Sun is shining…

The other day, I went back to Sunny Cafe, located at Sungai Antu here – back to back with Courts Mammoth. I have been there before, the first time when I had their really nice mee jawa…

*recycled pic

…and the second time with my daughter and while she had the mee jawa, I tried their mee Hongkong which I thought was not as nice. This time, I decided to give their kampua noodles a try.

Kampua is essentially a Chinese delicacy, Foochow to be specific – tossed with lard and served with slices of pork. It is so popular here that it has become somewhat synonymous with Sibu town. Just mention Sibu and instantly, kampua and kompia come to mind. Of course, it is a non-halal dish, so the Malays are not supposed to eat it. However, they have come out with their own version of it, using non-animal fat and chicken. I have tried it a couple of times at some Malay shops or stalls but unfortunately, theirs were a far cry from the real thing.

So far, the ones sold at the Bandong kuih stall that I frequent in the morning were not too bad…but that was an exception to the rule – the guy’s actually a Foochow, a Muslim convert by marriage. I do not know what made me do it but that morning, at this Sunny Cafe, I ordered their kampua special…

…which came with their signature prawn fritters for RM3.50 only. The noodles were very nice…and needless to say, the prawn fritters were great – even nicer than the tempura prawns at Pizza Hut and a whole lot cheaper.

Another point in their favour was the complimentary soup…

The ones at the Chinese kampua stalls are usually nothing much to look forward to…especially later in the day as they keep adding water to it until what you may get will just be plain water plus chio-cheng (light soy sauce), msg and a sprinkling of chopped spring onions. In comparison, what they gave with the noodles here was really tasty – probably chicken soup with fried onions, chopped spring onions and daun sup (Chinese celery). I loved it!

So if you’re looking for some nice halal kampua, this is one place that you may want to try…but they open quite late – 8.30 a.m. until after lunchtime only…and I don’t think they open on Sundays either.