Weekends are for spending quality time with family or at least, that is true in my case since Melissa only comes home on Friday afternoon and on Sunday, we would have to send her back to her rural school yet once again. Last weekend, we had an extra day owing to the public holiday on Sunday so we did not send her back till Monday.
Friday would usually be eat-at-home night as she would be rather tired after the whole week of work and roughing it out in the jungle so usually, she would have an early night…and Saturday morning would be her visit-her-grandparents day in the morning after which we would head to town in search of something nice for lunch and last Saturday was no exception.
We dropped by this coffee shop…
…in the town centre where there is this stall selling chicken chop and everything chicken…
…and if you’re into vegetarian…
…there is a chap fan (mixed rice) stall here that would cater to your needs and wants – the second one in the photograph below…
The first stall sells fried noodles and things like that but no, we did not want all those.
Melissa and the mum had been here once before for the bak kut teh and they enjoyed it very much. According to them, the setting is different now but yes, it is the same one that they had then…
We ordered a bowl of the bak kut teh, soup to share…
…and to my delight, it was indeed very rich, though not overpowering, with just the right amount of the garlic and the herbal taste…
I also ordered the dry version to try…
…and it turned out to be so very good with a hint of belacan (dried prawn paste) used in the cooking and garnished with fried thin strips of cuttlefish…
Gee!!! The taste and the fragrance were absolutely stunning and I really enjoyed it a lot! At first I thought those were strips of ginger and would not touch them but when we realised what they were, we finished everything…except the bits of dried chili.
I asked for a bowl of eyew char koi (fried cruellers)…
…as customary when having bak kut teh and while my missus and I had rice, I ordered the noodle version…
…for Melissa knowing that she would very much prefer it that way. I requested for lean meat only and got exactly what I asked for but seeing the meat in Melissa’s bowl of noodles with the layer of fat and skin, I was wishing I had ordered that instead. Yes, they do give you a choice of what meat or whatever body parts you want from a whole list of those.
Together with the drinks for the three of us, the bill came up to only…
…and I sure liked the way it was presented – certainly a class above what we would find in all the other coffee shops (and even some supposedly upscale cafes and restaurants) here, there and everywhere. Service was prompt and efficient and we were served very fast which was another plus point that I would give to this place.
Well, if anyone is interested in dropping by to try their bak kut teh or the other things from the other stalls, the opening days and hours are on that sign…
…on the wall.
As for the location, it is the second shop in the block right behind the petrol station facing this building on the other side…
…and to your left, if you’re standing in front of the coffee shop, you will see Wisma Sanyan…
– the tallest in Sibu.
Go ahead! I am pretty sure you will love it too!
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 