Nam Heong Food Court, SOHO Ipoh

Due to the sneaks by Ipoh fanpage on Facebook, some would have known this building situated at SOHO which strikes a modern architectural facade actually is Nam Heong Food Court. Being a employee of Oldtown Group, I am fortunate to be invited to the soft launch last Friday, whereby there are free flow of drinks and food! :D

Nam Heong is a famous old school coffee shop in Ipoh old town, which is linked to the origins of White Coffee and the birth of now famous household brand of OldTown White Coffee. The son of Nam Heong's owner is actually one of the Directors and founder of OldTown White Coffee. And now, he is venturing into his personal project due to carry on the passion and legacy of famous Ipoh signature hawker food and not to mention the iconic Pak Ka Feh (White Coffee)

 

And thanks to the special invitation, I get the scoop of this news and preview coverage. Here are some sneak peaks before the soft launch. There are almost hundred tablets scattered all over where by one tablet caters to a table for two. And it was claim that it can sit almost two hundred people. 

Modernized interior decor with warm lighting occupies the whole first floor as you step up the escalator. You might wonder where are the hawker stalls right? Cause all you do is to interact with ipad and the waiters bring you a chit of confirmed orders.

Well, you can get some live actions when you pass by the walkway downstairs. All the food preparation area for the hawker stalls are downstairs. You get to have a view of whats cooking and at the same time you wont leave the place with oily smell on your clothes and hair. Oh by the way, I was told that there are 7 dumbwaiters (micro-lift) which transport the food downstairs up to the first floor.

There are a variety of food here. For example, tha pan mee is actually a stall operated by the famous Lat Yat Lat Pan Mee (RM5.80-6.20) situated in Greentown. Under this category, you have options of CEO Pan Mee, dry version, soup version and also hakka mee. Go for the the dry chilli pan mee with poached egg. A standard serving comes with a fried anchovies, minced meat, spinach, poached egg and dried chilli flakes (you can opt the level of spiciness here). Extra toppings comes at additional cost. I would recommend you go by the standard serving though I opted for extra minced meat. Poke the runny egg yolk, mix it well and there you have it - ASIAN FETTUCCINE CABONARA with a spiced tinge!

The Char Koay Teow (RM5.80) stall taste like the Lam Fung fried noodles in the original Nam Heong shop. Cockles, egg and prawns is always the best combination. A bit greasy and moist, best eaten hot. Portion is just right. Do not attempt for additional size up or extra toppings as you need to save your stomach for other items!

Under the Fish Ball Noodles category, the fried "liews" are from K10 Claypot Chicken Rice in Ipoh Garden East, which is one of my perennial favourite spot for breakfast on a non-working day. Priced at RM1 a piece compared to the counterpart of 70 cents in k10 shop, you are expected to pay for a slight premium for more cosy ambiance and dining experience

So I guessed you have seen the modus operandi here, Nam Heong Food Court bears slight resemblance to Lot 10 Hutong, whereby the best names in Ipoh are assembled under one roof. Top picks in the menu includes Pak Kong Chicken Rice, Aneka Selera (Dung Gu Teng) Curry Noodles, Wan Tan mee (i think its the famous Jalan Datoh). Famous snacks like Egg Tarts, Char Siew Sou and Wu Kok from the original Nam Heong coffeeshop is now coupled with a more extensive Dim Sum variety which is quite reasonable priced. The extensive menu can cater to your varying tastebuds. And best of all, you can download the app called MECAN ORDER to have a glimpse on the menu (and pricing too) and make up your mind what to order if you are caught in a traffic jam.

Better still, you can PRE ORDER your food using the app, and upon arriving, just key in your handphone number on the tablet to verify your arrival and the order will be executed promptly. Bear in mind that you have to register your handphone number upon downloading the app, which is supported by Android and IOS (not sure about Windows phone, sorry)

There you go, the crowd from the soft launch that night. Currently, the tentative opening date to public is 2 July. Business hours is said to be 7:30am to 4:30pm only. You wont miss this spot as it is "behind" the parking lot next to Sam Tet school (opposite Stan and Brew). Oh ya, I feel like being a bit more generous by leaking more insider info. Above Nam Heong, which is the second floor houses a fine dining restaurant by the name of i-Mirage, which is undergoing renovation. It is targeted to operate for dinner only and accepts only pre-orders (no walk-in customers as far as I was told). Stay tune for the next soft launch :)