Dining at the…where?
The Ipoh Bodega was the first European restaurant to open in Ipoh. Its doors opened on the 6th August 1904. Initially catering mainly to the lunchtime crowd, it began serving dinner shortly after and a month later began to stay open until 11pm, with music to entertain the liquor-drinkers. The weather was the death of the restaurant though. Heavy rains in October resulted in the flooding of Belfield Street, the premise of Ipoh Bodega. Accessible only by sampan, Ipoh Bodega was nicknamed the Bog. Less than a month later it closed down and changed hands. The new proprietors faced a different but equally fatal quandary – the night-soil collection carts. These “honey carts” pulled up opposite the Bodega nightly between 8 and 9 pm to engage in their odoriferous task. Angry Ipohites urged for the collection hour to be pushed to midnight but to no avail. The Ipoh Bodega shut its doors for good in early 1905.
The above extract was taken from an article, from the Ipoh Echo (issue 021, 2006). Has anyone heard of The Bog? Where (in Ipoh) would it be….if it were still open today?