Cowan Street Beansprouts Chicken @ Ipoh

Beansprouts Chicken or Nga Choi Gai is a signature dish from Ipoh, Perak.

The famous ones, Lou Wong or Onn Kee, in my personal opinion doesn't come close to Cowan Street, as many Ipohians will agree with me.

I had my first taste of this dish around 20 years ago, and it was my first taste of Beansprout chicken. The dish blew my mind. Everything was so fragrant! From the noodle broth, chicken gravy and beansprouts.

Some time ago, they closed for quite long, many months and then on... I saw the boss having a long scar on his chest. Business was no longer as brisk, and I will say, taste also turned slightly inferior. Even the Beansprouts seem shorter and slimmer. In those days, it was the fattest that I have ever seen. Now it's just like any other Beansprouts in town. 

After all these years, even with the change in taste, there was a major change with attitude. It became more friendly instead of the old 'hostile' boss, lol. 

But still... It's the best in town. Not as rich, not as fragrant. The oiliest maybe, but it's the fat that makes it extra fragrant. If you have tried a bowl of flat rice noodles from this shop, you will find the others to be bland. The broth is rich (not as rich as those days, but still the richest in town), the flavour is from the long hours of simmering the bones or probably I think, the chicken heads. It may sound gross to you, but if you have tried doing chicken broth with some chicken heads added in, you will taste the difference. It's a lot richer. But one downside, noodle portion is quite small. 

If you ever think of paying them a visit, they are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, and sometimes other days. Lol, why sometimes other days? Because I do get dissapointed at times. 

Be prepared to stand in queue for a table, the queue starts at the 'pot of chicken feet stew', as seen in the picture below.

Do not wait beside tables. Once a table is available, they will call you. Service isn't as prompt as Lou Wong, but still better than Onn Kee whom I've seen scolding customers who wanted to confirm their order because they (people in charge) acted deaf. 

COWAN STREET AYAM TAUGE & KOITIAU

44, Jalan Raja Ekram,

30450 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia.

Walking distance from Excelsior hotel, around 150m. 

Let me guess, RM31 for half a bird and Beansprouts, RM9.60 for 6 bowls of noodles and RM8 for 5 glasses of drinks.