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Purple Moon Lover : Japanese-style inspired café in Ipoh

Purple Moon Lover is the latest addition to the growing café scene in Ipoh. Recently beginning its operations early this month, this café has become the recent hype in town. Run by the amazing team of pastry experts behind Petit Mary Patisserie and Purple Moon Valley, Purple Moon Lover is a Japanese-style inspired café, serving a variety of Japanese set dishes accompanied by their house specialties, ranging from cakes to buns.



Converted from a single story house into a café, Purple Moon Lover stands gloriously in the row of terrace houses while facing the busy main road in Canning Garden. Unlike Petit Mary Patisserie, which has a dash of European style added to its concept, Purple Moon Lover incorporated many Japanese elements into its menu as well as its design layout! Inspired by the Japanese interior design concept which is deeply connected to natural elements, the architecture of the building was designed to allow natural light to penetrate through the large glass panel windows. Wooden tables and shelves completed the Japanese styled interior look. In addition to the zen vibes, there was a small garden outside the building made up of green shrubs and was ornamented with rocks.

This place became a huge buzz when a Facebook post regarding this new café had almost gone viral. The café was occupied with patrons as lunch time was approaching. Never have I seen a café in Ipoh achieving maximum seating capacity; the seats were filled by crowds of excited local patrons. Curious to find out what the hype was all about, my friend and I decided to check it out.


The menu consisted of Japanese set meals such as Chicken Teriyaki, Salmon Teriyaki, Tempura, and Japanese Chicken Katsu Curry. To complete the main course, one should never leave this café without ordering something from the house specialty, which refers to the wide selection of mouth-watering pastries. 

Our Picks: Japanese Chicken Katsu Curry, Green Tea Latte, Strawberry Angel, Mango Passion.


Japanese Chicken Katsu Curry set meal, RM28.90


This hearty set meal is not your ordinary Japanese bento set. In addition to the bowl of curry, miso soup, and a pickled side dish, desserts are also served together as well. I love the concept of combining pastries with conventional Japanese dishes. Although the café’s expertise lies in confectionary, they served pretty good Japanese dishes too! The Chicken Katsu Curry was well seasoned with the right amount of taste, complementing the fried chicken. It would be great if the fried chicken was crispier, along with a more seasoned meat. The miso soup tasted rather salty.

The side desserts consisted of a small slice of layered matcha cake, a shot of mango yogurt, and another shot of fruit vinegar. I enjoyed the shot of mango yogurt among the other side desserts. The soft texture of the matcha cake really felt good in my mouth, although I only detected a faint matcha flavour. The fruit vinegar was too sour for a sip! Overall, this unique Japanese set is definitely worth a try, although I have to say that the desserts included in this set were not as great as the ala carte ones.

Green Tea Latte, RM10.50

To my surprise, it was one of the best green tea lattes I have ever tasted! Contrary to the matcha cake from the set meal, this latte was strongly flavoured with concentrated green tea extract. The sweetness was at perfection! If you have been following my food review posts on my blog, you would know that I like my green tea desserts or beverages to have a slightly more evident hint of bitterness. This green tea latte has officially become my favourite drink in town. Despite the absence of a coffee art, the coffee was served in a glass, instead of a cup, allowing for a larger serving size. Totally worth my money.


Strawberry Angel, RM 13.50

With cream cheese and strawberry, they both make a great combination. The faint taste of cheese was balanced by the right amount of sweetness. There was a generous amount of strawberries stuffed inside the pastry, but we would really appreciate it if the strawberries weren’t so sour. This dessert should be living up to its name by giving us angelically sweet and juicy strawberries instead.

Mango Passion, RM12


Mango is always my favourite choice of fruits when it comes to desserts. This heart shaped cake was wrapped with a thin film of mango jelly, and finished with a cute flower candy on the left corner. The outer film of sweet mango jelly goes well with the cream cheese. As I continued eating further, I discovered pieces of mango and passion fruit purees stuffed inside the pastry like hidden treasures.
Purple Moon Lover is indeed something out of the ordinary in the F&B industry in Ipoh. Its unique concept of combining sweet pastries with savoury Japanese cuisine has been attracting the locals for this new experience in town. It was definitely a worthwhile experience, and I will be back for more pastries and green tea lattes!




Address: 53,Jalan Lee Kwee Foh ,Tmn Canning ,31400 Ipoh, Perak
Operating hours:
Bread and cakes: 10am to 9pm
Main course : 11am to 8pm





Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. The review is purely based on the writer's experience.






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