What It’s Like At The OldTown Heritage Centre (Earthcare Cafe)

There’s a brand new OldTown Heritage Centre in Ipoh and it’s also where you can find the first branch of Earthcare Café here.

Frankly, it’s been a while since there were any significant changes this close to Concubine Lane. This place was under construction for many months before opening in 2024.

What does this gallery/ cafe have in store for visitors? You can have a preview of this place right in this post before you go!

Highlights

Heritage Gallery

It’s free to enter the gallery upstairs. Here, you can read about the background and current sustainability projects of OldTown (and Earthcare).

There are interactive wall displays on the process of making coffee, as well as some antiques – like an old coffee making setup or antique ceramic cups.

Local Malaysian artists were also commissioned by this heritage centre. There are traditional paper lanterns in the café downstairs. And tiny replicas of a kopitiam and traditional Ipoh food in the gallery upstairs.

You can read about the artists and their respective pieces in the gallery upstairs.

If you exit this gallery through the open-air balcony and walk along a long corridor that runs the length of the building, you’ll find yourself at the vertical hydroponic vegetable wall that the café harvests for its salads.

Earthcare Café

This is first and currently the only Earthcare Café branch in Ipoh. They only use cage-free chickens and eggs from Beacon Chicken. This is something that they eventually want for all the OldTown branches.

Coffee that you can get at Earthcare Café can be either be made with OldTown’s signature instant coffee premixes. Or done the local way as typical in Ipoh. They also have espresso and filter coffee available.

Since the air-conditioned café is on the ground floor, this is the only way to enter the OldTown Heritage Centre. The stairs leading up to the gallery are in the middle of the café.

PS: This stairwell is very photogenic with sunlight streaming down.

There is additional seating on the same level of the gallery as well and it’s very stylish as it overlooks the street below with circular windows.

OldTown Souvenir Shop

Across the gallery is a small gift shop where you can buy different OldTown products. Like their best-selling 3-in-1 instant coffee packets.

But there are also other wares in the shop. Such as canvas tote bags and traditional tiffin carriers designed for OldTown. Woven placements and bamboo cutlery travel sets are also available.

Getting Here

OldTown Heritage Centre is walking distance from Concubine Lane and other historical landmarks in Ipoh (such as the Birch Memorial Clock Tower).

But in case you want to go further than just Ipoh Old Town, you could book one of our private day tours for Ipoh.

These have a fully flexible and customizable itinerary, with a local guide/ driver as your host.

Find out more about our tours on WhatsApp.

Things To Note

• There are no guided tours given at OldTown Heritage Centre
• Prices at Earthcare Café are higher than your typical OldTown branch
• You don’t have to be a customer at the café to enter the heritage gallery
• Toilets are on the same floor as the cafe

Conclusion

If you want to enjoy some coffee in a beautiful and comfortable setting without having to go to far from Concubine Lane, OldTown Heritage Centre is worth considering. Just expect food and drinks to be a little pricier than at other places in this area.

You can learn a thing or two about the brand’s green efforts and background. As well as the local coffee culture at the free heritage gallery upstairs. Other museums in Ipoh don’t go into so much detail when it comes to local coffee.

Concubine Lane

It’s not that Concubine Lane is very interesting. But it is easy and quick to explore on foot. We highly recommend checking out Hale Lane and Market Lane too as they also have their own street art and charm (with less people in the way).