All About Ipoh White Coffee – Intoxicatingly Addictive
August 21, 2011 | 12,065 views
Ipoh’s white coffee. And you must be wondering why the ‘white’ moniker attached, when the coffee essentially looks just like any other brew.
“The generic term “Ipoh White Coffee” in Chinese is ‘bak ko pi’ (baai kah feh); the “white” term has nothing to do with the colour in this instance, but is rather a reference to the way how the coffee is roasted. In Chinese, Bái also means ‘without, or unadulterated, nothing has been added to the coffee during the roasting process.” (sourced from Wikipedia)
Naturally, to complete the All About Ipoh series (bean sprout chicken, dim sum & curry mee), white coffee has to be mentioned along the same breath. Since this has been recognized as one of the official drink of Malaysia at the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai, this significant brew might just be Ipoh’s biggest contribution to the country!
Let’s see where you can sip on the finest white coffee in Ipoh …..
1. SIN YOON LOONG – Where old town white coffee was born …
What to Eat? - You can try the Indian Mee Goreng from a stall outside of the shop, the various savoury and sweet snacks (Nyonya kueh) from a stall next to the shop, the chee cheong fun was nothing spectacular, the pork noodles was passable. Go for the steamed egg cakes with kaya (gai dan gou) from the counter; simply one of the BEST in Ipoh.
KEDAI KOPI SIN YOON LOONG
15A, Jalan Bandar Timah,
30000 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
Opens for breakfast until late afternoon only.
2. NAM HEONG – The marketing genius of Ipoh white coffee
What to Eat? The piping hot, fresh egg tarts has velvety smooth egg custard. The char kuey teow on banana leaf is good too. There’s also a Hakka mee stall here, and also a stall selling ‘bak zhang’ (wrapped glutinous rice dumplings).
KEDAI MAKANAN NAM HEONG
2, Jalan Bandar Timah,
30000 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia.
Opens for breakfast until late afternoon only.
3. AH CHOW KOPITIAM – A relatively new find, yet with a potent brew that’s not too shabby
What to Eat? Go for the soft-boiled eggs on toast (“dan ji”), curry mee, and a side order of crispy roasted pork from another stall. The Hong Kong chee cheong fun was okay, though not as good as this one in Ipoh Garden South.
KEDAI KOPI AH CHOW
31, Jalan Bandar Timah,
30000 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
Opens for breakfast until late lunch
*Sin Yoon Loong, Nam Heong and Ah Chow is situated on the same road, and within walking range from each other.
4. NAM CHAU – The ‘new’ kid on the block?
What to Eat? Dry Curry Mee. Enough said. And the egg toast, sesame buns and a very special ‘Dar Larn Woon’ (literally, break the bowl) which is glass vermicelli noodles with fishball in soup, served with chopped Chinese crullers (yau jai gwai).
KEDAI KOPI NAM CHAU
54, Jalan Bandar Timah,
30000 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
Opens everyday except Tuesdays.
Early morning until 3pm.
5. SIN LEAN LEE – The famous old town char kuey teow; aka “Kam Chau Fun” (golden fried noodles)
What to Eat? The char kuey teow is VERY famous, and the fish ball noodle stall serves a reputable beef noodle too. Also the curry mee, laksa, sweet glutinous rice with coconut and egg jam (pulut kaya).
RESTORAN SIN LEAN LEE
Corner of Jalan Bandar Timah-Jalan Panglima
30000 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
Closed on Tuesdays.
Early morning until late afternoon.
*Nam Chau and Sin Lean Lee are within walking range, and on the same side of the road as the famous Kong Heng and Thean Chun.
6. Sun Yuan Loong is the sibling outlet of the original Sin Yoon Loong in old town.
What to Eat? Various hawker stalls serving a myriad of hawker delights here, probably the most in comparison to the other white coffee specialists. The beverage counter serves various snacks like kaya puff, egg tarts, etc.
KEDAI KOPI SUN YUAN LOONG
Corner shop on Medan Bendahara 2,
31650 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia.
(This is in Pasir Puteh area of Ipoh, away from old town)
7. Xin Xiang Er Nong – Funny name? Means “New Fragrant & Robust”.
What to Eat? MANY hawker stalls within. From herbal duck noodles, seafood noodles to drunken chicken noodles, and the occasional chee cheong fun etc.
RESTORAN XIN XIANG ER NONG
Corner of Jalan Tokong – Jalan Foo Eng Lin,
31650 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia.
Opens for breakfast-lunch.
** Glaring omissions from this list? Chang Jiang white coffee outlets (Jalan Pasir Puteh, and another in Tasek). Old Town White Coffee outlets (Halal), and the few other coffee shops in old town.
** Personal thoughts? Sin Lean Lee and Nam Chau are my favourites; though Sin Yoon Loong comes to mind when authentic white coffee is desired. Just that Sin Yoon Loong’s not consistent enough. Nam Heong‘s quality has dropped drastically, and NEVER order the iced version, as you’d probably left devastated. Ah Chow is slowly creeping up on my list, though could fare better with tampered sweetness.
i gotta confess, the only ipoh white coffee i can recall sipping is from kl’s branches of old town white coffee. i guess that must pale in comparison to the ones u’ve listed!
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J2Kfm Reply:
August 22nd, 2011 at 9:08 am
Haha …. Sean, I have mine at Old Town outlets too. Nothing to be ashamed of, since it’s accessible, QC maintained (usually), and brought back good old memories of sipping on the potent brew back in the real old town in Ipoh.
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i think you should try another shop which is in ipoh garden called Yat Seng coffee shop, same row with Paragon City hotel which is near to Simee. They serve good coffee and of much consistency. It is always my family’s first choice to have coffee there than heading down to old town. Maybe you should give it a try.
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J2Kfm Reply:
August 22nd, 2011 at 9:07 am
Oh yeah … I heard about this coffee shop from my parents who are still residing in Ipoh. They used to have breakfast there and ranted about the selection of hawker fares there. Thanks piao for the reminder.
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Try Sun Ho Lok, Persiaran Greenhill, Greentown, they have varied ‘tong sui’ menu daily which some you may have lost touch, like tapioca tong sui, water chestnut with withe fungus and corn or your regular barley with fu cheok and gingko nuts. The pork noodle is great to deserve a long wait, home made yong tau foo ‘liew fun’ is good and your money worth tasty dim sum.
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J2Kfm Reply:
August 22nd, 2011 at 9:03 am
Thanks lc. No, I have not lost touch in terms of classic tong sui … though I have not tried the ones at Sun Ho Lok.
http://www.j2kfm.com/ipoh-tong-sui-sweet-soup-macy-cafe-sin-hong-kee-all-inn-cafe/
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Good post! At least now I know what to eat other than dim sum and yong tau foo (pasir panji) when I’m in Ipoh. Haha.
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like i said.. Ipoh gets all the GOOD stuff hor.. sniffle;)
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[...] All About Ipoh White Coffee – Intoxicatingly Addictive [...]
[...] interplay of flavours from the roasting process. Want more of Ipoh’s white coffee? Try THIS LIST for a very good [...]
[...] And so, Mum could not help but being cynical herself. Aside from the comfort the place offered, there was basically nothing much revolving around this ‘trendier’ cafe masquerading as a platform to bridge the gap between the premiums (Starbucks … or maybe Coffee Bean since I am not sure which year did Starbucks come to Ipoh Parade), and the authentics (the Ipoh old town favourites). [...]
Hey! Thanks for a great list of white coffee kopitiams. The aroma of white coffee from Sun Yuan Foong that I sipped more than a week ago still lingers in my mind. Have you heard of Chek Hup white coffee, do you know which shop they are originated from?
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J2Kfm Reply:
December 10th, 2011 at 9:25 pm
Chek Hup …. I don’t think they’re from old town. But I could be wrong.
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dnFor those who are looking for sin yoon loong coffee. You can actually find it amansuria and kota damansara pj. These two outlet belongs to one of the family member. The provide very similiar taste but still not as good as the one in ipoh. Some said is due to the water saurce. Forget bout the servince
[Reply]
J2Kfm Reply:
September 4th, 2012 at 9:48 pm
Yup, I have been to the one in Aman Suria once. Definitely far from the real deal. Heck, even the branch in Ipoh town near off Jalan Pasir Putih also not as good as the one in old town.
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