In Search Of The Authentic Kopisan Lai Fun (Rice Noodle) In Gopeng

This morning after 3 rounds of morning walk, my hubby decided to stop instead of our usual 4 rounds of walking. He told me that we are going to Gopeng for our breakfast and we have to start early to be able to reach there by 8 am before the place gets too crowded.

During the Chinese New Year holidays, we met up with our Gopeng friend who never fails to get a taste of his favourite hometown Lai Fun (rice noodle) in Kopisan, Gopeng whenever he is back in Gopeng. According to this friend, the best noodle is the one in Kopisan village. After that conversation, my hubby decided to go back to Kopisan village to try out the noodle there. He wanted to taste and see if there is any great difference between the noodle in Kopisan and those sold in Ipoh's outlets.

Whenever we talked about Lai Fun with our Gopeng friend, Kopisan Lai Fun will always come to his mind. There are a few places selling this rice noodles in Gopeng - in Gopeng town itself and also in the food stalls near the market, in Gopeng Garden, in Lawan Kuda village and in Kopisan village. My Gopeng friend always vouch for and praises the noodle sold in Kopisan village above the others.

My hubby and I used to travel all the way back to Gopeng just for the Lai Fun (rice noodle) whenever there is a yearning for it. That was a few years back. Now that we have so many outlets in Ipoh selling Kopisan Lai Fun, we need not have to go to Gopeng to satisfy our yearning.

We reached there by 8 am. We drove passed the back entrance which is facing the Idris Shah Secondary School (S.M. Idris Shah), Kopisan, Gopeng.

Students participating in their uniformed activities in the school field.

From the back we came to the front of the shop, parked our car and walked a short distance to the shop.

The tables were all arranged outside the shop. It looked like we were early and the place not crowded.

There were already some customers picking their choices of the stuffed ingredients to go with the noodles. We have not been to this new place. I remembered there was on a few shops away. If it is the same one, then they could have shifted from the previous shop to here.

As we entered the shop, the inside was already packed with customers. We took a small table at the side.

From the front to the back of the shop, almost every table was occupied. These villagers are early risers, it was only 8 am.

These pink bowls are for the customers to place whatever ingredients they have picked. There were plenty to choose from - crispy fried fish crackers, crispy fried bean curd sheets, fried tofu, stuffed tofu, bitter gourd, eggplant, fish balls, meat balls, etc, etc.

Varieties of stuffed tofu, etc.

While waiting for our food, I busied myself taking pictures.

Some of the outside tables are now occupied.

Customers waiting to pack and take away the food.

Here is where they cook the noodle and the raw ingredients.
Workers helping to get the food ready.

We didn't have to wait long for our food.

These are fried ingredients. Here I would like to share our personal opinion. We found these fried ingredient a bit hard and we needed to soak them in the soup to soften them before biting. The ones we have in Ipoh are slightly softer.

These are fish balls, meat balls, fish cake, plain tofu and stuffed tofu.

Rice noodle - the soup here is more concentrated and tastier.

Special chili sauce or spicy sauce to go with the noodle and ingredients.

Overall we like the food and if I happened to be in Gopeng again, we wouldn't mind coming again for the food. The place is clean, comfortable and service is good.

But solid food is for the mature,
who by constant use have trained themselves
to distinguish good from evil.
(Hebrews 5:14, New International Version-NIV)