Restoran Thean Chun (天津茶室) is one of the oldest coffee shop in Ipoh Old Town, located opposite one end of the well-known Concubine Lane. Situated beside Restoran Ipoh Kong Heng, across an alley, customers can sit in either coffee shop and order food from any of the stalls in both establishments.
As a coffee shop, Thean Chun houses several food stalls serving delectable local delights, such as hor fun, beef noodle, satay, popiah, etc. There is also a stall selling Crispy Chicken Biscuits (小鸡饼). Thean Chun itself offers hot / cold beverages, herbal tea with egg (武夷鸡蛋茶) and its popular caramel custard (egg puddings).
Aside from aromatic traditional kopi, Thean Chun’s wobbly Caramel Custard (焦糖炖蛋), said to be the best in town, is served in light caramel syrup and is smooth, soft, creamy and mild-sweet. A nice dessert to have after meals. Note that the dessert usually runs out by mid-day, especially on weekends and public holidays.
Tricycle Chicken & Prawn Kuey Teow is a popular stall selling Chicken & Prawn Kuey Teow (鲜虾鸡丝沙河粉), Steamed Chicken (白切鸡) and Ipoh Bean Sprouts (油芽菜). It’s Chicken & Prawn Kuey Teow, also called kai si hor fun (pronounced as gai si hor fun), is served with fresh big prawns, shredded steamed chicken meat, bean sprouts and chives on Ipoh’s sha hor fun (slim-flat rice noodle) in rich, flavourful broth. The broth is boiled using chicken bones and prawn heads and has a hint of sweetness in the savoury flavours. This is one of the must-tries at Thean Chun.
The Ipoh Bean Sprouts (油芽菜) from the same stall uses Ipoh’s fat bean sprouts, grown using mineral-rich water from nearby limestone caves. The blanched bean sprouts, dribbled with oil and light sauce, retained their juiciness and crunchiness.
The Beef Noodle stall serves Beef Brisket Noodle (牛腩面), Fishball Noodle (鱼旦面) and Curry Noodle (咖喱面) with additional sides to add to the main dish. I have a go at its sha hor fun with beef balls, beef & tendon balls and fried tofu skin with fish paste. The sha hor fun is served with bean sprouts in light-flavoured clear soup — Ipoh style — and the selected ingredients in savoury soup. The beef balls are firm and bouncy whereas the beef & tendon balls are surprisingly soft, offering different textures.
On one occasion, I tried a special grilled fish otak-otak wrapped in lotus leave. It is mild-spicy and has a unique aroma with chunky fish meat. The dark patches on the fish otak-otak is not burnt marks but a kind of spice that gives the snack a special flavour.
The Rojak is from a stall in Restoran Ipoh Kong Heng. The dish uses cuts of turnip, pineapple, cucumber, dried cuttlefish, fried fritters, etc, and doused with a thick sauce made using shrimp paste and sprinkled with both crushed and powdered peanut. Unlike Singapore-style rojak, the ingredients are not tossed with the sauce. It is a tasty dish with pretty strong shrimp paste flavour and different experience.
Thean Chun is one of the eating places in Ipoh Old Town to go for local delights. I have yet to try the satay stall and will definitely do so on next visit to Ipoh.
Address:
73, Jalan Bandar Timah, 31650 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
Opening Hours:
8am to 4:30pm | Closed on Wednesday & Thursday
Nearby:
More Eats @ Ipoh:
Leave a Reply