I have to say my mom is a very sassy lady. Not only is she fashionable, she knows how to use MSN, Facebook and Google on her own. :) Prior to our trip back to Ipoh, she Googled up "best curry fish head in Ipoh". A blog post on Up & Up Restaurant came first on the results page. She clicked on it and read the blog post which featured the said restaurant. She bought into the pictures and decided that we should all give Up & Up a try.
Dodgy...
It is easy to understand why the restaurant is given such a quirky name. It is located at the uppermost level of a dodgy looking mall known as Wisma Kinta. My mom said that Wisma Kinta used to be one of the top shopping malls in Ipoh when she was a teen. I can hardly picture Wisma Kinta being a top shopping mall. My idea of a "top shopping mall" is a far cry from Wisma Kinta. Now, Wisma Kinta houses a lot of travel agencies, law firms, hair salons and shops selling specialty goods.
The escalator, to our dismay broke down. So we had to climb up three floors to get to the restaurant. It was no problem for me as I have done 12 floors but for my parents, it was a bit of a disaster. The building was not exactly well lit and it looked like something that came out from a Thai ghost flick. Imagine Shutter.
I don't mind climbing 12 flights of stairs for this fish head, really.
The climb was certainly worth it. We were rewarded with a nice hot pot of lovely curry fish head. To my mom's amazement, they used Grouper fish head. Most restaurants selling curry fish head tend to use Red Snapper fish head because it is a cheaper alternative. However, my mom, being the expert when it comes to curry fish head, claims that Grouper tastes better. I have to agree with this because I am not a huge fan of the Snapper and if I have a choice, I would go for the Grouper than the snapper.
Apart from the fish, the curry is to die for. It has very little coconut milk and is jampacked with herbs and spices. Predominantly sour, the curry is good to go with rice. All of us love the gravy so much that it seems like there was not enough!
How can anyone not like beansprouts from Ipoh?
For greens, we opted for stir fry Ipoh beansprouts with salted fish. This is another one of my favourites. I love Ipoh beansprouts. They are fatter and juicier, unlike the typical beansprout, which is skinnier and limp. Writing about it makes me miss Ipoh beansprouts. The ones in Melbourne are just not as good as the ones from Ipoh. :(
You call it stinky, I call it yummy
The sambal with petai (stinky beans) made the visit to this hole-in-the wall restaurant even more worthy. The sambal was a bit sweet and sour with a strong kick from the chillis. Although the stinky beans have a strong flavour on its own, it went hand in hand with the sambal.
Lime juice
To wash down the heat, we ordered some freshly squeezed lime juice. We were all very satisfied with the meal and hoped to head back there for the Chinese New Year holidays. Unfortunately, they do not open for the CNY holidays. :( Oh well, I guess the only way to solve this dilemma is to...
...go back to Ipoh during the December holidays. :D
Little things:
-Cuisine: Malaysian Chinese
-Ambiance: It feels like one is transported back into the 80s. :)
-Service: Fuss free. The restaurant was very empty when we reached there.
-Non-halal
-Portion: Reasonable
-Budget: Damage done is Rm 80. The fish head is the most expensive dish on the bill but my mom said that it is worth it since they used Grouper.
-Reservations are NECESSARY : 605-241 7089, or 605-255 6478.
-Location:
Up & Up Restaurant
39-43, 3rd Floor, Wisma Kinta,
Jalan Yang Kalsom,
Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia.
-Business Hours:
Monday to Saturday: 12pm until 9pm. Closed on Sundays.
