Ipoh Cowan Street Ayam Tauge & Koitiau

Restoran Cowan Street Ayam Tauge & Koitiau is where Ipohites eat their Bean Sprouts Chicken for dinner.

This lip-smacking and delicious “Nga Choi Kai” is Ipoh’s most famous branded food.

They eat their Bean Sprouts Chicken for dinner.

‘Lou Wong’ or ‘Onn Kee’ may be hyped up to the nines on blogs and other social media.

Please don’t take my word for eating at my favorite chicken shop.

Local Ipohites find the popular ‘Lou Wong’ or ‘Onn Kee’ too touristy.

They prefer to eat their favorite tauge chicken at Cowan Street with the distinct aroma of chicken essence.

Famous Shop Or Going Local

Listen to the locals.

They know the best eating places in town. I concur that Cowan Street has the best bean sprouts chicken.

This is where the locals go for the best ‘Nga Choy Gai’ in Ipoh at night!

Don’t worry.

More chickens are being poached in the kitchen!

There’s enough to feed all the diners in the evenings!

The only snag – there’s no air conditioning.

My First ‘Nga Choy Gai’ in Ipoh

I first had the chicken from Restoran Cowan Street Ayam Tauge & Koitiau over twenty years ago.

It imprints the tender chicken in fragrant oil and fat crunchy bean sprouts in my mind.

Every time I go to Ipoh, I would want to eat there.

Many locals swear by Cowan Street’s version of the signature Ipoh fare.

Visitors to Ipoh wander around, figuring out which shop to go to without getting ‘chopped.’

My local guide Lily Chee points to the wall’s price list, so don’t worry.

I let her do the ordering in Cantonese.

My Penang sing-song Hokkien will probably give me away as a tourist.

It would be worse if I spoke in Cantonese.

I sound like a Malaysian with a funky accent.

Cowan Street Ayam Tauge & Koitiau Restaurant

Uncle Ah Meng’s wife is busy cutting up the poached chicken, ready to be served.

Where is the Best ‘Nga Choy Gai’ in Ipoh?

Decades ago, Uncle Ah Meng and his wife started selling the much-revered chicken, mung bean sprouts, and rice noodles medley by the roadside underneath some trees.

The vacant spot is opposite their restaurant, but the shade trees are gone.

The senior couple still manages the restaurant with the help of some workers.

Uncle Ah Meng walks painfully as his knees hurt, so they close their business to rest.

The locals will take a drive there to see if he opens.

Most regulars wait patiently.

The poached chicken is perfectly cooked, soft, fatty, and succulent.

The sauce has a nutty hint from the sesame seed oil.

The flat rice noodles, the “Koitiau,” is sleek and smooth.

The portions may be smaller here, but the combo with chicken innard,  liver, giblets, and crunchy bean sprouts is definitely worth the wait!

What’s so Special About Cowan Street Ayam Tauge & Koitiau?

Every time we head to Ipoh to eat, we would have a Plan B if Uncle Ah Meng decides to take the day off.

Cowan Street Ayam Tauge is notorious for its random business hours.

It’s a guessing game to try our luck and hope the restaurant is open when you head to Ipoh.

What are the three items on the Menu?

The menu has three things on it.

Chicken, Hor Fun noodles (Kuey Teow Soup), and blanched bean sprouts.

For extras, if you’re up to it, you could order Braised Chicken Feet and/or Mixed Gizzard/Giblets.

How to Order ‘Nga Choy Gai’?

If you want a table, go early before the rest of the dinner crowd shows up.

There’s no point in hanging around the counter to place your order.

The ladies will ask you to go back to your seat and wait.

It will take a while, but surely, they will take your order.

The ordering is simple.

You sit and wait for the workers to take your drinks order first.

You sit and wait, and Uncle Ah Meng will shuffle over to record your order.

Just mention the number of portions.

Uncle Ah Meng’s wife chops up the chicken portion.

After you finish eating, Uncle Ah Meng will come to your table to point at the empty dishes and cups to count.

There is no food bill.

He will show how he counts on a small homemade clipboard with the cut pieces of paper secured by a rubber band.

The Ultimate Taste Test of Ipoh’s Best ‘Nga Choy Gai’

White Cut Chicken (Pak Cham Kai) Chinese Poached Chicken

A delicious chicken is made juicy and tender using the Cantonese style of poaching, which uses a low temperature and moist heat.

Poached is different from steaming or boiling, which makes the cooked chicken tough and stringy.

Cowan Street makes a perfectly poached chicken cooked through, firm, and tender.

The white flesh is deliciously tender, silken, and coated in a light sesame oil and soy sauce gravy.

Even the Chicken Breast tastes smooth and juicy. Full of chicken meat taste.

Our half-chicken portion for three costs RM26. A whole chicken (RM52)

What are Chicken Spare Parts?

It wasn’t something we were up for, but if you are, order some Chicken Spare Parts.

Almost every table had a plate of chicken offals, the giblets, liver, heart, and chicken intestines.

Is Chicken Liver Healthy?

The boiled chicken livers rank well for two important B vitamins, folate and biotin.

Chicken liver is packed with iron and a wealth of other nutrients and antioxidants, with impressive iron and choline scores, which is good for brain health.

Chicken Liver is not safe to eat raw and may contain dangerous pathogens.

The best way is to cook it by boiling and eating the creamy chicken livers dipped in chili sauce.

Are Chicken Hearts and Gizzards good for you?

Chicken hearts taste basically like any other lean meat from that animal.

The chicken heart is tiny, around 1.5-2 cm long, and about 1 cm wide.

It’s tiny and about the size of a thumbnail.

The chicken gizzard is in the digestive tract of a chicken, quite similar to a stomach.

Its function is to grind up the foods the bird eats.

In Asia, gizzards are a delicacy and can be deep-fried or cooked in spicy curry sauce.

People who enjoy their chewies love to eat chicken gizzards rich in selenium and vitamin C.

Braised Chicken Feet (Phoenix Claws) is good for your skin…

Most dim sum newbies may view the braised chicken feet with its prettied name, “Phoenix Claws,” with trepidation.

It looks as intimidating to eat as it sounds.

Plump Braised Chicken Feet sticking out of a small bowl, sometimes with sharp nails intact!

This dish is for foodies who love chicken innard, cartilage, skin, and bones.

Our friend Eliz has a craving for that rather unpalatable-looking Braised Chicken Feet.

I sat in my corner and kept a watchful eye.

Not for the faint-hearted!

The gravy with a layer of oil on the surface of the pot may look unappetizing.

But the taste, according to Eliz sits that it tasted heavenly.

Braised Chicken Feet is gelatinous, heavily fragrant with five-spice powder, and notably star anise.

Eliz loved the gelatinous bits of chicken feet and polished the entire plate before the Kuay Teow Soup arrived.

The Braised Chicken Feet cost RM6.

Kueh Teow Soup, comfort food, never tasted so good.

Kuetiau, Koitiau, or Kuay Teow Soup all mean the same, no matter the spelling.

These are the famous luscious Ipoh flat rice noodles which are super smooth thin slurpable flat noodles that slide easily down your throat.

The bowl of Kuey Teow Soup (RM2 per bowl) is pretty good.

The soup is a sweetish delicious stock, sweetened by chicken bones and prawns stock (heads and shells)

I ordered a second bowl, which went well with the juicy chicken and bean sprouts.

What are the benefits of mung bean sprouts?

“Nga Choy”

Mung Bean Sprouts are not only a good source of fiber; they have the richest source of plant amino acids, vitamins, and minerals.

Ipoh’s crunchy taugeh is the king of bean sprouts in Malaysia.

Ipoh’s most popular products are grown with abundant hard water from the limestone hills surrounding the Kinta Valley.

This makes the bean sprouts grown here delicious, crunchy, and succulent.

A plate of Ipoh Bean sprouts (RM8) is a must-go with your chicken.

Plump, fresh, and crunchy, the bean sprouts are served blanched and topped with soy sauce, fragrant oil, and a squeeze of white pepper.

It is very satisfying to feel the juicy crunch of the bean sports between bites of steamed chicken.

This Plump and juicy mineral-rich are crunchy, which can’t be found elsewhere.

Eliz and Phoebe unanimously rate this high 8/10 for taste and flavor!

Seasoned Special Fragrance Oil for the Chicken

The oil perfumes the poached chicken and lifts the dish to a new dimension.

The secret Seasoned Special Fragrance Oil is made from Chicken Fat, Shallot Oil, and Sesame Oil!

Drizzle the oil mixed with Soy Sauce over the chicken dish before serving.

Perfect; neither too oily nor salty.

This makes the chicken flavorful and tasty.

The garnish is the usual Scallions and Coriander.

Eating Experience at Cowan Street Ayam Tauge & Koitiau Restaurant

My take is yes, Cowan Street Ayam Tauge & Koitiau Restaurant lives up to the local’s claim of the best ‘Nga Choy Gai’ in Ipoh.

If you’re patient and easygoing like me, the uncertain business hours become something I laugh over instead of bitter disappointment.

The restaurant opens and closes on random days and sometimes for weeks.

Having said that, I strongly recommend trying the ‘Nga Choy Gai’ here.

Just remember to call ahead to check if they are open.

If you’re looking for a satisfying Nga Choy Kai meal, I would suggest none other than Ipoh Favorite Cowan Street Ayam Tauge & Koitiau Restaurant.

Restoran Cowan Street Ayam Tauge & Koitiau

Address: 44, Jalan Raja Ekram, Kampung Jawa, 31350 Ipoh, Perak
Telephone: +6012-520 3322 (Uncle Meng)
Business hours: Opens for dinner only, 6.30 pm onwards
Odd business hours – generally closed on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, sometimes whenever they don’t feel like opening for business

(Updated 14 August 2023)

Travel Tips For Eating at Cowan Street Ayam Tauge & Koitiau Restaurant

* Sometimes, they close without prior notice for a week or more.
* Best to call ahead to avoid disappointment if you’re driving up for a spontaneous day trip

Which ‘Nga Choy Gai’ Now When Cowan Street Stall is Closed?

So you planned that Ipoh trip.

You read that Smart Dory post and dream of eating succulent chicken in fragrant oil. Die Must Eat ‘Nga Choy Kai’ (Cantonese) or ‘Tauge Ayam’ (Malay).

You reach the destination ahead of time.

The stars aligned somehow, just for this chicken day!

Highways are clear, the weather is good, and the sun shines in secret places that your mom says, “Oi, cannot mention in public!”

You gloat at the thought. “It’s so fat and succulent.” Sigh.

The ‘Nga Choy Kai’, of course!

What la! My mom says I cannot ask loudly for “Kai Putt”, aka “Bishop’s nose”, at the stall.

But.

Like all things in life, bad things happen. Cowan Street Uncle takes a break the evening you reach his shop, parked nicely. There’s an ample car park.

Great balmy weather.

Perfect day for a Chicken meal.

DANG! <If you know me personally, you will know I don’t say “Dang.”

Children of all ages and manners read this blog.>

Which ‘Nga Choy Gai’ Now When Cowan Street Stall is Closed?

When new visitor reaches Ipoh, most will get “annoyed” having to drive around the one-way road system in the Old Town. Inevitable.

I have gotten lost often, sometimes with the wrong GPS settings; it’s quite a joke.

One evening on the way to dinner, we ended up in a “Taman” suburb with my friend driving and me as navigator.

Fact: I’m a lousy navigator and myopic at best-reading anything apart from my device!

So, where do you head to if you don’t want to go to the famous two?

Super long queues, no parking, and a maddening road system, and you only know of Lou Wong and Onn Kee. Man!!!

What about Lou Wong Tauge Ayam Kuetiau & Restoran Onn Kee (Tauge Ayam)?

Years ago (read 20 or more), Lou Wong and Onn Kee, located almost diagonally opposite each other, were excellent.

However, due to the sharp rise in being super popular, many have complained of poor quality control and a mediocre standard of service. I was one loud introvert complainer.

I just refused to eat the poached chicken with bloody bits, and the chicken thigh looked uncooked.

Yes, I’m western schooled.

Raw chicken is a common source of food poisoning and bacteria-borne illness.

So I picked at a cucumber slice or two with great trepidation before white peppered the “taugeh” got to me.

In Malaysia, the chef shakes white pepper-like talcum powder! I think of body parts again. Blek!

The Lure of  Ipoh’s Taugeh

For others built steely and have stainless steel stomachs and bowels, the lure of the ‘alfresco’ dining concept with tables lining the restaurant’s perimeter.

Those glitzy neon lights and all are undeniably a game-changer.

I watch them chug the poached chicken and slurp on the smooth Kuay Teow Soup.

I swear I can hear the taugeh crunch!

My ears are so sensitive. I even heard the crunch of blanched bean sprouts above the chopping station’s thuds and flying chicken juices.

Undeniably, Lou Wong still makes the best-blanched bean sprouts in Ipoh. Never mind the chicken.

Fact: Tourists and locals seem to like Onn Kee over Lou Wong. For me, the din of the feast and jostling for tables is not worth the fight to wait, get a table, wait, eat, wait, and hey, did we spend 4 hours getting a chicken meal?

MAN!!!!

RESTORAN LOU WONG TAUGE AYAM KUETIAU
49, Jalan Yau Tet Shin, 30300 Ipoh, Perak
It opens for lunch and dinner.

RESTORAN ONN KEE TAUGE AYAM
51, Jalan Yau Tet Shin, 30000 Ipoh, Perak
Opens for lunch and dinner (about 10-11 am onwards until about 1-2 am)

Can All The Other Lesser-Known Chicken Outlets Raise A Wing and Squawk?

Lily (the Ipohite): Shhh… You “siao” (crazy, mad, lunatic) izzit?

Dory: Er… people asking me. Not everyone is lucky, like Fish.

She gets to eat at Cowan Street every time she hits Ipoh. Hallelujah PTL.

Lily: You want the rest of the country to descend upon us every weekend?

Dory: They may not find it, you know.

So, dear Lily, we go to the lesser-known stalls in Ipoh but with a STRONG local following. Hey Instagrammers and Influencers, the Uncles and Aunties have been doing that for decades before the birth of social media.

Deep in the heart of the Buntong community, an outskirt neighborhood far away from the hustle and bustle of Ipoh town.

You can check out these other eateries which sell the ubiquitous Taugeh Chicken of equal and reputable stature. Some still say the overrated meal in Ipoh.

Just two main ingredients are chicken and bean sprouts.

Soy sauce and fragrant oil make a coveted legendary meal unforgettable with a distinct taste and aroma.

I will find the other outlets more for a more comfortable breathing space and hawking a table alone without sharing with strangers.

Here are Plan B venues for ‘Nga Choi Kai’ Chicken Rice

RESTORAN AYAM TAUKE
No 849, Jalan Guntong, Buntong, Ipoh, Perak.
Business hours: Opens for dinner only 5.00 pm – 9.00 pm
Closed on Tuesdays & Wednesdays

YOON KEE BEAN SPROUT CHICKEN STALL
Stall No 23, Medan Selera Stadium, Ipoh
Business hours: Opens for dinner only
Closed on Wednesdays or Thursdays (unconfirmed)

KEDAI MAKANAN DAN AIS KACANG LEONG KEE
153, Jalan Pasir Puteh, 31650 Ipoh, Perak.
Business hours: Opens for dinner only, from about 6.00 pm to 12.00 am
Closed on Wednesdays

KAH SENG IPOH RESTAURANT
223, Jalan Bercham Taman Sri Kurau, Taman Desa Kencana, 31400 Ipoh
Business hours: Opens for dinner only.

KEDAI MAKANAN KUM KEE
798-799, Jalan Sekolah, Pasir Pinji, 31650 Ipoh, Perak
Business hours: Opens for dinner only, from 6.00 pm onwards until late.