Seems so long ago…

Well, it certainly seemed that way because it really had been so long ago since the last time I set foot in this restaurant…

It must be at least 50-60 years old and was one of the very few and the most famous, most popular restaurants in town back in my growing-up years.

While others have closed down and one that is definitely not as old has moved elsewhere, this one has stayed put at the exact same location right in the centre of town, opposite what used to be the Lido Cinema that had been burnt down and is now an inn…

…along the very narrow and congested Blacksmith Road…

…where parking can be such a pain and the fact that the pasar malam (night market) has been relocated to the area behind this row of shops sure does not help to make things any better.

A friend posted a comment on Facebook that she was told that the restaurant had changed owner and was not so authentic anymore. I asked and was told that when the old owner had passed away, his son did not have any interest in the business (Word has it that he has migrated and is presently living overseas.) and the old man’s partner, Ah Teck, took over the restaurant. As far as the food goes, it is more or less the same and as nice as before though I do know also that one of the chefs left and opened his own restaurant across river. I hear that he cooks more or less the same stuff as what he used to dish out here but that restaurant is way out of town, so far away…and our roads here, especially those out-of-town ones, are not so vehicle-friendly, not quite the kind of drive for old folks like me…and even more so at night.

Anyway, like before, the restaurant is still on the 1st floor and I was delighted seeing the fact that they have maintained the place really well…

…with a string of awards…

…to show…

 …and an A certificate for cleanliness from our local municipal council.

I was there that night with my friend/ex-classmate, Michael, for dinner before he left town to go back to Australia and we had this sweet and sour fish…

– I think they called it Fook Kui Yu or something like that…and it was very nicely done indeed.

Correct me if I’m wrong but I think hock chiew means Foochow and lau is short for chiew lau or a venue where they will hold (wedding and other) banquets (ciak chiew) so the name actually means Foochow restaurant and needless to say, this is THE place where one would be able to get old-school authentic Foochow delights such as their celebrated sio bee (meat dumplings)…

[CORRECTION: My sincere apologies to one and all. Based the comments received, in the Chinese name of the restaurant, the first two characters, which taken together sound like the Chinese reference to Foochows, actually do not make a reference to that. “Hock” means luck or good fortune and ‘Chu’ means gather so literally it means “good fortune to all who gather at this place”. Thanks to all concerned for the explanations.]

…and their Foochow-style fried noodles…

When I was small, whenever my mum was busy with something or did not have time to go to the market, my dad would bring the tiffin carrier and buy food home and the thing was that he would buy from this same restaurant and the same few dishes every time so much so that eventually, I got so tired of eating those same things and the mere sight of them would put me off. One of those would be their ang sio pek/pao chai…

– stewed/braised Chinese cabbage/wombok. I don’t think it was because I had not eaten it for a long long time but they certainly do it much better now and I really enjoyed it very much. I would surely order it without any second thought should I drop by this restaurant again.

Other than that, we also ordered their fried midin (wild fern)…

…as Michael would not be able to enjoy that once he had gone back…and it is something one would not be able to get outside of the state of Sarawak, not even in the peninsula.

I shared these photos on Facebook and somebody commented that he was not too happy with the people at this restaurant and I quote, “Food may be still good but every time (I mean every time since 4 years ago) we received very rude and sour face treatment even tho we have ordered similar old cuisine…” Unquote. On the contrary, I thought the ladies were very friendly and chatty and the service was excellent! Of course, they were not the sweet and gentle young ladies one might be used to in the new Chinese restaurants elsewhere (especially) as they did come across rather coarse or rough which may be quite typical of small town people and those of our local dialect – it’s just their usual way of talking, that’s all.

If it’s rude as in really rude or ill-mannered, I can pinpoint a few at some places in town but no, I did not think the ones here were thus inclined. I did get a little put off though by how they would scoff on and on about the fried sio bee that I had bought from the pasar malam at the back and brought them along with us – we had gone very early in order that we would be able to find a parking space and in the meantime, we went to browse around the night market but it started pouring heavily so we had to cut short our stroll. They insisted that their fried meatballs…

…were way superior and kept putting down the ones I had in my plastic bag. I asked Melissa for her opinion and she said that both were nice. She thought they were two different things that did not taste quite the same and she liked them both.

Well, there was one left and everyone was too full to eat it so I put it in the plastic bag together with the ones deemed inferior and took it home. The next morning, I cut it and stuffed the slices in the croissant that Melissa had bought for me from a bakery near our house, along with some lettuce and mayo to make a croissant sandwich…

…and yes, it was very nice. I must say that I enjoyed it a lot, eaten this way. Hehehehehehe!!!!!

Michael insisted on picking up the tab that night and of course, it would seem so cheap to him, less than AUD$50 for the six of us. I am pretty sure you can’t go out for a dinner for two for that kind of money in Ozzieland. Thank you so much, Michael – I always feel it is so very nice to meet and get together with friends…

*You can tell from the shape & size which the true blue Sibu locals are… LOL!!!*

…and I certainly look forward to more of the same the next time you come home…