Ipoh, located just about an hour’s drive from Penang, is a hidden street food gem in Malaysia. It earned its place on Lonely Planet’s list of the top Asian destinations to visit a few years ago. If you’re looking for a delectable ‘makan trip’ or a food trail, I highly recommend exploring Ipoh over a weekend getaway. The hotels here is also reasonable priced and you can get a decent hotel below S$100 per night. HOW TO GET AROUND IPOH? You can always call for taxi or GRAB to move around the Ipoh city. Or else you can arrange car rental services but I wouldn’t advise to do so since you are not familiar with the places. And parking is another issue you need to consider. Here is the list of Ipoh street food to check out when you are there. 1. EGG TART – HONG KEE CONFECTIONERY 鸿记饼家 Address: 4 Jalan Dato Onn Jaafar, 30300 Ipoh Opening Hours: 7:00AM – 12:00PM Hong Kee Confectionery is a family-run bakery known for their egg tarts in town. They are known for having a crust with 48 crispy layers. The egg tarts are freshly made daily and they delivered it to their stall in Weng Seng coffee shop. They also have Sachima (萨其马), swiss rolls and other egg tart flavours. 2. DIM SUM – MING COURT HONG KONG TIM SUM 明阁香港点心 Address: 32, 34, 36, Jalan Leong Sin Nam, 30300 Ipoh Opening Hours : 6:00AM till finish. Tel: 05-255 7134 Ipoh also known for their dim sum and Ming Court Hong Kong Tim Sum is one of the must-visit dim sum places in Ipoh. It is a breakfast choice for the locals. Most reviews recommended to go early to secure your seats on weekends. You can read the full post here. 3. IPOH SOYA BEAN MILK / TAU FU FAH – FUNNY MOUNTAIN SOYA BEAN 奇峰豆腐花 Address: 49, Jalan Theatre, 30300 Ipoh Opening hours: 10.30am – 6:00pm ( closed on Tuesdays) Tel: 012-516 1607 Soya Bean is highly recommended here in Ipoh. Tau fu fah or we called it soya bean milk in Ipoh is different from the ones you tried in else where. It has the silky smooth and refreshing flavour and Funny Mountain’s tau fu fah is highly recommended. Alternatively, you can check out other soya bean milk places like Woong Kee Ta Fu Fa , Concubine Lane Tau Fu Fa,Big Mom Beancurd in Ipoh here. 4. ONN KEE / LOU WONG BEAN SPROUT CHICKEN Address: Lou Wong 老黄芽菜鸡沙河粉 / Onn Kee 安记芽菜鸡沙河粉, Jalan Yau Tet Shin Opening Hours: 10:30AM – 12:00AM Beansprout chicken (nga choy kai) is one of Ipoh famous dish. It is best to enjoy with flat noodles or rice. Onn Kee and Lou Wong are the two established shops in town and they both serve poached chicken and similar dishes. 5. CHEE CHEONG FUN- Kedai Makanan Canning Garden Address: 27, Lorong Cecil Rae,Canning Garden 31400 Ipoh, Perak Opening Hours: 7:00AM – 11:30AM Saturday & Sunday 7:00AM – 1:00PM Note: They will close if/ until everything sold out early . Chee Cheong Fun stall located at Canning Garden, Ipoh was well-known by the locals away from the tourist hubs. Chee Cheong Fun, or we called it steamed rice noodles are known for breakfast choice by the locals. There are many decent chee cheong fun stalls in Ipoh but this particular stall at Canning Garden serves it on metal plates and traditional sauces. Read more about the place here. 6. IPOH WHITE COFFEE- NAM HEONG (南香)| NAM CHAU (南州) | SUN YUAN FOONG (新源丰) Address: Nam Heong 南香 – 2, Jalan Bandar Timah Nam Chau 南州 – 54, Jalan Bandar Timah Sun Yuan Foong 新源丰 – 17, Jalan Bandar Timah Opening Hours: 7:00AM – 5:30PM Ipoh is known for its authentic Ipoh white coffee and Old Nam Heong is one of the old town Ipoh coffeeshop to go. There are other couple of coffee shops include Nam Chau and Sun Yuan Foong to check out their unique blend of white coffee. Apart from their white coffee, there are other stalls within the shop to go with it. You can order the egg tarts, toasts, chee cheong fun and many more. This is perfect for breakfast and tea break place to go. 7. DRY CURRY NOODLES – Yee Fatt Dry Curry Noodles Address: Address: 39, Jalan Kampar, 31650 Ipoh, Negeri Perak, Malaysia Opening Hours: Tuesday- Sunday 7:30AM – 3:00PM (Closed on Monday) Yee Fatt Curry Noodles House is established since 1955 in Ipoh, Perak. It has been around for more than 60 over years and known for its dry curry mee and soup curry noodles. The curry noodle house was founded by a Hainanese man and their curry is made of 20 types of spices with secret blend. You can enjoy it in soup or dry version. You can read about the place and the food we ordered here. 8. LEGENDARY FAMOUS FRIED NOODLES YUT KONG HOR – TUCK KEE RESTAURANT ( 德记炒粉店 ) Address: 61, Jalan Yau Tet Shin,Taman Jubilee, 30300 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia Tel: +605-2537 513 Operating Hours: 5:00PM – 2:00AM to 2.00AM Running out of ideas for zi char in Ipoh, check out Tuck Kee Restaurant. It is an old eatery shop that founded since 1963. Ipoh Tuck Kee has been in business for more than 50 years and the shop itself has the laid back rustic feel. They are known for its legendary famous fried noodles yut kong hor and other signature dishes. You can read the full post here. 9. EGG CARAMEL CUSTARD – COFFEE SHOPS AND HAWKER CENTERS Egg caramel custard is one of the local desserts in Ipoh available in coffee shops and hawker centres. You can find them at Nam Heong Coffeeshop and Yee Fatt Dry Curry Noodles as well. The dessert is served cold, smooth and not overly sweet in taste. It is a classic dessert in Ipoh to tick off your food list here. 10. IPOH SALTED CHICKEN (盐焗鸡)- Aun Kheng Lim Salted Chicken 宴琼林盐焗鸡 Address: 24, Jalan Theatre, Tama Jubilee 30300 Ipoh Opening Hours: 9:00AM – 6:30PM Ipoh also known for its famous salt-baked chicken and it is available for takeaway. The salt-baked chicken is cooked with Chinese herbs and it’s tender, juicy in flavour. It is not too salty too. They are fully vacuumed packed and you can carry it back to Singapore. It is nice but not memorable though. 11. YONG TAU FOO – BIG TREE FOOT (DAI SHU GEOK) Address: Jalan King, Off Jalan Pasir Pinji, 31650, Ipoh, Perak Opening Hours: 8:30AM – 5:30PM Yong Tau Foo is also one of the local favourite food in Ipoh and Ipoh Famous Big Tree Foot (Dai Shu Geok) is the place to go. There are two yong tau foo stalls upon arrival and the famous one is the signage in blue. We went to the wrong stall in the end as we are confused upon arrival. So be sure you are in the right stall when you visit the place. 12. POPIAH – BiBi POPIAH Address: Aneka Selera Restaurant Kam Wan Taman Canning, 31400 Ipoh, Perak Popiah seems to be a common snack you can find everywhere in Singapore and Malaysia. So, what’s so unique about the one in Ipoh? Bibi is the popular stall located at Aneka Selera hawker centre. They offer fresh popiah with filling such as cooked turnip, peanuts, small shrimps,crunchy fried onions, fresh green vegetables and savoury sauce. They only use fresh fried shallots prepared daily and thus explains the crunchy texture. Customers get to watch live action of the preparation of spring rolls while queuing for the order at the counter. 13. Cheong Kee Soup Lembu Beef Noodle 章记牛腩粉 Address: Beef Noodle Soup |Stall No.47 Taman Jubilee, 30300 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia Opening Hours: Thursday- Saturday 3:30PM-8:00PM (Closed on Sunday, Monday & Tuesday) Cheong Kee, an old and cherished brand in Ipoh, shares a common trait with other ‘lau zhi hau’ establishments is a family-run business. With passionate uncles and aunties in their 60s or 70s managing everything at the stall. We ordered their beef noodles and beef balls, both reasonably priced. The flavorful noodle soup, cooked from various cow cuts without excessive MSG or peppery spices, left a lasting impression. The beef ball broth was rich and aromatic. What sets Cheong Kee apart is their fiery and unique chili oil-based condiment that adds a spicy kick to the noodles. Their beef balls made from a silky, well-seasoned beef paste are standout too. A comforting homely flavor. 14. 林青霞炸鸡 FRIED CHICKEN -Restoran Canning Garden Address: 27, Lorong Cecil Rae,Canning Garden 31400 Ipoh, Negeri Perak Opening Hours: Monday – Friday 7:00AM – 3:00PM (Closed on every Saturday and Sunday) Note: Fried Chicken will only be out from 11:00AM onwards Hong Kong Actor, Chapman To hosted a popular travelling show called Pick Me Up To Malaysia sometime ago and he paid a visit to some of the restaurants here in Malaysia. Apparently, 林青霞炸鸡 ( Brigitte Lin) Fried Chicken located at Canning Garden, Ipoh went viral because of him. He shared his food posting on his social media and the fried chicken here became sensation since then. To be honest, the fried chicken here is indeed crispy on the outer and tender, juicy in the inside. The chicken breast is surprisingly succulent tender as well. I do not usually eat chicken breast but I don’t mind having this! I personally think if there is garlic chilli or sweet chilli to go with the fried chicken, it will be 100% shiok! Read more here. Follow me on Facebook and Instagram for insta updates