2017 Sep. Ipoh. Taiping. Sepetang.

Short getaway to Ipoh over a long public holiday weekend. We took a direct flight via Scoot and booked a rental car which was waiting for us at the airport upon arrival.

This trip to Ipoh is mainly for food, of cos! Too many things to eat but too little time and stomach space. Our first stop after off-loading our luggage is 馳名文冬口芽菜雞 at 851 Jalan Guntong (opens 4:30pm to 12am, closed Mon, Tue & Thu) which is local favourite in Buntong, an outskirt neighbourhood away from the hustle and bustle of Ipoh Town. Taugeh (beansprout) Chicken is big in Ipoh. There are few other famous and super crowded ones right in the Old Town to choose from as well, like Lou Wong, Onn Kee and Cowan Street. So, take your pick! My honest opinion: it is chicken and bean sprout, how special can it get? Our Singaporean Tian Tian and Boon Tong Kee are equally good! 🙂

We walked around Ipoh town, checking out the murals and cool buildings, some old, some new, and some old + new.

Ipoh Old Town is not big, so you will definitely chance upon Concubine Lane 二奶巷, which is a very touristy place with shops and hipster drinking places. But hey, in between chomping down the local food delicacies, you would also need to kill time burn off some calories and get hungry again right?

Saw more murals as we loitered around town, without any destination in mind.

Ready for the next eating session, and here we are at Ipoh Tuck Kee at 61 Jalan Yau Tet Shin, Taman Jubilee (opens 5pm-2am, closed Wed). The place was terribly crowded and the food looked tantalising! When in Ipoh, you must try the hor fun. The texture of Ipoh hor fun is amazing, unlike anything you find in Singapore. All the dishes tasted as good as they looked. The steamed baby squids are also delicious. I only wished we had more company and more stomach space to order more dishes.

After the “second dinner”, we went looking for dessert at Tong Sui Kai, which is packed in the evenings.

We stayed in Weil Hotel nearby which has a nice rooftop garden and pool, and attached to a big shopping mall. The rooms are also very pleasant. Nice hotel to consider if you are looking for modern accommodation. I was also keen to stay in Sekeping Kong Heng which is a quaint refurbished old shophouses, but it was fully booked.

More food runs the next morning. I have marked out so many famous food places to try, but not enough time and space, so perhaps a reason to come back again. Tried this famous Canning Garden Chee Cheong Fun at 27 Lorong Cecil Rae, Taman Canning. The noodles are silky smooth and has great texture, though I didn’t quite like the slightly sour gravy personally. Opens early around 7am and usually sell out by 10am.

Restoran Xin Quan Fang at 174 Jalan Sultan Iskandar (opens 7:30am to 1pm) is famous for its Ipoh Curry Mee. The queue is super long and the wait takes forever, but the food is totally worth it. The curry is delicious and the toppings like char siew and roast meat are succulent. The simple menu is somewhat confusing for non regulars, but we just ordered everything to ensure we didn’t miss out anything. Basically, you can order the noodles which comes with simple toppings, or a separate serving of toppings on its own.

Ipoh has many biscuit shops, and I was introduced to Ching Han Guan Biscuits at 145 Jalan Sultan Iskandar, Taman Jubilee (opens 9:30am to 6pm) by a friend who knows his way around. Unfortunately, the signature meat floss lotus paste biscuit was not available, so I bought bags of other snacks instead.

Kek Lok Tong is a nice limestone cave and temple in Ipoh outskirts a short drive away, with interesting natural geographical features. Worth a visit if you have time to kill in between meals.

Seng Kee 成记香饼 at 177 Lorong Gunung Rapat 3, Taman Rapat Setia (opens 9am-7pm, closed Wed) is a local favourite operating out of a house in a quiet neighbourhood. The biscuits are baked in traditional kilns with coconut husks, which gives it a very unique fragrance and distinct smokey flavour. The heong peahs has a crispy and flaky pastry crust, and once you bite into it, the sweet maltose filling flow. Touted best 香饼 in Ipoh according to many blogs. After trying a few other heong peahs from other places, I can vouch that this one in particular is very very good. The crisp fragrant crust with moist flavourful filling, is simply a notch above the rest. Buy as much as you can carry, or you will regret not buying enough when you get home, just like me.

The queue for Funny Mountain Soya Bean at 49 Jalan Theatre (opens 10:30am to 6pm, closed Tue) is crazy long long long. But there is an efficient way to order while seated in your car. This guy would come up to take order and bring everything to you while you are inching in snail speed outside the store due to the massive parking jam and standstill anyway. There’s a reason for the queue, the tauhuay is good.

Another crazy long line just round the corner for Kedai Biskut Sin Eng Heong at 64 Jalan Mustapha Al-Bakry (opens 9am-7pm) famous for their kaya puffs. I looked at the end of the queue, hesitated for a second, and decided nope… not gonna wait so maybe next time. 🙂

After spending an evening and morning in Ipoh, food hunt continues in Matang and Sepetang in Taiping. This is Restoran Light House Seafood at Jalan Titi Kertang, 34750 Matang (opens 11am to 11pm, closed Tue). I have tried another outlet closer to Singapore in Austin, JB and loved the seafood porridge. This is where it originated from, and of cos equally good. The porridge is loaded with all kinds of fresh seafood, and tasted sweet and delicious.

Kuala Sepetang, a fishing village about an hour’s drive from Ipoh and very near to Taiping, is an interesting overnight destination good for families with kids. We stayed in Happy 8 Retreat which has nice rustic rooms right by the pier with awesome views. The entire place, not sure whether to call it boutique hotel or homestay, is skilfully painted with unique designs. Definitely the best place to stay in Sepetang!

There are enough activities here in Sepetang to keep you occupied for an overnight stay. You can go on a fish farm visit, eagle feeding, firefly boat ride, charcoal factory tour, mangrove walk, bird watching, etc. Good place to bring kids during school holidays, for them to experience rural fishing village life and learn something as well.

The boat tour to the fishing farm included eagle feeding as well. The boatman released chicken fats into the water, and the eagles are conditioned at the sound of the horn and would swoop down to feed in close distance. A bit of mixed feeling about this, does not feel quite the right thing to do, but I guess for survival and bringing tourism into the rural village, there is a need to strike a balance somewhere.

It was an enjoyable rustic and idyllic village experience in Kuala Sepetang formerly known as Port Weld, complete with seaside fishy and smoky smells permeating the air, which made this laid back place uniquely memorable.

We had seafood dinner at Restoran Tepi Sungai. The view was great and the dishes delicious, best part was the bill came up to be much cheaper than we expected. Happy and satisfying meal.

Setting off for the firefly tour at dusk. The colours of the evening sky was gorgeous, and when it turned dark, the river bank started to glow and blink with the fireflies.

A smoky smell permeated the entire place since the moment we arrived. For the entire evening I thought someone was burning something or BBQing, and then suddenly I realised only the next morning, Duhhh… there is a charcoal factory nearby. It was nice waking up to a sunrise view like this on the attached balcony of the room.

We walked to the village market for breakfast. It was a vibrant sight, taking in the normal daily lives and morning activities of the local villagers.

Love this coffee! It is like kopi gao ultimate, mocha super concentrate, or perhaps kopi dinosaur extraordinaire. Strong, full bodied, caramelised coffee, blended with milo, one sip and I’m in love with it. The iced version is equally good. Locals call it ‘hor ka sai’ or ‘虎咬狮’. Die die must try if you visit Taiping!

After breakfast, we visited the nearby charcoal factory. The friendly owner gave us a free tour and explanation of the manufacturing process which was very informative and educational.

After that, we visited the Matang Mangrove Forest Reserve. This place charges admission, and we were tipped by the locals beforehand to pay the nominal fees, instead of the jacked up unreasonable tourist rate. True enough, at the gate we were asked to pay the inflated fee, but with a smile and negligible effort to bargain, we got in with nominal fees. There is really nothing much to see or do here, we came here simply to kill time. The lady at the gate probably knew that too, so she happily collected whatever fees she could get, rather than see us turn away around and leave.

We drove to Taiping afterwards, and checked out a few local food places and attractions. Aulong Biscuits and Confectionary is another heong peah place, popular in Taiping. But I already mentioned earlier which is my favourite. 🙂

We also visited Antong Coffee Factory and bought some local instant coffee. The house next to the old coffee mill happened to bewhere Sun Yat Sen used to stay during his visit to Taiping. Free coffee sampling, and nice place to take some photos.

We had lunch at Larut Matang Hawker Centre. Tried different things there but no single item stood out prominently.

We checked in to Novotel Taiping after lunch and rain started to pour heavily. Found a foot reflexology place nearby for a massage break. Then we tracked down this popular PSL Goreng Pisang at 85 Jalan Pasar, and bought a few fried items to try. Mmmm… good.

Restoran Yut Sun on 78 Jalan Pasar (opens 8am to 9pm most days) is supposedly famous for its Hainanese chicken chop, but we were quite full to have something so substantial especially when we intend to have dinner shortly after. So, we only ordered a round of drinks at Yut Sun.

Taiping town is small and walkable. A stroll to Taiping Lake Gardens in the light drizzle, turned out to be quite scenic.

Dinner was at Soon Lee Seafood Restaurant in Taiping. I was not impressed and in fact rather disappointed, as I had much higher expectation given the high benchmark set by the other local food.

The next morning, we checked out of the Novotel Taiping very early and drove back towards Ipoh for a last burst of breakfast before our late morning flight. The two best white coffees in Ipoh are situated opposite of each other: Sin Yoon Loong White Coffee 新源隆茶室 at 15A Jalan Bandar Timah (opens 6am-4pm) and Nam Heong Coffee Shop 南香茶室 at 2 Jalan Bandar Timah (opens 7.30am-3pm).

After Sin Yoon Loong, we crossed the street and continued eating at Nam Heong. Nam Heong has a popular muah chee stall right outside. The prawn mee and char koay teow are also quite nice. Generally speaking, I find that food in Ipoh is still nicer than Taiping.

So, we concluded our short 4 day 3 nights stay in Ipoh, Sekeping & Taiping with fulfilled stomachs and pleasant memories. I definitely want to come back again, there is a lot more yummy local food I have yet to savour and experience.