The previous Saturday (not the one that had just gone past), we stopped by here…
…for lunch. It was under a different name before, run by some other people, but they closed down the place not long after and now, it has resumed business, it seems, under a brand new name and a different management…and this was where I got the nice and relatively cheaper made-in-Lahad-Datu mooncakes that I featured in my previous post.
Everything was pretty much the same and the zakka part of the shop wasn’t anything to get excited about either, just a few odds and ends on sale and none that would be of interest of me. I know these cactus plants…
…were going for RM15.00 each and no, I was not keen on buying those either.
One thing that caught my eye though was this old F & N orange bottle…
When we were small, for festivals like Chinese New Year, my father would buy crates of Coca Cola and these from a shop in town, Kim Guan Siang, but no, they were not for us. Those special drinks would be reserved for specials guests dropping by (though I might have sneaked away a bottle or two to enjoy) and we could only help ourselves to the made-in-Sibu Ngo Kian aerated drinks which to us in those days, were like heaven on earth as well, not like young people today who can have everything they want so much so that these aren’t in any way regarded as special treats that we, in our time, would give an arm or a leg for.
I had the iced red bean (RM4.90) while my missus had the cendol (also RM4.90)…
…which did not look much different except for the cincau (grass jelly) at the top and I did not take note of what happened to all the ang tao in the end. She claims that for whatever reason, eating those and even red bean paste would make her head spin and she would feel giddy after that. Melissa did not order anything fancy that day and stuck loyally to her 100 Plus (RM2.50).
To start off, we shared this mushroom soup with garlic bread (RM4.90)…
…which we found to be rather diluted, not rich and creamy and not something that we would want to order again.
Melissa had their chicken-lamb-beef platter (RM16.90)…
…which was all right, this much I would say, and they sure were very generous with the meat…
…so much so that Melissa was not able to finish everything on the plate.
I had their sup tulang (bone soup) with rice (RM8.90)…
…and I would say that I loved their version of that. It wasn’t as diluted as those at the Malay stalls here and not as oily as the Indian ones that I had had before plus it was not that strong on the spices as well. There were a few chunks of beef along with the bone in it…
…but I would prefer it served with noodles rather than rice and I found their rice a bit on the hard side, not really to my liking.
My missus had their chao chai hung ngang, prawn (RM7.90)…
…and she said it was good but she said what she had here not too long ago was a lot nicer.
Our orders were served pretty quickly and service was great and prompt but they were speaking Mandarin the whole time so I would not be able to say whether they were conversant in any other language or dialect or not. All in all, I would say this would be a great place to hang out with friends to chat and have something decent enough to eat in the meantime but unless they have something else better on their menu that we have not tried yet, if it is solely for the food, like a number of similar places that we have around here all over town these days, perhaps it would be better to go some place else.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
heheh, i like how each of the cactus plants is quite different from one another 😀 ooo, this reminds me, i’m actually not a fan of sup tulang … i often find the soup too peppery and salty, and the meat too gamy … hopefully will find some good ones to change my mind 🙂
I never really liked the sup tulang I had before – always too diluted and too strong on those spices and at times, peppery too but I had one that was quite nice when I was in Miri sometime ago. This one is definitely nicer…probably because of the added ingredients – usually it would be just bones, lots of soup and those miserable bits of meat stuck to the bone, quite tasteless from all that simmering. Not something that would get me running back for more though – I would prefer those at the regular beef noodle shops.
Look at those cactus! But I think RM15 for each of the cactus was including the bowl, right?
No idea. I didn’t ask.
Those bottles bring back my childhood memories. Yes, only have these during CNY, not for us but for our guest. There is another local made type, forgot the name, aeroplane brand, if I am right whereby it stains one’s lips and teeth after drinking, haha. Though not a fan of chai chao hung ngang but this one looks nice.
Aeroplane? Probably made in Kuching? Ours was Swan or Ngo Kian. There used to be Green Spot from Kuching too – the bottle in the photo next to the F&N one, now Sundrop. I like that as well – no gas.
When I read your title I thought you might have caught a cold!
Yes, this drink is good for that and for sore throats.
They sell the *exact same* F&N bottle in Jonker’s Steet in Melaka for RM 5! The Green Spot one too! It’s popping out at different night and tourist markets too!
Funny thing about the decor in places like bla bla bla, Tom’s etc – found a shop selling the exact same old curios in Bangkok (there’s one in Germany too, and they said it came from China!) so I suspect some Chinese company is producing those “old, period” curios and mass selling them all around the world!
The menu looks nice but I like sup tulang to contain the actual bone which reveals the bone marrow, which you can suck out with a straw! That’s what sup tulang in JB means although in KL it can be a bit hit and miss (some people call that sup gearbox instead). Good that you spent some time with Melissa while she’s back! 🙂
Yes, the gear box. You tried that? Nice? I saw that on the menu at the shop I went to in Miri but I was not adventurous enough to give it a try. 😛
Ya…I know they make imitation antiques too, so much like the real things right down to the hairline cracks and all. Not much value, of course, these things but they might even pass them off as real ones and reap the harvest – never know what those people would do. Money is the root of all evil. Tsk! Tsk!
Yup, I had it in JB! 🙂
That’s the best one I had anyway, also had it at the popular Sup Hameed in Penang but I prefer the JB one. It’s really expensive though, but cheaper than the restaurants that makes an entree out of a similar amount of bone marrow and sells it for RM 140++.
At least the one in JB is somewhat reasonable – around RM 20 per dish I think.
Yeah, China makes a lot of strange things nowadays, including RC (allegedly the batch of research chems that was at the FMFA rave that killed a couple of people was from China).
I had sup kambing at Hammed – so very famous but no, I did not really like it – rather oily. I think I had their pasembur too – better ones elsewhere. Exepsnive, eh? No, thank you. I think I can live without trying it then. Hehehehehehe!!!!
Haha, I thought you wana blog about honey-lemon drink.. It’s nice though, honey+lemon, serve it hot or cold, either way, I like it.. Oh my, look at that chicken-lamb-beef platter.. I can finish the whole platter by myself! RM16.90, very worth it..
Yup, food here is reasonably priced, quiet place – great to hang out with friends and chat all day long. Rose was there first – under this new management, blogged about it sometime ago.
Yup…the old days. When get a bottle of F & N orange will be very happy. No Ice also drink
These days, some kids…you give, they also don’t want. Have a lot of other better things in mind.
another one was Kickapoo…
Don’t they still have that in the shops? Lil’ Abner’s drink.
I remember that old bottle!! I drink from it before in Kuching. 🙂
Yaloh, the zakka corner is cute, but not suitable for us. We are old liaw! :p
Food looks good. Better than what I had.
Ok but just not great. Not in a hurry to go back there again.
Loves the chicken-lamb-beef platter….
Serving was too huge for Melissa to finish – don’t mind less but work on improving the taste.
I won’t be interested to get those cactus at RM15 a pot, Small Kucing probably can get something done as nice but at maybe RM5 only, haha!!
oh yeah, those bottles, can get them from a shop in Amcorp Mall, if I’m not mistaken you’ve been there??
and I would love to try that ang tao peng and cendol~~ look so refreshing!!
Yes, I love the flea market at the mall – will want to go again if I hop over. Ya…and if we get from her, we can get them for free – no need to be a single sen. 😉 😉 😉
Chicken-lamb-beef platter for RM 16.90? Yes please!! And based on your posts so far, it seems Melissa has similar food taste as me 😀
She’s more into western, Japanese, Italian, Indian…everything.
I love sup tulang. The soup looks diluted from the photo but since there were no complaints from you, I suppose the tasted good. Yes, that F&N bottle brought back memories for me too. My grandpa would buy crates of those drinks right before Chinese New Year. I had too many sweet drinks back then 🙂
The sup tulang? It was ok, not the thick and oily Indian sup kambing type, more towards the Chinese ones at the beef noodles shops, clear soup. The mushroom soup was diluted – didn’t think that was good. Wah!!! Lucky you, allowed to drink those – ours reserved for guests but of course, boys will be boys – sometimes we would curi-curi drink…and put the empty bottles back in the crate and keep very quiet about it. Hehehehehehe!!!!
So overall the food average only?
Yup, ok…didn’t sweep me off my feet.
Melissa’s plate looks so nice!!! Hope she was able to take with her what she was unable to eat.
Oops! We did not think of doing that, just left.
Oh, I remember those glass bottles: F&N, green Spot, Kickapoo. Had those during CNY or at the coffee shops in the old days. Now everything is in a can!
Food look mediocre only..
Is that so? No more bottles? I don’t drink such stuff, but yes, I think they’re all in cans now.
Wow..the cactus plant for RM15? That’s quite expensive but it is planted in a lovely pot with some decors. Guess that is the extra charges..hahaha
Probably. I did not go to see the ones on sale, not too sure if they’re the same – Melissa saw and told me.
That cactus pots are cute!
Sup tulang looks good, very presentable.
Yes, I thought they looked lovely but not into these things. Sup tulang was good, better than any I had before.
I remember this place, you blogged before. Do they sell any Zakka things in their cafe? I notice Lucy like chao chai hung ngang a lot ?
Wow..Melissa’s combo platter looks good and very cheap!!
Yes, but nothing nice…or to me, at least…and only a bit. They might as well don’t bother. Yup, Lucy loves that but not me – not into things that are sour and has lots of ginger. Don’t mind mee sua in chicken soup though, not sour. Ya…in thing here, cheap…can draw the crowd especially the young ones who are not to fussy about taste – anything that is all right is good enough.
Yeah during childhood days used to carry two of those F & N orange bottles and ‘knocking’ them all the way to our favorite sundry shop for an exchange of two ‘new’ F&N orange ONLY during any festival dinner like MoonCakes festival, dumpling festival etc. Normal dinner no got F&N drink, sky juice nia.
Two empty bottles in exchange for two new ones? No need to pay one kah? So nice! Lucky enough to enjoy them during festivals – ours, restricted…unless curi curi drink. Sometimes my mum would notice – habis, eat sugarcane. Hehehehehehe!!!
This sounds like a really neat place 🙂 Love the little additions to the place, too, like the Cactus Plants 🙂 Very nice!
Yes, I did think the potted cactus plants were pleasant to the eye.
I remember that F&N bottle. Last time we get to drink these kinda drinks only once a year, during CNY. Other than that, no way. These days, we can get carbonated drinks anytime, everywhere but I don’t drink them at all, even on CNY @_@
I just drink water even when having meals outside. But for breakfast or afternoon tea, if I eat out, I would order kopi-o-peng!
When you mentioned that your wife felt giddy after taking the drink, it reminded me of myself too.. If not mistaken, it must be due to the santan being not so fresh.. it could be the cause of giddiness because of the “wind” due to the “unfreshness”…. By the way, I like the look of the crispy chicken on Melissa’s plate…
No, in her case, it’s the red beans. She gets giddy even from eating tau sar in buns or tausar peah or mooncakes, but I think she is quite ok with white tua sar.
Sup tulang must be really sweet with the corn in it too!
I guess that was partly what brought the taste up a level above the rest I had had before.