The new OldTown Heritage Centre (home to the first Earthcare Café branch in Ipoh) stands out from its older neighbors.
This multi-story building houses a gallery, gift shop, and cafe. And you don’t have to pay any entry fees if you just want to check out the gallery upstairs.
What do we think of this place? Find out below.
What To See Here
Earthcare Café
Narrow but elegant and stylish, Earthcare Café is a very comfortable place to sit down with a beverage and enjoy the air-conditioning.
There is more seating upstairs, but we didn’t see anyone sitting there since the lower floor was not yet full.
The front of the café is more suitable for smaller groups. While the back of the café feels more private and has bigger tables.
There’s a visitor toilet and the staircase leading to the gallery in between the two dining sections on the ground floor.
Heritage Gallery
Most of the exhibits in the gallery are on the wall. There’s a framed poster detailing the history and background of the large traditional paper lanterns on the lower floor (these are at the front of Earthcare Café).
And most of the gallery has material dedicated to the coffee-making process.
Other information that is available at this gallery is about the aims and current sustainable actions that Earthcare Café applies to their business model.
There’s also a life-sized replica of a traditional coffee making set up including the stove.
As well as miniature displays of typical local dishes, and a traditional kopitiam set up by the talented self-learned miniature artist, Lim Pui Wan (picoworm on her social media accounts).
Gift Shop
The gift shop is upstairs, on the same floor as the heritage gallery. We saw signature products under the OldTown label.
These include 3-in-1 instant coffee of different flavours and sugar levels.
As well as some traditional steel tiffin carriers and tote bags that are custom designed for OldTown.
Hydroponic Farm
This isn’t a full-sized farm in any way, but if you are exploring the upper terrace of the building, you’ll find a wall that has a hydroponic set up against it.
Apparently, the staff from Earthcare Café harvests the vegetables grown here for salads.
Summary
Pros:
- Staff is polite and friendly
- Attractive building that is walking distance from Concubine Lane
- Educational gallery (free entry) with some interactive elements
- Beautiful interior design throughout the building
- Café is air conditioned
Cons:
- Coffee is quite pricey (everything on the menu costs more than the average OldTown café)
- Gift shop is not very big – they sell 3-in-1 coffee and tote bags
- No visitor parking
Conclusion
It won’t take you long to explore OldTown Heritage Centre and the Earthcare Café. It’s a comfortable place to sample some OldTown signature beverages and to get a snack.
The gallery upstairs is small but worth a look since there are no entry fees.
We think you should check out this place if you’re already exploring Concubine Lane but if you hate stairs, you can skip this place since stairs are unavoidable if you want to see the gallery.
Concubine Lane
See wall murals, browse trinket stalls, get a refreshing drink, or try different street snacks at Concubine Lane. Neighbouring lanes, Market Lane and Hale Lane are less crowded and within walking distance from here too.
Where To Go For Ipoh White Coffee
Besides OldTown’s signature coffee, there are a lot of local traditional coffee shops (or kopitiams) that make a great cup of Ipoh white coffee. When ordering this drink at such eateries, it is enough to ask for hot coffee (kopi panas), or iced coffee (kopi ais). Locals don’t call it white coffee.
