Different now…

I particularly loved the soup…

*Archive photo*

…here…

…for as long as I can remember, even when they were previously at different locations, not where they are now.

That was the main reason why I wanted to stop by for lunch recently but this was what was served (RM10.00)…

It did not matter one bit that there wasn’t any fish maw but there were lots of tiny meat balls and a few own-made fish balls plus all the tomatoes and there were strips of shitake mushroom, the taste of which was so strong that it made the soup so different from what it was like before – the way I liked it! It used to be a very simple clear soup with a few bits of fish maw, very few, strips of meat and bean curd sticks, sweet corn, a couple of shrimps/prawns and some bits of Chinese cabbage or wombok…and yet, it was so very nice! Well, if it is going to be like this from now on, I certainly would not bother ordering it anymore in future.

While I was inside placing the orders, I saw they had this (RM15.00)…

…so I ordered some. Yes, it is in season right now – our dabai or the local Sarawak black olives.

At one time, I said I would not buy if the price went up to over RM20.00 and it did but I did go on buying. The price ranged between RM20.00 and RM30.00 that day and no, I was not going to fall for this excessive profiteering anymore so I did not buy any, thank you very much. I hear it has dropped to RM15.00 and above now but I still have not gone out to buy. I’m firm, not stubborn. Hehehehehe!!!!

I guess it would not change a thing as there are always lots of people buying, a lot at a time so obviously that is why they can simply jack up the prices so unreasonably high and the worst thing is you may have to pay through your nose only to find that what you have bought is not all that good – sometimes, they let you try the very good ones on the spot but what they sell to you may be a mixture of fruits from different trees and of different quality.

Even the ones we had here that day included some bigger rounder ones and some longer ones, one was better than the other but thankfully, both were nice enough. They did not come cheap, of course, 21 seeds altogether so that worked out to over 70 sen each…but I just thought I would order some to appease our craving and that would be it, no more. Normally we would eat them tossed with soy sauce and a bit of sugar but of course, my girl is staying away from soy sauce at this point in time so we just had it plain.

Now, this plate of kiam sor pai kut – salty crusty pork ribs (RM16.00)…

…cost just a ringgit more and I would say we could derive a lot more enjoyment from it than the fruit so I really do not see why we would spend all that money to buy the fruit and get fleeced by the sellers.

My sister-in-law bought some for RM26.00 a kilo and brought some to my birthday dinner that night and it was not nice at all. Maybe it had been cooked too long already and that was why I did not enjoy it one bit but with that kind of money, it would make a lot more sense to go and buy something else, for instance, the very nice smoked organic chicken from here – only RM23.00 a bird!

We also had their mini ngor hiang (RM6.50)…

…that day or what is called lor bak over in the peninsula. They really make very nice ones here, certainly worth ordering should you happen to drop by this place…and I’ve always loved their long beans fried with sambal hay bee/dried prawns (RM7.00)…

…and yes, both dishes were consistently good that day and very much to our satisfaction.

They do have some very nice dishes here, I must say and if anyone is interested, it is located here (2.293350, 111.823694) among the shops located behind the ones in front (including the Fair Price Supermarket) facing Jalan Kampung Datu. Despite our disappointment over the soup that day, we certainly would be back again sometime…and of course, what we order would be those without wheat flour and soy sauce, stuff that my girl needs to avoid.