End of last year I made a short trip to Ipoh for a short gateway.
People said Ipoh has many nice food. Although I spend a day at the theme park, but I try my best to cover as much as I could. In this post, I will share what I had, be it nice or not so nice. 🙂
As soon as I reached Ipoh at around 4pm, our first stop was Ipoh Hor Fun in town.
1) Restoran Thean Chun
Restoran Thean Chun is an old shop located at Ipoh Old Town.
It was crowded during weekend. May be because it is a well known place among tourists.
I noticed that most of the workers here are quite elderly. They are in charge of the drinks.
The one thing that everyone said must try, is the Caramel Egg Custard. I would say its very smooth and nice. But abit tad sweet if you are not into sweet stuffs.
Do not miss a chance to have Ipoh Coffee when you are in Ipoh. The iced coffee is rich.
We also ordered 2 bowls of Kai Si Hor Fun, Steamed Chicken and Ipoh Bean Sprout. Total price was about RM37.
Plate of plump and crunchy bean sprout.
A bowl of Kai Si Hor Fun (flat rice noodle with shredded chicken and prawn. The hor fun was smooth, prawn was fresh while the broth was quite flavorful but not that rich. I felt it was okay, but mom claimed it just average. Its all depends on individual’s palate.
The good thing about Thean Chun is that, it not only serves one food, but it has quite a variation. E.g: Curry noodle, Pork Satay, Popiah. Moreover opposite the restaurant is the tourist spot, The Concubine Lane.
Restoran Thean Chun
2) Tong Sui Kai
Just as the sky gets dark, this street became alive. With long stretch of food stalls on both ways. It is named Tong Sui Kai in cantonese. Literally translated as Dessert Street. Not only serving desserts but wide choice of hawker /street food. If your stomach has big space, then you got the chance to try more food.
We were there at about 7.30pm. Crowd start to build up later at 8pm onward.
Each stall has its own number. Same goes to the dining tables. Please remember your seating table number. You will need to inform the food seller for them to bring over your food.
Assorted Siew Mai & Fishball.
Braised Duck Feet. You can skip this. Because it wasn’t that nice. Meat was tough.
Char Kuey Teow was quite nice. But can’t remember which stall. As we seated, the Char Kuey Teow lady came over to approach us. LOL!
We ordered Kerang Rebus, Keropok with Rojak Sauce and Sotong Kangkung from stall No.28 which I felt quite nice. Then we ordered drinks and Longan tongsui from stall No.27. I didn’t order any shaved ice dessert because nobody wants to share with me 😦
Tong Sui Kai
3) Nam Heong Ipoh Soho
Just before we depart to Lost World of Tambun, we decided to have our breakfast at Nam Heong Ipoh. We thought to give a try at Nam Heong Soho instead of Nam Heong at Ipoh old town.
No doubt the place is cosy, air-conditioned and spacious.
Self ordering basis via iPad.
Drinks are not bad especially coffee.
Wantan Mee – RM9.90
Dry Curry Noodle – RM9.90
Wat Dan Hor – RM10.90
Egg on Toast – RM4.90. Egg on toast is a popular thing in Ipoh.
Egg Tarts (6pcs) – RM12.50
The food prices here are on the higher side. However I felt that the food are just average.
On recent news, Nam Heong Ipoh Soho has brought in 6 robot waitress to serve the diners here. It definitely draw more crowd over the curiosity.
Nam Heong Ipoh Soho
4) Ming Court Hong Kong Dim Sum
This dim sum restaurant is just a short walking distance from the hotel we stayed. We decided to give a try to Ming Court instead of the popular Foh San which is just opposite to each other. Both are equally crowded.
Ming Court dim sum is pretty ol-skool, from environment to dim sum. I got the feeling that I’m dining in Hong Kong with Cantonese speaking servers, sharing table and crowd.
Servers will fill the tray with dim sums and approach the diners from table to table. You can see the real item and pick your choice of dim sum. Be it deep fried, steam or dessert as well.
The dim sum prices aren’t expensive. Moreover the dim sum tasted good too.
Ming Court Hong Kong Dim Sum
5) Dai Shu Geok (Big Tree Foot)
When you mentioned about Dai Shu Geok, many people would be referring to the Yong Tau Fu. It is actually a food court with Big Tree next to it.
Spotted the busy kitchen with constantly frying the stuffed items (vegetables/beancurd).
Everything looks so nice and tempting. Pick your own stuffed items then fill the basket which later pass to the person in charge either to take away(dapao) or dine there. You can also add on noodles on top of these yong tau fu.
It surprises me when the total bill came cheaper than I expected to be. If I’m not mistaken, the yong tau fu here is priced at RM0.80/piece. In Seremban, a piece of Yong Tau Fu could easily price at RM1 – RM1.30.
If you are having Yong Tau Fu here, do not forget to order their Assam Laksa too.. Which cost only RM3.50/bowl. The above photo was bowls of assam laksa with condiments before adding the broth. The broth was rich in flavors!
Dai Shu Geok (Big Tree Foot)
6) Aun Kheng Lim Salted Chicken
Salted Chicken (Salt Baked Chicken) is a famous dish in Ipoh. At Aun Kheng Lim Salted Chicken, the salted chicken is readily packed so that it is convenient for buyer to bring it home or as a souvenir. In Ipoh, there are many many seller with different names. I have tasted several salted chicken, some were either too salty or the meat was tough. Aun Kheng Lim Salted Chicken is not too salty with hint of Chinese herbs and the chicken meat is tender too.
Price : RM21 (whole chicken)
Aun Kheng Lim Salted Chicken
7) Guan Heong Biscuit Shop
A small shop that is packed with varieties of biscuits.
I did blogged about their signature meat floss biscuit, sometime ago. You can read it HERE.
Guan Heong Biscuit Shop
8) Pun Chun Restaurant
People usually made a pit stop at Bidor before or after visiting Ipoh. Approximately an hour drive, to try the famous duck noodle here at Bidor. Hence this restaurant can be quite crowded during peak season. i.e: long holidays/long weekends.
At Pun Chun Restaurant, they not only serve Duck Noodle, but there are also wantan mee, chicken rice and local biscuits are available too.
We ordered the soup version as well the dry version (kon lou). RM8 per serving.
For dry version, it will serve with a plate of springy egg noodle in dark soy sauce plus a separate serving of piping hot bowl of herbal duck soup. If you want to have a good taste of the duck soup itself, please avoid ordering the soup version. It taste rather bland. Kinda sad too that the flavors wasn’t as good as I had it 6 years back.
Oh ya, the Iced Coffee is definitely worth ordering.
Pun Chun Restaurant
*solely based on writer's own opinion*
This is Me; Melissa's Blog 
Wahhh… really jalan2 cari makan eh. I went to some of the places earlier this year. I think the Caramel Egg Custard is quite overrated. I don’t crave it as much as Funny Mountain’s soya bean and cincau. The tong sui kai also… service not great and food so so only. I think KL has better food than that place. LOL
I pulak feel that Funny Mountain’s soya bean is overrated. Because I can get nice soya bean from pasar malam here too. You are right too, the tong sui kai stall, some looks like we owe them kinda face 😀
Been to Ipoh on a day trip once only. Wish I could go there again someday for a longer stay to enjoy all the food.
There are many places in Malaysia that is worth visiting, kan 🙂
I like caramel custard and and cracker with rojak sauce at Tong Sui Street!
I always want to get some biscuits from Guan Heong, but always ended up forgot ~>_<~
Choi Yen – Guan Heong got online shopping …its more convenient for us. But then the postage is charge according to weight :-p
Super nice photos and description…make me salivate..nyum2
Hi Khadijah. Thanks for dropping by and liking the photos too. 🙂
Hi Melissa. I enjoyed this post of yours! I think you should have tried the pork stay at Thean Chun though. The meat is very succulent and well-seasoned! All of your food photos look incredibly yummy. I’m local and I’ve only been to a few of these myself. Will be saving this post for later. Specially the duck noodles. Thanks =3
I think Ipoh coffee is quite top in the standard. Almost all the coffee shops that I ever visited in Ipoh are having very good aroma for their coffee. Love it very much.
Hi Joey. You are right…Shops we went also served good coffee. Ipoh famous for its coffee 🙂
iMakan online food delivery service available in Johor Bahru. On 1st November 2019, iMakan will be available in IPOH. Let’s try.