Ipoh Eats: Where to Go for Local Food
- Rick
- Jul 20, 2017
- 6 min read
Updated: Apr 15
My last trip to Ipoh, in Perak of Malaysia, in 2017 was my 5th visit (since 2005) to the laid-back city and each visit showed me how the old town had changed over the years. Ipoh Old Town is losing its rusticity and transforming into a modern town. The number of cafes multiplied, street arts flourished and the three Concubine Lanes were made-over to revive charms in the old town.
But Ipoh's local food culture is still pretty much intact, preserving the traditional tastes.
I put together a list of venues around Ipoh to go for authentic local food. Also, I am not a "best food" follower as different people has different taste buds — what is good for me may not be so to others. As a traveller, there is no way I can try each and every food in Ipoh and come out with a list of the "bests". Just try and pick your own likes. I am showing what I enjoyed from my food trails.
1. Kedai Makanan Nam Heong (南香茶餐室)
Some influencers wrote that "if you are in Ipoh and did not try the food and white coffee at Nam Heong, you have not been to Ipoh". Though I am not a believer of such talks, I still went to Nam Heong.
Nam Heong is famous for its Ipoh white coffee which is usually added with milk. It is nice with strong aroma and not too sweet. The coffee shop gathered famous flavours in Ipoh and housed them under one roof. There are stalls selling char kway teow, prawn noodle, curry noodle, Hakka noodle (yong tau foo), dim sum, etc. And not forgetting Nam Heong's own freshly-made signature egg tarts and barbecue chicken pastry. The egg custard of their egg tart is smooth and fine, like tofu, and not too sweet.
2. Kedai Kopi Sin Yoon Loong (新源隆茶室)
Sin Yoon Loong is located right opposite Nam Heong. The coffee shop and Sun Yuan Foong next door seemed to be the same setup. You can sit in one of them and order food from the other one.
We were there for breakfast, so we tried wantan noodle (noodle with meat dumplings and barbecued pork), chee cheong fun (rice noodle roll), traditional breakfast set and tried their white coffee too. Ipoh's chee cheong fun is really different from Singapore, with fried onions, sesame seeds, green chilies and spicy-sweet sauce.
Sin Yoon Loong (and Sun Yuan Foong) is opened daily from 7am to 5pm.
3. Restoran Tauge Ayam Lou Wong (老黄芽菜鸡沙河粉)
Another food that is a must-try in Ipoh is beansprout chicken (芽菜鸡) with sha hor fun. And Lou Wong is one of those restaurants in Ipoh serving the well-known dishes. It is located in Gerbang Malam (Night Gate Market) where many restaurants are congregated. I actually dined at Lou Wong on all my visits to Ipoh.
Lou Wong's steamed chicken and beansprouts are served separately as two dishes. Also, forgo the rice and try the local sah hor fun (slim flat noodle made from rice too). The chicken is very tender and the beansprouts, Ipoh's own local produce, are fat, juicy and crunchy. There are other dishes too.
4. Restoran Ipoh Kong Heng (怡保光兴茶室)
One of the oldest coffee shop in the old town, Kong Heng houses a number of stalls selling noodles, rice, satay, etc. It is located along Lorong Panglima, right opposite the 2nd Concubine Lane. Food can also be ordered from Restoran Thean Chun, just across the narrow lane.
We tried Ipoh char kway teow (fried flat noodle), beef kway teow and sotong Kangkong (cuttlefish with water spinach). We wanted to try the satay too, which we heard is good, but they were already closing for the day at around 3pm.
Kong Heng is opened from 7am to 5pm, closes on Thursday.
5. Restoran Thean Chun (天津饮冰室)
Restoran Thean Chun is another coffee shop situated right beside Kong Heng. Thean Chun also has a number of stalls selling various food. Similarly, food can be ordered from Kong Heng.
Thean Chun's caramel custard, said to be the best in town, is really good and not so sweet — I actually went back couple of times for afternoon coffee with the custard. One of the stall serves Tricycle Chicken & Prawn Kway Teow (鲜虾鸡丝沙河粉) and fat Ipoh beansprouts. Another stall serves beef noodle, fishball noodle, curry mee, etc. We also tried a special grilled fish otak-otak wrapped in lotus leave that is unique and nice.
Thean Chun closes on Thursday. Other days is opened from 8am to 4:30pm.
6. Restoran Frens Corner Snow Beer (朋友饮食阁海鲜大炒)
Hiding in one corner, Frens Corner is pretty much obscured from the main roads. You will find it only if you know where it is. Frens Corner serves cooked food to orders (煮炒 or zi char) under an open night sky. But we were there on a drizzling night.
Frens Corner serves Ipoh's popular snow beer too, where ice-cold beer (any type of light beer) are poured into frozen mug to create lots of foam, which looks like snow on the beer. This is unlike other drinking places which try to reduce the amount of foam.
First night on our latest trip, we ordered Yangzhou fried rice, curry wild boar meat, gai lan (Chinese broccoli) and a steamed fish.
Frens Corner normally opens after 5:30pm till 2am.
7. Kafe Yoon Wah (元华饮食阁)
Be it Kafe Yoon Wah, Kafe Sun Yoon Wah or Restoran Sun Yoon Wah, they are all the same when it comes to eating. Located close to one another, the three outlets belong to the same family and sharing the same kitchen. So, regardless of which outlet you are sitting at, the food are cooked by the same chefs.
Similar to Frens Corner, the 3 Yoon Wah outlets also have snow beer and serve cooked food to orders. The last trip when we were there, we ordered clams in sauce, salted-egg prawns, egg with bitter melon and assam fish with petai (Malay for stink beans). And snow beer too.
Note that Ipoh Booth Cart, a relatively new setup, is also part of Restoran Sun Yoon Wah on the 2nd level, selling booth cart delicacies during the day. Do try it and let us know how is it.
Yoon Wah normally opens around 5:30pm till midnight.
8. Big Bowl Ramen (大碗面) — CLOSED
Located on the ground floor of 1981 Guest House, Big Bowl Ramen used to be called "Wheel Noodle @ TSG". The outlet serves ramen in ultra big bowls (for at least 2 persons) and other local noodles, including their signature wheel noodle, in small palm-size bowls.
We had coffees and soft-boiled eggs. Mine is black kopi-O added with butter. See the oily layer on the black coffee? The soft-boiled eggs are also served in a cup and ready to eat — we didn't have to break open the hot eggs ourselves.
We also had small bowls of noodle: Mickey Mouse noodle (老鼠粉 or silver needle noodle), beef hor fun (Ipoh flat rice noodle), fish balls soup, Ipoh-style assam laksa and wheel noodle. Wheel noodle is also called "dong dong noodle" due to the sounds made by knocking the bowls together in the old days to attract customers. It is actually fish balls vermicelli topped with Chinese fried dough (油条). It took around 3 or 4 small bowls to make up one person's meal, which is a great way to try different dishes.
9. Tong Sui Kai (糖水街)
Tong Sui Kai, Cantonese for "dessert street", is located some walking distance away from the old town and is not a single entity, but a street of stalls selling mostly desserts, hence its name. There are stalls selling varieties of local food fares as well.
On recommendation from the lady boss of Brick Box Hotel, we tried the popular beef noodle with cow stomach from Cheong Kee Beef Noodle (stall number 47). It is delicious. We also had yong tau foo and barbecued chicken wings to go along but we did not try any desserts. Will do that next time.
While Tong Sui Kai is opened daily after 5pm till 11:30pm, individual stalls may close on certain days on their own schedules.
Locations
Note that opening days and hours are for reference only as Ipoh eateries are known to close their shops any time they feel like it (which is why the town is so laid-back). But they will always be opened on weekends, school/public holidays, or when there will be more crowds.
For local food, weekdays are still the best time to be in Ipoh with lesser crowds, just plan around the "expected" off-days. Rest assured, you will not go hungry.
Comments