Best local bites: (From left) Amal, Syamilah and Shahd enjoying the popular nasi ganja at an eatery on Jalan Yang Kalsom; Lee and his family enjoying the famous bean sprout chicken with his family at a restaurant on Jalan Yau Tet Shin. — RONNIE CHIN/The Star
IPOH: Tourists are flocking here to find out whether Ipoh delights like ‘nasi ganja’ and bean sprout chicken are living up to their name.
Their verdict?
“The chicken and rice soaked in all that curry – it was definitely an explosion of flavours,” said Shahd Munir, a lawyer from Mauritius now based in Kuala Lumpur, about the popular nasi kandar known locally as ‘nasi ganja’.
She said she heard about its hype on TikTok but had never tried it before.
“So this time, when we planned for a trip to Ipoh, the three of us decided we must try it. I will definitely be back for more,” said Shahd, 24.
Lee Jun,40 ( left) from Shanghai,China and his family,enjoying the famous Bean Sprout Chicken Rice with his family on Jalan Yau Tet Shin Ipoh-(7th July 2025)--RONNIE CHIN'/The Star
She was here with her friend Amal Mohamed, 23, who is from Ethiopia and now taking up a medical course in Kuala Lumpur.
Both Shahd and Amal had come to Ipoh with a Malaysian friend, Syamilah Ahmad Taufiq, 23, a pharmacy student at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
The trio, who studied together at an international school in Kuala Lumpur, took the ETS and headed straight from the Ipoh railway station to have lunch at the restaurant.
“Despite being in Kuala Lumpur for the past 16 years, I hardly eat local food,” said Amal.
“This nasi kandar is spicy but so good,” she added.
As for first-time visitors like engineer Lee Jun from China, it only took one plate of Ipoh’s signature bean sprout chicken to convince him of the city’s culinary charm.
“This is my first time coming to Malaysia. Before that, I had checked online for the popular dishes. That’s when Ipoh bean sprouts came up,” said Lee, 40.
“Seeing it online is one thing, eating it here is something else,” said the Shanghai native.
“The chicken is so tender, and the bean sprouts, I didn’t even know they could be that crunchy and juicy,” he said, beaming after his meal at Lou Wong restaurant.
Singaporean Sabrina Tan, 66, has visited Ipoh many times with her husband. They have savoured nearly everything from taugeh chicken to seafood dishes.
But on her latest visit with her husband and six other friends, she tried the “beggar chicken” which she had not tasted before.
“I honestly thought that I had covered all the ‘must-eats’ in Ipoh, but this was something else entirely. The moment I cracked open the clay and peeled back the lotus leaves, the aroma hit me.
“It was earthy, herbal and warm. The chicken, marinated in a mix of Chinese herbs, was tender and fragrant,” she said.
Kotaro Takaoka, 16, a Japanese student at an international school in Penang, came to Ipoh with his mother and grandparents.
“My grandparents arrived from Japan a few days ago, so we are taking them around.
“For our day trip, we visited Ipoh old town to have hakka mee for breakfast before checking out an eatery which has gone viral,” he said, referring to “Sam Ma Chicken Rice”.
