A Dinner Feast at Ipoh Garden Gourmet Square with Edward & Donny

 Ipoh - Some dinners are just meals. Others turn into full-blown feasts — and that night with Edward and Donny at Ipoh Garden Gourmet Square was definitely the latter.

Located at one end of the bustling food court, the famous Mee Poh Ikan Bakar stall immediately caught our attention.

The aroma of grilled stingray filled the air, smoky and inviting. When our dish arrived, the beautifully grilled stingray was slightly charred. The sambal added a spicy kick without overpowering the sweetness of the stingray. It was comforting yet bold with simple hawker food elevated by fire and flavour.

Next came the Ipoh rojak. Having grown up familiar with Singapore rojak, I couldn’t help but compare. Ipoh rojak is noticeably crisper and less drenched in sauce. The turnip, cucumber, and mango retained their crunch, and the cuttlefish added a briny chewiness. The sauce was thicker and darker, less sweet, leaning toward nutty and savoury rather than pungent. In contrast, Singapore rojak is heavily mixed in a strong shrimp paste sauce, fragrant with torch ginger flower, tau pok, and you tiao. The Ipoh version felt cleaner and more ingredient-forward and less about sauce dominance, more about balance.

We also ordered cuttlefish kangkung, Ipoh style. The gravy here was robust with thicker, darker, with a deep peanut flavour that was slightly spicy and not overly sweet. Compared to Singapore’s brighter red, thinner prawn paste sauce, Ipoh’s interpretation felt heartier and more grounded. Every bite had body and richness, clinging beautifully to the water spinach.

Then came the see hum also called blood clams cooked in sambal. This dish brought serious character to the table. The sambal was fiery yet fragrant, coating the clams in a bold, spicy embrace. It was the kind of different style of cooking than in Singapore dish. 

As if that wasn’t enough, we added chee cheong fun — silky smooth rice rolls drizzled with sauce — followed by smoky BBQ chicken wings that were juicy inside with slightly crisp skin outside. By then, the table looked like a celebration.

We ended the night with cooling bowls of ice jelly (aiyu jelly). Light, refreshing, and subtly sweet, it was the perfect finale after such a flavour-packed dinner.

That evening wasn’t just about the food.  It was also about good friendship and enjoy a good time.