Happy Lunar New Year, guys!

The family and I decided to pay relatives in Ipoh a visit the week before the festivities, to beat the inevitable balik kampung exodus. A good decision, as we managed to reach Ipoh after just a 2.5 hour drive instead of having to face a potentially five hour crawl. As we approached the city, the sight of Ipoh’s signature limestone hills was a welcome sight.

For breakfast, we headed to Kedai Kopi Keng Nam, a favourite breakfast spot for both locals and tourists alike. Tucked in a corner shoplot in Kampung Jawa, this over five-decade old kopitiam houses several stalls selling Ipoh specialties, including the elusive (in KL, at least) mushroom sauce chee cheong fun (steamed rice rolls). KL’s version is often served Hong Kong style (stuffed with barbecued pork / shrimp and steamed, served with soy sauce), or with fried snacks.

The version at Keng Nam is decent – the rolls are silky smooth, and the mushroom sauce is savoury with plenty of minced pork and bits of shiitake in them. The best part is that it only costs RM3.80 (as of time of writing in 2022). That price for any noodle dish is impossible to find in KL.

Another alternative is the curry chee cheong fun served with pig’s skin. The latter are springy flavour bombs, having soaked all the curry.

Of course, one can’t come to Keng Nam and not order their specialty; the glutinous rice with kaya, or glutinous rice with curry. B had the latter, and was served with a mountain of sticky rice, drenched with chicken curry and topped with a few decently sized pieces of meat.

The curry for the rice is different from the one used in the chee cheong fun, ie it’s thicker and creamier.

The glutinous rice with homemade kaya is good too. Great if you like rice paired with something sweet.

Another must have when you’re at a Malaysian kopitiam is toast bread with butter and kaya, and half boiled eggs. It’s simple, but there’s something nostalgic and comforting about this typical Malaysian breakfast.

Another famous Ipoh dish to try here is yong liew or assorted fried/stuffed goodies. I don’t think there is a proper English description for it, but they encompass items like beancurd and vegetables that are stuffed with fish paste and then boiled/deep fried, as well as fishballs and meatballs. My dad’s favourite is the sar kot (jicama), mixed with fish paste, wrapped in bean curd skin and then deep fried.

To wash it all down, one cannot miss the famous Ipoh white coffee. Icy cold, sweet and refreshing.

There are a few other stalls within Keng Nam, one selling curry noodles, the other Western breakfast (sausages and eggs, etc.) as well as a prawn mee stall.

**Funny incident: ordered a glass of Milo Bing (iced Milo) from the staff and she repeated it to me “You mean Milo Suet?” Which hammered to me that I was in Ipoh – there are differences between the way KL-ites and Ipoh-ites speak Cantonese.

KEDAI KOPI KENG NAM

127, Jalan Raja Ekram, Kampung Jawa, 30300 Ipoh, Negeri Perak

Business hours: 6AM – 11AM (daily)

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