Ipoh Eat: Nam Heong Coffee Shop (南香茶餐室) @ Ipoh Old Town

Kedai Makanan Nam Heong (南香茶餐室) is located along Jalan Bandar Timah in Ipoh Old Town. It is a popular coffee shop that is often hailed as one of the must-visit places when in Ipoh. Nam Heong is well-known for its iconic Ipoh white coffee and egg tarts.

Nam Heong gathers famous flavours in Ipoh, and nearby Penang, and houses them under one roof. There are stalls selling char kway teow, prawn noodle, curry noodle, Hakka noodle (yong tau foo), chee cheong fun, Nyonya kueh, etc. Nam Heong serves beverages and dim sum itself.

Ipoh is famous for its white coffee (traditional coffee beans roasted without sugar) which is usually served with condensed milk. Nam Heong's signature old town white coffee has a strong aroma, full-bodied and not too sweet.

Note: If you simply order "white coffee" without specifying anything, an iced coffee with condensed milk will be served. It is probably the signature beverage of Nam Heong.

We tried most of the signature dishes from the stalls, including char kway teow, prawn noodle, curry mee hoon.

And also Hakka noodle and a cup of black "white" coffee without milk. The aroma of the coffee is even stronger and with slight bitterness. This is the best way to taste Ipoh's pure white coffee.

And not forgetting Nam Heong's own freshly-made signature egg tarts and chicken char siew pastry (called chicken sou). The Nam Heong Egg Tart (南香蛋挞) has custard in handmade layered pastry crust and is a little thicker than Singapore egg tarts. The shiny, unburnt custard is smooth and creamy, like tofu, and not too sweet. The Nam Heong Chicken Sou (南香鸡酥) has sesame seeds on crispy layered pastry crust and the char siew filling, not flavoured with red char siew sauce, has nice flavours.

The Penang Banana Leaf Fried Kway Teow from Lim Fong stall (林丰.槟城蕉叶炒粿条) is cooked with fat crunchy prawns, fat Ipoh beansprouts, etc, and served on banana leaf. The local delight has a nice wok aroma, nicely-fried and tasty. Delicious and must-try.

The traditional Ipoh-style Hokkien Prawn Mee from 怡保聚家传 stall is a soupy dish very similar to Penang-style Hokkien Mee, except for the ingredients used. The noodle dish uses rice vermicelli with big prawns, lean meat slices, fat beansprouts, a quarter of a hard-boiled egg, etc, in tasty prawny broth that is added with spicy chilli oil. This is delicious too.

A pack of 2-piece chwee kueh (水粿) from a stall by the doorway looks very tasty. The chwee kueh is not soft and watery, like those in Singapore, and has more solid texture and nicer to bite. The toppings of dried radish with chilli and sesame seeds add flavours and made the kueh tasty and slightly spicy. I love this!

Nam Heong has several Kopitiam-style branches, known as Nam Heong Ipoh, in West Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. The coffee shop in Ipoh Old Town is the original outlet. Outside Singapore, the nearest Nam Heong Ipoh outlet is located in Mid Valley Southkey Mall, Johor Bahru.

Social Media:

Facebook (Nam Heong Ipoh)

Address:

2, Jalan Bandar Timah, 30000 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia

Opening Hours:

6:30am to 4:30pm | Daily

Nearby: Ipoh Buy: YG Homemade Biscuit (熊记手工饼) Kaya Puffs @ Ipoh Old Town