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Nestled along Changi Road, Anson Town is an Ipoh-centric, coffeeshop-like place to get your fill on unique chee cheong fun (steamed rice rolls) flavours.
The crowd on a weekday evening streamed in slow and steadily, with customers ordering the different variations of rice rolls offered on the menu, along with other classic Malaysian dishes.
Touting itself as the famous original Anson Chee Cheong Fun from Teluk Anson in Ipoh, we knew we had to try it for ourselves.
It’s self service, so you have to make your way to the cashier to order your food after finding a seat.
Curious as to what chee cheong fun tastes like when served with anything other than its usual Hong Kong-style soy sauce and our local sweet sauce, we greedily ordered the Anson Special, Dry Curry with Pig Skin, Curry Chicken, and Mushroom Minced Meat.
It’s not what you’d usually find at hawker centres, so we naturally ordered more than what our stomachs could take.
Anson Special ($3.50)
Tightly rolled, the Anson Special is a dry chee cheong fun and has a bouncy yet soft texture. It is packed with turnips, sprinkled with sesame seeds and spring onions, and served with a side of green chilli.
The turnip reminded me of chye poh (Chinese dried radish), which flavoured and gave a savoury note to the insipid rice rolls, while the green chilli reset the palate. We felt like it could be a dim sum dish, making it a nice morning or supper snack.
Dry Curry Pig Skin ($4)
The dry curry pig skin was what piqued our interest in dropping by Anson Town for a visit, and it did not disappoint.
The rice rolls were the perfect starchy texture to soak up the piquant and fragrant curry gravy and were served with strips of pig skin that had the texture of tau pok (fried beancurd), adding a chewy dimension to the dish. The dried chilli hidden between the layers of rice rolls and ingredients helped give that necessary spicy kick.
Curry Chicken ($4)
Served with the same curry gravy as the pig skin dish, the curry chicken chee cheong fun was generously covered in gravy doused over every rice roll.
The rice rolls were topped with shredded chicken and I liked that it was not too thinly shredded, achieving a balanced ratio of chicken to rice rolls. The dish also came served with long beans, lending a crunch to every mouthful of chee cheong fun.
Mushroom Minced Meat ($3.50)
The mushroom minced meat had a strong pork lard taste that could be too overpowering on the taste buds for some at the start, but after taking a few mouthfuls, I found that the gravy had a consistency of a hearty mushroom soup; like comfort food that you could slurp on a rainy day.
You should skip this if pork lard and mushrooms aren’t exactly your favourite things.
Anson Town opens from 8am to 9pm so you could drop by for breakfast, supper, or any time you’re in need of a good bowl of chee cheong fun.
I’d say try all the curry variations of rice rolls, and if you’re still hungry, you could order something heavier like Ipoh hor fun (gravy / soup), Ipoh Dry Curry Mee, and other traditional dishes. There’s even soya beancurd to end your meal on a sweeter note too.
Expected damage: $3.50 – $4
