Off The Beaten Path: Eating in Ipoh, Malaysia

When visiting Malaysia, one of its attractions is definitely the variety and quality of food. Besides the food haven of Penang, Ipoh is another city famous for its food.

When mentioning Ipoh food, it is impossible not to mention bean sprouts chicken or nga choy kai (in Cantonese). The most famous shop selling this would be Lou Wong. Opposite this shop, you will also find other lesser-known restaurants selling the same dish, including Onn Kee. For a full course, order the bean sprouts and the steamed chicken, with the horfun noodles. Add on side dishes like meat balls or fishballs, chicken feet and intestines if you are still not full!

Dim Sum is another must-try in Ipoh. The most famous shop here would be Foh San. However, they are many other good dim sum places just nearby Foh San so if the queue is too long, you can just try those restaurants instead. Recently, new restaurants focusing more on Shanghai style cuisine has opened in Ipoh. This includes Dragon One located at De Garden. Head there to try xiao long bao or Shanghainese dumplings. At De Garden, another restaurant which i would recommend is Daorae which serves Korean cuisine. Besides the usual Korean BBQ, they also have an ala carte menue with items such as samgyetang (ginseng chicken), bibimbap and naengmyun (cold noodles).

Tai Shu Keok (literally translated as Big Tree's Foot) is the place to go to for laksa - Ipoh style. Here, the laksa only costs RM2.80 per bowl (as of 2012) while each piece of yong liew or zha liew (fried foods) is only 60 cents each. Note though that you should not expect any ambience here. The place is technically a hawker stall which is open air and hence not air-conditioned. Expect to sweat while eating here.

Besides the main dishes featured above, you can head to Funny Mountain Tau Fu Fah stall for delicious and smooth bean curd (tau fu fah) or soya bean drink. It is the only drive-through shop I know of which sells this local delicacy! In Ipoh, you must also try the Ipoh white coffee at the traditional old shops located in the Old Town area or at the various Kopitiam chains (if you prefer to dine in the comfort of air-conditioning). For more dessert, head to Tong Sui Kai (Dessert Street, hawker stalls near Sam Tet Primary School) for ais kacang.

Lastly, before leaving Ipoh, you can purchase local snacks as souvenirs. Choose from the large variety of local biscuits such as Heong Peng (literally translated as Fragrant Biscuit) and Kai Chai Peng (Kampar Chicken biscuit), or purchase the fresh Tambun pomeloes.