Wherever you go…

…everybody will follow.

This shop was at the corner of Central Road and Ramin Way opposite the Standard Chartered Bank here, a small place but it was so popular that it was always packed and it would be very difficult to find a seat.

Well, they have moved now…

…to the block of shops behind the Hong Leong Bank branch and the Sugar Bun outlet at the Sibu Gateway and even though I was there very very early the other morning, at around 7.00 a.m., it was already packed with people there for breakfast.

They have retained the old name and their new signboard has the photos of the ladies running the business. Their kampua mee was very good but it seemed that they have given that up to somebody else…

…and they would not be doing that anymore. I guess with the bigger premises, maybe four times the size of the former place, they feel that they will not be able to cope.

That means that they only handle the drinks and the fried stuff…

…and yes, they are still serving their very nice traditional Foochow longevity noodles or mee sua, the char bee lau (fragrant root) and the pek ting eyok (eight treasures) pork leg soup.

I heard that one of the “bigger” ladies on the signboard made the best coffee at the old place but that morning, I did not see her around and there was one much older than the rest who was doing that and it was very good…

…too, I would say.

I ordered the Hock Chiew char mee (Foochow fried noodles)…

…and yes, it was good…

…despite the lack of ingredients…

However, I guess I can’t complain as at RM3.50 a plate, it is cheaper than many other places (RM3.80 or RM4.00 or more) and the kopi-o-peng was RM1.50 only (RM1.80 at most other places these days)…and I only had to fork out RM5.00 for that very satisfying breakfast – I don’t think you can get that at most other places these days especially in the bigger towns and cities in the country.

Incidentally, in my late teens, there was a stall in the row of wooden ones by the stream behind the old chicken market along Central Road (where many would converge for the delightful cendol at the time). A very nice lady there used to dish out one of our favourite Hock Chiew char mee in town and her equally nice daughter whom we called Ah Leng would be there helping to do the serving and everything. What I heard was that the ladies at this shop are in some way connected to Ah Leng and her mum but I wouldn’t know how true this is. Anybody in the know?