Foh San Dim Sum Restaurant 富山茶楼, Ipoh

Foh San Dim Sum Restaurant, Ipoh, Perak (18 June, 2011)

Foh San Restaurant 富山茶楼 (GPS: 4.596947, 101.085844) is a famous Dim Sum restaurant in Ipoh, Perak. Originally located at the junction of Jalan Mustapha Al-Bakri (Clare Street) and Jalan Dato Tahwil Azar (Osborne Street), it has since relocated to its own premises at Jalan Leong Sin Nam.

Before occupying its present premises, Foh San used to occupy the ground floor of a three-storey Art Deco building belonging to the Perak Chinese Amateur Dramatic Association. The building was erected in 1935 with funds coming from 221 donors. The association was founded in 1903 by bank clerks and junior bank officers who happened to be drama enthusiasts and amateur actors. In aid of the Canton flood of 1905, the group put up a show at the Chinese theatre at Leech Street (Jalan Bandar Timah).

The association premises was taken over by the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army, or MPAJA, between September 1945 and April 1946. Then it went into the hands of the returning British military and used as the canteen of the Navy Army Air Force Institute (NAAF).

Today the Perak Chinese Amateur Dramatic Association building is better known for serving the most popular Dim Sum in Ipoh New Town.