Located along Jalan Bijeh Timah, at one end of Concubine Lane in Ipoh Old Town, two zi-char restaurants sit facing one another on opposite sides of the road. One is called Kafe Yoon Wah (元华饮食阁) and the newer one is called Kafe Sun Yoon Wah (新元华饮食阁). The two outlets belong to the same family and share the same kitchen. So, regardless of which outlet you are sitting at, the dishes are cooked by the same chefs.
As a zi char restaurant, Sun Yoon Wah serves cooked dishes to orders and also snow beer (雪花啤酒) — not a kind of beer but an Ipoh experience — as their signature beverage. On a wall outside the original cafe, an artwork depicts three men cheering with glasses of snow beers behind a real-life beer barrel. Some customers, who ordered snow beers, like to pose with the artwork and cheer with these men.
Originated from Ipoh, the famous snow beer is a high-chill beverage created by pouring beer swiftly into a frozen glass, causing some beer to be frozen instantly into ice at the bottom of the glass and a thick, foamy top that resembles snow. Any beer can be used for the snow beer but Sun Yoon Wah recommends Carlsberg beer as the original choice.
On one trip, we had Salted Egg Prawns (咸蛋虾), steamed fish with assam and petai (stink beans), Omelette with Bitter Gourd (苦瓜炒蛋) and Clams (蛤蜊) to go with snow beers. They were nice dishes with great tastes.
For stronger tasting dishes, try:
Top-left: The Chicken with Lemon Sauce (柠檬鸡) uses meaty chicken coated in thick sweet-sour sauce.
Top-right: The Soft Shell Crabs with Salt & Pepper (椒盐软壳蟹) has soft-shell crabs deep-fried in batter with salt and pepper.
Bottom-left: The Salted Egg Mantis Prawns (咸蛋尿虾) uses de-shelled mantis prawn meat to deep-fried with salted egg batter and are crispy.
Bottom-right: The Sweet Potato Seedling with Belacan (马来栈番薯苗) uses sweet potato leaves to stir-fried with sambal belacan (spicy shrimp paste sauce) and onion shreds.
Aside from plain rice as staple to go with the cooked dishes, the Prawn Fried Rice Vermicelli (明虾干炒米) is a great alternative. It is a well-fried dish in dark soy sauce with big prawns, bean sprouts, greens and not too dry nor lumpy.
When night falls on Ipoh Old Town, dining options become limited. Kafe Sun Yoon Wah, which operates from late afternoon till late, is a great option to have dinner and spend the night.
Social Media:
Facebook
Address:
7, Jalan Bijeh Timah, 30000 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
Opening Hours:
2pm to 2am | Daily
Nearby:
More Eats @ Ipoh:
Leave a Reply