In Bentong, I Scream, You Scream...

We've shopped the Sunday market and chowed three breakfasts. We're tired, sweaty, and stuffed. But we've one more stop to make before we blow town and head home to Kuala Lumpur.

Bentong's Kow Po coffeeshop has become our can't-miss pit stop along the Karak Highway. Dave and I introduced ourselves to the place months ago, on the way back to KL after a morning at Temerloh's Pekan Sehari. The highlights here are the housemade ice cream and the flavorful coffee.

The shop has been in the same family since it opened some 34 years ago. Everything is local; the house brew comes from coffee grown in a nearby village and the preservative-free ice cream is made with milk from cows that graze in the area.

When it come to ice cream, Kow Po keeps it simple: peanut, pandan, sweet corn, vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry are the flavors on offer. A new batch is made two or three times a week, depending on demand. Kow Po's ice cream is world-class, smooth and dense with fresh cream richness. Sugar is kept in check so that the taste of ingredients shines through. Our favorite is peanut, which is much less sweet than most processed peanut butters, with a pleasant hint of savoriness from a touch of salt in the custard.

A glance at other tables, always full on the weekends, tells us that we're possibly the only customers who order our ice cream 'straight', without adornments. Most folks go for Kow Po's specialty, an ABC: shaved ice with tidbits like beans and/or corn, doused with fresh coconut milk and dark melted gula melaka (palm sugar), and crowned with a scoop or two of one's choice. I'm not a fan of fussy, vertical desserts, but am tempted to give one a try on our next visit.

Is 70 kilometers too far to drive just for a dish of ice cream? Probably. Happily, Kow Po packs its frozen delight to go. Each plastic-tubbed brick is frozen solid, guaranteed to stay that way for two hours (or longer, if stashed in a cooler).

Note: Those in search of savory before sweet might consider nasi lemak. The stall in front of Kow Po is always doing a brisk business, and plates of rice and curry grace plenty of tables inside the shop.

Kedai Kopi Kow Po, in the row of shophouses on the right, just before the road diverges left as you're entering Bentong from the Karak Hwy.

Comments

[michael]

somehow the quality sort of dropped. Did you try the wantan noodle around there. drop me a mail if you wann know where to eat

[Evil Jonny]

I enjoy your blog so much, and Dave's pictures are outstanding. Thank you so much.

[Robyn]

Jonny, thanks as always.

Michael - how so? Less creamy, less flavor? We've only been going for 5 months so I've not much basis on which to judge whether or not the quality has dropped.
Only wonton mee we've had in Bentong is featured in yesterday's post.

[michael]

think the ice cream is less in flavour...