Lim Ji Nyonya in Bercham, Ipoh (林记娘惹叻沙) has a surprisingly big reputation for a family business on humble premises. Many locals like to come here for breakfast.
Obviously, the Nyonya laksa is the star of the show.
However, it’s worth knowing what else is in store for you if you want to dine here! The long queue almost deterred us from trying it! But we did and here is the outcome of our experience.
Location
In the middle of what is clearly a highly populated housing estate, the humble eatery operates out of the family’s own residence (i.e., in the garage). It’s a modest single-story home with old-fashioned fittings and traditional wooden beams for the roof.
A motorcycle workshop and another coffee shop are its sole neighbors.
Even though Lim Ji Nyonya Laksa is open from 7:30am, the peak time is 9am. So if you can manage to get here before 9am, finding a nearby parking lot will not be as difficult.
This is roadside parking in a residential area so be mindful not to block the gates of the residents.
Ambiance
Dining here is not about ambiance.
In the early morning however, it is cool. And they do have multiple fans for the outdoor seating around their home.
Everything from the way they do their plumbing, how they set up and prepare their ingredients at their stall in front, to the numerous foldable plastic tables and red plastic chairs and stools screams practicality.
It can be noisy since many people are in one small compound. The neighboring kopitiam is not nearly as busy so there’s not much noise from there.
Occasionally, the dog at the back of the house will bark whenever one of the staff/ family member heads back to get something.
Service
This looks like a full family business – even the grandmother had a designated task (e.g., washing plates). And there’s one family member that only handles drinks.
By the way, you can start ordering your food even if you have not found a table yet. Especially if you come at peak time (9am). Because the food will take some time to come anyways, and you should have found a table by then.
Choose your sides and place your order at the front of the house where the stall is. They have a numbering system in the form of little tags that they will call out as they deliver the food to your table.
Despite the queuing system, you really don’t want to come here at peak time as the waiting time for food is more than an hour. Drinks take fairly long to arrive too.
We went on a Tuesday morning at 9am and it took 1 hour before we got our food.
Payment is expected when the food is served at your table.
Food
It might be that we were famished by the time we got the food. But the Nyonya laksa is really good (we saw an equal number of dry and wet orders for the Nyonya laksa) and worth the wait.
The taste of the wet version is similar to the Nyonya laksa we’ve had in Melaka. The broth is savory (not too salty or sweet) creamy with a strong coconut taste.
And there’s siew yok with the laksa too. Which we recommend getting with this laksa.
We find that the laksa is moderately spicy.
For those who enjoy cockles, the real highlight of the meal is the large and fresh cockles that you can request for your noodles. Or you can order them steamed and on their own in a separate plate (RM5/plate).
Other sides they have include:
- Squid
- Prawns
- Octopus
A non-spicy alternative to the Nyonya laksa is a tasty mihun soup with some yong tau fu. Eggplant yong tau fu sells out the fastest. Although the sah kok liew (deep-fried Chinese turnip and fishmeat paste) and bittergourd yong tau fu are nice too.
They do serve iced coffee and soya bean milk here and they are decent but just a little bit sweet.
Pricing
We would not say it’s cheap (for Malaysians) to dine here but it’s still definitely affordable.
A bowl of Nyonya laksa (without the extra goodies) will cost RM8 to RM9. Drinks around RM2.20. For two pax, we spent about RM25 for noodles and drinks per person.
Conclusion
We’ll be back to eat at Lim Ji Nyonya Laksa and we would recommend you to try their laksa too if you are a big fan of laksa.
However, getting here well before 9am is very crucial if you want to get your food, a table and parking without any stress!
Curry Mee in Ipoh
Curry mee is not the same as laksa but if you like laksa, there’s a good chance you will like curry mee too. And there are a lot of options if you’re looking for delicious curry mee in Ipoh.
Cheong Kee Wan Tan Mee
Like supporting small businesses? There’s another locally famous family-run eatery over at Buntong but their specialty is wantan mee.
Food To Try In Ipoh
Laksa is not a dish that Ipoh is famous for. That would be gai se hor fun, Hainanese chicken rice and other noodle dishes.
