Now, don’t misunderstand – despite the name, this place…
…is not all about noodles. Maybe they started out as that, a place selling noodles but I wouldn’t know as I was not familiar with it when it just opened.
My daughter was still in secondary school (and I did not even have a blog then) when I heard about it and somebody told me it was at Lai Chee Lane so I went looking around the shops along that lane but failed to find it. About a year later, I heard of it again…and went looking for it again and still, I could not find it. I cannot remember how I managed in the end but actually, if you come in via the aforementioned lane, you will have to turn left at the first turning into that lane going towards Hua Kiew Road (in fact, it is nearer to this road…than that lane) and you will find it on your right, one half of a small building on its own with private parking spaces all around so you will not need to worry about paying the fees. Actually, it is somewhere right behind the Sibu Central Police Station and if you come in from Hua Kiew Road, it is the second turning to the right and you will see it behind the block of shophouses in front along that road, on your left.
They used to have a topic in the English Language syllabus in school on “Directions” and I could not understand why the students seemed to have so much problem telling people the way. They certainly did not seem to know their left from their right…and it seems that they ‘re not the only ones. People will give me directions and I would have a tough time trying to locate the place and in fact, when I do find it, it would not be quite like what they have told me.
Anyway, going back to this place we were talking about, I quite like their mee sua (Foochow longevity noodles), their kueh chap and also their sizzling kampua with black pepper beef. Others may like their other combinations of the latter but I have not tried all of them and those that I did try, I can’t say I’m a fan. Their original/classic kampua isn’t all that great to me either and I can’t say their pian sip (wantons, they call them) would sweep me off my feet. I’m no fan of their lor mee, their Q-Q noodles and their beef noodles either…and while many are quite fond of their laksa, I did not think it was quite like the authentic thing though it does taste rather nice. If I’m not mistaken, those are about all the noodle dishes that they have here…so perhaps, they started with those and kept on adding to their menu bit by bit till what it is today – a whole lot of other delights, just that they’re not noodles.
One of the newest additions would be their peri peri chicken with potato gratin (RM25.90)…
…and I suggested going to give it a try last Saturday as my girl used to frequent that South African/Mozambique-Portuguese franchise when she was in Wellington, New Zealand, the one that is well-known for this peri-peri sauce…and she agreed. However, when we got there, she had a change of heart so her mum had that instead. We all tried and thought it was very good…and my missus loved it very much as it was somewhat spicy, just the way she would love it. I thought it had its own special unique taste but at that price, I don’t think this would be enough to make me go back for more…though I would say it was quite reasonably-priced considering that they actually gave half a chicken. I wish they would make plain bowls of rice available (at a price, of course) so people would be able to order those to enjoy with the chicken on a sharing basis.
That was what happened the other day. I did not want to order their stewed/braised pork belly rice (not many pieces of the meat in this) but I wanted their stewed/braised pork belly (RM6.50)…
…so I ordered their nasi lemak (RM7.50)…
…to go with it and that came with a complimentary bowl of very nice soup.
Yes, the rice was very good – I could actually taste the lemak-ness, the santan or coconut milk in it…
…(though I would not mind a little bit more of it) and so was everything else that came with it.
So what did my girl order for herself in the end? She had this…
…their sizzling roasted honey spare ribs (RM24.80) and for some reason or other, that too came with a bowl of potato gratin instead of the usual deep-fried potato wedges, not that we’re complaining. In fact, she liked it a lot and licked the bowl clean!
She could not manage the mammoth task of finishing that huge stack of ribs…
…of course and no prize for guessing who had to help her with that. Hehehehehe!!!!
Personally, I prefer the ribs at this place to the ones here. Both are nice, very nice, but in the case of this one, the sauce does not go completely into the meat so one would be able to actually enjoy the taste of the meat…and other than that, the one here is tender enough but not so tender so there would still be some bite to it. This is a bit cheaper too unlike that other place where they started off at RM24.00…but the very next time I dropped by for more, they had jacked up the price to RM26.00, dunno how much it is now…plus theirs seem to keep shrinking on each consecutive visit. Tsk! Tsk!
My missus and I had plain water with our orders while Melissa had her favourite – the mixed fruit soda (RM6.90)…
…and the total came up to RM72.60 for that delightful lunch. This time around, my girl insisted on picking up the tab and would not take no for an answer, thank you so much, darling!
We intended to have some of the nice desserts here but in the end, we were all too full and did not think we could manage so that would have to wait till our next visit to the place…but for one thing, I would avoid going during lunch hour as it was packed to the brim, full house, and many had to go away, disappointed and I told my girl this, “If my class were ever this noisy, I would have mengamuk-ed already!!!”
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 