If there is one place that most Malaysian would agree is a food haven, would definitely be Ipoh! Even the beansprout in Ipoh taste better and I can tell you why! Ipoh is surrounded by mountain and limestone, making it a mineral-rich area.
Together with my friends, Kelly Siling and I took a 9-hour long night bus from Golden mile to Ipoh for a food trip! Thanks to Kelly for bringing us around, we managed to try most of Ipoh’s famous cuisine as well as a hidden gem. Plus, we visited a couple of delicious vegetarian restaurant too! So hurry and Jio your friend and embark on this food trip for your next weekend getaway or a long holiday!
Getting to Ipoh
Singapore to Ipoh by Plane
Thanks to many the budget Airlines, one can fly to Ipoh by plane these days. Travelling by plane is the fastest option because travel time is 1hr 10 min. Return air ticket cost around $100 - $150. Unfortunately, we didn’t choose this because it was an impromptu trip and the ticket was expensive when we wanted to book.
Singapore to Ipoh by Bus
The cheapest way to get to Ipoh is to take the 9-hour bus ride from Singapore to Ipoh with stops in between. One way to Ipoh is around $43 SGD and return at 70RM. Another way to save on bus ticket is to purchase your ticket and board in JB instead of Singapore.
Singapore to Ipoh by Car
Lastly, if you are in for some adventure, consider driving up to Ipoh and stop by Melaka and KL along the way! It’s gonna be so fun! Google state it’s a 6H drive! I’m sure it’s gonna be longer since there will be stops along the way!
Getting around in Ipoh
Instead of engaging the local taxi, we use private hire – Grab to get around most of the time. Not only it is convenient, but it also saves us from haggling price. The only challenging part is when the grab driver calls you and speaks a string of Malay to you. Thankfully Kelly is there to handle that part! Otherwise, using SMS/Grabmessage will help you to solve!
Summary of Trip
Day 1: Ming Court
Hong Kong Dim Sum - Ipoh Parade – Funny Mountain Soya Beancurd - Kedai Biskut
Sin Eng Heong - Perak cave - Ipoh Restoran Tauge Ayam Lou Wong –
Perak Cave Temple霹雳洞- Salted Baked
Chicken
Day 2: Nam Heong White Coffee - Ipoh
Mural Walk - Ipoh Concubine Street- Restoran Thean Chun - Plan B -
Content House Reflexology
Day 3: Hiking at
Bukit Kledang - Jié Cafe 阿洁白咖啡茶坊 - Pasir Pinji Chee Cheong Fun - Dai Shu Geok Big Tree
Foot Yong tau foo - 锦记大小脚茶室
Day 4: Veggie Delight – Back to Singapore
Day 1: Ming Court
Hong Kong Dim Sum - Ipoh Parade – Funny Mountain Soya Beancurd - Kedai Biskut Sin
Eng Heong - Perak cave - Ipoh Restoran Tauge Ayam Lou Wong – Perak
Cave Temple霹雳洞- Salted Baked
Chicken
Ming Court Hong Kong Dim Sum
Ask any local where is the most popular Dim Sum
restaurant in Ipoh and they will direct you to Ming Court and warn you about
the long queue. The traditional style Dim sum serves really quality Dim sum in
bite-size. Favourite dishes include sesame ball, Hakka style dim sum and Siew
Mai
Service is great too! There were no grumpy staff who
screams at you and they were very efficient too! Serving different type of dim
sum at all tables. Plus, it gets really crowded during peak hours. Kudos to
their service!
Do note that the restaurant operates differently from a
restaurant. More than just sharing the table with others, you have to find your
own table and wait behind. If you come in a big group, the best is to let the
staff know so that they can help you to keep an eye on which table is leaving.
Address: 36, Jalan Leong Sin Nam, Kampung Jawa, 30300
Ipoh, Negeri Perak, Malaysia
Opening hour: Daily except Thursday 6am–12:30pm
Ipoh Parade
After
dim sum, we make our way to Ipoh Parade to kill time because most of the shops
are not open in the morning and we had some time to spare before check-in time.
Plus, it’s a nice place to stay away from the scorching sun. There's Parkson
Departmental store for you to kill time!
Ipoh Restoran Tauge Ayam Lou Wong
For lunch, make your way to Lou Wong, the
most popular Hainanese style steam chicken and Ipoh Noodle. Chicken is very
tender and the sauce that goes with it is very addictive! I love their
beansprout! It’s thick and very crunchy.
Even though the local find this place
over-rated, we felt it was good for our standard! After all, Ipoh is a food
haven and the locals have a lot of choices and higher standard when it comes to
their speciality. Any recommendation? I’ll definitely add it to my list
for future reference!
Address: 49, Jalan Yau Tet Shin, Taman
Jubilee, 30000 Ipoh, Negeri Perak, Malaysia
Opening Hour: Daily except Monday
10:30am–12am
Funny Mountain Soya Beancurd
After a good lunch, head over to Funny
Mountain Soya Beancurd for a bowl of silky beancurd! The cute size beancurd has
a nice texture top with pandan sugar syrup. Other than beancurd, you can get a
huge bottle of soybean milk with grass jelly to quench your thirst. The weather
in Ipoh is not a joke! If you are driving, you can order and enjoy in your car!
Do note that they close after everything
is sold out. So do head over before their official closing time!
Address: 50, Jalan Mustapha
Al-Bakri, Taman Jubilee, 30300 Ipoh, Negeri Perak, Malaysia
Opening Hour: Daily, except
Tuesday ,10am – 7:30pm
Kedai Biskut Sin Eng Heong
Even before we visited Ipoh, my friends have been telling
me about this kaya puff in Ipoh that is worth queueing up for. We queue up for
almost an hour but decide to give up because they have limited supply. They
don’t do mass production and only have about 1 batch per hour. Even if you are
fifth in the queue, there will always be people who buy the entire tray before
your turn. Sadly, we had to leave empty-handed this round.
Any kind soul would
like to buy some kaya puff for us?
Address: 64, Jalan Mustapha Al-Bakri, Taman Jubilee,
30300 Ipoh, Negeri Perak, Malaysia
Opening Hour: Daily except 9am – 7pm
Perak Cave Temple霹雳洞
Visit one of the caves in Ipoh if you have time to spare!
Ipoh is surrounded by many limestone caves and it would be nice to visit one!
House in a cave, the temple is very unique and beautiful. Each statue has its
own altar. Each statue is beautiful and placed in a different corner of the cave. There are
various paintings on the wall of the cave which I thought was pretty
impressive. Plus, one can take the stairs up to the top of the cave. There is a
pavilion at the top where one can enjoy the view of Ipoh!
Entrance is free! There is a donation box if you would
like to donate some money to the temple to help maintain that place!
Address: Jalan Kuala Kangsar, Kawasan
Perindustrian Tasek, 31400 Ipoh, Negeri Perak, Malaysia
Salted Baked Chicken
Feeling tired after a long day, we bought the chicken
back to the hotel for dinner. There are many different stores selling salted
and herbal chicken and the most popular one in Ipoh is from Ayam Garam Aun
Kheng Lim (Main Branch) However, when we went to get the chicken, the
store was closed. Thus, we got the chicken from a random shop. The herbal
chicken had a strong herbal taste and chicken is very tender too!
Day 2: Nam Heong White Coffee - Ipoh Mural Walk - Ipoh Concubine Street- Restoran Thean Chun - Kong Heng Square Artisan Market - Plan B - Book Xcess Kong - Heng Content House Reflexology
Nam Heong White Coffee
In the morning, visit the most popular coffee shop in Ipoh - Nam Heong White Coffee for breakfast! The coffeeshop serves traditional breakfast – coffee and toast! Coffee is on the sweeter side and taste pretty similar to 3-in-1 type. However, coffee depends on individual’s preference so you may still want to give it a try
Although I’m not a fan of his coffee, the egg tart is the bomb! Also, I love the char siew puff because it is served with generous char siew and the skin is crispy! Do note it’s on the sweeter side too!
Address: 2, Jalan Bandar Timah, 30000 Ipoh, Negeri Perak, Malaysia
Opening Hour: Daily, 7am – 5:30pm
Ipoh Concubine Street
Afterwards, make your way to Ipoh historical lane. Ipoh Concubine Street also is known as Yee Lai Hong used to be the place where the rich and British officer keep their mistress. In addition to that, there were many gambling den and opium house too! The street name is the first thing that caught my attention. Apparently, Ipoh Concubine Street has 3 street and was name - “大奶街,二奶街,三奶街” First Concubine, Second concubine and Third concubine.
Today, concubine street is a historical street in Ipoh. This place is very popular among many tourists because of its unique architecture and vibrant atmosphere. Plus, there are many cafes and local boutiques here.
Restoran Thean Chun
Have lunch at Restoran Thean Chun coffeeshop! You can find local delights such as satays, popiah and even custard pudding there! To be honest, I wasn’t amazed by the food because the standard in Ipoh is very high. Guess what's our favourite? - The ice blended red bean drink! We had better food at a random coffee shop. Better luck next time?
Address: 73, Jalan Bandar Timah, 31650 Ipoh, Negeri Perak, Malaysia
Opening Hour: Daily 8 am - 3pm, except Thursday
Book Xcess Kong Heng
In the afternoon, visit Book Xcess Kong Heng, a former bank transform into a bookshop. The entire shop design is very unique and they carry titles that are out of the norm and at a very affordable price. Managed to grab a few books to read for my 9 hours bus ride back home!
Kong Heng Square Artisan Market
If shopping for books is not your kind of thing, hop over to the next street for local crafts. They are located beside Plan B café and you can find all sort of stuff from leather bracelet to earrings. Plus, it's a great spot to capture your Instagram worthy photo as well as #ootd
Plan B
Visit Plan B and have your tea there! Although we didn’t order the food there, we thought the environment was pretty good just for us to chill and relax. The café had a high ceiling and they cleverly made use of it by using a glass roof to make it a very nice place to chill. Staff were friendly too!
Address: No. 75, Jalan Panglima, 30000 Ipoh, Negeri Perak, Malaysia
Opening Hour: Daily, 10 am – 11pm
Content House Reflexology
After the 9 hours of the bus ride, I knew I needed a good rub! Visited the nearest massage parlour next to our hotel and found a really good one! For the first time in my life I scream like 80% of the time. It was painful and good! She hit all the point and knew what issue I have! Hoping there are outlets like this in Singapore or even JB!
Address: 57, Jalan Sultan Abdul Jalil, Kampung Jawa, 30000 Ipoh, Negeri Perak, Malaysia
Opening Hour: Daily, 11am – 12pm
Day 3: Hiking at Bukit Kledang - Jié Cafe 阿洁白咖啡茶坊 - Pasir Pinji Chee Cheong Fun - Dai Shu Geok Big Tree Foot Yong Tau Foo - 锦记大小脚茶室
Hiking at Bukit Kledang
After many days of over-eating, we decide to join Kelly’s relative & friends for a walk at Bukit Kledang to burn off the calories. There are different routes in Bukit Kledang and we took the easiest route by walking on the pavement. Sadly, it drizzled when we were there and didn’t manage to complete it.
Jié Cafe 阿洁白咖啡茶坊
We visited for breakfast and they probably serve the best ice coffee in Ipoh! The Kopi-Peng had a very strong coffee aroma despite it being cold. Plus, it’s not very sweet compared to the ones I tried at a local coffee shop. After trying the hot and cold version, we still like the cold version. Another favourite is the toast! Cut into small slices, the toast is so crispy and butter was not over-whelming! Curry tasted like my mom’s curry and its good too! Not forgetting about the Kueh too!
We managed to try most of the items on the menu because we visited twice and the portion is pretty small! Although they had a higher price point compared to the local coffee shop we visited over the days, I feel that it was worth the money. For the quality and environment, Jie’s café is definitely one of our favourite place to visit. Gonna bring H there the next time I’m there! Be there early because when we visited 阿洁白咖啡茶坊twice during our trip, both time was on full-house! Best is to avoid going over during the weekend!
Address: 61, Persiaran Tokong, Kampung Pasir Pinji Baru, 31650 Ipoh, Negeri Perak, Malaysia
Opening Hour: Daily 9:30 am – 5:00pm, except Monday
Pasir Pinji Chee Cheong Fun
The legendary Ipoh Chee Chong Fun is located in Pasir Pinji. Ask any local about the Chee Cheong Fun and they will tell you to get ready for the long queue. The store is only open 4 days/ week and at 12:30 pm – 4 pm. In order to secure the Chee Chong Fun, highly recommend you to go early even before the store open, get your queue number and then go for a coffee. The traditional chee chong fun is very silky and thinly sliced. Love it with their sauce and chilli!
Address: 1456, Jalan Pasir Pinji 5, Taman Hoover, 31650 Ipoh, Negeri Perak, Malaysia
Opening Hour: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 12:30pm – 4pm
Dai Shu Geok Big Tree Foot Yong Tau Foo
Not a fan of Yong Tau Foo but the one at Pinji is really very unique! Items were mainly fried! Although oily, I thought it was nicely done! Especially the Cantonese hashbrown! It is so good! Sadly, I was very full! Otherwise, I can try a few more items! Not forgetting about the chilli! It goes really well with the Yong Tau Foo
Note: there are 2 stores there, do not visit the wrong store!
Address: 652, Jalan King, Taman Hoover, 31650 Ipoh, Negeri Perak, Malaysia
Opening Hour: Daily, 9:30 am – 5:30 pm
锦记大小脚茶室
This place is definitely a gem in Ipoh and highly recommended by the locals. The Kueh is smooth and silky! Not only do they serve superb Yong Tau Foo, but the braised chicken feet taste really good too! It’s my first time trying chicken feet and I doubt I will find another place similar to this in Singapore. In addition, they serve amazing beancurd too! Probably the best in Ipoh among all I’ve tried!
Address: 798, Jalan Raja Muda, Taman Pasir Pinji, 31650 Ipoh, Negeri Perak, Malaysia
Opening Hour: Daily, 5:30pm – 3 am
Day 4: Veggie Delight – Back to Singapore
Veggie Delights
Situated off the grid, this is probably one of the hidden gems in Ipoh. Even our Grab driver couldn’t find us! One even asked us about this place despite staying around that area. Visited Veggie Delights for breakfast and it’s probably one of the best vegetarian food I ever tried. They have various of option such as Cha Kwey Teow and even Sushi!
Service was great! In addition, the restaurants hire staff with special needs giving them a platform to learn and exposure which I think is a very sweet gesture! Thus, a note to the guest who is planning to dine there need to be patient with them too.
Address: Lot 1451, 1A, Jalan Datoh, 30000 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
Opening Hour: Daily, 8am – 5pm
To sum it up, Ipoh is amazing and I can’t wait to bring H & my parents back! There are so many good food and places to explore! This trip is nothing short but amazing! A big thank you to Kelly and family for bringing us around and dabao food for us so that get to try all the amazing food! Ipoh is truly a food haven but the downside is you need to queue almost everywhere! Now, I’m thinking of retiring in Ipoh after Penang so that I can enjoy all the food here even when I grow old!
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