Vegan Guide to Ipoh

Published June 2024

Here is our Vegan Guide to Ipoh, a town in the north west of peninsula Malaysia that is considered to be the gateway to Cameron Highlands. Our previous fleeting visits, had certainly been en route to the Cameron Highlands, but this time we stayed a little longer allowing us to research and publish our latest vegan guide. Now, first up is to warn you that during Chinese New Year (which is when we visited) many restaurants are closed as Chinese families spend time celebrating with relatives around the country. This did make findng vegan food a little harder, but with a combination of research, determination and help from locals that we met, we found lots of vegan food and vegan friendly restaurants in Ipoh.

Vegetarian Restaurants in Ipoh

V Life

V Life
42 Lintasan Perajurit 6
31400 Ipoh

Opening Hours: 11.30am-9.30pm every day

Modern and stylish veggie restaurant with extensive vegan options, slightly away from the centre but well worth a visit. They serve local dishes but also burgers and pizzas using a variety of mock meats. We enjoyed mapo tofu with OmniMeat, nasi lemak and spaghetti with Beyond Meat meatballs. All dishes were good although not great. We would return for sure as loved the concept and the space, it would be good to sample some of their other dishes. If you are visiting during weekends or holidays, make sure to contact them and make a reservation as they were fully booked when we arrived. We went for a coffee and returned which was ok, but would have been better to make a reservation.

Krishna Bhawan

Krishna Bhawan
8 Jalan Lahat
30200 Ipoh

Opening Hours: 9am-9pm every day (closed Wednesday)

This appears to be the only vegetarian Indian restaurant in Ipoh so this was the obvious choice to enjoy some Indian food. We ordered dosa set, chapatti set, sambar vadai, pani puri and samosa to share. The staff fully understood vegan and made sure everything was without ghee, and explained that the drinks were all with cow milk. There is a thali available at lunch time and also biryani with mock meat, but the biryani has butter ghee so beware. Our food was delicious and we would always support a vegetarian restaurant if there’s one in town.

Chans Cafe / YC Vege Life

Chans Cafe / YC Vege Life
7 Jalan Mustapha Al-Bakri
Taman Jubilee
30300 Ipoh

Opening Hours: 7.30am-7.30pm every day (closed Tuesday)

Sometimes the vegan travel gods are looking down on you. During Chinese New Year, Ipoh is quiet, super quiet. Finding food isn’t easy, and finding vegan food is even harder. But don’t give up, and the vegan travel gods will deliver vegan croissants! We returned for dinner and the food was equally as exciting. The veg curry was delicious as was the noodle soup and brocolli tempura. Dishes with egg are marked on the menu, and others have optional egg, so ask for help when ordering that notes can be added to your order. The staff were lively and all of the food came out as vegan, this was our favourite vegan friendly restaurant in Ipoh.

Muzi T Veggie

Muzi T Veggie
3A Jalan Chung Thye Phin
30250 Ipoh

Opening Hours: 10am-8pm every day (closed Thursday)

Upon arriving at this local veggie spot we received a very friendly welcome from the family who own it. They were very helpful in choosing a selection of vegan dishes to share. We feasted on noodles, tofu, veggies and mock meat; all washed down with iced fruit tea. Tasty food, nice environment and friendly owners, who invited us to enjoy the ceremonial tossed salad that everyone eats at Chinese New Year called ‘yee sang’.

Funny Mountain Soya Beancurd

Funny Mountain Soya Beancurd
50 Jalan Mustapha Al-Bakri
Taman Jubilee
30300 Ipoh

Opening Times: 10.30am-7.30pm every day, closed Tuesday

Well, our Chinese New Year trip to Ipoh ended in more disappointment as Funny Mountain Soya Beancurd had sold ourt by the time we arrived in the evening. What is a local institution, this is the plce to go for all manner of soya bean drinks and desserts which would have been the prefect end to our day exploring everything that Ipoh has to offer.