There was a devastating fire here in 2013 that destroyed this block of shops along Blacksmith Road, now known as Jalan Tukang Besi, but they have rebuilt it and upon completion…
…it has been business as usual since. I don’t know how many of them were originally there before it was burnt to cinders but currently, there are two coffee shops here, a smaller one at the second shop from the right and this bigger one…
…at the end of the block that stretches from this side to the other side facing the so-called Butterfly Garden, the location of the pasar malam (night market) here in Sibu and if I am not mistaken, there is at least another coffee shop or maybe two, on the other side.
We dropped by this one the other morning and I noticed that the Malay stall selling halal kampua noodles had ceased operation but there is a roti canai stall there. Further in, there is this chap fan (mixed rice) stall…
…and I must say that the choices they had that day looked pretty good…
They are very clear about the prices…
…so there would not be any need to try and guess how and why they charge a certain amount for what you pick to eat.
We saw somebody eating the GIANT pao (steamed buns)…
…that was a lot bigger than the ones I had in KL, named after a certain Hong Kong actress for obvious reasons (I had placed the spoon there so you can see how big they were!). It came as no surprise at all that he could not finish it and had to ask for a doggy bag to bring the rest of it home. I did catch a glimpse of the filling inside…
…and I would not say I was all that impressed but my missus insisted on buying two home, at RM2.50 each, to try. The skin was very nice but I did not quite care for the filling, mostly those preserved vegetables but there was HALF a hardboiled egg in it and THAT, I liked!!!
Well, that morning, we had the noodles from this stall…
…at that shop. I had the Foochow fried noodles (RM4.00)…
…and yes, it was very good. I don’t think it was exactly like the original or authentic ones that we grew up eating but it had its own taste and I did enjoy it very much.
My missus had the sambal kway teow (RM5.00)…
…and she loved it. However, the serving was too huge for her to handle so she was not able to finish all of it and I had to help her with that. It was spicy and had the very nice hint of the fragrant belacan (dried prawn paste) and I really liked it a lot – I would say it was nicer than the noodles I had and I would prefer it to the kway teow here…and definitely a lot more than the one here.
I also caught a glimpse of the wat tan hor that someone else ordered and it sure looked very nice as well. I certainly would love to go back there again to try whatever else there is on the menu but that coffee shop is located in the terribly congested part of town and searching for a parking space can be such a pain…plus it is not free. So, we’ll see…
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Glad the shophouses have been completed and open for business. Remember the fire that year. We just moved to Sibu.
I like the fried kway tiaw. With belacan, it brings a totally different wok hei taste.
So far, I like the one here most of all, not that many with belacan here…or not that I know of.
Yes, that was a huge fire, wasn’t it? Luckily it was controlled, confined to just one block. Would be sad to see all those old colonial shops destroyed, our heritage.
Nice selection!
Good, a place here that’s worth checking out.
The portion of the fried noodles & sambal kway teow looks too huge for one person to finish. Did you manage to finish yours? That plate of sambal kway teow looks great. Anything with belacan or cincaluk, I am in for it but belacan must be of good grade. Yummyyyyy!!!
Yes, like the sambal belacan I had with the Sarawak laksa I had the other day – it did not even look nice. I tasted a bit, it was not nice…so I left the rest of it untouched. Might as well don’t give if they want to use that kind of low grade belacan.
Of course, I would finish! My missus only managed 75% and I helped her with the rest. No lunch that day. Hehehehehe!!!!
The portion for the Foochow fried noodles looks huge…
Both huge, at least 10-20% more than elsewhere.
not only do you know your food around town, you know the history behind the stall and shops ! historian foodie 😛 ..
life’s been really crazy recently.. but its good to know everytime I’m back here on your blog there are fresh foodie contents!
Crazy? You, you mean! All the fun activities you’ve been having, lucky you – getting invited to all the wonderful events, free food and all.
Hmmmm…historian, eh? In other words, I’m old lah…a dinosaur, ancient relic…. Sighhhhhh!!!!
All the food look good, but I am impressed by the half egg in the giant pao!
Yes, usually it is one-eight, not even a quarter – this one is half! I love egg in steamed paos.
The chap fan stall is so systematic with their price chart. That’s good so that customers know what to expect. Wah…3 meat and 3 vege for RM7.00. That’s a steal!
It is? But 3 veg! Hmmmm….I’d settle for two, enough. Meat, I don’t mind more. Hehehehehe!!!! Yes, very detailed price list, straight-forward – you pay for what you ask for, not like eating at the Malay or nasi kandar places.
You certainly had a glimpse of this and that, Arthur! hahahaa… yes, the pau-s look very giant compared to the metal spoon… worth the RM2.50? And as for the plate of koay teow, it does look pretty spicy to me… I sure couldn’t finish the whole plate too… too kick.. hahaha…
I always do that, such a busybody…looking at what others are eating and if I see anything nice, I may want to coma back and try myself.
RM2.50 is cheap, considering that the pao’s HUGE. If the filling had been to my liking, I sure would not mind buying it again.
I thought the kway teow was spicy…but nice, just right but my missus said she did not feel it, not spicy at all. She even went and asked for chili sauce. Numb already, her taste buds. Sure you will not like the things she likes – all extra spicy, sometimes so spicy that even I have a problem eating.
I prefer normal smaller buns, compared to giant buns… Sometimes those giant bun really need to be shared one…
The big ones I had in KL were very very nice…but of course, they were not this big, a little smaller.
Those are huge buns 🙂
I dont like the look of the filling as well and I like mine meaty not made of preserved vegetables
Same here. Meat ones must be all meat, no veg. I think they do that to cut down cost but the problem was it was mostly that, I could hardly see the meat. I sure would not be going back for more.