Lim Ko Pi is a one-stop venue for authentic local food, especially kopitiam staples – this includes white coffee, kaya toast, Hokkien mee, ice kacang, cendol, etc.
However, their dining environment is more comfortable and appealing than the average old-school kopitiam in Malalysia.
Here’s what to expect if you choose to visit Lim Ko Pi in Ipoh!
Table Of Contents:
About Lim Ko Pi
Operating for more than 10 years at this point, Lim Ko Pi began as a passion project by one family (the mother is ipoh-born) who bought over and renovated the heritage building (that currently houses the café) in order to preserve it.
So it’s no surprise that the café, Lim Ko Pi prioritizes on Malaysian comfort food. As such, their signature menu items are the Nanyang Kopi 98 and their Triple Meat Curry Noodles.
Lim Ko Pi in Ipoh is on a very busy road (Jalan Sultan Iskandar) just before the bridge that separates Ipoh Old Town from Ipoh New Town.
Outside of Ipoh, Lim Ko Pi has a new branch at Sunway Geo Avenue in Selangor.
Ease Of Parking At Lim Ko Pi
How many cafes in Ipoh Old Town have their own dedicated parking for their customers? Lim Ko Pi is exceptional in this case.
They bought over the shop lot across to make it easier for their customers to find parking. The parking lot fits multiple cars and is free to use as long as you’re dining over at Lim Ko Pi.
Ambiance At Lim Ko Pi
When we visited on a Thursday, it was obvious that they did not have the air-conditioning on. So if you want to seek relief from the heat, get the table at the front of the café as it has a air cooler right in front.
Unfortunately, the most aesthetic seats in the café (i.e., garden seating) are nearly always taken (even on non-peak days).
Décor at Lim Ko Pi relies on a heavy use of dark wood (e.g., ceiling beams, wall panels, vintage furniture) so it is quite dim at the front of the café – this is not a bad thing, as the shade is nice after you’ve been walking around in the bright outdoors for a while.
While waiting, for your food and drinks, you can admire the mini replica of the café that is housed in a glass case by the staircase. As well as other vintage pieces in the café.
The café appears to be clean and well managed although it’s hard to notice dirt when it’s so dark inside.
Service At Lim Ko Pi
We were immediately welcomed by a friendly elderly waitress. She only speaks Cantonese but is chatty and bubbly (The rest of the staff don’t talk nearly as much but are polite).
Her personality is endearing, even when she had to apologize for a strand of thread in our food (presumably from a dishcloth) that we pointed out to another staff. Regarding this issue, they promptly served a new bowl to replace the previous.
Serving times are not unreasonable. However, desserts and drinks will come first before the mains so if you’d rather have your desserts later, you should let the staff know.
Food At Lim Ko Pi
Our orders included a plate of fried glass noodles, wantan mee and a bowl of their signature triple meat curry mee.
For drinks and desserts, we had cincau with soya milk, plain soya milk, cendol, ais kacang and their other signature, the iced Coffee 98 (Hainanese style coffee).
Nothing we ordered was bad (with the exception of the oddly crumbly wantans), but the best dish was still the curry mee.
What’s interesting is that there is also some Hakka cuisine on the menu – like vinegar pig trotters!
Moreover, they only serve nasi lemak on Sundays and that is pretty good.
Pricing At Lim Ko Pi
Considering the dining environment, and ingredients they use, it is easy to consider the prices at Lim Ko Pi to be high for what you get. Compared to other local kopitiams, at least.
It is however, cheaper to dine here than most Ipoh cafes.
But not as comfortable when we went as it was stuffy without the air conditioning (we will assume that they turn it on weekends though).
And while the food portions are generous, the ingredients they use are not impressive:
There was condensed milk for the cendol and ice kacang instead of fresh coconut milk, and too many eggs and beansprouts (about 50% of the plate) with hardly any meat for the plate of glass noodles which was slightly oily but tasty.
We would personally not order the glass noodles again since it costs RM16 a plate.
The pricing for desserts is fair though (RM3 for a small bowl of cendol) – plus, you can order small portions and that is a good amount for 2 to share already.
In total, we spent RM60 for 4 pax which is affordable for Ipoh café standards. One of us did not order a main though, else it would come up to close to RM80.
Conclusion
Lim Ko Pi is fine as a breakfast or lunch venue since you can enjoy many kopitiam staples here (e.g., kaya toast) in a comfortable setting.
And if you specifically want to have a decent bowl of curry mee, iced coffee and local desserts but you’re sick and tired of finding parking at Ipoh Old Town, it’s great that Lim Ko Pi has their own parking.
But all things considered, we’re not adding it to our list of go-to cafes. It’s just ok.
- Location: 10, Jalan Sultan Iskandar, 30000 Ipoh, Perak
- Opening Hours: 9am–4:30pm; Closed on Monday
- Contact: +605-2532898
