A Taste of the Kopi Culture in Ipoh

Two words: White Coffee.

When it’s not off flaunting its colorful murals and lantern-adorned streets, Ipoh is brewing this saccharine concoction of a coffee cocktail. Coffee beans are soaked and roasted in margarine, before drenching them in pure condensed milk and sugar. Pick your poison – hot or iced. Fun fact, Ipoh has been named one of the top three coffee towns on the planet by Lonely Planet. It’s no wonder that a couple of expats from Melbourne set up shop in a nearby part of town!

Ipoh is a breath of fresh air - unlike many other cities on our itinerary, Ipoh’s main economic driver is not tourism. After dropping our bags off at our guesthouse, our noses led us to Kedai Kopi (Malay for ‘coffee house’) Sin Yoon Loong around 4PM. We scanned the bare teal walls, simple menu, and crowds of locals catching up after work. We ordered 2 iced white coffees and kaya toast, another Ipoh delicacy consisting of white toast smothered in butter and coconut cream.

Soon after, we roamed around Ipoh’s many historic laneways, formerly serving as illicit opium dens and brothels. These now buzzing streets are strewn with heritage shophouses and street art. Three in particular – Wife Lane, Concubine Lane, and Second Concubine Lane were owned by a former mining tycoon, who – you guessed it – originally gifted the lanes to his wife and two mistresses.

We even found a Harry Potter themed bar called ‘Platform 91/2” which was by far the most touristy place, but they had Hogwarts costumes on offer and I felt like collecting some future blackmail from Steven.

That night we enjoyed our nightly 7-eleven snack scouring ritual, typically settling on a box of pocky and tamarind. The next day we enjoyed more white coffees, this time getting them to-go in a signature plastic baggie and straw, and walked along the river.

One of our favorite dining experiences to date was a local food stall off the side of the town bridge, which separates the Old Town and New Town. We noticed a curving line of locals waiting patiently for heaping plates of Nasi Kandar, a regional dish made up of chicken leg, piping hot steamed rice, braised okra, and half a boiled egg, all drenched in curry sauce. We sat shoulder to shoulder with a couple locals at a makeshift table and scarfed down every bit of this messy deliciousness (sans utensils, as the locals do)!

On our final morning, we strolled through Ipoh’s colorful Mural Arts lane in the New Town.

Also, Malaysian architecture is rainbow inclined and I’m not complaining.