The first thing you might notice about this humble coffee shop is the extensive queue in front. Nasi kandar is the reason behind the queue.
And because there are so many people who want to dine here for lunch, there is often a need to share tables with strangers. Besides a general lack of nearby street parking.
But is the nasi kandar here really worth it? This is our full experience and honest opinion about this place!
History
The Indian Muslim nasi kandar stall up front at Kedai Kopi Yong Suan on Jalan Yang Kalsom has been running for decades at this point. Close to 60 years, in fact.
Even now, they still cook large quantities of halal nasi kandar dishes every day (from 9am to 5pm).
Their success encourages other eateries like Wawasan Cendol Abang Kacak along the same row to offer up seating to cater to the overflow of customers.
Note: The nasi kandar stall hass been ordered to close before on account of cleanliness issues. We still think this is a problem since we have have had food poisoning here too.
Ease Of Parking
Chances are that any parking directly in front of Kedai Kopi Yong Suan is already taken as lunch time approaches.
So you can try your luck to looks for available street parking around the block instead.
Ambiance
The dining interior is typical of many classic kopitiams – tiling on the walls and floors, wooden chairs and tables with marble tops, etc.
Do expect to wait a while for an available table though if you don’t feel like sharing one with other people. Or if you bring along a large group.
Service
In spite of the crowds they get, there is ample staff for a smooth and efficient flow of both drinks and food to respective tables.
Many drinks and food are prepared ahead in anticipation of crowds and this, along with dedicated jobs per staff helps speed up the service.
Some of the staff even have time to exchange a few words with regular patrons too. We find it admirable that the staff can remember so many different request and orders from multiple tables at once!
Our orders came without error, and both drink and food were served promptly within 15 minutes of sitting down too.
Food
Most tables will order their signature red fried chicken (which comes with a sour orange paste). The chicken is not crispy but nicely marinated – you need to eat it with the kuar (curry gravy) to enjoy it at its best.
Other side dishes we tried were the curry squid and fried fish. Both were good.
Overall, the food is tasty, not too salty and has a tolerable spiciness (we will rate it 6/10 for the spiciness level if you frequently eat spicy food).
You are expected to order drinks when dining in. They have many to choose from – iced lemon tea, iced tea and coffee, rose syrup, barley, etc.
They do also sell other kopitiam staples like kaya butter toast, half-boiled eggs, and caramel custard.
Pricing
For 2 pax, it cost RM24 for two plates of nasi kandar with one drink (iced lemon tea). Considering that the order included fish and squid, we find the pricing to be reasonable.
By the way, you don’t have to join the long queue to dine in. The line is just for takeaways and deliveries.
Find a table inside and wait for a waiter to attend to you (drink and food servers are separate). It might help to get a good look at what dishes are available first before telling the waiter what you want.
Or you can check out other tables and copy what they order.
Conclusion
Locals still come to Kedai Kopi Yong Suan for their favorite nasi kandar. We’re not huge fans of nasi kandar ourselves, but we do admit that the food is good, and prices are reasonable if you want nasi kandar for lunch. Go as early as you can manage to avoid the lunch crowd from 12pm onwards.
Food in Ipoh
There’s a lot of other food to try in Ipoh besides nasi kandar. If you like spicy food, we recommend curry mee!
