Food and Attractions in Ipoh City, Malaysia

Ipoh city has been overshadowed by the Kuala Lumpur (capital of Malaysia) and the more famous Georgetown in Penang Island earlier. But, now this has changed and there are lots of happenings in Ipoh city and in Perak as a whole, and at present, Perak state is promoting of Visit Perak year 2017. 

I was passing by Ipoh on my way north to Kedah from Kuala Lumpur recently. I was surprised to discover the many new attractions in town. Of course there are also many tourists attractions out of town in Perak state such as the famous caves and temple caves, luxury resorts, theme parks and cool climate. It has been known for ages that Ipoh girls are fair and pretty, just as the well known fact of Suzhou girls of China are fair and pretty.

First, it was a last minute stop over for the trip, so I booked into Cititel Express hotel at last minute through Booking.com. Wow, it was so convenient to do so, booked online outside the hotel, then walked into the hotel for my room. The total cost of double room is RM125.80 including GST of 6%. 

Cititel Express provides map for guests to walk around and discover the Ipoh Wall art Mural as well as the location of restaurants. This hotel is located in the Old Town area and very convenient as all the tourist spots takes only about 10 - 15 minutes walk from hotel.

First place I go is the old streets that are converted into souvenir shops and cafes with the name of Concubine Lane. 

The opening hours are from 9.00 am to 5.00pm for Concubine Lane. Concubine Lane consist of narrow lanes and depicts the historical and architectural grandeur of olden times and also the place where the rich kept the concubines hidden here. But I went there at 5.40 pm, so shops are close. 

But it was also a good thing to go this time as I was able to shoot photos in peace without the crowd.

The Wall Art Mural was very interesting as it has 3D effect. 

For me whenever I stop by in Ipoh, it is the food - fresh newly baked crispy biscuits such as the Tambun biscuits, cakes, cookies, famous dim sum, soya bean pudding, Ipoh Taugeh Chicken rice, cantonese noodles and of course don't you miss out the famous Ipoh coffee- Nam Heong Coffee and Ipoh Oldtown White Coffee.

Mouse shape mooncake

Mooncake season is coming so we can see these cute shape mooncakes on sale now. There are various types of fillings inside such as red bean paste, green bean paste or pandan paste. 

Water buffalo shape mooncake

 Ipoh Tuck Kee noodle restaurant 

For dinner, most tourist would go for the famous "Taugeh Ayam Lou Wong" (Lou Wong Beansprouts chicken rice). But this time I decided to try the Fried Hor Fun with egg at noodle shop next door that is Ipoh Tuck Noodle House.

Fried Hor Fun with egg - very delicious

My compulsory breakfast in Ipoh is definitely the Dim Sum. I usually go to the famous Foh Sun Restaurant at Jalan Leong Sin Nam. Many Dim Sum restaurants have opened in Ipoh, especially along this road and its surroundings. Below are some of the Dim Sums I ate at Foh Sun Restaurant.

Clockwise from front: Gingko prawns dim sum, Beancurd skin wrapped dim sum, Almond coated with cheese inside dim sum and century-egg dim sum

It is a self service restaurant where you carry the tray to the counter and this slip, choose whatever you want at the counter, and the waiter will tick on the column according to the price printed there. To pay, just bring your slip to the cashier counter yourself.

Memory Lane 

To walk to the restaurants, we have to cross the Kinta River and walk along Jalan Sultan Idris. on one section of Jalan Sultan Idris, there are lots of hawkers peddling all sorts of ware along the road side. There is also a lane called Memory Lane where more goods are sold there.

Ipoh is a bustling city in the centre of Peninsular Malaysia. This blog post will be my Part one travel blog on Perak state and I intend to travel back to venture more destinations later. Stay tuned for more ....