There used to be a West Malaysian franchise here before and actually, I went there not once but twice and I thought the food was pretty good but like most franchises, the prices were somewhat on the high side…and I guess that did not go down too well with the folks in Sibu so eventually, they called it a day.
Well, somebody has taken over the premises now…
…and like the previous owner, they have rented two shoplots – one on the left end of a block and the other on the right end of the next block with a vacant space (covered) in between the two. I would not say the same about the shop sign outside but I thought the logo by the side of the entrance did look rather impressive…
They have the drinks station at that shoplot on the left and I guess they do the cooking there as well. You can choose to have their chap fan (mixed economy rice)…
…and sit outside or go inside the shoplot on the right and enjoy your food in air-conditioned comfort. The chap fan certainly looked popular as I saw many people having that and for one thing, I liked the fact that they took the trouble to keep the food covered when no one was helping themselves to what they had in store – unlike at some places that I had the displeasure of encountering. Tsk! Tsk!
My missus and I decided to order their chu-char (à la carte) as we wanted to try and see if they were any good. I would not say that the place was very grand – it would be nicer if they had put in a bit of effort to arrange and place everything in its own place nicely. The tables were fine, covered with nice crimson red table cloth and on the one where we sat, they had this…
No, I don’t drink – not anymore…and that was not a can of that made-in-China beer. It was a toothpick dispenser – you press the tab and a toothpick will shoot out of the hole like this…
Come to think of it, I don’t think I have seen anybody here doing some major excavation works after a meal for a long while now – it used to be rampant, this horrendous habitual practice and I thought it had died a natural death. Obviously, I was mistaken.
They also use these sterilised/disinfected dining utensils here…
…like at the other restaurant that I went to not too long ago. I did check the bill later and no, they did not charge me for that unlike what smallkucing claimed she experienced at some steamboat or whatever place that she went to in the peninsula.
I was intrigued by the name – Hongkong kailan (RM8.00)…
…so I ordered that. When it was served, I thought it looked kind of plain but when I tried it, I found that it tasted very good – perfectly done, neither under-cooked nor overcooked…and very fragrant, very nice. I guess they fried it with garlic and some kind of sauce. The serving was huge though – I would think there was enough for 4 persons.
We also ordered the claypot tofu (RM12.00)…
…and if I thought their serving of kailan was big, this was even bigger! There was tofu (bean curd), some bits of yam, baby corn, strips of meat and so on inside.
My missus commented that they must have made their own tofu…
…seeing that it was so soft and smooth, almost like tofu fua (bean curd jelly) and even tasted a bit like that.
They said their roast pork (RM12.00) was their specialty so we decided that we wanted to try that…
…and it certainly was very nice – I was quite positive that they had used a bit of ang chao (red wine residue) to marinate the meat…but what I loved the most was the cincaluk dip that came with this dish…
I would prefer more cincaluk and perhaps, it could have been spicier but as it was, I would say that I did like it quite a lot – sort of sweet and sour, a little bit hot (but not enough for me or my missus) plus the mild cincaluk taste. I suppose they would need to cater to the general taste of the Sibu population and anything that is very spicy hot may not go down too well with most of them.
All in all, the bill came up to RM36.70, RM32.00 for the food and considering that there was enough for at least 4 people, I would say that it was reasonably priced. But of course, what would be most important would be the quality of the food and based on what I had that day, it was good enough for me to want to drop by again sometime.
Well, if anyone is interested and is not too sure of the place, it is at No. 41-43, Jalan Pahlawan 9, among the shops near the Sibu Bus Terminal somewhere BEHIND Secret Recipe and the telephone number, 084-216759
P.S.:
This came in the mail yesterday from a dear friend all the way in Ipoh, Perak…
Thank you so much, Elin. It certainly is so very sweet of you to go through all that trouble. Appreciate it heaps and will certainly try it out soon…and hoping to drop by Ipoh one of these days to sample “the real thing”! Wink! Wink! Regards to Wild Boar and your little piggies…
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Even the photo says the Kailan dish looks so fresh and tasty! Yum!! I’m also drooling over the tofu 🙂 You certainly had a nice meal 🙂
Yes, and the best part was it was perfectly done – not over- or under-cooked, so crunchy and sweet. My missus and I certainly enjoyed everything we had that day.
The food do looks good, and for that kind of price, it is really worth it, RM32 for 4 persons, one person RM8 and in Singapore, that is only S$4 and you get three dishes, kailan, toufu and roast meat, so worth it!
Unfortunately, there were only two of us…and it was such a struggle to finish everything. That was such a heavy brunch that we were still full by evening and had to skip dinner… Would be just right if there had been 3 or 4 of us.
Major excavation works? LOL The good old days!
Hahahaha!!!! Didn’t we use to see that at the coffee shops all the time in the past? 😀
Boston has closed down? Alas, I didn’t even get the chance to go. Haha!
That Tsingtao beer toothpick dispenser is really nifty! I like it, would make a great novelty souvenir. 😀
Roast pork with cincaluk dip! Now that’s something I don’t usually see around here. I like the concept of packaged utensils too, remember seeing your previous post on it.
No great loss. We can drop by this place when you’re back in town and you can ask for that Tsingtao thingy – maybe they wouldn’t mind if you pick up a substitute from Supersave and bring it along to exchange. I’m fine with that sterilised thing – as long as they do not charge for it. Hehehehehe!!!!
Haha! Great idea! 🙂
I’ll try that next time and see if they agree.
Yup, it’ll be nice to drop by when I come back home. See you then buddy! 😀
See you…but when? When? When? 😉 LOL!!!
The kailan is so green and does look very good. I believe the fragrance is attributable to a dash of cooking wine. Love the roast pork too. Talking of “major excavation works”, I have seen people using the tip of their drinking straw to dig away at their teeth. Yuks!
I wish they had mirrors to see themselves doing that…and then they would go ptui…ptui…ptui…spitting out the fruits of their labour. Ewekkk!!! They’re so disgusting! 😦
Very clean, presentable and impressive.. the prices are reasonable too… 🙂
so nice of Elin to send you the rempah.. 🙂
Yes, I kept telling her not to but she insisted. So shy lah…not sending anything back to her. 😦
Arthur, no nid to send me anything back…pls dont…you have been the one sending me gifts through Claire and I really don’t know what to send to you …thought this would be nice when you are too lazy to cook anything fanciful.
Hah!!! You know me so well. Anything simple and always prone to taking shortcuts. Hehehehehe!!!! 😉
the toothpicks container looks very cute lah.. yeah, when i saw that i already suspected it wasn’t the real beer can at all.. haha!! are the boss from China?? Tsing Tao beer is very china, and having all the dining utensils wrapped in plastics is also very very china too~~ 😀
Nope…but I like the people there – very friendly…and can speak Hokkien, not just Mandarin like some other places. But I just used Mandarin mostly – need the practice.
oh i love that roast pork!!! but are you sure they are roasted?? looks more like deep fried to be because i can see a thick layer of crispy batter wrapping the pork..
Exactly what I thought. Maybe roast and fried…or fried and roast…but anyway, it tasted great. Loved the very tasty crust!
Deep fried is equally good to roasted one. Kekeke, I don’t care how the pork is cooked, as long as it’s nice!
And what actually attracted me is the cincaluk dip, it’s so unique~~
Yes. I think I will make my own – like sweet and sour and fragrant and spicy. All in one!
Yeah very geng logo impressive indeed
Very nice. Ada class.
Nowadays the chap fun is no more that economical anymore so ‘economy’ should not be used betul kah cikgu?
It is quite economical here…still. Maybe RM3-4, depending on what or how much you take…but a friend commented on Facebook that at this place, it’s take-all-you-can for a standard price. No wonder it is so popular. But she said that the plate isn’t exactly big…so can’t really take a lot. LOL!!! 😀
Wah ‘yew pi yew chee yew koh tua tay’ wau lau eh chiak all you can haha.
I thought it’s supposed to be yew phee, yew chee, yew tua liap nee? LOL!!! 😀
Hahaha!!!…Arthur, that sounds better.
Ya, at least it rhymes… 😉
I like the cincaluk dip. It should goes very well with the roast pork. Oh, Ipoh salted chicken rempah…come to Ipoh and I bring you to eat the actual one 🙂
Ya, certainly looking forward to that. Loved it – the cincaluk with the pork…and the dip also went well with the rice. Slurpssss!!!!
STP, so thoughtful of your blogger friend Elin to send you those Ipoh Salted Chicken Spice Mix all the way from Ipoh.
Yes, I’m so blessed with such wonderful friends all over… 🙂
I like roast pork, it looks so crispy.
It was nice and crunchy…but all lean – I would love a bit of fat. 😦
Never been to this place before for a meal….must try it out one day…
Go ahead. I would be dropping by again that’s for sure should I be eating out anytime soon…
Oo.. that Roast pork looked deep fried… very delectable cos I m drooling just looking at it. I like the idea of the cincaluk dipping sauce… very interesting combination…. I have something similiar looking at my tai chow here but no sauce….
It’s ok if it’s deep fried…as it isn’t oily – that’s the most important thing. I would love a bit of fat though – it was all lean. 😦
roast pork …looks good! And it looks like the deep fried pork marinated with ‘nam yu’.
Looking forward to see you cook that Ipoh Salted Chicken 😉
That will probably have to wait a while. Will be going over to Kuching this weekend…so do expect to see a whole lot of posts on that.
woah…interesting!
Shall wait……
*breaks out in cold sweat* LOL!!!
we went to the restaurant that was mentionedin this forum http://forum.mamakonline.com/index.php?showtopic=45855.
memang kena charge 40set a set!
You KL lain, here Sibu lain… If they charge, I think they would not hear the end of it. In the first place, nobody asked them to use those. Hehehehehehe!!!
Sibu offers so much of PLC food and RM32 for the dish above is very cheap!
Must really look out for AA cheap flight already 🙂
What are you waiting for? That day, they had “free seats”, you did not bother? My friends all booked already – they’re all coming (again) next year…
wah….the toothpick holder is so interesting…..something new! The fried pork certainly looks good….and very big portion too!
No lah…I think they have that elsewhere too. The thing is…like me, hand so itchy…would press and the toothpick would come out and then I would push it back. Imagine how many people would do the same, just play-play while waiting for the food…and eventually, the person taking that toothpick and sticking it into his mouth would be using one that has been touched by so many people. Eyewwwww!!!!! LOL!!!
The cincaluk dip looks nice too……sourish…I’ve not eaten anything like that over here. In fact, I’ve never tried cincaluk before……doesn’t even know how they tasted like. haha
Oh dear! Go and grab a bottle and try, Tan Kim Hock one will do…
It’s really a shame that people these days sing in praise of all kinds of cuisines from all over the world but they are so ignorant of their own. Somebody had a post with a photo…and he did not know what it was. He was in Trengganu and it was Trengganu’s nasi dagang. Tsk! Tsk! Me here, halfway across the world and yet I know…
We don’t see any restaurant doing this sterilised/disinfected dining utensils for its customer yet. I like the idea, the plates and bowls are much more cleaner and hygiene – no contact with Mr. Lalat, hihi~
No need to go overboard but the least anyone can do is to keep the food covered…like the stalls across the road from the teacher-training institute in Sg Petani, Kedah – the food all exposed…and the flies more than the people….and the trainees have to go and eat there every day! The town council and the health people must be sleeping…or very “well-fed”…or gaji buta. Then when there is a cholera outbreak, the mud-slinging, the finger-pointing begins…
Oh yes…about that sterilised utensils…….something new to me too……. Never seen such things before…….I love the idea…certainly cleaner…..
Oh? This is the second place that I’ve seen in Sibu using that service. I’m not so particular actually – as the old folks used to say, dirty eat – dirty fat! LOL!!!
You always get to eat nice food!!
Very worth it la considering the big portion 😀
I would think so too. There was soooo much for two to eat!
The roast pork looks very cripsy. I think is deep fried and not roasted. But it looks really good and with that cincaluk dip, it will sure get you jumping up and down. Love the tofu too. The toothpick dispenser very canggih.
I guess so but they call it “sio bak” which means roast meat and I actually expected something like the roast pork belly at the char siew stalls…but it came out all different. Thankfully, it was very very nice and I would want to order it again should I drop by the place next time. Huh? That toothpick thing canggih kah? LOL!!! 😀
Lemme see… I had something that looked like that roast pork 2 nights ago, and a bowl of cincalok. but my cincalok looked waaaay redder and hotter. Haha. But the tooth pick dispenser…. coooolll wei!
I’m sure that would be nicer…but Kuching’s not the same lah. Here, some have not acquired the taste for spicy and exotic stuff so I guess they have to make it milder. Something’s better than nothing.
Hi Arthur,
Dont mention la…it is a small thing LOL! You can have it oven steamed and a little roast to have a more aromatic . I tried it this way and it was good 🙂 you can have a look at it here
http://elinluv.blogspot.com/2012/03/ipoh-salted-chicken.html
Hope you and wifey enjoy it as much as we do…yea ,when you are in Ipoh you can try the real thing 🙂
Ok, will try it out when I get back from my trip to Kuching this weekend. Thanks… 😉
Food look good and with reasonable price.
I love HK kailan, over here we can get also but it is always very “old”. I had a nice HK kailan in HK, that is really HK kailan, so “young” and crunchy and it won’t stuck on your throat. kekekeke
Ah, the taufu, this is the way that me and Fearles like. yum yum.
Roast pork a bit different from us here, but the dip look very interesting, and i think it is nice? But, why they add cincaluk? Maybe after mix with chili and lime and all, it taste better and not so strong cincaluk taste?
So sweet of Elin to sent you the herbs. Now we all waiting for you to “experiment” it and show us the outcome.
The Hongkong kailan was very very good – 1st look, I was so disappointed. Nothing, just leaves and stems…like something to feed the ducks…but when I tried, it was so good…so crunchy, so tasty…very fragrant. Another dish that I would want to order again.
The dip tastes more like Thai chili sauce – not much cincaluk smell – I think they do not use Bintulu ones, so smell not strong enough. Tofu, ok lah…also very nice but next time, I think I would want to try something else. Would be one place we can go if you come back to Sibu again – pretty nice.
Well, if my experiment is successful, you would see it in my blog. If I keep quiet, you knw what has happened lah! LOL!!! 😀
The roast pork looks yummy leh! i know pork is fattening but i really love it.. Sometimes I’d take pork rather than chicken, hehe!
It’s ok, it’s all lean…but never mind that it’s fattening – I would prefer some fat – the texture of the lean meat will be nicer. 🙂
all those food look nice 🙂 is that bokchoy? i realized that i like bokchoy 🙂 that tofu looks nice, too…i remember the tofu featured in kimchi chronicles. i would want to eat a newly made tofu 🙂
That is Chinese broccoli – if I’m not mistaken, that is what it’s called in English…other than just kailan, of course.
Oh … my! Everything look so delicious especially the roast pork. yum yum The tofu look good too.
Waiting to see your salted chicken, my favorite too.
Have a nice week ahead.
You like salt-baked chicken? So far, the one I had was good…but I would not go out of my way to have that. Let’s see how it will turn out when I try cooking my own. Ya…the food here was good – wouldn’t mind going back there again. 😉