The Happy 8 Café, Ipoh
Owned and managed by the same team of The Happy 8 Retreat in Ipoh Old Town, this café is actually on the ground floor of the hotel, with its entrance at Market Lane (Sam Lai Hong / Second Concubine Lane).
Similar to the hotel, The Happy 8 Café does not have a business signboard. It looks like the proprietors want people to stumble upon them and be delighted by their discovery. Although many similar Western-style cafés have mushroomed in Ipoh particularly in Ipoh Old Town, I would say that this is one of the pioneers. They opened for business in the fourth quarter of 2013, just like their retreat.
Despite stiff competition in this area, The Happy 8 Café stands out because of their wholesome homemade food, from snacks to appetisers, main courses and even fresh seasonal fruit juices from their very own orchard.
As you can see from these photos, we had tea there, and tried out the moist chocolate cake and royal mandarin cake. They were baked by non-commercial bakers who are generous with their ingredients. We also had Taiwanese sui kow (水饺). I was told that Taiwanese people eat baskets of sui kow as their main meal. I don’t think I can do that no matter how delicious the dumplings are!
Other must-try food here would be the homemade Happy 8 Chicken Burger (RM20), Japanese curry chicken rice and Spaghetti Seafood Carbonara (RM33.50).
As for beverages, unlike the other cafés in Ipoh, the coffee beans used at The Happy 8 Café are imported from Taiwan. We tried the Japanese ice drip coffee (RM23.50) and the siphon coffee with pandan (screwpine) leaves in the pot.
All prices are subject to 10% service charge and 6% Goods and Services Tax (GST).
The Happy 8 Café
Add: 46, Jalan Market, 30000 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia.
Tel: +605-2438388
Business hours: 9.30am – 10pm daily (until 11pm on Fri & Sat)
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