Thumbs Cafe in Ipoh - where the Hipsters hang out.

Outside view of Thumbs Cafe

Okay I don't really know if hipsters (read:young people) hang out here, but that's the impression I got the few times that I've been here. I grew up in Ipoh, and lately everytime I go back to Ipoh I keep seeing all these cafes popping out, and people are calling them 'Hipsters hangouts' and that Ipoh is becoming the "In" thing for hipsters crowd, yada yada. I don't know if this is true since I'm probably too old to be in those circles anymore, but hey, if it means more good places to eat each time I come back to Ipoh, fine by me.

So anyway, went to Thumbs Cafe a couple of times, and I quite liked it and wouldn't mind going there again. Food is quite good, choices of both Malaysian and Western cuisini, price is reasonable, service is friendly and fast, and they have a small children play area - which is a bonus, I LOVE places with play areas so that Little A can channel all that energy playing there instead of bugging everyone once she gets bored and trust me, at the terrible two age, that happens A LOT.

The small play area

I learnt from my dad that this place used to be orphanages (one for boys the other for girls - the other one also in the compound being turned to another restaurant called "Karat"), so they have kept the Kampung-style arhictecture and refurbished it to become a restaurant. The deco is pleasant, although there might not be a big place for a large family or crowd, probably safer if you call ahead and ask. Because from what I saw, they have a long table with bar stools - fine if you are a group of young ones, but probably not suitable if you have elderly in the family. The normal tables that I saw can probably fit 6 people at most. Again, this is only from my observation.

I would recommend the Pavlova from this cafe, it's light and not overly sweet. Little A liked the Mac'n'Cheese and my dad likes the meatballs. One negative point though, if you order Apple Juice or Orange Juice and the likes, they gave you drinks made from cordials and not that I have anything against cordials but I don't think it should be labelled as "Fruit Juices", quite misleading if you asked me. Anyway here are some photos of the interior, and some food we ordered.