Gastronomy · Coffee shop

Nam Heong

In short: Nam Heong is a coffee shop in Ipoh Old Town, on the same street as Sin Yoon Loong. Some travel writing calls it the birthplace of Ipoh white coffee and links it to the beginnings of the OldTown White Coffee brand, and its egg tarts have been described as a signature.

A coffee shop in the white coffee story

Nam Heong sits on the same Old Town street as Sin Yoon Loong. In some travel writing it is called the birthplace of Ipoh white coffee, and it has been linked to the beginnings of the OldTown White Coffee brand, which started in Ipoh.

That claim is one of several. Our white coffee guide explains how Sin Yoon Loong, Nam Heong and the Chang Jiang family each feature in the story, and why no single record settles it.

Egg tarts with your coffee

Egg tarts are small tarts with a smooth egg-custard filling. They are said to have come to Ipoh with the Cantonese, from Guangzhou. In Old Town, they have been described as a signature at Nam Heong, eaten alongside white coffee. See our ten Ipoh dishes for the rest of the table.

Around Nam Heong

Nam Heong is in the Old Town coffee-shop quarter, a short walk from Sin Yoon Loong, Kong Heng and Concubine Lane.

Questions

What is Nam Heong known for?

Nam Heong is linked to Ipoh white coffee: some travel writing calls it the birthplace of the drink and connects it to the beginnings of the OldTown White Coffee brand. Its egg tarts have been described as a signature, eaten alongside white coffee.

Is Nam Heong the birthplace of Ipoh white coffee?

Some travel writing says so, but the claim is shared. Sin Yoon Loong, on the same street, is widely credited as a pioneer, and the Chang Jiang coffee family says it created its own white coffee in 1988.

Facts on this page come from Aevum's researched stories, which list their sources. Details can change, so check before you travel. Sources: Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences (Liew et al., 2001); Ipoh Echo (2018); Bernama (2024); Free Malaysia Today (2019); Tourism Malaysia feature on BBC StoryWorks (n.d.); Malaysia Airlines Going Places (2020); 旅讀 Or via udn (2024); J. M. Pladdet, Wageningen University MSc thesis (2019); Ipoh Echo (2018, 2019); Malay Mail (2014, 2015, 2016, 2023); Time Out Kuala Lumpur; Free Malaysia Today (2020, 2022); Bernama via Malaysiakini (2010); The Star (2017); 東方日報 Oriental Daily, Hong Kong (2009) and Malaysia (2021); 太陽報 The Sun, Hong Kong (2011); Utusan Malaysia (2023); plus the sources for our bean sprout and white coffee posts.

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