They call him…
*Archive photo*
…Ang Kau, literally translated – Monkey, and if you are wondering why he is known by that nickname, you can click this link here for the story behind it.
Yes, I do know that he has a faithful following. Wherever he goes, people will go to eat his kampua mee which they would all insist is the best in town. I can’t remember if I ever tried his or not – that time when my friend came home from Adelaide, Australia and made a beeline for his stall to eat not one but TWO plates of the noodles, I did not bother trying.
Then, the other day, my Bintulu brother-in-law took my niece and nephew from Penang to go and eat and they posted a photograph of it on Facebook and praised it to the skies. My niece said that initially, she did not feel like going but luckily she changed her mind and did not miss to chance to enjoy it…and that got me wondering why everybody seems to be falling head over heels in love with this guy’s kampua mee. Is it really that good? That was why I decided to go and look for the guy, since moved from that coffee shop where I last saw him two years ago, 2014.
As always, people will never give you the specific information you may need. A lot of people have told me that he has moved to “Hock Chiew Kay” (Foochow Lane) but nobody ever specified exactly where. Fortunately, there are not that many blocks of shops there, just a few at the beginning of the lane adjoining the main road so I just drove around peering into each coffee shop to try and catch a glimpse of the guy and yes, I found him! He is here (2.289673, 111.831081)…
…now at this coffee shop…
…right beside/below the hotel/inn where my friend used to stay everytime he came to town from his jungle school upriver. and ever so often, I would go there to pick him up to go some place to eat or do whatever he wanted so I would say that I am quite familiar with that part of town.
I ordered his pian sip, soup…
…and yes, it was quite nice but it was mostly skin, not much meat…
…and if that one time when I had it here was anything to go by, I would say that that one wins hands down.
My missus had his kampua noodles, tossed in chili sauce…
…while I had it plain…
…and both of us were of the general consensus that it…
…was at best, just all right – not really exceptionally good, nothing to get excited about and there are others elsewhere that we do enjoy more but of course, like I always say, one man’s meat is another man’s poison…and some may not share the same opinion when it comes to the ones that what we like. To each his own!
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Sometimes things can get overhyped and you’ll set your expectations higher but when you finally get to eat it, you’ll find them just ok. That happens with that Penang Instant White Noodles last time. Everyone was singing praises over it but when I ate it, I find it to be just okay. It got better the second time I ate it by then, I wasnt expecting too much of it 😄
I was not expecting much – that is why all these years, despite all the praises I heard, I never went to try…or if I did – maybe that time before I started blogging, I could not remember – obviously, not very impressed by it. There is another one, probably the top favourite here, but I did not like it there either…and another one which is perhaps a little nicer, not bad but to me, not all that great either. Oopssss!!!! Looks like I’m the odd one out. 😀 😀 😀
Perhaps the cook had an off-day. Sometimes it can happen to an eatery whereby the management finds it hard to maintain the quality due to its popularity.
Not here, the guy did everything himself.
The practice of leaving everything to the China national or the Indonesian, Filipino, Myanmarese or Bangladeshi worker is not found here. To the most, the spouse or somebody else in the family would do it but yes, sometimes, it is not so nice if somebody else does it. I had the fried kway teow at one place here and did not think it was good and my friend said that I must ask the wife to fry it.
To be fair, there was a kampua noodle place here though, one of my favourites in town. The Indonesian girls did everything – they had been here so long they could speak Mandarin and Foochow better than me. After some years, they left and new ones took over…and the quality of the noodles went down the drain. I just stopped going. I hear the lady boss or the hubby have taken over, very nice again. Will drop by to see and blog about it one of these days.
Does he make his own noodles? I wonder what it is that makes it so yummy to some?
I don’t think so. Maybe it is the true original, really old old school taste that everyone is looking for, not so in my case. It was nice, yes, that much I would say. Period. I did notice that he uses the thicker straighter noodles – the authentic kampua noodles. I hear that if they make them using machines, the noodles would be thinner and will come out curly – like the ones in Kuching kolo mee. Some people don’t like kampua noodles using those, not quite like the real thing.
Yeah!! I know that place! If you stay at the hotel next door, the hotel will give you a voucher to dine at the coffee shop. Would always use it for the kampua & liver soup. Iced coffee is quite good too! Sweet memories!!
The last time I was there, I think I went to pick you and Michelle to send you two to the airport for your trip to KL for the US visa thing – around this time last year:
https://suituapui.wordpress.com/2015/08/12/came-and-went/
…and I picked you two up from the airport when you got back as well. It has been a while. 😀
Can’t blame your relatives as they tasted that kampua (to them is the best) when going to Sibu. Unlike you who is local would know where is good and where is not. Different people has their own preferences and tastes.
There are a few top favourites in town, and this one would be one of them, though not necessarily mine. Those who grew up here probably go for the original authentic taste – what they grew up eating and anything that is not quite the same is not good to them – like my friend home from Adelaide. I am more flexible, wouldn’t mind something slightly different as long as it tastes better. My Penang nephew and niece grew up in Kuching though – not all that familiar to this old school version but they liked it so much. Indeed, to each his own!
Only dumplings? Cukup kenyang kah? 😀
Absolutely! That’s a huge bowl of dumplings, Foochow size. My missus just ate one to try and I had to finish all the rest – normally, people will order that and eat, nothing else but I also had my plate of kampua mee with meat. That explains my shape and size.
Yes, I agree….to each his own. Now that you have tasted it, so you know which one is still the best for you.
Yes, and this isn’t the one for me – I do think there are nicer ones elsewhere.
I need to have sauce if i eat…
So you’re not a fan of Singapore mee pok then, also tossed dry like this…not like wanton mee, swimming in the black sauce. I love Singapore mee pok, so very nice – the mee is different. Our mee pok is just kampua mee, flattened…and served like kampua too, not the same. I wish I could get to eat Singapore mee pok again.
If the meat I am having is tender and tasty I don’t need any sauce at all.
Same here. I will only resort to sauces when what I eat is not tasty. Sauces may cover up the nice taste of whatever one is eating, might as well just drink the sauce – one and the same thing as that is all you can get to taste.
No that great after all, eh? But at least you tried it and formed your own opinion.
Yes, so if people tell me about this one, I know it only too well now. Say what you want – not my No. 1, not at all.
Looks yummy! Coffee shop looks good.
It was good. For me, not the best in town, but it was good. Coffee shop was decent, nice enough place but I did not like the coffee I had.
P.S.
Thanks for dropping by. Lovely blog/website you have there. Cheers!
In Hokkien it’ll be “lau kau” haha
You speak Hokkien? “Lau kau” does not mean old monkey though – it means ugly, not nice. 😀
Tepuk dada tanya selera. Some like, some dont like. At least tried before
Yes, cannot depend on hearsay, must try and see. The test of the pudding is in the eating.
I often wonder about ‘well known’ business owners…we have them here, too, and some of them are questionable at best. I WONDER how they made it as long as they did if their product wasn’t wonderful, ya know!?
Indeed, sometimes it got me wondering why everybody seems to like something, praising it to the skies and I am not impressed. Maybe I am more into spicier foods, all the herbs and other ingredients that go into the cooking so I need something that tastes a little more flavourful, not too bland? Like one chicken rice hawker stall that got a Michelin star recently. I asked around and they all said nothing great, it’s just chicken rice and nothing worth queuing for 2 hours to eat it. Perhaps it’s the snob appeal – hey, I’ve eaten it kind of thing!
Wow … Someone should start a Facebook fan club for this guy … So that his fans can keep track of him and share their stories 😉
I wonder if there is one. Some do have something like that, I think – their own Facebook page.