Ipoh food guide: 12 best places to eat in Ipoh (2026)

Ask anyone who's been to Ipoh what they did there, and usually you'll get a list of things they ate. Sights and shopping come up eventually. Eventually. Ipoh food is mostly Cantonese and Hakka at its core, built around a handful of dishes the town is known for: silky hor fun in prawn and chicken broth, poached chicken with fat, crunchy bean sprouts, and white coffee that's smoother and sweeter than the kopi you get at home. Locals credit the limestone hills and mineral-rich water, and while I can’t vouch for the science, the bean sprouts here hit different, man.

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Ipoh food in Old Town: white coffee, egg tarts, and hor fun

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01. Sin Yoon Loong

Sin Yoon Loong is one of the names most often credited with Ipoh white coffee, and the shop still looks the part, with marble-topped tables, tiled floors, and ceiling fans doing their best. The coffee beans are roasted with palm oil margarine, which gives a lighter, nuttier cup, and it comes sweetened with condensed milk unless you ask otherwise.

I ordered mine iced, with kaya butter toast and a caramel custard on the side, and that's still the breakfast I'd recommend to a first-timer. The custard is wobbly, not too sweet, and gone in four spoonfuls. Several stalls operate inside the coffee shop too, so you can add chee cheong fun or a plate of noodles if toast isn't enough.

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📍 Address: 15A Jalan Bandar Timah, 30000 Ipoh, Perak
⏰ Opening hours: 6.30am – 2.30pm daily
🍴 Halal status: Not halal

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02. Nam Heong

A few doors down, Nam Heong can typically be identified by its egg tart counter. The tarts come out in trays through the morning, with a flaky, layered crust that shatters a little when you bite in and a just-set custard in the middle. They go fast, so if you see a fresh batch, don't wait.

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📍 Address: 2 Jalan Bandar Timah, 30000 Ipoh, Perak
⏰ Opening hours: 6.30am – 4.30pm daily
🍴 Halal status: Not halal

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03. Restoran Thean Chun

Further along the same street, Thean Chun is a big, old-school coffee shop with a ceiling high enough to keep the room cool even when it's full. Come here for gai si hor fun, the Ipoh dish of smooth flat rice noodles in a clear broth made from chicken and prawn shells, topped with shredded chicken and a few prawns. The broth is light, so you can finish a bowl and still have room for dessert.

That dessert should be the caramel custard, which you'll spot on almost every table. The satay stall is another regular order, though it's pork, so bear that in mind if you're eating with friends who avoid it. Hours here have shifted over the years, so check before making the trip.

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📍 Address: 73 Jalan Bandar Timah, 31650 Ipoh, Perak
⏰ Opening hours: Fri to Tue, 8am – 4.30pm | Closed Wed and Thu
🍴 Halal status: Not halal

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New Town classics around Jalan Yau Tet Shin and Jalan Theatre

Cross the Kinta River and you're in New Town, which is where most of Ipoh's famous takeaway snacks are. The streets here are compact, so park once and walk. Jalan Yau Tet Shin, Jalan Theatre, and Jalan Mustapha Al-Bakri are all within a few minutes of each other, with the dim sum houses on Jalan Leong Sin Nam a short hop away.

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04. Ming Court Hong Kong Dim Sum

Jalan Leong Sin Nam is Ipoh's dim sum street, and Ming Court is one of its two big names. On weekends, expect to wait 10 to 30 minutes once the 7am crowd arrives. After you're seated, staff walk the floor with trays and you point at whatever looks good.

Baskets start from around RM3, and the portions are small, so order widely. The char siew pau is soft with a sweet, sticky filling, and the black sesame dessert soup is a nice way to finish. If the queue is too long, try the other big name, Foh San, directly across the road. It's been doing dim sum since the 1970s.

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📍 Address: 36 Jalan Leong Sin Nam, Kampung Jawa, 30300 Ipoh, Perak
⏰ Opening hours: Fri to Wed, 6am – 2pm | Closed Thu
🍴 Halal status: Not halal

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05. Lou Wong Bean Sprouts Chicken

Lou Wong has been serving bean sprout chicken on Jalan Yau Tet Shin for decades. In 2026 it moved a minute down the road into a bigger space across two and a half shop lots, which means more tables and, hopefully, a shorter wait.

The ideal order here sounds a little something like: poached chicken, chopped and doused in light soy sauce, comes with a plate of blanched bean sprouts, short and fat and properly crunchy, plus either rice or hor fun in broth. The chicken is tender enough that you barely need to chew, but the bean sprouts are what made the dish famous.

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📍 Address: 29 and 31 Jalan Yau Tet Shin, Taman Jubilee, 30300 Ipoh, Perak
⏰ Opening hours: 10am – 10pm daily
🍴 Halal status: Not halal

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06. Funny Mountain Soya Bean

Funny Mountain is probably Ipoh's most famous tau fu fa shop, and it runs on a very simple setup. Order at the counter, get your bowl, and eat it standing on the five-foot way or sitting in your car, youtube-fast-food-review-style.

The tau fu fa is wobbly and smooth, served warm with a light sugar syrup, and it's around RM3 a bowl. I had two. The soy milk is just as good if you want something to carry around.

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📍 Address: 50 Jalan Mustapha Al-Bakri, Taman Jubilee, 30300 Ipoh, Perak
⏰ Opening hours: Wed to Mon, 10.30am – 6.30pm | Closed Tue
🍴 Halal status: Not halal-certified

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07. Aun Kheng Lim Salted Chicken

At Aun Kheng Lim, each chicken is wrapped in paper and baked in hot salt until the meat turns tender and fragrant, and the result is surprisingly juicy rather than salty. You can pick the original or a herbal version, and a whole chicken (around RM35) feeds 2 to 3 people. Most people buy one to take home or eat back at the hotel. There's even a drive-through for locals who just pull up and go.

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📍 Address: 24 Jalan Theatre, Taman Jubilee, 30300 Ipoh, Perak
⏰ Opening hours: Tue to Sun, 9am – 6pm | Mondays, 9am – 5pm
🍴 Halal status: Not halal-certified
🌐 Website: facebook.com/aunkhenglimsaltedchicken

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08. Sin Eng Heong

Ipoh has a strong biscuit and pastry tradition, and Sin Eng Heong's kaya puffs are the ones locals queue for. The pastry is thin and flaky, the kaya inside is rich and not overly sweet, and they're small enough that buying a box "for the family" and eating three in the car is very easy. That being said, they're a good souvenir to bring back to Singapore, assuming they make it that far.

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📍 Address: 64 Jalan Mustapha Al-Bakri, Taman Jubilee, 30300 Ipoh, Perak
⏰ Opening hours: Wed to Mon, 9.30am – 6pm | Closed Tue
🍴 Halal status: Not halal-certified

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09. Nasi Kandar Ayam Merah (Nasi Ganja) at Kedai Kopi Yong Suan

"Ganja" means cannabis, but don’t worry, there’s nothing that’ll get you arrested here. The stall, run by an Indian Muslim family inside Kedai Kopi Yong Suan, has been one of Ipoh's best-known lunch spots for years, and the name refers to just how gosh-darn addictive the stuff here is.

The ayam merah here’s red, sticky, sweet, and a little spicy, marinated rather than crispy, and works best with plenty of curry gravy poured over your rice. Add a boiled egg and some fried bittergourd and you have the classic plate. The squid and fried fish are good too.

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📍 Address: 2 Jalan Yang Kalsom, Taman Jubilee, 30250 Ipoh, Perak
⏰ Opening hours: 9am – 5pm daily
🍴 Halal status: Muslim-owned stall (drinks are served separately by the coffee shop)

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Ipoh cafés for a slower afternoon

After a morning of kopitiams, an air-conditioned café starts to look very appealing. Ipoh's café scene has grown a lot, and many of the nicer ones are in restored shophouses around Old Town, so you can pair them with a walk through Concubine Lane and the murals.

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10. Plan B

Plan B is in Kong Heng Square, a restored block next to Concubine Lane. Think a sunlit atrium with tall trees, vines climbing one wall, and plenty of room between tables. It's a good place to sit for an hour. As a certified buttermilk chicken addict, take it from me that the buttermilk chicken carbonara here is NOT to be missed.

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📍 Address: 75 Jalan Panglima, 30000 Ipoh, Perak
⏰ Opening hours: 10am – 10pm daily
🍴 Halal status: Pork-free, not halal-certified

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11. Girlie's Café

A short walk away on Jalan Market, Girlie's is a small, cosy café with an industrial look that is thankfully open to all genders, contrary to its name. The sourdough is excellent, but most people come for the cakes, especially the Basque burnt cheesecake and the watermelon cake.

If you want something more filling, there are pastas, egg toasts, and a big breakfast plate. The matcha and houjicha drinks use Niko Neko, a Malaysian tea brand that's popular in Ipoh.

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📍 Address: 26 Jalan Market, 30000 Ipoh, Perak
⏰ Opening hours: Tue to Thu, 10am – 5pm | Fri to Sun, 10am – 6pm | Closed Mon
🍴 Halal status: Not halal-certified
🌐 Website: instagram.com/girliescafe

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12. Jln Theatre Coffee

Back in New Town, Jln Theatre Coffee is a few doors from Aun Kheng Lim, making it a convenient stop while you wait for your chicken. The Dirty Coffee (cold milk topped with a hot espresso shot) is the one regulars order. There are tarts and small bakes to go with it.

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📍 Address: 76 Jalan Theatre, Taman Jubilee, 30300 Ipoh, Perak
⏰ Opening hours: 10am – 6pm daily
🍴 Halal status: Not halal-certified

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See you on the road,

Amanda 💙

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(Featured photo from: Google Maps, Aun Kheng Lim Salted Chicken, Girlie's Cafe)

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Ipoh food guide: 12 places for bean sprout chicken, white coffee, and more

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