Dining with my family is a meaningful and laidback birthday celebration. I always wanted to try Opëam, not only because of its fancy name and great dining and drinking ambiance but Opëam’s reputation precedes it. It is kinda ironic to have my celebration on becoming a registered pharmacist at Opëam. I made a reservation on the day itself because I am afraid it will be fully booked during weekends. 

Later on, I discovered that it was only fully booked at certain hours, eg. peak hours for mealtimes (8-9pm). It has to be good for a western restaurant in Ipoh to get a full house, because truth be told, there are not many good ones around in this town.

It has a very relaxing and quiet atmosphere with dimmed, warm lighting.  We ordered the Unagi Bento, Sauteed Abanico Iberico, and a big bowl Salad.

 Snippets of Opëam's menu (click to enlarge)


Big Bowl Salad, RM 29

Served with smoked duck/ smoked salmon/ grilled chicken, dried cranberries, goji berries, raisins, nuts & eggs, Honey Greek Yogurt/ Caesar Sauce.

A great starter for the rest of the meals. The serving is big and enough to share among the four of us. The smoked salmon is definitely my favourite component of the salad, which gave most flavour in the concoction. 

The dried cranberries, raisins, walnuts added some health benefits in this bowl. We chose the Honey Greek Yogurt dressing because Caesar Sauce is just too mainstream. I totally love it but it will be even greater if they are more generous with the dressing. It was like only 60% of the salad ingredients were covered with the dressing.

Sauteed Abanico Iberico, RM 34 (rice, add RM 6)

This dish with a fancy name just simply means sautéed pork. Abanico iberico is actually the part that wraps the ribs from the outside of the Black Iberian pig. It tasted like wild boar, probably it was wild boar meat, as Iberian pigs apparently interbred with wild boar. 

Recommended by a friend, we ordered this. Unsure with the flavour, the meat tasted like it was marinated black pepper sauce. Sauteed with mushrooms, this dish was not as great as expected. The meat was rather juicy and slightly tender. However, it tasted pretty much ordinary, like a Chinese styled pork rib stew.

Unagi Bento, RM41

Omelette wrapped rice, topped with a grilled Unagi. This was one of the most popular dishes ordered from Opëam, as seen in most Instagram posts. The Unagi was amazing. The meat was bursting with flavours. This Unagi was definitely grilled to perfection.

On the contrary, the omelette sitting below the Unagi was bland.  I’m sorry, but my nasi goreng Pattaya tastes better than this.

Opëam had been generous in giving a lot of rice in this dish! I really wish they would channel their generosity in something else like…more smoked salmon and dressing in my salad bowl? There was way too much rice, which added bulk to this dish and not to mention, the Unagi was fatty and incredibly filling. If you are looking for a heavy meal, this could be the right one for you.

We did not try the Alaska bomb (rum splashed over the dessert, and flambéed  while being served) even though it looked like a must-order for every patron in this restaurant. We didn't think that it is worth the hype because it is only ice cream and some tiny bits of alcohol. An expensive ice cream with a cool gimmick. Definitely cool but my day was already lit af.

Overall, it was a great dining experience. I did not try their alcoholic beverages, perhaps next time then. Our dinner was ended with many fun photography sessions outside. The light blue neon sign will definitely attracts many millennials to take Instaworthy shots here.

Address: 28, Lebuh Hock Lee, Taman Ipoh Selatan, 31400 Ipoh, Perak (Located next to De Garden). Ample of parking space at the parking lot next to it.

Operating Hours:  5pm - 12am. Closed every Wednesday.

Call 05-541 2421 between 4:15pm to 10pm to make a reservation