This used to be one of my favourites in town when it came to kampua noodles…and piansip (meat dumplings/wantons) or the combination of the two…
*Archive photo*
Why, when my (blogger) friends came over from the peninsula in 2012, I even took them here to try…
*Collage from www.inhouseling.com* (You can read her post on the trip here.)
At the time, there were some young Indonesian girls doing most of the work including the cooking. Their Mandarin and Foochow sure put me to shame…and they were friendly and did their job well. The lady boss and the hubby would take over sometimes but usually, they would just leave everything to those helpers of theirs. Then they left and were replaced by some new ones but the last time my girl and I dropped by, we did not like what we had and we never went back there again.
Last Sunday morning, however, I did drop by to tapao (takeaway) some of the noodles and dumplings for our breakfast before we sent my girl and her colleague/friend back to their school after lunch at around noon. The Indonesian maids were no longer around and the lady boss, her hubby and daughter were manning the stall all by themselves. I placed my order and walked a couple of doors away to this place to buy some siew yoke (roast pork) and when I got home, this…
…was what I had!
For one thing, like most everything everywhere else, the price for a regular plate of kampua noodles or piansip has gone up by 30 sen…which, of course, is a lot more than a mere 6% of the RM2.50 originally but then again, it is also RM2.80 at most other places around here these days. Maybe there has been some kind of agreement among them, a conspiracy that we do not know of. Sigh!!!
Now that the people are doing it themselves, it has regained the taste – what it was like previously and the way that I liked it before. However, there are others around town that I like more but this one is just round the corner from my house, so the convenience plus the fact that they do open very very early in the morning (and they open on Sunday afternoon too – the last I noticed), would be a drawing factor that will keep me coming back…once in a while.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Looks like sui-kow mein (sui-kow noodles), nice.. You have lots of liew on your plate – dumplings, char siew and siew yok..
Added my own extras… 😉 Sui-kow, got prawns inside…we had one place selling that but last I heard, he had migrated to England, joining his brother there – makan place.
Roast pork, very lean..that’s my kind of roast pork. Kampua + pian sip only RM2.80. II don’t think I come across any selling at this price in Kuching. Usually, selling between RM3-3.50 (without pian sip)
The piansip is in place of the meat, RM2.80 – I usually do not want the meat as they are so very thin, only a few miserable pieces. RM3.00 only a little difference. How much is kolo mee? If it is the same, I would rather have that. Firmer and tastier – personally, I prefer kolo mee to kampua, nicer…but many Sibu people would not agree with me.
Seeing it makes me crave for it…
You can get it in Singapore now…
Since it’s so near and open so early, you have it breakfast very frequent lo? =]
Pardon my ignorance, but what is the difference between kolo mee and kampua? Is it the type of noodle?
Partly. Kolo mee is curly and thinner and firmer while kampua mee is softer – so cooking must be to the exact precision of it will be too soft or even soggy. They say the machine-made noodles will come out curly not the handmade ones…but I don’t really know about that.
The ingredients used in the tossing and the toppings are different too – personally, I prefer the taste of Kuching kolo mee to Sibu kampua but I guess that’s just a personal preference – others may feel differently.
You may find more in this:
http://www.sharesinv.com/articles/2010/11/30/myths-on-mee-debunking-the-myths-on-sarawak%E2%80%99s-kampua-noodles/
but I hear the kampua at that place at Bugis, Singapore isn’t really like the real thing so now they do not call it kampua or kolo mee anymore, just QQ noodles. Theirs do look very good though!
It’s sad that everything has gone up so high in price. Nice photos!
Yes, will have to be prudent in our spending, focus on needs rather than wants.
Just 30 cents up is still considerable. Like that, customer still happy to eat there.
Yes, not that much. After all, everything is going up so a little bit is not too bad. They do make a lot of profit though, actually! A kampua seller can earn more in a year than say…a teacher!
Most hawker stalls these days are run by foreigners and they pick up the language rather well. There was one Indon girl who spoke very fluent Cantonese and when she comes to the table to calculate the tab, she does it in Cantonese and will only respond in Cantonese even if you speak to her in Malay.
Just like the one at this stall – she looked like the leader in the first group, three of them. I would order in Malay and she would translate into Foochow and/or Mandarin. It’s amazing how the likes of her can pick up the languages so quickly while those in schools here…after 11 years, still could not speak Malay or English – not even a bit, some of them.
What a joy to be able to enjoy your favourite done by themselves instead of their helpers now. The fact that it is just around the corner is very comforting. I have one noodle store I fancy near my house too. They sell green noodles. It’s like wanton noodles but it is green (spinach) and plain without the use of dark soy sauce. Very nice.
Ya, the ones containing spinach. Usually more expensive, no? We can buy the dry ones at the supermarkets here.
Yes, it is terrible that some would just leave everything to their helpers – some do not even bother to stick around. I went to one at Jalan Alor – Sitiawan Foochow…and his kway teow th’ng was so good so I went back again – the second time, he asked his Indon helper to cook and he went off somewhere. That’s right! It was not nice at all – same stall, same thing, same ingredients! Some say at some stalls – if the son is cooking, not the father…not as nice. What more to say this one, he just left it to his Indon maid. 😦
At least until they hire another bunch of workers to take over huh..
Maybe not. Getting very expensive to hire these Indon maids these days and the new ones are really horrible, not worth spending all that money. They say they are classified – the best to Singapore and elsewhere, 2nd class to the peninsula…and the 3rd class, the worst, they sent them all here, dunno how true.
I have similar plate as the 1st picture! ^^
I would prefer the latter one than the 1st one. So many stuff on the kampua for similar price.
Where got similar price? The painsip and the siew yoke, I added my own so add another RM1.00 at least, RM3.80…or more. 😀
The 2012 bloggers.. er… if not mistaken.. it involved Reanaclaire, Quay Po, Cat Family, Ling and a few others! 🙂 So it has been three years! And now someone will write.. so.. how? When shall we go again?? hahahaha… Alright 30 sen hike is still reasonable… 10 sen per year.. haahaa..
Yes, not too bad. 30 sen after so many years…and still below RM3.00. Hope it stays that way for a while.
Lol….now have been downgraded to peninsular bloggers friends..memory lapse ya…
30sen extra okayla. Janji sedap and not far. No need waste petrol
Yup, Sibu small…full tank petrol can last a long long time. Why downgraded? Still the same bloggers+friends+from the peninsula. If no longer active, peninsula friends like Quay Po…if active but not commenting regularly in my blog, peninsula bloggers. So, all the rest in the group who came, no change. Hehehehehe!!!!
Yea….I nearly cannot cope up with 6 meals in one day..ahahha/
LOL!!! Best to go in a group, order one and all can share and try. If very nice and not enough, can always order again!
too porky for me, any vegetarian version? 😛
You can try asking at the vegetarian restaurants here. They may have it – with vegetarian char siew – looks like char siew, smells like char siew but it’s not char siew…or go to the Malay stalls, no lard, no pork, just shredded chicken, breast some more – you’d love that, I’m sure.
We’re finding prices too have risen much more than 6%. Our yearly doctor’s checkup has risen by over 30%!
Oh? So have all the pharmaceutical products including all health supplements. 😦
roast pork and wantan mee.. wow! delicious
Ummmm….not wanton mee as you know it though – our kampua mee and our version of wantons, piansip.
Soon Hock, i almost forgot this place. hahahhaha..RM2.80 still a lot cheaper than what we have here.
Yes, I have not gone there for so long too – just decided to give it a try again that morning…since they are doing the cooking themselves now, no more Indon maids.
Hi Arthur! Nice post huh! 🙂 SIBU FOOD
Hi! Long time no see. Where have you been? All great at your end, I hope.
I went back last time I was in Sibu and it was a different group of Indonesian girls there. It wasn’t the first batch who were very friendly, this bunch was rather sullen and unhappy about doing their jobs and it reflects on the food.
The kampua didn’t taste that good this time around, the previous batch of Indonesian maids did it better, and it’s now more expensive (by quite a lot coz I ordered a large portion).
Good to hear the owners still come to man the store sometimes.
Yes, I know this was your favourite kampua place in town. The friendly ones did it very well but not the latter bunch. I used to ask for RM3 with a special request for extra meat or piansip to go with the noodles, not the noodles – they always give a lot already – enough for two. You can go back there again…now that the owners are doing it themselves.