This is one place that I’ve always drawn people’s attention to, both the locals and anyone visiting from out of town, especially to some of the very delightful items on their menu. That was why on the last day Melissa’s friend was in town, before her mid-afternoon flight back to the peninsula, we brought her here for lunch.
Melissa feels that their chicken chop (RM18.80)…
…is the best in town, the one with its creamy mushroom sauce, so she ordered that and despite the huge serving, she was able to finish all of it. Personally, I would prefer their sizzling roast pork spare ribs with honey but I thought that was a little to heavy for lunch so I opted for their nasi lemak special (RM7.20)…
…instead. I was looking for their new one, the one with a whole lot of specials by the side but I could not locate it in their order form. Halfway through what I had ordered, Melissa pointed out the photograph of the one I had wanted in the maze of photographs on the table. Never mind! I can always go back there for that another time.
My missus had the kway chap special (RM7.90)…
We had that a long time ago and were not very impressed by it but my missus said it was good and I would say it didn’t look too bad. Perhaps they’ve improved on it since, I wouldn’t know.
Melissa’s friend insisted on not having the sizzling black pepper beef kampua despite my pestering her to give it a try and she chose to have just the kampua mee instead, minus all the specials that they seem to have on their menu here to go with the noodles (RM4.50)…
…but I, for one, would be the first to declare that what they have here is in no way among the best in town and I was not at all surprised that there were no oos and ahs or any other exclamations of delight.
The deep fried dumplings (RM6.20)…
…were very nicely done and well-liked by all.
The crème brûlée (RM7.00)…
…was good, as usual, and to everyone’s satisfaction but though the vanilla mille crepe (RM6.50)…
…tasted great, probably the layers of crepe were a bit too hard, so hard that it was impossible to cut through them with a fork without demolishing the whole thing and ending up with one utter mess.
All this while, there are certain items on their menu that we like a lot, others that we feel we can live without but I would say that we have been very happy with what they serve here – the ones that we like and would order again and again, except for this one occasion when some of them were rather disappointing but talking about disappointment, this one definitely takes the cake!…
It did not look any different when served but when Melissa’s friend took a bite, she started complaining that it was terribly oily and it wasn’t as good as the ones she had from the hawker stall at the park in town though she felt the minced meat filling in this one tasted a bit nicer.
I took one and bit into it and was really disgusted to find that she was not exaggerating! The oil actually soaked right through the whole kompia, right to the bottom and there was so much oil on the paper on which they were placed too…
I took it to show the boss and he said that probably, the oil was not hot enough and added that he would get them to cook some more to replace this one. No way!!! I would not have any more of that, thank you very much, and insisted that it was struck off the bill and I told the guy that he should go and give the cook/chef a really good ticking off.
For a place like this and this kind of prices, there is no way that such sloppy work can be tolerated and I told him outright that I have always promoted this place and their kompia is among the highlights, the must-have on the menu…and if anybody gets to eat anything like this, they would surely come and scold me for saying that it is so good when it really is the pits!!! So what does that make me? A liar? Tsk! Tsk!
That certainly spoilt what would have been a perfect trip for Melissa’s friend. All the while, she was happy and liked what she had, some more than others, and there were a lot that swept her off her feet…and I thought that by bringing her here for lunch, there would be some kind of a grand finale – the perfect ending to a wonderful gastronomic visit to Sibu but unfortunately, it was such a let-down and a truly disastrous one at that! Now, I certainly would think twice about bringing anyone here again – not when there is no proper quality control and the assurance that what is good would always be good. Those people should know jolly well that business is more than just sitting there at the cashier’s counter, counting money…and customer satisfaction should be their top priority! Tsk! Tsk!
Well, what to do? What is done is done and cannot be undone and after that miserable setback, we made our way to the airport to send Melissa’s friend off…
I certainly hope that she will remember all the good things here, the happy moments shared, and will forget about that horribly oily kompia that she had the displeasure of having before she left town…
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
oh no! well, hopefully the belly one is still as good! Belly Belly Good…
They’re the only one selling deep fried with pork belly…so you’d better keep your fingers crossed.
thanks for sharing and it does make me feel hungry~ T.T
You’re still in the UK? Enjoying the cold cold winter and the fish and chips? Hehehehehe!!!!
I don’t think she will keep it at heart after all the yummylicious food and the great company she had during her time in Sibu! Everything cannot be perfect and I am sure she brings back lots and lots of good memories of her trip!
At the prices their charging and being a more upscale place, there is no excuse for anything less than perfect. Such slipshop service and stuff dished out cannot be excused. I could have gone to that popiah stall in town for something one-third less in price and a whole lot nicer…and not oily! They’d better pull up their socks for if such incidents ever happen again and again, they’ll lose all their customers in no time at all.
Wow.. the chicken chop caught my attention. hehe.
Melissa thinks theirs is the best in town.
The kway chap, the ingredients is put on top of the kway chap? As over here, the ingredients is put separate in another plate…
Never had that in Singapore, dunno.
Chicken chop & nasi lemak are my choice. Yucksss!!!!…so oily the kompia. Bet Melissa’s friend will remember all the good food & places of interest she has visited.
Hopefully! And thankfully she had pretty good deep fried kompia with minced meat filling earlier elsewhere…or she would think all Sibu kompias are like that – so horrible!
Chicken chop for rm18.80 ?! No thank you…. i’d go for the koay chiap though but i need more parsley/ coriander 😀
What’s the usual price at the more upscale cafes in Penang? We do not go for this very often around here but I do know we can get it at less than RM10 at one place here but it opens only at night. This particular place’s not cheap – most, if not all of the things…that was why I was fuming mad at that oily kompia! Most unacceptable! Tsk! Tsk!
wow, lots of food, lots of yummy food!!! i want that chicken chop, i want that nasi lemak, i want that mille crepe!! luckily i am not hungry yet after a nice lunch~~ :p
What did you have for lunch? Didn’t invite me to tag along? 😉
That is such a pity the kompia had to end that way. It wud be pretty embarrassing if your reader actually visit this place and excitedly ordered the kompia only to get this oily piece of dunno what and think ‘what is this stp thinking raving about their kompia?
Exactly what I told the boss that day – I would be careful what I promote from now on – if it’s anything from this place. 😦
those three layer pork in the kway chap looks soo goood!
Ya, the stewed pork belly here is nice. They have that in their kompia as well…or they serve it with rice too.
Ahhh…don’t feel bad. Maybe it was just a wrong day. At least she had a nice one from the park. By remembering other good n nice food…I guess she will forget this oily kompia. Don’t worry….
Ya, lucky thing the kompia was ok when we were there. This kind of place and at those prices, can’t afford to have bad days one – their reputation will surely go down the drain.
Those are some lovely food there, and it’s making me hungry now.
My gosh, to be served with an oily kompia is terrible. I hope your daughter will be able to remember the best of other dishes and most of all, the time spent with you, your wife and her friend. =)
My daughter enjoyed her chicken chop and the serving was so huge she did not have much of anything else. Her friend was the one who tried the first piece of the kompia and was too polite to spit it all out. 😦
heheh, actually, even an oily kompia can be part of good memories … she can look back at it and smile, heh 😀
…and be thankful that she does not live here and would not have to eat that again…ever? 😦
The chicken chop and nasi lemak are very delish looking
The chicken chop is good, according to my daughter but it’s not cheap. The nasi lemak’s not cheap either – nice, but not great, not at all.
Famished after my workout and I wish I could just nomz that plate of nasi lemak you posted!
It was good enough but not anything praiseworthy and it sure doesn’t come cheap.
I’d be happy just with that big yellow piece of corn on the cob. Looks so juicy.
My daughter loves it most of all, especially done this way. Not cheap, the sweet corn, uncooked, at the market these days, I think it’s RM2 or more each. Used to be able to get 4 or 5 with that kind of money. 😦
wow, rm18.80 for chicken chop, but it does look like a super huge serving.. nom nom nom 🙂
Expensive eh? It’s usually less than RM15, right? This one has got some nice stuff by the side though. My girl loves the corn on the cob.
What a shame with that oily kompia! You were right in telling the boss.Or else he would be clueless as to what his cook was up to.
Ya, he just sits there collecting the money…and dunno what else – go online perhaps. Others elsewhere would go around, mingle with the customers, chat with them, get feedback…any complaint, they’ll apologise and promise to look into it and even if they do not, people would feel good and would not mind coming again. Not the one here. 😦
Hmmmm…I still don’t really like the food here, maybe I should try again next time. First experience didnt give me that oh..ah…very nice feeling. Sizzling kampua, the beef was hard, I didnt enjoy and so do the kompia, a bit oily and taste just not right. That’s why I only went there once.
At those prices, if there is no quality control, we’d be better off going elsewhere. 😦
Ooooh creamy mushroom sauce I made a vegan version a while back n it was tasty. Are those peanuts in that second pic or a different kind of nut?
Yes, they’re a MUST – part of the condiments in that popular Malaysian breakfast dish – the “nasi lemak”.
Yucks to the oily kompia 😬!
Very unfortunate that Melissa’s friend had that just before leaving town but no worries. I am sure she had plenty of good memories to bring home….your kindness and hospitality, great companies and yummy food!
I certainly hope so. Just pissed off that it had to happen just before she left. Tsk! Tsk!