Food - Traditional Coffee Shop

Thean Chun Coffee Shop

Thean Chun is one of the oldest and most famous coffee shop in Ipoh Old Town. The locals know this spot as "The House of Mirrors". This small but bustling eatery have some of Ipoh's rarest food gems such as "Kai See Hor Fun" aka Chicken Kuey Teow Soup and Satay Grill.

Tadaa~~The legendary "Kai See Hor Fun"! It is the pride of Ipoh people. The taste is well-balanced between the chicken slices, the freshness of the prawn and all kinds of herbs that make it so flavorful. Another fact that makes it so special is the sweet smell it has. This is probably why it is far superior compared to other "Kai See Hor Fun" in Ipoh.

Another must-try dessert is the Caramel Custard. Silky smooth egg custards, fragrant and not too overly sweet, it really deserves double thumbs up! Amazed by how easily it melts in the mouth.

The Satay Chicken Fillet, strongly recommended by Ipoh people. The Chicken Fillets are smoky and deliciously caramelised on the edges. Whats goes even better with this Chicken Fillet is the satay sauce! A thick concoction of peanut, chili and oil coats the meat, miracle happens~

Nam Heong Coffee Shop

Do you like White Coffee? If you like it, then you must love this coffee shop. Nam Heong is the original home of Ipoh White Coffee. The shop has been passed down to the forth generation and now, they established a company, Old Town White Coffee. It is the spark that ignited the mass appeal of Ipoh's White Coffee!

The legendary Ipoh White Coffee! Coffees Lovers can hardly resist to take a sip on the perfect blend white coffee. It tasted so aromatic and smooth, the fragrant of the white coffee is long-lasting. It's simply the best white coffee in Ipoh.

Fresh from oven, hot and flaky, life doesn't get better than these egg tarts. It is also one of the specialities of the shop. The rich, creamy egg custard is usually hot when served and the flaky pastry renders the tart almost irresistible!

The dim sum in Nam Heong is well known for its tasty offerings. There is a variety of dim sum like "loh mai kai", "char xiu bao", "siew mai" and many more. Though there are lots of dim sum restaurant in Ipoh, there are still lots of people crawled their way to this old shop.

The Wesley Methodist Churh

Methodist Mission in Singapore was founded. Rev William Fritjames Oldham was appointed to head the work of the Methodist Church in Malaya in 1895. The Methodist Church stated a school (later to be known as Anglo-Chinese School).

The Birch Memorial Clock Tower

Birch Memorial was built in 1909 in memory of J.W.W. Birch. Birch was the first British Resident of Perak, assassinated in Pasir Salak in 1875 by Dato Maharajalela. His death was a lesson to other disrespectful and arrogant British officials. Dato Maharajalela was hanged afterward, but he is sung as a national hero, until today. After the independent, a few roads named after Birch were renamed as Dato Maharajalela Road. The road that next to the Birch Memorial at Ipoh, as you can guess, is Dato Maharajalela Road.

It was designed as means of educating Malayan residents about the History of Civilization as depicted on its four murals. The work to construct the tower started in 1908 and was completed in 1909. The person responsible for the design of the structure was Mr. Steadman, a British architect. At first, he had suggested using marble and granite as construction materials but the fund was just $17,000 rather than the first estimate $30,000. So the tower was built using bricks and concrete. The Birch Memorial was officially dedicated by Sir John Anderson, British High Commissioner in 1909.

For a small structure is has many details: the tower bells that used to strike the chimes of Big Ben in London, four terracotta figures perched at the top of the tower which represented the four virtues of British administration namely loyalty, justice, patience and fortitude and a panel portraying 44 famous figures from world history across the tower. 

The clock tower has one mother bell, 6 ft. 6 in. in a diameter and weighing 10 cwt., and four smaller bells weighing together 10 cwt., which used to strike the chimes of Big Ben.

Sekeping Kong Heng

Over at Old Town amongst the Heritage Trail lies the Dramatist Hostel, more popularly known as Kong Heng coffee shop famous for its kai see hor fun and other local food fare. The property which is bordered by Leech Street (Jalan Bandar Timah), Jalan Panglima, the adjacent lane till Belfield Street (Jalan Sultan Yussuf) was purchased by its current owners in 2008.  This is a 3-storey building where actors stayed and rehearsed and performed at the Chinese Opera Theatre next door which has since been demolished but the hostel remains.

One of its owners is renowned landscape architect Ng Sek San, an Ipoh boy, who said that “Ipoh was a good place to grow up” and felt that “it should be preserved for the next generation”. However, for Ng “restoration is not just about restoring, that would become a museum. I want something that is living. Every building has a spirit. We should visualise and build around that spirit.”

Late last year Kong Heng coffee shop was closed for five days for a clean-up and that was all the attention paid to it. Not so for the hostel that Ng has transformed into a guest house – ‘Sekeping Kong Heng’ (a slice of Kong Heng).

The wood walls of the partitioned rooms on the first floor have been replaced with concrete sheets and each room has been fitted with its own bathroom. There are eight rooms on this floor.

The starting point for this project was a 7,885 sq ft disused furniture warehouse that was in the vicinity of the Sekeping Kong Heng, next to the famed local Kong Heng coffee shop in Ipoh old town. The brief was to transform the space into a restaurant for the local restaurant chain, Plan B.

In addition, an extension has been added at the back, tucked away to reveal an inner courtyard with a dramatic stairway to the take guests up tot heir rooms.

It is located in a 3 storey neo-classical building which also houses a famous coffee shop of the same name on the ground floor that serves great coffee and the best local dishes in town. All effort has been made to preserve as much of the character of the existing building as possible in contrast to the surrounding new architectural intervention.

Mini old-style library just in front of the washrooms and kitchen part. Is a totally different atmosphere in this small area. The guests can just simply take a book and sit down to have a short period of peaceful moments.

 Now rejuvenated, it is hoped that Sekeping Kong Heng will be able to offer guests a slice of history within a real old town setting which is alive, working and real.

Sek San says, “I believe in using local materials as much as possible. Compare this with the impact of importing materials (which is the current paradigm in the architectural world): it is too expensive given the cost of transportation, and not sustainable.”

THE FLEA MARKET

The end of the warehouse 

aced another development which housed the raised pool structure accessible by Sekeping Kong Heng hotel guests, and the space in between the two was buffered by planting of trees, which we called the ‘courtyard’.

There is always a crowd behind Patisserie Boutique Café (or should be next to the entrance of Plan b restaurant). This is a flea market, which used to be ridiculed as cultural desert. Usually such flea market is found in Kuala Lumpur, Georgetown & Malacca. The crowd was excited with the simple but attractive setup.Hopefully this will be a long term or permanent market that would certainly offer our guests of the city an unforgettable trip.

Anglo-Chinese School (ACS), Ipoh

The Anglo-Chinese Boys School was founded by Reverend W.E. Horley of the Methodist Episcopal Mission and was built in the year 1895. It was the first Christian mission school as well as the first English school in Kinta. The design of the building was influenced by the cultural exchange introduced by the British and featured a combination of the West and Anglo-Chinese architecture.

The main building, with its prominent quoining was erected and opened in the year 1914. The Edwardian-style building was the proud work of architect CH Labrooy and costs a total of $93,000. 

Stilted arches can be seen along the corridor of the school. 

Colonial windows were featured on the school building as it was built during the British I period, which is from year 1878 to year 1930.

The Old Shophouses in Old Town

Ipoh cities into the turn of 19th century to developed the booming tin-mining industry propelled the sleepy town into the height of its glory peaked in the 1950s when during the British colonial era. Architecturally, the city centre is characterized by colonial era Chinese shop houses and several impressive historical buildings from the British Colonial era.





On 27 May 1988, it was granted city status by the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Azlan Shah. It is divided naturally by the Kinta River into two main townships - Ipoh Old Town and Ipoh New Town. The old town contains older and pre-war architectures comprising government buildings, shop lots, residences and historical landmarks. So a very large of the historical buildings still existence and function.

EU TONG SEN MEDICINE SHOP

Located at 36-38 Jalan Bandar Timah (formerly known as Leech Street) is the Eu Yan Sang medicine shop. The shop was found in 1879 by Eu Kong, a tin miner who was selling herbs to cure opium addicts. Then, his son, Eu Tong Sen took over the business and expanded the business into million dollar Chinese pharmaceutical giant, as we can see today. 

Eu Tong Sen designed the new building himself with the help of a designer from Hong Kong named Yong Chi Po.The design of the roof and its balcony is said to resemble one of the famous temples in Foshan in southern China.  The Eu Tong Sen 1907 building underwent two renovations.

THE LEECH STREET

Formerly named after J.M.B Leech, District Officer of Kinta. The historical Dramatists' Hostel is located on this road. Hawkers are selling their food in front of Sin Yoon Loong (lower right), on the same street with Eu Yan Sang.

Established in 1937, SIN YOON LOONG COFFEE SHOP is famous for its Ipoh white coffee. Using both evaporated and condensed milk, the coffee is pulled to make  it rich and frothy. This shop was reputedly a favorite of the Japanese military during their occupation of Ipoh 1942 - 1945.

They were built almost half a century apart. I believe very few of the Ipoh citizen nowadays has witnessed the expansion of this township. Since the traffic converted into one-way flow in1986, it is basically serving motor vehicles than pedestrian.

THE BIRCH STREET

This shophouse was originally connected to the main Eu Yan Sang store by a first floor bridge and was used as warehouse facilities. As well as Chinese pharmaceuticals, Eu Tong Sern was also a leading tin miner and enterpreneur who had 11 wives and many palatial mansions in Ipoh, Gopeng, Kampar, Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Hong Kong.

THE GABLED SHOPHOUSES

This row of five Gabled shophouses, built in the early 1900's, is a fine example of Renaissance architecture.

This unique structure clearly shows the influence of Chinese, Malay and European styles, merged and matured in response to the local environment. From the Chinese came the courtyard plan, the rounded gable ends and the French windows and decorative plaster work.

THE PANGLIMA CONCUBINES LANE

Panglima Lane or Lorong Panglima is a narrow alleyway lined with two rows of two-storey pre-war houses that date back to the turn of the 20th Century. The lane had apparently been a hotbed of vice activity, home to gambling, prostitution and opium dens, which later became a residential area from which it got its name “Second Concubine Lane” being one of three streets where the Chinese wealthy had housed their concubines.

HSBC Bank

Standing tall and strong as the oldest bank in Ipoh, the HSBC building which is located along Belfield Street poised as a handsome Victorian Neo-Renaissance building. The building graces the city of Ipoh ever since its completion in year 1931.  

Facade of the HSBC Bank.

The base of the building consists of  square columns that do not have much design with it and have the sole purpose of serving as the supportive base of the HSBC building. 

On the second floor of the building, each columns were designed according to the Corinthian Order of the Greek architecture. The Corinthian style brings forth the visual impact of demure, stable and elegant towards the building. 

Church of Our Lady of Lourdes

Gothic Architecture is deeply reflected in the facade of the church with a belfry bell tower in front accompanied by a gallery to accommodate the choir. In order to provide comfortable seating for roughly 1,500 persons, the plan of the church took the form of a cross with a main body and two wings. The wings on either side contain two concealed confessionals to provide undisturbed privacy between the penitent and the priest. The structure of the building is reinforced with brick walls and concrete frame. 

Facade of the church.

The church is clear of internal pillars by replacing it with steel trusses on the top. The absence of internal pillars provide the congregation with better visibility from any position within the building to follow the service at the main altar.  

Ipoh Town Hall

The Ipoh Town Hall was constructed in 1916 by again, the government architect A.B. Hubback. The back portion of this stately colonial building housed the former Post Office by unifying the two different buildings with a heavy plaster grooves on the lower floor. The building was built with a strong classical element known as the Classical Revival Architecture.

                                                  Facade of the Ipoh Town Hall

The building reflects a Neo-Renaissance Victorian theme with colossal Greek and Roman columns.  Also, Doric style is shown plainly on the columns of the building.