When morning comes, of course, that would be time for breakfast…and so it was when my Singapore friend and his friends were in town that day. Not wanting to waste anytime since they would only be here for a few days, we were out early – at 8.00 a.m. and I took them to this coffee shop so they could have a variety of the local favourites at one stop.
They thought the kampua noodles were nice…
…but I did not think they were all that impressed. I did try a bit and I too thought it was just so-so, definitely not among the best in town and the same would be true about their pian sip…
…as well and the only-in-Sibu Ah Tor egg-wrapped fried kway teow…
…did not seem to thrill them very much either. For the uninitiated, NO, this is nothing like what they call Pattaya fried rice or whatever. I have already explained this in my previous posts…more than once.
Even the mee sua in chicken soup with the Foochow traditional red wine…
…did not make much of an impact. They quite liked the packet of nasi lemak that they bought from the Malay stall here but I did not hear them say anything about the roti canai…
…which, to me, looked like one miserable crumpled mess. At least, the roti telur (egg bread) was more presentable…
…and just when I was about to give up all hope, they tried the Sarawak laksa…
…RM10 (around SGD3.85) for a bowl with the bigger prawns and that definitely took the cake…and left them craving for more…
…so they ordered a second bowl!!! They were saying that it was so very cheap plus they would probably not get another chance to enjoy this again during their brief stay.
Phewwww!!!!! What a relief that was! Well, after breakfast, we left on a tour of the town…(to be continued)
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
I love Sarawak Laksa too. And yes that’s how I eat it, finish to the last drop 🙂
I’m sure you would.
The laksa looks tempting, and the best Kampua I have had in Sibu is the one at a simple shack by a river, not sure if it is still standing or not.
Oh? I don’t know of any shack in town – we had one long ago, built OVER the stream but that one was mighty popular for their Foochow fried noodles, not kampua. It’s gone now, of course, no more stream – can no longer see it, it’s underneath the Sibu Central Market.
that roti canai presentation sure is, erm, unique, heh. at first i thought maybe there was something stuffed inside the roti canai, maybe minced meat or something 😀 hmmm, someone in kl really should start selling that egg-wrapped char kuey teow here … it would be a big hit!!! 😀
Usually, they would squash the canai with their hands after it is done – someone told me why they do that but I’ve forgotten the reason…and usually, they would flatten it again nicely before serving. Obviously, the people here do not bother and just serve it like that, all crumpled.
The ckt is very simple – like most Foochow delights…so I’m not surprised it did not thrill them so much. I am not really a fan of it myself. They just fry kway teow with garlic and taugeh and chives and egg…and then they push it all aside and they break another egg into the wok and once a bit cooked on one side, they dumped the kway teow on the egg so the noodles would stick to it and when it served, it looks like it is wrapped in the egg ala Pattaya-style. I probably would like it more if there had been prawns…but this is the original recipe. 😦
Yummmzzz, all good food for breakfast.. Kampua noodles, piansip, meesua, laksa, all my favourite..Haha the roti canai certainly looks weird, the roti telur looks nicer, looks like roti telur planta..
No idea, never tried the one here. I like one at another place…post on that one coming soon…after this series of posts on my Singapore friends’ visit. Hehehehehe!!!
now that sarawak laksa does look good with those huge prawns inside. I would have licked clean the bowl too! 😛
Come on over, you can lick all you want. 😉 😀
Wonderful food. There is a Sarawak restaurant called Kitchen Inn near me and I go there for the lovely kampua noodles. Incidentally, I wondered why your comments had a reply function and my blog didn’t. Finally learnt how to turn on that feature this morning!
That’s in Thornlie, run by Sibu people, if I’m not mistaken. Yes, they have Sibu kampua there…and kompia too if there is somebody carting the loot over from Sibu. You must try the Kuching kolo mee too (the regular, the special…you pay a lot more for a couple of prawns, that’s all) and the Sarawak laksa as well.
They’ve opened a branch in Melbourne now – kampua mee in Perth AUD7.50, in Melbourne, AUD8.50. In Sibu RM2.50-2.80, depending on which shop you go to. Hehehehehe!!!!
Oh? There’s a reply function? Hmmm…didn’t realise that. 😀
You know your restaurants well, even Perth well. Have you visited Perth before? Thornlie is only a few kilometres to where I live.
No, never but when I learnt about this place I told my niece and nephew about it and they all made their way there. They said so-so, not really worth going all the way. I guess they stay far away, not around these parts.
It happens sometimes, you bring visitors for makan, and most of the dishes turn out uncharacteristically disappointing. That feeling is horrible, especially when you see your visitors’ eyes all look somewhat accusing (I mean mine does)..
They were ok, they all said nice, even the nasi lemak (and I, for one, am not a fan of our nasi lemak here – I was away when they had the canai and roti telur, gone off for some fresh air, so I did not get to see their response…Hehehehehehe!!!!)…but they did not go oooooo….ahhhhh…..till they had the laksa and the second bowl they ordered was testimony to the fact that they loved it a lot.
That’s a heavy breakfast. All looks good. Was wondering is that the usual way they serve their roti canai.
Dunno, never had it here. I think either Rose or Annie had the one here before, cannot remember.
what…kampua was only so-so…how cannnnn…..
The Laksa certainly cheap la. one of these day must cook that. Ling gave me a big packet yet to cook
Oh? She gave you one too? I sent you one – better don’t mix if different brands, not the same, may spoil it all. Mine’s big enough for the three of you – 2 adults and 1 kid, not family size, eat till half dead one – breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Same as everything else – some places nicer, others not so….so kampua also lah. This one’s ok, but other places may be nicer.
Sarawak Laksa! Yes, this is my fav too. My neighbour used to bring back special ingredients every time he visited his home in Kuching, just to make it. Yum.
Yes, my Singaporean friends were intrigued, trying to make out the ingredients that went into it – nothing like curry nor like their curry laksa, so different and they thought it was really very nice.
At least they enjoyed the laksa. Haha.
Yes, they said everything was nice or ok but they did not get all excited until they tried the laksa.
Since the kampua here so so only, i go Sibu, u bring me go eat the best kampua in Sibu…
Sure will, post on that coming up very soon – in Kanowit and also on the last day of their stay in Sibu…but I’m sure you will want to come here for the laksa?
Laksa, of course!!!
They enjoyed it so so so much!
This sounded like such a depressing post until you hit the Sarawak laksa (which looks delicious btw). That last photo made me laugh.
Hope your Singapore friends had fun with you. Looking forward to reading about the tour of town!
Tee @ Rotten One
Yes, they sure loved it here – now making plans to come again…not that there’s a lot of places they have yet to visit but definitely, there are a lot more things they have not tried and enjoyed yet.
Often have I heard people saying that Foochow food is bland, tasteless – more quantity than quality but Foochow cuisine is meant to be simple and quite plain and the beauty is in the subtle tastes – not really for people into much stronger stuff. Maybe I was expecting too much and thought they would like everything and start to sing their praises…but not really till that last one!
Lots of new things here (for me, anyway). 🙂
All new, I guess.
Did you guys stop for lunch after that? Hehe. However, it is very satisfying seeing our guest happy to eat our trademark food. 😊
Come back tomorrow to find out. Indeed, most delightful…especially when they come from where they’d probably have so many nice things to eat…and they’ve been all over everywhere in the world, sure am glad they do like a lot of the things they got to try while they were here.
So the only thing outstanding was the Sarawak Laksa. Thank God for that!
Let’s just say it’s different, like how I would prefer nyonya or Malay delights to the somewhat simpler, unexciting Chinese dishes…and worse if it’s overloaded with msg.
Very enjoyable breakfast degustation menu there. Everything was nice..including the prata. Personally I like something with a bit more oomph hence the laksa made my heart beat faster! :p
Yes, so delighted to see how much enjoyment you derived from the laksa.
Personally, I do feel the kampua, pian sip, kway teow and mee sua were all ok…but not the best in town but here, one can have all of them at one go in the limited time.
Well, at least, we did get to eat pretty good kampua before you left town, there are a few nice(r) ones (and pian sip) around as well – come, quick!!! You gotta try them all…including the best mee sua in town – my own home-cooked one at my house! Hehehehehehe!!!!
Indeed. So many nice food on the table, there can only be one winner but I really enjoyed the rest very much still. Arthur Wee’s mee sua!! Slurp!! :p :p
Drool! Drool! Make sure you do not miss that the next time you come to tow. LOL!!!
LOL, i like the presentation of that roti canai
At least they do not need to touch it any further to straighten it out, eh?
Your visitors and my hub has the same taste bud, or the people here prefer stronger taste. To them, kampua, mee suah, taste so so, maybe lady visitor will said different. Of course the CKT and roti canai here taste a lot better. :P:P
Two ladies – they both said so spicy, so spicy…but they liked and wanted more. 😀 😀 😀