Quality…

If one is in the food business, one very crucial thing that is of utmost importance is that one must be able to maintain the quality of what one sells, more or less, so customers would know exactly what to expect and get that much-coveted satisfaction without fail everytime.

I dropped by the Malay kueh stall here again last week and no, the elusive Kate pulut panggang was nowhere to be seen as always and I did not feel like settling for the ones that I would consider second best. I remember buying the fried or koi (yam cake) here not too long ago at only 3 for RM1.00 and it was so good. There were chunks of yam inside and bits of udang kering (dried prawns), so very cheap and so very nice. That was why I bought some more…

…that day for tea but unfortunately, it was so so very disappointing.

The quality was way below what I had bought and enjoyed so much before, no chunks of yam, no udang kering, nothing…

…mostly flour and it would not be so bad if it had not been so very salty. We just ate a few pieces and in the end, I threw all the rest away. Never mind that it is cheaper – I would much sooner fork out a little bit more to buy the ones here, 50 sen each but 5 for RM2.00 and derive a lot more satisfaction from those.

It was a hot day that day – well, it is getting hotter and hotter here, not a single drop of rain for a long time now – so I decided not to have my usual kopi-o-peng (iced black coffee) which, usually, they do not do well at the Malay shops and stalls, I dunno why. Once in Kuching, I asked for iced Nescafe, black, thinking that they couldn’t possibly go wrong with instant coffee…and they did. Tsk! Tsk! Instead, I asked for the ang-tao peng or ais kacang from one of the two drink stalls at the hawker centre in the vicinity…

…and never mind that they probably gave just a teaspoon of the red beans…

…it was so so so good, so cold and so refreshing. It was very rich, very lemak and if I am not wrong, they had santan (coconut milk) plus evaporated milk…and I had the feeling that they used our local gula apong (attap or nipah palm sugar) which does not taste quite the same as gula Melaka (coconut palm sugar) but it is very nice in its own way. I sure wouldn’t mind going for it again if this unbearably scorching weather persists, heaps better and a lot nicer than the disappointing one that I had here.

Ahhhh!!! The African’s back!…

…His stall was closed all throughout the fasting month of Ramadhan and even after Hari Raya, business did not resume till not too long ago. I was wondering if he had decided to pack his bags and go back to his continent or not but no, he’s still around!

My missus had his pili-pili (peri-peri) chicken rice (RM9.00)…

…complete with the peri-peri sauce and tomato salsa…

…while I had the Moroccan rice (RM9.00)…

My missus commented that the chicken was no longer grilled/barbecued and instead, it was fried…

…which made it nothing more than those slightly cheaper ayam penyet ones all around town with a few cosmetic differences.

Yes, it was still quite nice but if the chicken is going to be fried from now on, we would not be in such a hurry to come back here for more – somehow the quality is not quite the same anymore. I’ve heard comments from friends – they all came to try and they all liked what they had. That guy should think twice about rocking the boat when the sailing all this while has been smooth and good.