Everybody knows…

I would think that this place needs no introduction, judging from the crowd there every morning from 8 to 10 a.m.

Everybody knows about the beef noodles here, it seems, at the Chip Chung Cafe. It is right behind the Sibu Kidney Foundation building (You can see the back portion in the photo) – the blue and white corner shop. Formerly, the lady had a stall at Chopsticks (that has since moved to the Delta Commercial Centre, also near my house), a coffee shop in the town centre next to HSBC. I used to bring my daughter there when she was small as she liked the soup – just beef and soup, nothing else. On one of my recent visits, the lady asked where my daughter had gone too and I told her that she had gone for further studies. “How fast time flies by!” she remarked.

The lady runs the stall in the front portion of the shop, and the main attraction is the kampua kosong (plain kampua noodles) with beef soup…

Actually, I have featured this before in an earlier post. Now, an alternative would be the beef noodles soup…

…but personally, I would opt for the former as there are nicer ones of the latter elsewhere. She has other things to offer as well like pian sip aka kiaw or wanton and the usual kampua. I have never tried these, but this little girl seemed to be enjoying the kampua and stuffing her face with it…

But do avoid the peak hours though, as the lady might be in a pretty foul mood and could just snap at you. Other than that, be forewarned that everything will be sold out by around 10.00 a.m. Anyway, you may also choose to eat the fried stuff from the back portion of the shop. People say that the only-in-Sibu egg-wrapped fried kway teow is the nicest around, nicer than what you can get here or here. I wouldn’t know, of course, as I would stick loyally to the kampua kosong with beef soup…all the time.

In comparison, probably fewer people would know of this place – the Sibu Coffee Shop at Pusat Tanahwang. Acey lived close by and would be familiar with this place and the Star World Cybercafe right next door (So at certain times in the day, you will hear the two world wars plus a third one thrown in for good measure, raging inside!)….

I used to come here quite frequently when I was teaching at SMK Sacred Heart across the road on the other end. If you’re looking for more original/authentic kampua, what you can get here is not bad at all, I would say…

This certainly looks and tastes more like the Ah Kow kampua at Kiaw Siong Restaurant that some of us grew up eating. Nope, it isn’t 50 sen a plate like during my childhood days but at RM2.20 a plate, it is the same as at Rasa Sayang and cheaper than at some other places, and so is the pian sip (kiaw/wanton)…

Personally, I would prefer the kampua-kolo mee fusion at Rasa Sayang or that at Soon Hock Coffee Shop (despite what they say about the lady’s long hair) but whenever I am in this vicinity, I may just drop in to have something different for a change.