My friend, Philip, loves those prawn noodles – the ones here with the udang galah (freshwater prawns)…
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…even though they are charging RM35.00 a bowl now. I guess for him, it is not all that expensive since it is just a little bit more than US$10.00…plus they cannot get anything like this there and I am pretty sure most everything there is selling at around that same price or perhaps, even more.
The ones that we had here in Sarikei, the tom yam ones…
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…and the regular ones…
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…are not much cheaper now either. The last I heard, they were already RM30.00 a bowl.
I was surprised that even though he had driven from Kuching to Sibu and back year in and year out, Philip had never heard of Jakar and never noticed it anywhere along the way…and he did not know that there is a restaurant there as well that is famous for its prawn noodles – the Peking Restaurant. I told him about it and of course, he would want to stop there to try so on our way back to Sibu that day, we kept a look out for the bazaar and we did manage to locate it…
…on your left if you are driving from Kuching to Sibu. We were quite dismayed to see that the restaurant was closed but a vegetable seller by the roadside, without our asking, told us that they had moved to the other side of the road. Good grief! I guess every strange face around would be there for the noodles so the locals would be able to guess instantly what he or she is looking for.
We drove over to the restaurant at its present location…
…and I noticed that they even have a nice air-conditioned section…
…with big tables probably for those grand Chinese dinners…
…but there were only two of those so my guess is that they can only manage to do it on a small scale.
We wasted no time at all in ordering the prawn noodles…
…and I must say that I enjoyed it a lot while Philip was torn between this one and the one in Sibu. For one thing, it was not overloaded with msg and personally, I do feel that when we cook anything with prawns, we really do not need any of that white stuff – the soup or the gravy would be very sweet and delicious already.
There were FIVE prawns altogether, cut into halves…
…unlike the Sibu one where you would get three halves only so that looks like you’re getting three prawns when in actual fact, there are only 1½, plus the last time I had it there, I thought they had added too much msg so I did not really think it was all that good.
Here comes the best part! That only cost RM19.90 a bowl which is considerably less than the ones in Sibu or Sarikei. We left the place and drove back to Sibu, happy and absolutely satisfied.
Philip and I left Kuching before 10.00 a.m. and it was about 6.00 p.m. when he dropped me off at my house. It certainly was a pleasant drive and a wonderful trip indeed. Thank you so much, Philip, for everything!
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Would love to try that tho not cheap, udang galahs are never cheap anyway
Same with the KL couple who came over – they got in touch with me through my blog and asked me to be their food guide – my pleasure, of course. I told them of the one in Sibu, said it was too expensive….no need to go but they insisted and treated me and my missus to a bowl each. That was the last time I ate there – can’t afford to go on my own. 😦 I think over at your side, it would be some RM80-100 or more. Remember seeing somebody sharing it somewhere.
RM35 for a bowl of har-mein is really expensive.. But with udang galah (here I call it lobster!) in it, I don’t mind paying especially if I’d wanted to taste it for myself if it’s really that good.. After all I’ve eaten a bowl of fish slice noodles (with fish cakes and fish balls) for RM19.90 a bowl, so I don’t mind adding RM10+ for lobster or 5 big prawns !! The noodles really look yummy and the more expensive it is, the more I wanna try, hehe..
See my reply to Ken above. You people very rich, no problem…can afford. Poor ol’ pensioner like me can only look and drool. Hehehehehehe!!!!
Bananaz kalah looking at the pixz of udang galah, yummy!. Eh what’s that crab leg doing in the 3rd pixz? haha
You mean the prawn leg…or that bit of chili in the bowl? Oh dear!
Very nice. I love the chairs, too. 🙂
Yes, I would say that’s pretty impressive for that little town.
Yes, I like the chair too… Haha
Yes, custom made for the likes of us. 😉
As long as the taste is good, price doesn’t count. hehe.
It does! Especially when it is THIS expensive. i would just give it a miss…but I guess people from elsewhere would want to go and try – a once-in-a-lifetime thing.
Oh. Peking move??? Heard it has the best prawn noodle at that area but I didnt managed to try it. Tried the other one near to it in old place.
I read in somebody’s blog about that one – heard it was the wrong one, not nice. You’re going back to Kuching by road come September? Can stop by…on your left if you’re driving TO Kuching.
Can just drive over for its prawn noodle from Sibu. Less than 2 hours drive. ^^
I blogged about the other shop before. Quite nice. Around RM35 I think. So I can imagine Peking’s must be better. Drooling.
Can, but plus the petrol…may be cheaper to just eat in Sibu. Lots of other places here, not as expensive as that famous one.
My pleasure, Arthur. Thanks for the company and the many fine food recommendations.
Anytime. It was such a wonderful trip, many firsts…and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Wouldn’t have happened without you nudging all these years…and no regrets, joining you this time around. Hopefully, we’ll do this again next year? Hehehehehehe!!!!!
This time again next year, and I guess you’re already thinking of Sungei Tengang.
Waiting…waiting… 😀
Argh!!!!!
Very bad idea to visit your blog during my active craving phase!
You’re in Sarawak, not a problem…but you’re far from Jakar or Sarikei now, eh? I think they also have these prawn noodles in Bintangor, dunno exactly which shop or whether good or not.
I’ve tried the ones in Sarikei. Haven’t tried the one in Jakar.
Not going back for Raya holidays, so just tahan hati until i can go back to Bintangor
No? One week holiday, schools here…and another one week in September and soon, it will be the end-of-year long holidays already. How time flies.
Not going back for Raya. Hubby off to work already. Doctor’s appointment during Sept holidays.
Maybe they have this some place in Kuching. Haven’t heard of any though…
RM30.00 for 1 1/2 prawns is too expensive but 5 prawns for RM19.90 is a great deal. Yummy!!!!.., Nice white top table and the cushioned chairs.
I would agree. RM35 a kg, you would probably get 20-25 that size at the market. They have to cook for you and they also need to pay for the overheads and at the same time, make some profit…so that price isn’t too bad really.
Wow, RM35.00 per bowl and the one you had was RM19.90! Hmmm…I guess it is OK to splurge once in a while and especially so if it was worth it. Good thing that the restaurant is still around.
You’ll be surprised, there ARE people going specially to eat that!!!
Seeing it makes me crave for it, kaka….
Can get anything like this in Singapore? Maybe with sea prawns, you should have it there…or something similar with lobsters. 😀
So cheap!! Where to get RM19 elsewhere, man… after promoting this here, hope they get more business! haahaaa… What a foodful and satisfying trip you had with your friend… should do this more often..so nice to go for a relaxing drive and taking all types of different food from other cultures..
Yes, it was indeed…and soon after this, I was off to Bintulu, so do watch out for more…and more of such posts on my trips. The beauty of being retired, just go where I wanna go, no worries in the world.
Soupy noodle with spicy taste like prawn noodles and tom yam are always my kind of food. All these noodles will make me forget my husband’s name.
Oh dear!!! Then we’d better keep these far far away from you! LOL!!!
I just ate it yesterday on my way back to Kuching. But at their old shop there, charging us RM19 only. Really super cheap, at first I thought it should cost around RM25 cos it has 7 prawns!
Oh? So the old place is still in business then? Somebody shared on Facebook what he had here, RM25.00. Maybe the price will vary according to the size of the prawns.
Yummy prawns. 🙂
Good thing that your friend enjoyed it.
Can’t get these in the US, that’s for sure…much less cooked the local Foochow way.
The tom yam looks good, spicy ones! The prawns is like saying ‘come eat me!’ :p
Can’t go wrong with ’em prawns…
Dear sir,
Have enjoyed reading your blog immensely,makes a Kuching boy currently living in KL miss home even more-can u pls furnish me with
Address of the Peking seafood restaurant or it’s contact no. Grew up in kch but hv never been there. And your reviews of food in Sibu make me want to make a trip down, best rgds to u and ur family and keep up the great work..
Cheers
Welcome, welcome. Thanks for dropping by and commenting. The Peking Restaurant is not in Kuching – it’s in Jakar, near Sarikei. Come on over, Sibu welcomes you. Just let me know, would be glad to take you around for the best in town. Do drop by again, ya!
Will definitely take u up on that offer,will give u advance notice next time I’m in Sibu-appreciate the clarification-silly me didn’t realise it’s in Sarikei-no wonder so much cheaper-take care and blessed weekend to u and your family-your reviews of payung restaurant is particularly enticing.
First on the list, that’s for sure. 😉
Jakar in foochow will be “ya kat”? I heard my mum saying about the prawn noodles at this place. Whenever she go to Kuching, she will stop at this place for prawn noodles.
I am glad, the last round i went back i manage to try the famous Sarikei prawn noodles, it is nice, i like the original taste instead of tom yam. Nice!!
So the next time you come back to Sibu, you can check out this Jakar place. It’s very near Sarikei, not far at all.
remember the first time HB brought me to Min Kong for the big head prawn noodles. Still the same price RM35? Drooling at the prawns and soup!
Yes, still RM35. Can take my whole family to a decent meal. 😦