Thean Chun Coffee Shop - Part 1

Last weekend, we made a trip up North to Penang and we stopped over in Ipoh at Thean Chun! For as long as I can remember, we've always made a little detour on the way to Penang just so we can have a meal at Thean Chun. 

It has the best food for miles around and it's all crammed  into this small-ish space. I like it there. It's been so many years, but the food still tastes great. I like it's oldness - it's yellowed walls and worn furniture and how people travel for miles just to come and have a bowl of noodles or spring rolls or satay or creme caramel or all of the above - which we did haha.

Ipoh Kai See Hor Fun (Ipoh Chicken and Prawn Kuey Teow Soup)

If you're looking for the perfect bowl of Ipoh Kai See Hor Fun, it's here. The stall is called Tricycle Chicken and Prawn Kuey Teow, this is the gold standard of what all Kai See Hor Fun should be. It just has all the hallmarks of a great Kai See Hor Fun - super silky noodles and a broth that tastes just right. Apparently, it's something to do with the water - the fresh mountain springs flow into rivers and pipes that grows better crops and makes better broth. Haha, I know, sounds crazy? But you know, if you could just taste it, you'd think it might actually be true. 

My mom always used to tell me when I was little, that Ipoh women were famous for having great skin because the water was fresher in Ipoh. I don't know how true that is but I definitely saw a few really old ladies with quite radiant and blemish free skin. Maybe we should all move to Ipoh. The landscape around Ipoh is quite scenic actually - it's right up against a mountain range so you do kind of get the feeling that it's more lush and green. 

Legit.

Ipoh really gives off this sleepy small town feel - and it definitely gives a glimpse of the world my parents grew up in when they were younger. This is the front of the building next door, I quite like the fact that the trees just decided that they'd like to grow out of the side of the wall haha.

And that's us! We're ordering more food. Obviously. 

But I'll tell you more about that in Part 2 :) Stay tuned! 

Thean Chun Coffee Shop
73, Jalan Bandar Timah
30000 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
Opens from 9.30am onwards (most of the food will be sold out by the afternoon though)
Closed on Thursdays.