Talk:Ipoh

Food list

First, I applaud, acclaim, appreciate someone has taken the time and effort to put in the information at the Food section.

I am not an Ipoh native and every time I visit the area I am at the mercy of my relatives, who fortunately know the rule of ‘where to get the best and tasty food’, to chauffer me around in order to gratify our taste buds. Having done this on my numerous visits during the last 13 years, I do agree that you either need a genuine native with a hefty good gastronomic aptitude to seek out places that serve good food, or the alternative is to go by the word of mouth, or to go by the common instinct “if you see the place is crowded then it got to be serving good food”. With the advent of the Web and armed with the information on this page, one can be empowered with a virtual cuisine guidance. This is close to, if not better, than having a local native (who may sometimes be a bit bias) to beat the tracks with you.

Although I have not visited and sampled the food at each place mentioned, I believe they are truthful, genuine and to the best knowledge of the writer(s) as well as the consensus of locals who have a palate for good food. To top up this information, I would appreciate more details, like the exact address listing (No. xxx on Jalan X), or descriptions like “located between Jalan X and Jalan Y, a few doors down from store A, just opposite of B” to enable us to precisely pinpoint those places (especially for occasional visitors). Perhaps it would also be helpful if one could supplement the Chinese characters immediately following the food item or a picture alongside with it to give the dish a more appealing appearance. I would encourage anyone to make these improvements so that this page would be more delightful and delicious to the WikiTravel/Wikipedia World.

Thanks, Felix (felixchoy@msn.com)

PS: I welcome comments and feedbacks

The list

• Ipoh bean sprouts chicken"芽菜雞" , which consists of chicken meat, assorted chicken innards and bean sprouts boiled in hard water and served with soy sauce and sesame oil. Ipoh's bean sprouts are very fat, short and tastier than those produced outside Ipoh; thus, Ipoh's beansprouts also receive orders from other states. Famous bean sprout chicken noodles include Onn Kee （安記芽菜雞沙河粉）and Lou Wong (老黃芽菜雞沙河粉） Restaurants, both of which are located at the junctions of Yau Tet Shin Street 姚德勝街 and Osbourne Street.

• Ipoh Sar Hor Fun"怡保沙河粉", which are rice flat noodles prepared in hard water and served in clear chicken and prawn soup with chicken shreds, prawns and spring onions. Famous sar hor fun purveyors include Thean Chun and Kong Heng Restaurants, located along Leech Street 列治街 in the Old Town. Other popular food choices include chicken and pork intestines satay, curry pork skin chee cheong fun, popiah and their custard! Custards are usually sold out around 3pm weekdays and noon on Saturdays and Sundays.

• Salted chicken or Yim Kok Kai 盐锔鸡. This is a must try when you are in Ipoh. The chicken is baked in salt in such a way that the skin and meat is so delicious that you will finish it all. Whole chickens are wrapped in "oil paper" and then baked in large woks filled with heated salt. The restaurant that sells salted chicken is Aun Kheng Lim Restaurant, located at Theatre Street, opposite Martell house or near Bak Gong restaurant in the city centre. It is so popular that you must call to order before you drop in. Tel: 05-254 2998.

• Ipoh White Coffee, which are coffee beans specially roasted (with palm-oil margarine). Its colour is similar to that of cappuccino when served with milk. The best can be found in the few coffee shops located opposite the Kinta Heights flats in Ipoh's old town such as:
  • Nam Heong Restaurant (Distributor of "3 in 1 Ipoh Old Town White Coffee")
  • Xin Yun Loong restaurant (Open mornings and afternoons only)
  • Xin Yuan Hoong and Xin Yuan Foong (All open mornings and afternoons only).

The aroma, taste & texture of the original thing is definitely superior compared to the commercially-packed sachets or the Ipoh White Coffee sold elsewhere. These coffee shops are likely to be crowded during teatime, especially on weekends. Food-wise, you can get fried noodles/vermicelli, satay, congee, kuih, etc. at these coffee shops. Also order tasty toasted bread with kaya (coconut jam) and butter to complement a good cup of white coffee (known as a "Yin-Yang" toast). Nowadays you can get a good cup of white coffee in coffee shops around Ipoh city.

• Pomelo“柚”. Perak's most famous fruit, a large juicy citrus fruit. The best pomelos are reputed to be from Tambun, about 10 minutes drive east of Ipoh. There are stalls selling pomelos in front of the Sam Po Tong temple.

Besides these signature dishes, Ipoh is also known to have some of the best of Malaysian cuisine like:

Chinese Food

• Hor Hee noodles 河熹粉. Those who come to Ipoh should try this local food other than bean sprouts chicken. This is a very delicious kuey teow noodles with fish balls, fish pastes and hand made fish wan tan. The most famous stalls selling Hor Hee include those located in Li Heng Fatt restaurant at Jalan Panglima, Old Town area (open from 3pm to 10pm). Food sell in this stall are all home made and couldn't find it elsewhere. This stall just moved from Heng Fong restaurant (just a few doors away).Another famous stall located at the "Gao Peng" restaurant at Chamberlain Road in Ipoh New Town (again, night only). Both these stalls have been run business for more than 30 years in Ipoh.

• Dim sum“点心”(fish balls, fried items, dumplings, buns, served in small quantities). Foh San(富山) restaurant, located nearby the tauge ayam outlets, is a famous dim sum restaurant. Yuk Fook Moon Lau(玉福满楼） (open in the morning and also at night), located behind Excelsior Hotel, sells excellent dim sum too. Ming Kok （明阁）, which is just opposite, is the best dim sum restaurant in Ipoh. Also try out or take away the Cha Siew Bao, Chinese pork pao (bun) sold in Yuk Fook Moon Lau. Be warned: Go there early in the morning, around 6am-7am, because it is quite difficult to get a table at a later time.

• Chinese restaurants which serve excellent seafood and meat. The famous ones among Ipoh natives are Overseas（海外天） restaurant opposite Excelsior hotel, Mun Zhong （民众） restaurant in Jalan Pasir Puteh, Pusing Public Seafood Restaurant （布先民众海鮮酒家）on Jalan Verasamy, “Tung Hoi （东海） restaurant in Menglembu & Ipoh Garden South, and "Rainbow (天虹） restaurant in Menglembu. Two restaurants that serve very good Nyonya (Straits Chinese) cuisine are Yum Yum restaurant at Persiaran Greenhill near Excelsior hotel and Assam House restaurant near Jalan Yang Kalsom.

• Chow hor fun炒河粉 or Kueh teow basah are rice noodles fried in such a way that it is a little wet with dark gravy (as opposed to the Penang char kueh teow which has no gravy but is fried with egg, prawns or cockles and the Cantonese-style wat tan hor 滑蛋河, which is completely immersed in clear, egg gravy). You can get chow hor fun in all Chinese restaurants in Ipoh. The best chow hor fun can be found at a street stall in the Mengelembu town area and one restaurant near Xin Hup Zi (originating from Buntong; only open at night).

• Hakka noodles客家麵. A few restaurants around the city sell delicious Hakka noodles with yong tau foo. The most popular Hakka noodles are offered by Yin Yau Kui at Hugh Low Street (Jalan Iskandar). This shop specialises in noodles rather than yong tau foo. Another lesser known favourite, known to local old-timers is located at Majestic Food Centre at Osbourne Street (Jalan Tahwil Azar). This stall offers much better yong tau foo compared to Yin Yau Kui but Yin Yau Kui's noodles are superior. There is one near the Mun Zhong restaurant in Jalan Pasir Puteh and one in a food court behind the Olympia College or Jalan Yang Kalsom (both open mornings only).

• Curry noodle 咖喱麵. In old town Ipoh, Sin Seng Fatt （新成发）, which is located near Kong Heng restaurant in Market Street, sells very delicious curry noodles. The curry paste of the curry noodle is so good that it's packed and sent to franchises in Hong Kong. They have a franchise at SS2, Petaling Jaya, Selangor. (open mornings and afternoons only). Another famous shop known to the locals is Sin Chuan Fatt (新泉發) on Jalan Pasir Puteh, which is known for its very spicy and thick curry paste, fried chicken and pork to go with the noodles. Another famous restaurant facing the roundabout beside MGS secondary school (open mornings and afternoons only) and a coffee shop called Sin Chuan Fong （新泉芳） on Hugh Low Street.

• Claypot Chicken Rice 瓦褒鸡饭. This is a hot and delicious. Ipoh's famous exponent of this dish is located in the Bercham village area, at Lorong Bercham 4, opposite the Old Bercham wet market (open only at night).

• Chinese-style Satay 沙爹. This is skewered meat seasoned and flavored with spices and served with cucumbers, onions and a chunky peanut sauce. Please note that the Chinese-style of satay (compared to other satay) contains pork and is thus unsuitable for Muslim tourists. The preferred stall is in Thean Chun Restaurant, Ipoh old town (open mornings and afternoons).

• Chu Cheong Fun noodles 猪肠粉. This is a white noodles dish with sauce only. The most famous stall selling Chu Cheong Fun is the one located in Weng Kat Fong (永吉坊） restaurant in Menglembu Town (open only afternoon). Its' famous sauce is mushroom sauce that you can find only in Ipoh (The most delicious in Ipoh), and thick curry sauce. Chu Cheong Fun noodles dish in Ipoh don't have sweet prawn sauce like in Penang and KL. You can order a plain Chu Cheong Fun noodle with sesame and soya sauce also. The "Ham Jim Beng" 咸煎饼， prawn cracker 虾饼, and pandan fried chicken are the best in town and must try. The nasi lemak dishes is also a favourite. Go there early as there is limited table in restaurant or take away.

• Tau Fu Fah (豆腐花), or soybean curd. It is claimed that Ipoh or Kinta Valley water makes this drink tasty. This drink is good for the body after travelling on a very hot day. The soya bean is fresh, sweet and smooth. Once you are drinking this soya bean curd, you can feel the smoothness and freshness of the soya bean smoothing down through your throat. It is served steaming hot with pandan syrup. The stall named Kei Foong, or Funny Mountain in English, is located at Osbourne Street (Jalan Tahwil Azar), near Restaurant Foh San. It has a drive-in delivery service. Also try the following delicious varieties:
  • soymilk only
  • soymilk mixed with cincau
  • soybean curd with soymilk.

The Funny Mountain shop is open from 10.00am to 7.30pm. Tau Fu Fah and its variants can also be found in stalls by the roadside in various places.

• Tong Sui (糖水), sweet dessert drink that will definitely refresh your body on a hot day. The most famous, located at what locals call "Tong Sui Kai" (糖水街) or Desert Drinks Street, is opposite Sam Tet Primary School (noon till late night). The most popular tong sui at this place would be black sesame (芝麻糊), mo mo cha cha and red bean (红豆沙). Also recommended is one located at Restaurant Cha Yong, behind Pizza Hut in Ipoh Garden South. Another few stalls are located in the Ipoh Stadium's food court and in a food court near the former Ocean (now The Store) supermarket.

Malay/Indian Food

• Laksa Perak 叻沙. This is a noodle dish which is similar to Penang's famous Asam Laksa but with a different taste. Laksa in Ipoh tastes a bit sour and spicy but not as sweet as Penang's Laksa. The ingredients of the noodle soup include prawn paste. There is one very good Laksa stall in Farlim, Ipoh (opposite the Setapak driving institute, on the way to Mengelembu from Ipoh; open Sunday afternoons only). The other one would be the Laksa stall in Kong Heng Restaurant.

• Banana Leaf Rice. A common Southern Indian meal that includes a variety of meat curries, vegetables and poppadoms, it is great to have at Samy Restaurant in Chemor and Chuan Fong (泉芳) restaurant. Another great location to have it is at the Perak Stadium in Canning Garden.

pedestrian-hostile city?

I enjoyed walking around Ipoh. It's true that the cars go fast, but it seemed to me that there are decent sidewalks, and compared to Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh is much easier for a pedestrian to deal with -- there's simply much less traffic. I thought you might like that perspective from a New York City native who enjoyed a visit.

Michael 07:14 07 April 2006 (UTC)

"Do" list broken up by days of the week

A one-word question: Why?

For the record, here is the relevant text:

1. Monday: Taman Menglembu, Taman Ipoh Jaya (near Gunung Rapat)
2. Tuesday: Ipoh Garden East
3. Wednesday: Ipoh Garden(near Perak stadium)
4. Thursday: Taman SPPK
5. Friday: Taman Pertama; Pekan Razaki (near Taman Ipoh Jaya)
6. Saturday: Taman Rasi
7. Sunday: Taman Cempaka (6pm-10pm only)

I am leaving this text for now, but can't imagine what it could be, other than someone's idea of a guided or self tour.

And while I'm at it, this entry doesn't belong in a list of Ipoh foodstuffs:

Kafe Paprika[www.Kafepaprika.com] Excellent lamb stew, run by Nurina and Alan. The proof of the stew is in the eating, the chef there cooks the best chicken also. They serve Mediterranean & European Cuisine, live music every Saturady night.

Maybe there should be a list of specific restaurants and stalls to eat it, in which case, if this is a good place, it should be included in that section. I am deleting this entry and the very obviously promotional language here as well:

Halal Restaurant

   * Assam House Restaurant 亞三屋美食專坊 

Nestled the quiet town of Ipoh, this cosy little restaurant is a blend of diverse Asian Cuisine. What started out as a small food outlet by a petite women more then 15 years ago has become one of the most reputable restaurant in Malaysia. Famous for its original recipe, Assam House has attracted many to its simple style of preparing dishes, regardless of local and international residents.

Be sure to hit the trademark dishes like the Curry Assam Fish Head and the fun Nyonya Lucky Platter. For prawn lovers, you enjoy these delicious crustaceans fried in Assam House's popular Assam or Assam Black Bean and Asian bamboo.

This gastronomical fare is also competitively priced so you can enjoy a value-for-money meal with your families and friends. If you have problems deciding which mouth-watering dishes to order, don't worry as there are plenty of sets to choose from designed for the different sizes of guests' number.

The real distinction between Assam House and other restaurant, however, come in the form of service. Assam House treats their guests with exceptional service, just like they are family. With fun, outgoing waiters and waitress to serve you, there's never a dull moment here. And you can relax, knowing fully well that you will be taken care of.

Located: 29, Psn Greentown 4, 605-243 7851. 11:30AM-3PM, 6PM-10PM every day.

Michael 23 December, 2006 15:16 (UTC)

The article formatting is currently badly broken: it should be structured as a list of restaurants, not a list of foods. In its current form, it would be impossible to find any of the restaurants named! Brief summaries of famous Ipoh dishes should stay, but half the stuff (samosas and whatever) belongs in Malaysian and Singaporean cuisine.

And the days-of-the-week thing is an embryonic itinerary, although one week in Ipoh would be overkill for all but the most dedicated gourmands... (WT-en) Jpatokal 03:35, 24 December 2006 (EST)

More food list

Returning to the food list (removed from the article and reproduced above), this list is cumbersome and inadequately formatted for Wikivoyage. Many of the dishes are not special to region and so shouldn't be described in the Ipoh article. It would be great if someone could identify the true Ipoh specialties so that they can receive more prominent attention. All the mentioned establishments should be incorporated into the article following the manual of style

(WT-en) Travelpleb 08:59, 31 May 2012 (EDT)

Further food list chat

Swept in from User talk:(WV-en) Travelpleb

Hi, Travelpleb. You've done a great job! But I'm wondering what your plan is for the Ipoh article. Why did you delete all the posts on Ipoh foods? I also find this statement way too weak: "Like everywhere in Malaysia, the local food is sublime." Ipoh has a reputation throughout Malaysia for particularly great food, to the extent that I've known of people from KL who drive to Ipoh just to have lunch and walk around having some more snacks before driving back the same day. To give a kind of analogy, I don't think people would take a day trip from Kuantan to Kuala Terengganu just to gorge themselves on local cuisine. I look forward to your thoughts. (WT-en) Ikan Kekek 01:59, 31 May 2012 (EDT)

I should have done this first: I just looked at the history of the Ipoh guide, and I see you moved the regional specialties to the Perak article. I guess the names of the eateries in Ipoh specializing in them will have to be deleted, then? And a question I'd ask (but don't know the answer to) is how many of these are particularly Ipoh specialties, like Ipoh Bean Sprouts, for example? Does Taiping have its own specialties? (WT-en) Ikan Kekek 02:02, 31 May 2012 (EDT)

The Ipoh article had a tag saying its style was not in line with the Wikivoyage style guide. As per Project:Where you can stick it, I moved this list of local cuisine to the regional article. The specialist eateries could be added back to Ipoh as restaurants listed in the correct style. If such a plan offends your sensibilities, by all means move the whole lot back to Ipoh, but I think this clutters what should be a fairly concise article. (WT-en) Travelpleb 02:10, 31 May 2012 (EDT)

Perhaps I am a culinary cretin but there doesn't seem to be anything particularly special about the bean sprouts in Ipoh and to say that Dim Sum is an Ipoh specialty seems perverse. The list looks like it was written by someone with a strong local affinity and needs a good overhaul to make it more useful to visitors.(WT-en) Travelpleb 02:23, 31 May 2012 (EDT)

Obviously, dim sum isn't solely a specialty of Ipoh, but Ipoh is certainly known for great dim sum. I'm not sure how concise an article about what I think is still the 3rd-largest city in Malaysia (unless one of the cities in East Malaysia has passed it) should be, and since the thing that Malaysians in my experience consider most special about Ipoh is its food, I think that section should be the longest and most detailed. By the way, I don't have a personal stake in this, because while I loved a brief (3 days, I think) visit to Ipoh in 2003, I've spent most of my time in Malaysia in Terengganu (mostly in a kampung), KL, and Kelantan, and I've loved the food in KL, Penang, Kota Bharu, Kuantan, and Seremban, among other places, not just Ipoh. I'm almost tempted to say the list would be better placed for now in Talk:Ipoh than in Perak, but since we agree that it needs work, maybe we should post a request for help somewhere where it's most likely to be read by more users. Where do you think would be most effective? Probably not the Travellers' Pub, as few seem to read it lately (as witness the lack of response to my post about www.airport-china). Talk:Ipoh and Talk:Perak, perhaps? (WT-en) Ikan Kekek 04:44, 31 May 2012 (EDT)

According to | Wikipedia, Malaysia's urban agglomerations are ranked: KL (6.1mil), Penang (1.5mil), Johor Bahru (1.3mil). Ipoh languishes in fourth place with 700,000 inhabitants.

Re concision: while it's a big place, Ipoh isn't much of a tourist hub and there isn't all that much there: pretty buildings and pomelos don't need that much describing. Therefore I think the article should be kept succinct.

I don't think we stand much chance of getting help on this but I'll stick the list in Talk:Ipoh and see if anyone cares. In the likely event we have to do this ourselves: the first five items on the list (Ipoh bean sprouts chicken, Ipoh Sar Hor Fun, Salted chicken, Ipoh White Coffee, and Pomelo) are described as Ipoh specialities, so maybe they and their descriptions should stay in the article. Establishments notable for each should be separated and listed following the style guide.

The list is then broken by "Besides these signature dishes, Ipoh is also known to have some of the best of Malaysian cuisine like:" and descriptions of more general dishes follow. These more general dishes (dim sum, banana leaf curries etc) should not listed in the Ipoh article. Any not already listed in the Malaysia article could be included there.

While I'd happily accept a compromise and leave the five "local" specialities, each one doesn't seem all that local and so I'd be inclined to be against inclusion.

• 1. Ipoh bean sprouts chicken - in the name of discovery I made sure I have bean sprouts for lunch in Ipoh today. They were perfectly ordinary and not "very fat, short and tastier than those produced outside Ipoh".

• 2. Ipoh Sar Hor Fun - the noodle soups here are like any other Chinese noodle soup I've had on this continent.

• 3. Salted chicken - everyone knows that the colonel was the first to add salt to chicken skin.

• 4. Ipoh White Coffee - Old Town White coffee is a big national chain (admittedly originating in Ipoh). They run coffee shops selling Ipoh White Coffee in all the big cities, it's even hit Borneo.

• 5. Pomelo - Pomeloes from Ipoh seem to be available far beyond Ipoh. Wikipedia even has a picture of Ipoh Pomelos for sale in Singapore.

(WT-en) Travelpleb 08:35, 31 May 2012 (EDT)

From what I understand, the pomelos are grown just outside of Ipoh. I saw street-side stalls selling tremendous numbers of huge pomelos near Sam Poh Tong (which I notice is listed on the Ipoh guide as "within Ipoh," but which I thought was beyond the city limits). But wait: You're actually in Ipoh now? Are you there long enough to try some of the recommended eateries and find out more information about their location, contact info, etc.? That would be great, though it sounds like you aren't so thrilled with the food so far. (WT-en) Ikan Kekek 16:15, 31 May 2012 (EDT)

I will check out one or two of the places listed. But a brief bit of Googling yields reviews and full contact information for some of the places, so actually having to gorge systematically through the list won't be necessary. I'm apathetic about chronicling the food here because it's all outstanding. I've been in Malaysia for about 5 weeks now and haven't had anything remotely bad: Chinese, Malay, Indian... all great. Perhaps too concise for a travel guide, my advice for good eating here would just be: eat. (WT-en) Travelpleb 22:41, 31 May 2012 (EDT)

Yeah, most food in Malaysia is at least good, though you may have to watch your digestive system now and then. Where else are you going to hit on your trip? By the way, I had some of the best samosas I've ever had when I walked through the Indian neighborhood in Ipoh and walked into a shop at random. So moist and delicious! (WT-en) Ikan Kekek 03:23, 1 June 2012 (EDT)

1. chicken and beansprouts - I ate at one of the recommended places. It was very tasty and the meat was tender. I'm not going to rave about it because tasty here is not some magic combination of herbs and spices; tasty here is just heaps of salt and fat, which is great to eat but not exactly a sign of skilled preparation. I've listed both recommended chicken and beansprout places. I've also added brief descriptions of the five Ipoh specialities. Do you think any of the others should be included?

I'm probably going to head to the Camerons tomorrow.

[1] seems to have blogged about most of these recommended places and lists their addresses and opening times so anyone can put listing together... any volunteers?

In case you were wondering, the beansprouts are not some super amazing local secret treasure... they're beansprouts like any other.(WT-en) Travelpleb 06:36, 1 June 2012 (EDT)

I think the ideal solution is to list only foodstuffs that are known to be local specialties plus those that are originally from elsewhere but known in Malaysia to be particularly good in Ipoh (which is the basis under which dim sum could be mentioned, though I won't fight hard for that). And then list eateries alphabetically by name (and price category, where relevant), mentioning in the entry for the eatery what it specializes in. I'll try to look at the blog you link to later. Enjoy the Cameron Highlands. I've never been there. (WT-en) Ikan Kekek 16:06, 1 June 2012 (EDT)

I had some dim today in Georgetown (not the Cameron Highlands). They were very good and so disincline me further from mentioning dim sum in the Ipoh article. I'm gradually working down the list of restaurants, finding their details and adding listings to the article. We'll have a fairly decent Eat section soon enough. I'm also tempted to move this thread to Talk:Ipoh. (WT-en) Travelpleb 23:56, 2 June 2012 (EDT)

Feel free. But do keep in mind that Penang is also renowned for its dim sum in Malaysia. I have also had wonderful dim sum in KL (and in Kuantan as well, though back in the mid 70s), but Penang and Ipoh have traditionally been most famous for dim sum in the peninsula, I believe. It would be good to have input from some Malaysians. (WT-en) Ikan Kekek 00:32, 3 June 2012 (EDT)

It seems that you're trying to say that good dim sum is available in any large Malaysian city, which further supports the exclusion of its description from the Ipoh Eat section. The opinions of (WT-en) Jpatokal (03:35, 24 December 2006 (EST)), which are somewhere in the above mess of this talk page, also are against excessive descriptions of non-native-Ipoh dishes:

Brief summaries of famous Ipoh dishes should stay, but half the stuff (samosas and whatever) belongs in Malaysian and Singaporean cuisine.

(WT-en) Travelpleb 05:57, 4 June 2012 (EDT)

Railway station

The station has a new look. If anyone would please take photos of it and upload them to Wikimedia Commons, that would be great. It is no longer a construction site, but I can't be sure I know what both sides of the station look like. However, if you've seen it, you do know. Ikan Kekek (talk) 11:11, 9 May 2015 (UTC)

Been looking for pictures of the station, but can't find any good ones. The sides can be seen on Google Street View if you want to. As for Urdu, I can't say I can tell the difference between Urdu and Jawi. It seems like a weird quirk to me, because it was mainly the South Indians and Sri Lankans who moved to Malaysia. -- torty3 (talk) 10:17, 23 August 2015 (UTC)

I can tell the difference. The letter that's a "nya" in Jawi gives a "p" sound in Urdu and Farsi, whereas in Jawi, the fa can be pronounced with an "f" or "p" sound (e.g., paham=faham), and when I was seeing what I'd normally interpret as a nya for a "p" sound on business signs in Ipoh (which would be pronounced the same in Rumi and the Arabic-based alphabet), I'm sure it wouldn't have been Farsi. Yes, most Malaysian Indians are Tamils, but there is quite a significant community of Muslims of North Indian origin, who are called Mamaks and contributed foods like roti canai and capati to Malaysian cuisine. The evidence from signs suggested to me that a large percentage of Indians in Ipoh are Urdu-speaking Muslims. Ikan Kekek (talk) 10:41, 23 August 2015 (UTC)