Ketipang payung…

Hoi!!! Ala Payunglah payung, ketipang payung…

LOL!!! Now, don’t ask me what ketipang means as I really do not know – perhaps somebody can enlighten the rest of us? I only know that payung means umbrella and it is the name of this café  in Sibu – one of my favourites, if not my favourite, in town.

It is located at 20F, Lanang Road, to the extreme left of that block of shophouses directly behind the new extension of Kingwood Hotel, back to back. The food there is not cheap – ranging from RM8.00 for a mushroom roll and perhaps the pomelo or guava or whatever salad as well…to RM16.00 for most of the dishes. There may be a few others that go beyond that but not many. As a matter of fact, you do not get many options to choose from but that is perfectly okay by me as most of the things on the menu are so very nice and cannot be found anywhere else, be it in Sibu or elsewhere.

Parking is not a problem – you can just park by the side of the lane leading from Kingwood riverfront to Lanang Road or you can park in the spaces right in front of the shop…

The way they put the sign, one might get the impression that their customers must not park here. LOL!!!

Like I’ve said on previous occasions, other than the food, I love the place a lot. I love how they use simple ordinary flowers for their decoration like this one where they made use of pandan (screwpine) leaves, frangipani and periwinkle flowers floating in a big flower pot filled with water to come out with something very pleasant to the eye…

This one is a bit more elaborate…and somewhat romantic…

I was there with Mandy and Yee Ling not too long ago and it was Mandy who first noticed the heart in it.

They have all kinds of quaint things on display such as these lesung batu ( mortar and pestle)…

…or this nice wooden carving on the counter with the local ethnic Dayak design…

…and this one is used to hold water…

…and it has a cooling effect on the water inside – the water would be cold without any need for refrigeration.

If you think the employees do not look local, you are absolutely right. One of the bosses had a hair salon and hairdressing school before he branched into selling exotic furniture with carvings and all and he had workers from Myanmar and Bangladesh. Eventually, he closed down that shop but he retained his workers to help him at his restaurant…and he must have been treating them well for they have stayed with him since.

For one thing, they are very friendly and polite and make you feel comfortable and at ease…and they can speak English well enough…plus they can brief you on what to expect for each dish on the menu which is definitely a lot more than what I can say about the miserable local waiters and waitresses in many of the cafés and restaurants in town who can hardly utter a word in English and do not bother asking them anything on the menu – they do not know! Tsk! Tsk!

This one is most probably Myanmarese…

He helps out with the cooking and the preparation of the ingredients. Here, you can see him getting ready the petals of the torch ginger flower for one of the salads that they serve here.

If you do not know what the flower looks like, why, they even use the blooms for their decor in the café…

I have had many posts on the food at this place already so I am not including any photos of their delicious fare in this post. You can always search for those old posts if you are interested…and if you have not been here before, you can give it a try. If you are into uniquely exotic and very tasty cuisine, chances are you will love it here…