Eating is the main reason most Malaysians come to Ipoh. The city is famous across the country for its Chinese food, and locals attribute the distinctive taste to the unusually hard, mineral-rich limestone water — it makes the bean sprouts fat and juicy, the hor fun noodles smoother, and the coffee more fragrant. The signature dishes to try are nga choi kai (poached white chicken served over plates of sprouts, with a bowl of silky kai si hor fun noodles on the side — at Lou Wong or Onn Kee on Jalan Yau Tet Shin); Ipoh curry mee; salt-baked chicken; and Hakka mee at the old kopitiams around the Old Town. For drinks, the city has given its name to Ipoh white coffee, a local style in which the coffee beans are roasted with palm-oil margarine rather than sugar, then served with condensed milk — Nam Heong, Sin Yoon Loong and Thean Chun, all within a block of each other on Jalan Bandar Timah, are the three most famous shops and happily coexist on the same corner. For something sweet, try Funny Mountain soya beancurd or the kaya toast at any kopitiam.