I’m back, guys! 

Was on a one week holiday playing tour guide to N, so I haven’t been able to update this space. But you know what that means – more food reviews and adventures coming up! 🙂

We visited Ipoh on our second day. The city is almost my turf (big claim? lol), since the fam and I come back here for Chinese New Year and to visit relatives. After breakfast at Nam Heong and a visit to the Han Chin Pet Soo Museum,we stopped by for lunch at a cafe called Aud’s by JJ Cafe at Kong Heng Square. They’re really new (just opened this month) so there aren’t any blog reviews yet – so dibs for me woot.

Credit: Aud’s by JJ Cafe Facebook page

They were formerly in another location and were called JJ Cafe, but have since moved to Kong Heng Square. Hidden by a curtain of ivy, the small but cosy space sits next to the optical-shop-turned-cafe that was Missing Marbles (now permanently closed). Wood, concrete and deliberately unfinished touches give the space a raw but old school charm. Patrons were mostly travelers, like myself, and young office workers.

Service was friendly and personal; the lady proprietor came to our table and laid out the handwritten dessert specials for the day, which was a nice touch.

As part of their opening promotion, diners who like their Facebook page will get a choice of either free tea or coffee! We got tea to go along with our meal. It wasn’t the cheapo stuff either; came in a nice pot and was full of flavour and fragrance.

N had the braised pork rice (RM10), which came with generous servings of marinated pork belly and herbal egg on a bed of fluffy white rice. The dish was quite similar to the Taiwanese lu rou fan. 

For the love of all things porky, I went for the Siew Yuk Pasta – a tasty rendition of the aglio olio with plenty of mushrooms and tender roast pork, topped with a poached egg (a bit over done though, the yolk was hard, but nice nonetheless). The pasta was al dente which was just to my liking, there was lots of salty siew yuk bits in there, and it was just a good dish overall.

Aud’s by JJ Cafe 

97, Jalan Sultan Yusuff, Taman Perpaduan Koperasi, 30000 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia

Opening hours: 11AM-6PM (closed Mondays)