Kedai Makanan Nam Heong (南香茶餐室) is located along Jalan Bandar Timah, near one end of Ipoh Old Town. It is a popular coffee shop that is often hailed as one of the must-visit eating places when in Ipoh. Nam Heong is well-known for its iconic Ipoh white coffee, egg tarts and dim sums — and more.
Nam Heong Coffee Shop gathers famous flavours in Ipoh, and nearby Penang, and houses them under one roof. There are stalls selling char kway teow, prawn noodle, curry noodle, Hakka noodle (yong tau foo), chee cheong fun, Nyonya kueh, etc. Nam Heong serves hot / cold beverages and dim sum itself.
Ipoh is famous for its white coffee — coffee beans traditionally roasted with palm oil margarine but without sugar — which is usually served with condensed milk, unless otherwise specified.
Nam Heong’s signature Old Town white coffee is often served with a foamy layer on top. It has a strong aroma, full-bodied, low bitterness and just-nice sweetness from the use of both condensed milk and evaporated milk. It has a smooth and yet complex texture.
Note that black “white” coffee (or white coffee-O) is white coffee served without milk. The aroma of Nam Heong’s black coffee is even stronger and with low bitterness even without milk. This is the best way to taste Ipoh’s pure white coffee.
Top-left: If “white coffee” is ordered without specifying anything, an iced white coffee will be served — it is probably the signature beverage of Nam Heong and is very popular when the weather is hot.
Top-right: Aside from white coffee, Nam Heong’s own freshly-made signature egg tarts and other dim sum items are great for breakfast. We tried century egg fried rolls (皮蛋炸卷), siew mai (烧卖), prawn dumplings (虾饺) and chicken glutinous rice (糯米鸡). All the dim sums are nice and fresh. The Chicken Glutinous Rice has mushroom, chicken drumstick, a cut of Chinese sausage, etc, embedded in soft, sticky rice and is simply delicious.
Bottom-left: Nam Heong serves Hainanese-style traditional kaya toasts and soft-boiled eggs too. The kaya toast has crispy surface and soft inside with evenly-spread kaya with just-nice sweetness. The soft-boiled eggs are slightly on the rawer side (truly half-boiled eggs) — do specify the desired cooked-state if it is too raw.
Bottom-right: Nam Heong’s Egg Tart (南香蛋挞) has custard in handmade layered pastry crust and is thick like most Malaysian-style egg tarts. The shiny, unburnt custard is smooth and creamy, like tofu, and mild-sweet. Their Chicken Sou (南香鸡酥) has sesame seeds on crispy layered pastry crust and the char siew filling, not flavoured with red char siew sauce, has nice flavours.
We have also tried the signature dishes of the other stalls, including char kway teow, prawn noodle and curry mee hoon.
Lim Fong’s Penang Banana Leaf Fried Kway Teow (林丰.槟城蕉叶炒粿条) is cooked with fat fresh prawns, cockles, Ipoh’s crunchy fat bean sprouts, egg, etc, and served on a piece of banana leaf. The local delight has a nice wok aroma, nicely-fried, tasty and yet not too salty.
The traditional Ipoh-style Hokkien Prawn Mee from 怡保聚家传 stall is a soupy dish very similar to Penang-style Hokkien Mee, except for the ingredients used. The noodle dish uses rice vermicelli with big prawns, lean meat slices, fat bean sprouts, a quarter of a hard-boiled egg and greens in flavourful broth that is boiled with prawns and added with spicy chilli oil.
Kam Yee Curry Mee’s Dry Curry Mee (金姨咖喱粉.干咖喱粉) is served with rice vermicelli added with slices of chicken, roasted pork, Ipoh bean sprouts and drenched in curry gravy. The noodle dish is usually topped with edible mint leaves for flavours. The curry gravy with just-nice spiciness is the main essence of the dish with tender meats and crunchy bean sprouts.
A pack of 2-piece chwee kueh (水粿) from the Nyonya kueh stall by the doorway looks very tasty. The chwee kueh is not soft and watery, like those in Singapore, and has more solid texture and nicer to bite. The toppings of dried radish with chilli, sesame seeds, etc, add flavours and made the chwee kueh tasty and slightly spicy. I love this! Will try more of the others next time!
Nam Heong has several Kopitiam-style branches, known as Nam Heong Ipoh, in West Malaysia and Indonesia. The coffee shop in Ipoh Old Town is the original outlet. Closer to Singapore, the nearest Nam Heong Ipoh outlet is located in Mid Valley Southkey Mall, Johor Bahru.
Social Media:
Facebook (Nam Heong Ipoh)
Address:
2, Jalan Bandar Timah, 30000 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
Opening Hours:
6:30am to 4:30pm | Daily
Nearby:
More Eats @ Ipoh:
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