I know some will  find it expensive. Yes... It is quite steep, but if you consider the type of ingredients that are used, and if you understand how much that cost here, you will not find it so. What I get to eat are things not easily found  here, like Moro blood oranges, and heirloom  tomatoes and cheeses that isn't found at the regular supermarkets,and I can tell you, it's not found at any restaurants in Ipoh that seem to be on par with Indulgence. These things may be common in other countries, so don't laugh at me if I find them special. One man's meat is another man's poison.

I won't say I really find the taste to blow me away, maybe I need to try everything on their menu. LOL.
They all taste pretty good, nothing bad. But the main reason for me coming here is the ingredients.
Indulgence is the place to go if you want to try something new and not commonly found in Perak.

I hope to come here for breakfast one day as I see the breakie menu to be quite interesting.

Contact:
Indulgence Restaurant and Living
14 Jalan Raja Di Hilir
30350 Ipoh
Perak Malaysia.
Tel: +605 255 7051
Map here

It's just a stone's throw from Ipoh Specialist Hospital and along the same road as Heritage hotel.
If you're coming from Ipoh town, from the direction of the Menteri Besar's residence, it's on your left, before the hospital. The restaurant's sign could be easily missed, if you didn't look carefully enough. It's not on the building itself, but only at the gate entrance.