Ipoh eat · Eating in Ipoh
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Eating in Ipoh
Eating in Ipoh
Ipoh is known, the country over for good food. Signature Ipoh dishes are:
Ipoh bean sprouts chicken"芽菜雞" , which consists of chicken meat, assorted chicken innards and bean sprouts boiled in hard water and served with soy sauce and sesame oil. Ipoh's bean sprouts are very fat, short and tastier than those produced outside Ipoh; thus, Ipoh's beansprouts also receive orders from other states. Famous bean sprout chicken noodles include Onn Kee （安記芽菜雞沙河粉）and Lou Wong (老黃芽菜雞沙河粉） Restaurants, both of which are located at the junctions of Yau Tet Shin Street 姚德勝街 and Osbourne Street.
Ipoh Sar Hor Fun"怡保沙河粉", which are rice flat noodles prepared in hard water and served in clear chicken and prawn soup with chicken shreds, prawns and spring onions. Famous sar hor fun purveyors include Thean Chun and Kong Heng Restaurants, located along Leech Street 列治街 in the Old Town. Other popular food choices include chicken and pork intestines satay, curry pork skin chee cheong fun, popiah and their custard! Custards are usually sold out around 3pm weekdays and noon on Saturdays and Sundays.
Salted chicken or Yim Kok Kai 盐锔鸡. This is a must try when you are in Ipoh. The chicken is baked in salt in such a way that the skin and meat is so delicious that you will finish it all. Whole chickens are wrapped in "oil paper" and then baked in large woks filled with heated salt. The restaurant that sells salted chicken is Aun Kheng Lim Restaurant, located at Theatre Street, opposite Martell house or near Bak Gong restaurant in the city centre. It is so popular that you must call to order before you drop in. Tel: 05-254 2998.
Ipoh White Coffee, which are coffee beans specially roasted (with palm-oil margarine; visit this Wikipedia article for more info). Its colour is similar to that of cappuccino when served with milk. The best can be found in the few coffee shops located opposite the Kinta Heights flats in Ipoh's old town such as:
- Nam Heong Restaurant (Distributor of "3 in 1 Ipoh Old Town White Coffee")
- Xin Yun Loong restaurant (Open mornings and afternoons only)
- Xin Yuan Hoong and Xin Yuan Foong (All open mornings and afternoons only).
The aroma, taste & texture of the original thing is definitely superior compared to the commercially-packed sachets or the Ipoh White Coffee sold elsewhere. These coffee shops are likely to be crowded during teatime, especially on weekends. Food-wise, you can get fried noodles/vermicelli, satay, congee, kuih, etc. at these coffee shops. Also order tasty toasted bread with kaya (coconut jam) and butter to complement a good cup of white coffee (known as a "Yin-Yang" toast). Nowadays you can get a good cup of white coffee in coffee shops around Ipoh city.
Pomelo“柚”. Perak's most famous fruit, a large juicy citrus fruit. The best pomelos are reputed to be from Tambun, about 10 minutes drive east of Ipoh. There are stalls selling pomelos in front of the Sam Po Tong temple.
Besides these signature dishes, Ipoh is also known to have some of the best of Malaysian cuisine like:
Chinese Food
Hor Hee noodles 河熹粉. Those who come to Ipoh should try this local food other than bean sprouts chicken. This is a very delicious kuey teow noodles with fish balls, fish pastes and hand made fish wan tan. The most famous stalls selling Hor Hee include those located in Li Heng Fatt restaurant at Jalan Panglima, Old Town area (open from 3pm to 10pm). Food sell in this stall are all home made and couldn't find it elsewhere. This stall just moved from Heng Fong restaurant (just a few doors away).Another famous stall located at the "Gao Peng" restaurant at Chamberlain Road in Ipoh New Town (again, night only). Both these stalls have been run business for more than 30 years in Ipoh.
Dim sum“点心”(fish balls, fried items, dumplings, buns, served in small quantities). Foh San(富山) restaurant, located nearby the tauge ayam outlets, is a famous dim sum restaurant. Yuk Fook Moon Lau(玉福满楼） (open in the morning and also at night), located behind Excelsior Hotel, sells excellent dim sum too. Ming Kok （明阁）, which is just opposite, is the best dim sum restaurant in Ipoh. Also try out or take away the Cha Siew Bao", Chinese pork pao (bun) sold in Yuk Fook Moon Lau. Be warned: Go there early in the morning, around 6am-7am, because it is quite difficult to get a table at a later time.
Chinese restaurants which serve excellent seafood and meat. The famous ones among Ipoh natives are Overseas（海外天） restaurant opposite Excelsior hotel, Mun Zhong （民众） restaurant in Jalan Pasir Puteh, Pusing Public Seafood Restaurant （布先民众海鮮酒家）on Jalan Verasamy, “Tung Hoi （东海） restaurant in Menglembu & Ipoh Garden South, and "Rainbow (天虹） restaurant in Menglembu. Two restaurants that serve very good Nyonya (Straits Chinese) cuisine are Yum Yum restaurant at Persiaran Greenhill near Excelsior hotel and Assam House restaurant near Jalan Yang Kalsom.
Chow hor fun炒河粉 or Kueh teow basah are rice noodles fried in such a way that it is a little wet with dark gravy (as opposed to the Penang char kueh teow which has no gravy but is fried with egg, prawns or cockles and the Cantonese-style wat tan hor 滑蛋河, which is completely immersed in clear, egg gravy). You can get chow hor fun in all Chinese restaurants in Ipoh. The best chow hor fun can be found at a street stall in the Mengelembu town area and one restaurant near Xin Hup Zi (originating from Buntong; only open at night).
Hakka noodles客家麵. A few restaurants around the city sell delicious Hakka noodles with yong tau foo. The most popular Hakka noodles are offered by Yin Yau Kui at Hugh Low Street (Jalan Iskandar). This shop specialises in noodles rather than yong tau foo. Another lesser known favourite, known to local old-timers is located at Majestic Food Centre at Osbourne Street (Jalan Tahwil Azar). This stall offers much better yong tau foo compared to Yin Yau Kui but Yin Yau Kui's noodles are superior. There is one near the Mun Zhong restaurant in Jalan Pasir Puteh and one in a food court behind the Olympia College or Jalan Yang Kalsom (both open mornings only).
Curry noodle 咖喱麵. In old town Ipoh, Sin Seng Fatt （新成发）, which is located near Kong Heng restaurant in Market Street, sells very delicious curry noodles. The curry paste of the curry noodle is so good that it's packed and sent to franchises in Hong Kong. They have a franchise at SS2, Petaling Jaya, Selangor. (open mornings and afternoons only). Another famous shop known to the locals is Sin Chuan Fatt (新泉發) on Jalan Pasir Puteh, which is known for its very spicy and thick curry paste, fried chicken and pork to go with the noodles. Another famous restaurant facing the roundabout beside MGS secondary school (open mornings and afternoons only) and a coffee shop called Sin Chuan Fong （新泉芳） on Hugh Low Street.
Claypot Chicken Rice 瓦褒鸡饭. This is a hot and delicious. Ipoh's famous exponent of this dish is located in the Bercham village area, at Lorong Bercham 4, opposite the Old Bercham wet market (open only at night).
Chinese-style Satay 沙爹. This is skewered meat seasoned and flavored with spices and served with cucumbers, onions and a chunky peanut sauce. Please note that the Chinese-style of satay (compared to other satay) contains pork and is thus unsuitable for Muslim tourists. The preferred stall is in Thean Chun Restaurant, Ipoh old town (open mornings and afternoons).
Chu Cheong Fun noodles 猪肠粉. This is a white noodles dish with sauce only. The most famous stall selling Chu Cheong Fun is the one located in Weng Kat Fong (永吉坊） restaurant in Menglembu Town (open only afternoon). Its' famous sauce is mushroom sauce that you can find only in Ipoh (The most delicious in Ipoh), and thick curry sauce. Chu Cheong Fun noodles dish in Ipoh don't have sweet prawn sauce like in Penang and KL. You can order a plain Chu Cheong Fun noodle with sesame and soya sauce also. The "Ham Jim Beng" 咸煎饼， prawn cracker 虾饼, and pandan fried chicken are the best in town and must try. The nasi lemak dishes is also a favourite. Go there early as there is limited table in restaurant or take away.
Tau Fu Fah (豆腐花), or soybean curd. It is claimed that Ipoh or Kinta Valley water makes this drink tasty. This drink is good for the body after travelling on a very hot day. The soya bean is fresh, sweet and smooth. Once you are drinking this soya bean curd, you can feel the smoothness and freshness of the soya bean smoothing down through your throat. It is served steaming hot with pandan syrup. The stall named Kei Foong, or Funny Mountain in English, is located at Osbourne Street (Jalan Tahwil Azar), near Restaurant Foh San. It has a drive-in delivery service. Also try the following delicious varieties:
- soymilk only
- soymilk mixed with cincau
- soybean curd with soymilk.
The Funny Mountain shop is open from 10.00am to 7.30pm. Tau Fu Fah and its variants can also be found in stalls by the roadside in various places.
Tong Sui (糖水), sweet dessert drink that will definitely refresh your body on a hot day. The most famous, located at what locals call "Tong Sui Kai" (糖水街) or Desert Drinks Street, is opposite Sam Tet Primary School (noon till late night). The most popular tong sui at this place would be black sesame (芝麻糊), mo mo cha cha and red bean (红豆沙). Also recommended is one located at Restaurant Cha Yong, behind Pizza Hut in Ipoh Garden South. Another few stalls are located in the Ipoh Stadium's food court and in a food court near the former Ocean (now The Store) supermarket.
Malay/Indian Food
Laksa Perak 叻沙. This is a noodle dish which is similar to Penang's famous Asam Laksa but with a different taste. Laksa in Ipoh tastes a bit sour and spicy but not as sweet as Penang's Laksa. The ingredients of the noodle soup include prawn paste. There is one very good Laksa stall in Farlim, Ipoh (opposite the Setapak driving institute, on the way to Mengelembu from Ipoh; open Sunday afternoons only). The other one would be the Laksa stall in Kong Heng Restaurant.
Banana Leaf Rice. A common Southern Indian meal that includes a variety of meat curries, vegetables and poppadoms, it is great to have at Samy Restaurant in Chemor and Chuan Fong (泉芳) restaurant. Another great location to have it is at the Perak Stadium in Canning Garden.
Restaurants often do not display prices. Tourists are advised to ask the price before having meals. Tipping is uncommon in Ipoh and even taxis will usually return your change to the last cent.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Ipoh
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Ipoh Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
