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Ipoh in 2 days: a food weekend from D Eastern

Spend Saturday on New Town dim sum, an Old Town morning of kopitiams and kai si hor fun, and bean sprout chicken at Lou Wong before the Gerbang Malam night market. On Sunday, be at Sin Yoon Loong or Nam Heong for white coffee before 8am, then eat in Little India and finish with evening dim sum.

By D Eastern front desk · Updated 2026-11-06

This plan on the map

Saturday

  1. 107:00 Dim sum breakfast, Jalan Leong Sin Nam (Foh San)
  2. 209:30 Kong Heng Square kopitiam
  3. 312:30 Lunch at Concubine Lane (Wong Koh Kee)
  4. 414:00 Kong Fu Kopitiam (air-conditioned)
  5. 517:00 Tau fu fah at Funny Mountain
  6. 619:00 Bean sprout chicken and Gerbang Malam night market

Sunday

  1. 106:30 White coffee: Sin Yoon Loong and Nam Heong
  2. 209:00 Murals and the coffee gallery, Jalan Panglima
  3. 311:30 Lunch in Little India
  4. 417:00 Evening dim sum at Yoke Fook Moon

Stops in the order of the plan; dotted lines show the order, not the exact walking route.

This is a weekend of eating, not sightseeing, and almost all of it is on foot. The New Town dim sum houses, Lou Wong and the night market are about 300–450 m from Jalan Sultan Idris Shah. The Old Town kopitiams are 500–800 m away, about 7–11 minutes' walk. Little India is about 15 minutes.

Two rules shape the plan. Old Town kopitiams open early and most close by mid-afternoon. New Town stays open into the evening. So eat in the Old Town in the morning, rest in the heat of the afternoon, and eat in the New Town at night. For a general plan with temples and day trips, see Ipoh in 1, 2 or 3 days.

Distances are straight-line estimates from OpenStreetMap coordinates, at about 80 m a minute, so the real walk is a little longer. Hours change and rest days vary, so check before you set out. The hotel serves no breakfast, which suits this plan: every meal is out.

Saturday: dim sum, Old Town and the night market

7:00 Breakfast: dim sum on Jalan Leong Sin Nam

Three dim sum houses stand on this short New Town street, all open on Saturdays according to their published hours:

PlaceDistance (straight line)Hours
Foh San, 51 Jalan Leong Sin Namabout 310 m, 4 minAbout 7am–2pm, Wednesday to Monday (closed Tuesdays), per its own website (checked Nov 2026)
Ming Court, 32–36 Jalan Leong Sin Namabout 340 m, 5 min6am–2pm, closed Thursdays
Yoke Fook Moon, 65–69 Jalan Leong Sin Namabout 360 m, 5 min7am–2pm and 5–9pm, closed Tuesdays

Ming Court has queues even at 8am, so go early. Weekend mornings are the busiest time across Ipoh.

9:30 Mid-morning: Old Town kopitiams

Walk about 10 minutes to Kong Heng Square, at the corner of Jalan Bandar Timah and Jalan Panglima. Kedai Kopi Kong Heng (75 Jalan Bandar Timah, about 600 m, 8 min) is one of Ipoh's oldest surviving kopitiams, known for charcoal-grilled satay and popiah. It is open about 7am–5pm (checked Nov 2026), but sources disagree on its rest day, so check before you go. Next door, Thean Chun (73 Jalan Bandar Timah) is known for kai si hor fun, flat rice noodles with shredded chicken, and caramel egg custard. It opens about 8am–4.30pm and closes on Wednesdays and Thursdays (checked Nov 2026).

Then wander Concubine Lane, a couple of minutes away, for snacks and dessert stalls. If you want to see Han Chin Pet Soo, the tin miners' museum on Jalan Bijeh Timah, book online at ipohworld.org before your trip. Visits are by appointment only.

12:30 Lunch: Cantonese home cooking

Restoran Wong Koh Kee, 3 Jalan Panglima, at the entrance to Concubine Lane (about 540 m, 7 min), is a Cantonese home-style restaurant. Reviewers mention watercress with roast pork and claypot chicken with salted fish. It opens for lunch only, about 10.30am–3pm, with no fixed off days (checked Nov 2026), so arrive by about 12pm and check its Facebook page for closures.

14:00 Afternoon: rest, then coffee in the cool

Ipoh's average daily high is about 32°C, so the early afternoon is for a cool room. If you stay out, Kong Fu Kopitiam, 39 Jalan Panglima (about 510 m, 7 min), is one of the few air-conditioned cafés in Old Town. It serves white coffee and caramel custard, and has a small free museum upstairs. It is open 8.30am–4.30pm and closed on Wednesdays.

17:00 Tea: tau fu fah

Funny Mountain Soya Bean, 50 Jalan Mustapha Al-Bakri (about 280 m, 4 min), is known for tau fu fah (soft soya bean curd) and soya milk. It opens about 10.30am, closes in the early evening and is closed on Tuesdays (checked Nov 2026). The tau fu fah often sells out by about 2–3pm, so by 5pm you may only get soya milk. If the bean curd is what you want, go straight after lunch.

19:00 Dinner: bean sprout chicken

Restoran Tauge Ayam Lou Wong, 29–31 Jalan Yau Tet Shin, serves Ipoh's signature plate: poached chicken with bean sprouts and rice or kuey teow. It is open about 10am–10pm daily (checked Nov 2026). In March 2026 it moved to this larger shop, across the street from its old site beside Gerbang Malam. It is about 350–420 m away (straight line), about 5 minutes on foot.

21:00 Evening: Gerbang Malam night market

The open-air night market on Jalan Dato Tahwil Azar is about 290 m from the hotel, 4 minutes' walk. It sells clothes, accessories and souvenirs, It is open every night from about 6pm to midnight (checked Nov 2026), and one guide suggests about 9pm, when all the stalls are set up.

Sunday: white coffee, Little India and evening dim sum

6:30 Breakfast: the white coffee pair

Start early. Sin Yoon Loong, 15A Jalan Bandar Timah (about 820 m, 11 min), opened in 1937 and is widely credited with naming "Ipoh White Coffee". Recent guides list it as open daily, about 6.30am–2.30pm (checked Nov 2026), though one 2026 guide says it closes on Wednesdays. Citizens Journal suggests arriving before 8am to beat the queue. Nam Heong, directly across the road at 2 Jalan Bandar Timah (about 810 m, 11 min), is known for iced white coffee and house-made egg tarts, and is open 6.30am–4.30pm daily.

Order kopi putih (white coffee), hot or iced, with kaya-butter toast and soft-boiled eggs. Our white coffee guide explains how the drink is made.

Walk off breakfast around the Zacharevic murals. The OldTown White Coffee Experience Centre, 2 Jalan Panglima (about 570 m, 8 min), has a café and a free heritage gallery on Ipoh's coffee culture, and is open 8am–9pm daily. The Old Town heritage walk gives a full route.

11:30 Check-out and lunch in Little India

Check-out is until 12:00. If you are leaving later in the day, see luggage storage. Little India is about a 15-minute walk. Aro Restaurant, 134 Jalan Sultan Yussof, serves South Indian thali sets, dosa and Gobi Manchurian. Its TripAdvisor listing shows it open on Sundays and closed on Mondays (checked Nov 2026). Hours change, so check before you go, and book ahead for the 12.30–1pm lunch rush.

17:00 Early dinner: evening dim sum

Yoke Fook Moon is one of the few dim sum houses with an evening sitting (5–9pm, closed Tuesdays), and is known for char siu bao. It is about 360 m away, 5 minutes' walk, and a good last meal before an evening train or drive.

Tips for an Ipoh food weekend

  • Rest days: Foh San and Yoke Fook Moon close on Tuesdays, Ming Court on Thursdays, Kong Fu Kopitiam on Wednesdays and Thean Chun on Wednesdays and Thursdays, so a Saturday and Sunday avoids all of them. Festival periods can differ: Ming Court closed for a few days over Mid-Autumn in 2026.
  • Queues: weekend mornings are the busiest. Be at the kopitiams before 8am.
  • Heat and rain: October and November are the wettest months. Carry an umbrella and do the walking in the morning.
  • Driving in: free private parking on site at the rear, first come, first served, so you can leave the car and walk all weekend.
  • More choices: the Ipoh food map lists more places within walking distance.

Ask the front desk on WhatsApp

Sources