Woolley Food City @ Ipoh, Perak

Most friends who have been following me for a while know that Woolley's is one of my favourite food destinations in Ipoh and each trip to Ipoh would not be complete without a visit to this place. Well, as we all know, some years back there was a split and the old cinema building is called Woolley Food City and the newer one by the side is known as Kam Wan. Woolley caters for breakfast to lunch and Kam Wan caters for dinner. Honestly, I really love the food at Kam Wan and that stands true right up to my last visit which was just a few months back. That place is just awesome. This old Wooley's however is one that I had not visited in at least 5 years, definitely not after the refurbishments. Since time was limited and we wanted to have a quick lunch, instead of exploring the Old Town side or Bercham, we came back here hoping to have some good food. 

Woolleys Food City in Canning Gardens, Ipoh

As always, parking is a problem here but thankfully, we were able to get a place not too far from the building. Honestly, though it had gone through some refurbishment some years back, the place truly looked run down. There weren't that many stalls as it used to be and business seemed quite slow. This worried me. The only place that seemed to be ever busy was the mixed rice stall that was close to the entrance. That stall definitely had a huge spread of close to 30 dishes to offer. Unfortunately, we were thinking of having some of those noodle dishes which usually is extremely good here and went for that. Rice was surely not one that was on our mind. 

Prawn Mee & Curry Mee Stall

Dishes That Were On Offer And The Prices

Penang Prawn Mee @ RM 5.00

Penang Prawn Mee @ RM 5.00

My Dad being a huge fan of Prawn Mee did not want to miss out the opportunity of having his favourite dish. There was one stall on the far right (assuming that you are facing in from the entrance) that was selling this and Curry Mee. Priced at RM 5.00 , the bowl of noodles came with some shrimps, some sliced pork, spinach, hard boiled egg and noodles. Well, what can I say. This was the worst Prawn Mee that we have ever tasted. The broth tasted like tap water and the ingredients were far from being fresh. Some of those Prawn Mee that we get at those day to day coffee shops in KL are way better than this. This was just horrible. The disappointment on my Dad's face was evident. Even the Chili Paste that was given tasted stale. Huge regrets ordering this dish. I would only rate this at 3/10 .

Char Kuey Teow Stall

Prices Of Dishes

Duck Egg Char Kuey Teow @ RM 5.50

Duck Egg Char Kuey Teow @ RM 5.50

I went for the Duck Egg Char Kuey Teow which was from the stall beside the Prawn Mee stall. This was priced at RM 5.50 per plate. I am a huge fan of this dish, especially the ones made with duck eggs. It tastes totally different and gives a very unique creamy taste to it. Within minutes, the dish arrived. Looked and smelled good but it didn't taste that good. I won't say that it was bad but surely not up to it's mark. And being one that was made with Duck Eggs, it should have tasted way better. I know for a fact that Duck Eggs were used and that taste was standing out boldly but the preparation of the Char Kuey Teow itself, tasted one without the 'Wok Hei'. My Chinese friends would surely be able to relate to this. In a way, another disappointment. I would rate this at 6/10 .

The Popiah Stall

Prices

Wet and Fried Popiah @ RM 2.00 each

Popiah is another one of our favouites and the ones at Kam Wan are just heavenly. Those days, these guys too used to be good and after two disappointing dishes earlier, we were hoping that at least this would be good. They had both the Wet and Fried variety and this stall is located on the far left. It took them a while to send the items over and I assumed that business was good which invariably meant a good sign. 

Wet Popiah @ RM 2.00 each

When the dish was sent over, a single look at it and I knew that the Wet Popiah was not up to expectations. The wrapping style itself showed that she was an amateur and the sauces seemed very limited. I wonder if she had even used them. Taste wise, I would say nothing great. All that I could taste was plain steamed vegetables and a little bit of salt. That's about it. And the wrapping was so sluggish. For me, I would only rate this at 6/10 . Nothing more than that.  

Fried Popiah @ RM 2.00

The Fried Popiah however was better, in fact very much better and the ingredients tasted good so much so we did not need the dip sauce as it tasted good on it's own. At least one dish that was up to my expectations. I would rate this at 8/10 .

Ipoh White Coffee @ RM 1.80

After having had multiple disappointing meals, we decided on having some Ipoh White Coffee and Thank God, this was very good. It seems like the only thing good here, based on what we tried this afternoon is the White Coffee. Everything else was bad with some being horrible. This, we loved and I would rate this at 9.5/10 .

Now I know why this place seemed a little run down and it's a shame. A place that has been around for decades has just gone to waste. I am officially banning this place for good. Obviously, that would not include Kam Wan that operates at night. Those guys are still doing a great job with that place. If this goes on like this, I doubt that this place will continue to exist within a year. 

Address: No 48 - 50, Lengkok Canning, Taman Canning, 31400 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia.

Opening Hours: 0800 - 1500 Daily