…going back to that coffee shop again…and I did!
The kampua lady seemed to be in a very much better mood. She was smiling and did chat a bit with the other customers. I guess on our previous visit, we caught her at a bad time and I thought she was kind of aloof and did not look very happy. Anyway, we did not go back for the kampua noodles. Like what I said then, I would want to try the chu car (cook/fry) place at the back so this time around, we ordered some stuff from there.
A major attraction in Sibu these days seems to be the prawn noodles, the ones with the gigantic freshwater udang galah (bamboo prawns) or what we also call tua thow (big head) or chia chui (freshwater) prawns. They do not come cheap, of course. It was only RM8.00 a bowl when they first started serving that here a long time ago (when it was at another location) and then it went up and up and when it went over RM20.00 a bowl, I never went for it again. The last I heard, they were charging RM35.00 a bowl…and in the meantime, there have been others jumping on the bandwagon. I’ve been told of one place where they would charge according to the sizes of the prawns used ranging from RM25 for the small ones up to around RM45.00 for the big ones. Then there is another place here serving tom yam prawn noodles in a coconut like the ones in Sarikei, going for RM35.00 each.
Nope! I am not one to go out of my way to feast on those noodles even though I have gone for them here and there a few times upon the insistence of family or friends especially those coming home from abroad. Well, I guess for them it is extremely cheap – imagine a bowl with those gigantic crustaceans going for only SIN$/AUD/US$10.00, more or less. Not only is that dirt cheap to them but they cannot get anything like that there and even if they can get noodles with other similar forms of seafood there, it will never ever be at that price, that’s for sure. But if I were to sit down to eat one RM45-a-bowl prawn noodles, I would not be enjoying it very much as on the back of my mind, I would be thinking of how I could take my whole family some place for a nice meal with one meat, one veg and one soup plus rice…and pay that much or perhaps even less. Besides, I would be a lot better off taking the money to buy a kilo of the prawns at the wet market to cook and enjoy to our heart’s content at home – they’re selling the medium-sized ones, not small but not those huge ones with the very big heads, at around RM35.00 a kilo…depending on the season. The other day, it went up to around RM60 a kilo though!!! Tsk! Tsk!
Anyway, back to the coffee shop I was talking about, I had their prawns noodles for RM10.00…
…and it was very nice! Nope, they did not use those not-too-affordable freshwater prawns but instead, they had some pretty big seawater prawns or what we call pek hay (white prawns). Of course, these aren’t all that cheap either. That day, I bought some about this same size for RM35.00 a kilo or maybe they were a little bit smaller. But the heads are not as big and the shell not as heavy so you can actually get quite a lot for a kilo. Roughly, it would work out to RM1.00 for one…or maybe a bit less than that.
Personally, I prefer these to the freshwater ones and what they had in the noodles that day were really fresh, very firm and succulent…
– around six of them and I would say that I enjoyed it a lot. The noodles were the Foochow-style ones, the soup version and with the added prawns, naturally, it was much sweeter and tastier. It probably would be nicer though if they had added a bit more greens – after all, those are not all that expensive and they could easily have thrown in a handful more.
My missus had the usual Foochow-style fried noodles (RM3.50)…
…and yes, they do it pretty well here but surely they could have used a kitchen towel or something to wipe the gravy off the side of the plate. Yes, it is quite obvious that they are not bothered very much about presentation here but it wouldn’t take a lot of effort, I’m sure, to just make what they serve look a bit more presentable.
Well, we’d probably go back there again but no, I would not have the prawn noodles again. Even though that was very nice, I do not think RM10.00 is all that cheap. However, I would want to try something else to see what is good. Each time I approached the stall on my previous visits, a very friendly young man with a pleasant disposition would come out to ask what I wanted and tell me what they had on their menu. Somehow, at places with people like that, one would feel nice and would surely go back again especially if the food is good.
There is also the Indian stall on the other side but it was not open that day, probably because it was Friday and my guess would be that they are mamaks, Indian-Muslims.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Lovely photos, and I am so glad that you caught this lady in a better mood. It makes all the difference! π
Thanks. It was all right, we were not having anything from her stall this second time around.
I agree that prawn noodles look really nice, I love going back to restaurants that make really good food like yours
A bit pricey by our standard though. RM8, instead of RM10, would be good, I think.
I am, I said…nice Neil Diamond Reference!!!!! Not sure if that was by design π I’m a bit of a Neil Diamond Nerd by Association…my mom is a HUGE fan and I grew up listening to everything he’s done…just bought her the new CD for her birthday last week!
Yes, I love Neil Diamond too. I prefer his slow songs though like this one, Play me, September Morn, Love on the rocks…his Jonathan Livingstone Seagull album was a classic…and my favourite has got to be “You don’t bring me flowers” with Barbara Streisand! He’s got a new album? Hmmm…gotta check that out.
All good songs π
Yup! New album was released in the states last Tuesday π It’s called Melody Road π
Oh? Thanks, will check it out.
Same here, I wouldn’t eat a bowl of har-mee for RM45, BUT I think I would try for one or two times, to see how great it is.. Yep, we can eat a lot of things for RM45, for the whole family.. Rice, some dishes, soup, those sorts..
Oohh, I remember these prawn noodles, the one I said that looked like loh mee.. Still looks very good to me.. Now it looks like Hailam mee.. I said it looks like loh mee because of the ‘tai look’ noodles they used, and Hailam mee because of the gravy..
I must try this Hailam mee the next time I hop over. I googled and saw the photos – they do look similar.
It would be good to be nice to your customers. Pay off better that way. π
Yaloh. I also bought those prawns the other day for half a kilo. Used some for my prawn omelette and others for butter prawns. ^^
Indeed. If you are nice and friendly and your service is good plus the food is great, people will keep coming back – even if a bit more expensive than elsewhere. Wahhhh!!! Half kg only enough kah? π π π Usually we would buy the cheaper smaller ones – less than RM15 a kg to use bit by bit to fry with veg. Never used these for a dish on its own but will do that with the expensive freshwater prawns once in a long while. Cannot afford to have it too often. π¦
Yea, Rm 10 does not sound cheap
Exactly. That is why I said I would not be having that again. There is a very popular Sarawak laksa place here also with 6 prawns but of a slightly smaller size, going for RM7.00. Not for me either, thank you… I can live without them.
RM35 for a bowl of troublesome to eat shelled prawn noodles? Nah… I wouldn’t bother, and I doubt many young people would. That kind of price we usually associate it with those classy Japanese restaurants or steakhouses, not a bowl of noodles.
You’ll be surprised – I think it is mostly the young ones who will go for those. It’s like some kind of trend – eat and share on Facebook though I believe most would be the ones coming home from abroad – with the currency conversion, to them, it can be considered really cheap! A lot worse where they come from.
Obviously, there ARE people going for these noodles and hence, the escalating prices, but actually, the prices are affected by the fluctuating prices of these seasonal prawns – sometimes more, sometimes hardly any…and of course, demand affects supply and when demand increases, the prices will shoot up too. That’s basic Economics but nonetheless, old people like me would be a lot more prudent or to put it in no uncertain terms, stingy. We are a lot more careful with our money, I guess and there are many things we can go without, not a problem.
I loves prawns, but lazy to peel the shell when eating outside…
That’s why at restaurants, I would order prawn balls – prawns with shell removed.
Both plates of noodles looks heavenly but I would go for the Foochow style fried noodles as I am lazy to peel the shell of the prawn. I don’t really know the different types of prawns like “pek hay” & “ang hay”, crabs, etc ….that’s the reason I seldom buy prawns.
There are. Pek hay is better than ang hay, I think – that one has a stronger smell, very thin and hard shell…and then there are the expensive tiger prawns and freshwater prawns. There’s one type, dunno the name, that is very slimy and slippery and difficult to peel – my missus would not buy those, said dunno why they are so slimy but I actually quite like them. They’re cheaper too.
I’d like to try Sibu’s famous prawn noodles.
Come on over. It’s a real treat actually, very nice…but it’s way too expensive.
so many prawns ah…very good leh. I love prawns
Me too but not all that willing to fork out so much money. Old pensioner, can’t really afford. π¦
RM35 for a bowl of noodle is pretty steep…. the other day a friend was telling me that he got a plate of freshwater prawns (about 12-14 pieces) for only RM80 – well, that’s cheap!
It most definitely is! I wonder how big they were though – the small and medium ones here are relatively cheaper and I would usually buy those for own consumption, the medium ones usually.
Once I had something very nice at Dengkil – maybe 3 or 4 prawns only, cut into halves so it looked like 6 or 8…and it went up to almost RM100.00. The people said they were going for RM75.00 a kilo, very expensive…but it was very very nice. That was a number of years ago – I wouldn’t know the current price if they are still selling that.
I do hope that the gravy on the side of your Mrs’ plate was the fresh gravy from her noodles and not from a plate that was not thoroughly cleaned. I am not too crazy about prawns but I do eat them but to pay RM10 for a bowl of noodles, hmmm….besides, I don’t like peeling the shells π¦
Hopefully. What we do not see will not hurt us.
Once, before I retired, on one of my working trips, I was attending a seminar at a classy hotel in the country. During lunch break, everyone had gone off for lunch and after lunch, I had to go back to the grand ballroom to get something before going up to my room to rest. I saw the F & B workers cleaning the glasses used – they just used the napkin to wipe them dry and clean and placed them nicely back for use again later by some of the unsuspecting participants. No water use, no washing, no cleaning – just wiping! Since then, never mind which hotel – I would take a glass, go and wash and use and keep it with me for the rest of the day to use again and again everytime I needed a drink of water.
Everywhere talking about big prawn noodles. I haven’t tried one. Not really a fan of prawns. Especially when it come to peeling the skin. So malas. hehe.
You haven’t? Adoi!!! Ask your darling to peel for you lor. Wink, wink at him sikit. Hehehehehehe!!!!!
Lucky i am not prawn mee fans, once in a while ok la. But your bowl of prawn mee do look very good, i don’t mind to give it a try next time.
Not bad this place, You can order the kampua…or the ordinary Foochow-style fried noodles – they do it quite well, better than some that I’ve been to.
I need to stop checking your blog during work before lunch time… THOSE PRAWN NOODLES!!! I need them! Hope you’ve been well Suituapui π x
Tee @ http://www.rotten-one.com
All’s good at this end, hope you are doing great too. LOL!!! I guess everything revolves around food – I tried blogging about other things, not many seem to show much interest, so food it is! π
RM35 to RM60 is a large jump! i wonder if we will live to see the day it hits RM100 a kilo!
I wonder if it ever goes up to that price during Chinese New Year. We would usually buy very early and deep freeze to avoid being slaughtered. We have people selling our Rajang dried prawns at RM120 a kg. Can’t believe there are people buying…at that price.
yup, gigantic udang galah is one of my favourite too, my mom said there’s a time when people sold it only two or three freshwater giant head prawn per kg, but it seems lot more smaller this days…..
come on man, you live once and eat what you want!!!
you desserved it!!!
don;t forget to paid it off in the gym to burn all those luscious delicious calories too, hehehe
Gym? Hmmmm… What’s that? Muahahahahaha!!!!! We have very big ones – at least, RM50 a kg…but the head is bigger than the body, not all that much to eat. We prefer the medium ones and they’re cheaper too plus there would be more to go round.
It always pays to be nice to your customers. The food looks wonderful.
It most certainly does. That would keep them coming back.
The bowl of prawn noodles look good.
I seldom order prawns or noodles with those big prawns when eating outside. Fear the prawns may not be so fresh and fear of the price! I would rather buy fresh prawns by the kilo from the fresh market if I have the cravings..but only once a while…high cholesterol if eat too often. Not to mention pricey. And wait till CNY, the prices are exhorbitant π¬.
Yup, we don’t eat them often, not at those prices…not very affordable. Once in a while’s fine. We would order them when we eat out sometimes – the restaurants get all the fresh good ones.