It really amazes me how people are willing to wait in line for a place in a cafe or restaurant to eat. No matter how good the food may be, I would just go elsewhere and settle for something that may be just as nice or at times, even better. There is one restaurant here that is always so crowded and I hear that even if you can get a table, while you are eating, there will be people standing around waiting for you to finish so they can grab your table and in the meantime, they will be watching you eat like you’re some animals in the zoo. Well, you would never catch me there ever, that’s for sure.
I remember that one time at the restaurant in Malacca when we had to go in to write down our names and right after that, we were shooed outside and made to wait by the roadside till it was our turn and they would call us back inside to eat. Actually, I wanted to leave and go some place else already but my friend, Mandy, said that since we were there already, we might as well just wait…and that was what we did (and I would not say that I was overwhelmed by what we had there that day) but I don’t think I would ever want to do anything of the sort again.
That was why when we went to this place the other night for dinner, we decided to go elsewhere instead. I went there at least twice before for lunch but lately, it no longer opens in the daytime – only for dinner at night and I’ve been told that they open quite early, at around 5.30 p.m. We got there before 6.00 p.m. but the place was packed and there were a number of people standing around the pavement and in the parking lot…waiting. If they think I would join the crowd and do the same, they’d better think again.
So in the end, we adjourned to this place but nobody wanted the western dishes available at one of the stalls there. My daughter had the Penang har mee (prawn noodles) which I liked a lot and had had a number of times before and she enjoyed it tremendously. My missus had the nasi ayam penyet (cobbled chicken rice)Β while I decided to try the bak kut teh noodles (RM5.00)…
…from one of the other stalls in that coffee shop.
The soup was very tasty, fragrant with the herbal taste but not overly strong and they used what people call the Emperor noodles (huang ti mien). I would say it was really very compatible with the bak kut teh soup, much nicer than the instant noodle-like ones that they use elsewhere or our local yellow noodles.
I enjoyed it very much and I certainly would not mind having that again. Unfortunately, there were only two chunks of meat – I did wish they had given more and maybe jacked up the price by a ringgit or so.
On another day in the morning, I took my daughter here to try the very nice bitter gourd mihun that I enjoyed very much on one of my earlier visits. She liked it a lot but the serving was a bit too huge for her to finish – she’s not really a big eater like the father, you see. My missus tried the kampua noodles (RM2.30)…
…which is cheaper than most other places in town but although it wasn’t too bad, I thought it was a little bit too starchy for my liking.
I had the tom yam goong, RM4.00 or was it RM4.50, I can’t remember exactly now…
…or the white tom yam by virtue of the santan (coconut milk added.
It was very nice – spicy enough and sour, perhaps a little bit too sour for me but on the whole, I quite enjoyed it. They had minced meat, fish slices, meat balls and black fungus, tomatoes in it…
…and if you order the RM6.50 bowl of the same, you would get some prawns.
I certainly would prefer to go to such less overcrowded places where I would not have to wait in line and other than that, it would not be so unbearably noisy and at times, even hot and stuffy so much so that one’s appetite would be absolutely ruined…but I guess, unlike me, many actually do not mind at all.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
I agree with you. I also would prefer a cozy and peaceful places to eat especially like me, bring along the toddler. Sometimes I just swallowed the food without chewing it. ahaha…
By the way, great pictures!
Hah!!! When my daughter was small, we did not bother to venture out at all if we could help it. So stressful trying to keep her under control…and wouldn’t enjoy ourselves anyway. She was hyperactive till around 5 or 6 years old at least… π¦
Oooo… I can bak kut teh (bkt) already now! Love that bkt noodle, will definitely finish the soup!!! π
Nice. Rainy morning here… Would be nice to have that right now. Slurpssss!!!! LOL!!!
I can eat bkt…
Gotcha… π
I’m not the one who’s willing to wait in line for the next available table although I’ve done it before. I’d usually go during the off-peak hours or I’ll totally avoid the restaurant of choice altogether.
Well, that restaurant in Malacca is probably following one seafood restaurant in Taiwan. Take a queue number and wait for the number to be called.
Wouldn’t be so bad if they had a reservation counter outside. This one in Malacca, you have to go in through all the tables and the diners all the way to the counter at the back and queue to write down your name on a sheet of paper in the presence of some not very friendly people…and then they will tell you to get out and wait outside. There may be some vacant tables inside but no, you cannot sit there and wait in the air-conditioned place. Out you go!!!! Your customers are the ones who make you who you are – you should treat them with a little respect. This is simply outrageous!!!! I would never want to go there again…even if the food is so nice, and it really isn’t – quite unlike long ago when they were not so famous and popular.
For sure, I am one who is not willing to sacrifice my time waiting in line to grab a table though the food is nice. Would rather go to less crowded places. Char siew on the Kampua noodles looks so red, too much colouring
Same here, can’t understand why people are willing to do that. They must be blessed with the patience of saints!!! Ya…the colouring’s quite horrendous – dunno why they have to colour it red when it is just boiled meat and not char siew. Nothing wrong having it plain…and colourless, I would think. .
Usually long lines means the food is very good, usually la~
So people willing to wait just to taste on it..
Not necessarily. Here, sometimes it is because it’s very cheap…but the food is so-so only, just ok, not anything to shout about.
Same here. I won’t queue for so long to makan. Free makan also I have to consider.
Free also, I would not bother. Like the free breakfast at hotels…if long queues, I’d just go out and have something in the shops…and on other mornings, I would avoid the “peak hours”.
Your tomyam look like curry mee already. π
If that was curry mee, then it would be curry that had gone basi already…so sour. π¦
the BKT noodles looks good, and I especially like food served in claypot, this makes sure it’s still piping hot till the very last drop..
surprise surprise!! King Kampuarthur didn’t opt to eat his kampua noodles but his Missy’s did!!
Since she wanted that, I just sampled lor… If I had the same, then I would only have one thing to blog about…so I might as well go for something else.
wah, i must say, i’ve never seen noodles and bak kut teh in the same pot before. but i think maybe i just haven’t seen a lot (especially when it pertains to BKT), heh π i think i’d be ok to queue, but not longer than 10 minutes! π
They have this at a few places here…and the first time I had it was at the Aurora Hotel coffee house in the mid-70’s in Kuching (Now 5-star Merdeka Palace Hotel)…and it was so nice that I kept going back for that. They use the instant-noodle type of noodles there. If it’s for breakfast, I would not want rice to go with that – not used to rice at that time of day.
Back in the good old days in Penang with RMAF in operation there is this one and only one western coffee house called Eden at Hutton Lane where the ones waiting in line are mostly kwailos their meals especially dinners. Being young & naive then we said to ourselves ‘siao ah’ to wait so long outside the coffee house haha coz we can get hawker food so easily. Those days KFC & McD not born yet. But now quite a few famous eateries in KatLumPor often have this ‘waiting in line’ and people are just so cool to wait for a table. Bananaz still not that patient when the stomach is drumming or in a rush to wait.
No, thank you. No matter how good, I will not die if I do not eat it…but I may die while waiting…from heat stroke or heart attack, blood pressure shooting through my head resulting from my impatience.
I usually call to make a reservation if I want to go to a place that has line-ups….
Best thing to do…but sometimes, such places get a bit too crowded and (hot and) noisy…and service may be slow – spoils the mood.
Just had BKT & steam fish in Balakong with Mango’s mom & dad. Same thing on every Sunday you have to be waiting in line. Waited for almost 10 minutes *I think* to get a table. Aiyoyo sudah ‘ki gian liao’ with the aTOMic yam goong but cannot eat lah doctor say one no chillies, no spicy food, no curry mee then might as well bury me haha.
Hahahahaha!!!! So sad hor…growing old. This cannot eat, that cannot eat…still alive but already feel like dead. 10 minutes, not bad – biasa lah…. Last night, went out for dinner…no queue, got table…but waited over 1 hour for the food! Tsk! Tsk! Will never go there again! π¦
Not sure when the sinseh says no curry no chillies is it only temporary coz of my cough & phlegm or for life which I think he meant the latter sobssss. Have a confession here and admit Bananaz is not comfortable consulting the Chinese sinseh but after three visits to two Western doctor, twice my regular doctor and third a new doctor as it was Sunday my cough & phlegm still not cleared. Three bottles of cough mixtures over 3 weeks got no effect on me. So no choice have to consult this Chinese sinseh who gave me only one kind of tablet *plain taste* which I presume its home made. Each time need to consume 8 chewable tablets 4 times a day. Bingo! Bananaz got so much better after the 2nd day. It is not cheap my heart almost missed a beat when he said RM100 for only one type of tablet without cough mixtures, antibiotic etc. But compared to my earlier three visits to a clinic an average RM40 will total RM120 and worst cannot cure my cough & phlegm. Guess Bananaz has to change his mindset of traditional Chinese medicine. If not for Mango who encouraged Bananaz to consult the sinseh perhaps would still be coughing now haha.
Personally, I prefer Chinese sinseh… Cordycep capsules good for cough, taking western medicine did not help. After ok already, I still go on taking…for general well-being.
I agree with you, I would leave a crowded place rather than wait. I really hate it when I’m trying to eat and other customers linger nearby as if telling me to hurry up! Oh…the BKT noodles look delicious! I love BKT with all the spare parts but haven’t had the noodle version yet.
I guess people there only eat it with rice. My daughter would have the noodles, she love bkt that way…not with rice.
I’m like you.. no patience to wait unless it is something that we really want to eat and know the food is good and something we can’t get in NZ. Other than that, sorry la. I’d rather eat Maggie Mee tambah spam.. Lol!
Me too… Nothing is that good to deserve me queuing up for it.
too many people and crowded sometimes food quality also dropped.
True, true… I wonder why people will crowd to a place then, even if it means having to queue up.
well i just came from a party with a so disgusting line haha well in that case we dont have a choice but if ever it in a restaurant id rather transfer to other restaurant than to fall in line for too ling haha i just dont have enough patience for that
Oh I just went for dinner with Andy.. he wanted fish ball noodles and we waited almost 30 min before our food arrived… but worth it cos he said he missed the food in this shop.. π I dont mind waiting if I am not hungry… if too hungry, then I will go to those with less people..
Wait for my post! We were told that night that we would have to wait for 45 minutes…and in the end, it took well over an hour. Was dying of hunger already when finally, the food arrived. π¦
For me, it depends… Sometimes if I’m in the mood, I’ll wait for it :p
Good things don’t come easy!
No, thank you…. Many things in the ocean, many birds in the sky…many other options to choose from. Life’s like that – full of choices and the sigh in “The road not taken” may be one of disappointment. What may seem great may not live up to one’s expectations.
depending on my mood and how bad I want to eat it, I have waited in line before… lol
the BKT did look a bit sad cos prob I am used to BKT having more meat in it…but the kampua mee… err the char siew looked a bit too red for me…lol…I recently met someone from Kuching and she was raving to me that I can get good Kampua mee and Sarawak Laksa in Sunway here. So looking forward to visit this place soon… so I cannot wait to try Sarawak style noodles! π
Sunway? Yesterday, Melissa posted some photos of Kuching’s tomato kway teow and laksa at Pavilion (food court). She said they have Kuching kolo mee too… Good or not, same or not…of course, I would not know.
Food Dreams…ya there’s a nice Sarawak Laksa at a food court next to Sunway Pyramid. Its call ‘Ming Tien’. Quite near to One Academy. Wonder is that d same one mentioned by your friend. π
Dunno. I only went to Sunway when it first opened a long long time ago. Never went again…. Nobody brings me mah! Sobsssss….so kesian!
Yes, the one next to Sunway Pyramid, the kampua is good, not sure about the sarawak laksa. I had thrice for the kampua, it is good, but i had it few years ago, not sure is it still there or not. There are two stalls there, make sure they go to the correct one. One stall is selling kuching noodles, the other one i think it wrote kampua or something, it is nice. The guy from Sibu, and speak foochow. π
Hah!!! Let everybody go and eat… I wouldn’t want to go and try should I happen to go to KL anytime… π
I don’t really like long Q restaurants also. But sometimes when we purposely go all they way there…just for that particular food…then no choice..got to bear with the Q.
All the food above…I would love to try the Tom yam noodle! π
Oh..you mean it is crowded at Anson now? Food good? I think you did post two or three about this palce?
That Claypot BKT look good! slurp slurp, i think it will taste good if add in mee suah. Oh ya, talk about mee suah, the lady boss at 1 cents, remember i told you she is not so well, decide to close down the biz? Good news is she is going to open again, after taking some medicine, she is a lot better now, and she call my mum and told my mum about it, but still not sure where yet.
That bowl of tom yam gong i thought is “chiu chai hung ngan”!!! hahahahha
They say the mee sua above Dewan Suarah market very nice – your mum tried before? Anson food is not bad, for one thing it is very cheap for western cuisine…and favourite hang out at night for young people. I think got free wifi.
I never like to wait for seat or over crowded restaurant no matter how good the food. We are paying, why should we queue at the five foot way or standing behind people while they still eating. So unpleasant to do that. Quiet place and less people doesn’t mean the food is not tasty, sometimes taste better.
The tomyam sure look delicious. π
Indeed!!! If business is soooooo good, they should use some of the profits to consider the welfare of the customers and do something to rectify the situation. No matter how good, it can’t be that good! Even if it is free food, I would not queue. What kind of people will queue for free food – beggars!!!
Those char siew on the kampua have so much colouring on! Hahaha. I don’t like queueing, especially in this weather! However if it was a nice cafe in Melbourne on a lovely spring/autumn day I wouldn’t mind standing for a little while chatting away.
BKT noodles! I’ve used mee sua to go with BKT before. Huang ti mian looks nice too!
Mee sua any good with bkt? Yet to try that. I had mee sua with Bovril soup when I was young – not really nice but in those pre-Maggi days, it was something nice for a change. Melbourne? Hmmm….saw photos on Facebook of people lining up at Pappa Rich…eyewwww!!!! No, thank you! LOL!!! π
the whole idea to Malacca is to try the food right?? Since we are there must why we wait for a while..if you are not there..I will just walk away and get something else to eat… π
Yes, you’re not so fussy about food, I know. Everything is o.k. Actually, there wasn’t much of a queue and we did not have to wait that long – otherwise, I would suggest going some place else already. They could have a better system though…like letting us sit and wait inside. π