I’ve passed by Cafe Take a Break VIP Lounge in Ipoh Garden South a few times, and assumed it’s a (dodgy?) bar as there are lots of bars in the area. At a reader’s recommendation, I gave it a try, and proved that assumptions are never a good thing.
The owners are definitely travel enthusiasts with the world map and souvenirs like Korean Dolls and Vietnamese dolls on display.
The cafe is travel themed, with many posters of iconic places in the world – New York, Venice, Bangkok, Paris, San Francisco and more.
Seeing Van Gogh’s “Cafe La Nuit” or “Night Cafe” painting made me remembered our trip to Arles, in the southern part of France. Did you know the cafe was drawn based on an actual cafe that still exists today ?
The Van Gogh Cafe is definitely touristy and a couple of euros more expensive than the surrounding cafes. Although sometimes even referred to as tourist trap, Gary and I still had some good fun at the cafe.
The “ONA Laksa” (RM 6.90) seemed to be the most interesting on the menu – a specialty from Take a Break VIP Lounge which shares the same parentage as the conventional Penang laksa (my theory). In pale white, the heavy flavors still reminisce Penang laksa with the use of onions, shredded cucumber and mint leaves. Without the acidity from the reddish assam, and the tuna fish replacing kampung fish, ONA laksa is milder and a gentler. Wanting to know about the dish, I said to the staff (owner?) “Your ONA Laksa is pretty unique in white”, she just simply said, yes, it’s our secret recipe – though I have read a much nicer story on other blogs that “ONA” comes from the owners’ names – Ong and Anna.
The cafe has interesting blends of fruit juices and smoothies. This combination is avocado with passion fruit (RM 8.90) – where the creamy avocado neutralized the acidity of passion fruits, and the passion fruit reduced the richness of avocado, making the combination a fulfilling drink.
The tiramisu (RM 6.90) has its good and bad – rich with essence of coffee, though the base was too hard and the mascarpone part was not too fluffy for this romantic dessert.
The simple seating area.
The cafe opened its doors before the 2012 boutique cafe trend in Ipoh. It’s not as fashionable as some of the new ones, but the food is definitely much more affordable with both Asian and western selections, ranging from RM 6.90 to RM 15.90.
More Info
Pork Free
Cafe Take a Break VIP Lounge Facebook
Address : 16 Tingkat Taman Ipoh 11, Taman Ipoh Selatan, 31400 Ipoh, Perak
Opening Hours : Daily 10 am – 9 pm
Tel: +6012 5158970 / +60124518992
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Haha, their signboard doesn’t attract me since it looks like some common kopitiam 😛
Hehe yeah … but the food is not bad and very affordable 🙂
A smoothie and tiramasu?? I’m totally down with that! I absolutely love places that have pictures, etc on the wall that tell different stories. Or allow you to make up your own in thought. So, I would definitely go here on your recommendation, KJ! 🙂
Hahaa.. Without reading this, maybe I won’t visit the cafe since it looks unattractive from the outside. A true case of don’t judge a book by its cover, or in this case, don’t judge a cafe by its signboard!
Yes agreed ! I’ve passed this cafe many times and never thought about going in until somebody recommended!
Ahhh.. must visit..! haha
try their green curry noodle..the soup is special ~
Ok, I will the next time I go 🙂
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