That’s how I like it…

There are a few shops in town with romanised Mandarin names like Hao Ke Lai literally translated, if I’m not mistaken, as “Nice, come again” or Chai Lai, or “Come again”, that is…but this is the first time I’ve seen one transcribed from Hokkien…

This is the kind of small talk that the people in our society ask one another when they meet, “Have you eaten?” or in Malay, “Sudah makan?” and actually, the person asking has no interest whatsover as to whether you have had your meal already or not. Jokingly, one would answer, “Ah boi, ai chia boh?” (Not yet, want to treat?) and the individual spoken to would jokingly reply, Kia! Kia! (Come! Come!) but that is not to be taken seriously and the person concerned is not expected to follow, not at all. I know it seems kind of funny or even somewhat ridiculous but that is one of our basic simple manners and people do it all the time and don’t ask me why.

Anyway, there has been a coffee shop at this particular location for as far as I can remember. It is in the vicinity of the commercial area next to the  Dewan Suarah and this one faces the Petronas petrol station on the other side of the main road, Jalan Tun Abang Haji Openg or formerly known as Queensway…but I noticed recently that it has taken up a brand new name and an interesting one at that so I decided that I would drop by one day to give it a try and that was exactly what I did a few days ago.

It is a coffee shop like any other, nothing special or exceptional except perhaps for the name. There is a kampua noodle stall up front but I was thinking that I had had enough of that for the time being so I went to ask the lady at the stall at the back of the shop what she was selling and she said, “The usual fried stuff.” I ordered her Foochow-style fried noodles (RM3.50) and I was not disappointed when it was served…

As you can see, the gravy is dark in colour which probably is the result of frying the noodles in garlic and soy sauce and then the gravy and then putting the noodles back into it before dishing it all out onto a plate or I know some would just pour water into the wok after frying the noodles without washing it first and then add the ingredients which would also give the gravy this same dark colour but anyway, whatever it is, this is how I like it and not like what I had at some places, for instance, here…

…or here…

…even though, they may taste pretty good as well.

RM3.50? Now, that is 50 sen more than the usual price or don’t tell me they’ve increased it elsewhere as well…but considering the amount of ingredients in it, I would say it is quite worth it…compared to what I would get at some places – with the meat hardly visible to the naked eye and a few equally miserable bits of vegetables. Here, you get some sliced fish cake, lots of greens and wait a minute! That’s chicken…

Yes, I’ve heard that since the pork sellers have increased their prices, many have resorted to substituting the pork with chicken. But that’s all right by me as what is most important is the taste as a whole, and this one is definitely worth dropping by for.

The coffee isn’t too good though so if you’re a die-hard true blue coffee lover, perhaps you would like to try elsewhere…