This is new in town…
…located along Ramin Way (2.291180, 111.826634), beside Sin Kiaw Coffee Shop, right behind the petrol station across the road from the HSBC Building, Sibu branch…and it so happened that I was around that part of town very early in the morning that day so I decided to walk over to check it out.
Gosh!!! Even though it was only around 7 something, there were so many cars and it was quite difficult to even cross the road! There is a primary school nearby but I thought at that time, classes would have started already. Tsk! Tsk!
There was this tall and friendly young man running the place…
…with a few helpers who would assist him with the baking and what not. Yes, as you can see in the photograph, they have those bamboo steamer baskets by the side and yes, they do have steamed paos or buns here. I guess they are kept warm in that metal and glass case inside beside the counter.
I bought the ones with char siew (barbecued pork) filling (RM1.50 each)…
…and yes, they were very nice. I sure would not mind going back for more.
The guy said that the baked stuff was not ready yet – I was too early – but I was in luck. Some came out of the oven when I was there so I was able to grab some to try.
I got some Portuguese egg tarts (RM2.50 each)…
…which were nice except that they had layered regular egg tart pastry instead of the usual ultra-thin and flaky layers of puff pastry one would usually get for these Portuguese variation. I did not buy any of the green ones but my guess is that they’re pandan-flavoured.
The sio pao, baked buns with char siew filling (RM2.00 each)…
…were nice too. The pastry was something like what one would get when buying those celebrated Seremban ones but I find the filling in the ones here…
…a whole lot nicer. However, I noticed that they were not very consistent with the size and while some were rather big, others were somewhat small. Perhaps if you happen to drop by here to get some, you could insist on picking your own so you could choose all the big ones. Hehehehehe!!!!
I also got these sio bee (90 sen each)…
The guy said they were from Kuching and if I am not wrong, they are the ones from the Open Air Market (only 70 sen each the last time I had them in 2014) and yes, they’re nice.
As a matter of fact, the guy said that they got everything from Kuching including the ingredients for the baked stuff and they just make and bake or steam here for sale. I would say that I liked what I managed to buy and take home to try that day so I wouldn’t mind going back there again for more of the same…
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Wow sounds really good that you are singing praises for those items.
As for the sio pao, if you choose those larger ones, you’ll only get thicker pastry with the same amount of filling. Some may not like it but people like me love it! I love pastries 😀
Oh? I did not notice that, just that one was visibly smaller, just about two-thirds to half the size of the rest. 😦
It sounds very nice, Arthur! 🙂
Yes, I would say I liked all that I bought.
A lovely selection of good eats. Nice picture of Sibu.
Yes. Well, Sibu is a nice place. 😉
Just wondering if this Hong Kong Puff is the same as the ones operating at Jalan Padungan. I remember buying from there but the pastry is ultra thin flaky layered & not like the ones shown in the photo. Yeah, I like the sio bee from open air market too.
I dunno, maybe it is the one and the same. Perhaps the people here are new, not so good with the pastry yet – all ingredients are from Kuching.
Sorry to hijack the conversation.
Jalan Padugan used to be the place for decent Siew Pau etc. Is it still the case?
When? The best sio pao that I know is from Kai Joo Lane, off India Street and not in Padungan. Can’t recall anything nice in Padungan in the 70’s – maybe the chicken rice next to Capitol Cinema, that was very popular…and we used to get the best ang koo from a backlane in between the rows of shops there. Lots of stuff there now, new shops, shops that have moved there and so on.
Love paos – but haven’t had the baked ones for some time.
Me too and I do prefer the steamed ones to the baked ones though I wouldn’t mind the latter either provided the skin/pastry and the filling are nice.
Those sia pao for me, anytime! hee..hee..
These are nice – I like them a lot more than the ones from Seremban but my favourite is still the Kai Joo Lane ones in Kuching – quality has dropped a lot, old folks not making anymore…but still the best!.
The egg tarts are definitely not cheap… same over here in Ipoh too.. the normal egg tarts are around RM1.50 but not the Portuguese type.. I prefer the former than the latter, but my kids love them both.
We have egg tarts at most bakeries in town, never really took note of the prices – I’m the only one eating as my girl and the mum are not into egg custard so I seldom buy and have not bought for a long time.
The pastry skin of the tarts seems thick, no?
No, just right and very nice. You do not like pastry? Can go for custard caramel instead then or creme brulee, all egg custard, no pastry.
Sio Bee is always my favourite…
I like these Kuching ones.
Wow I like them all, you got most of my favourite food in one post. That bbq pork bun and shumai are the best
…and if you convert to NZ currency, these are really dirt cheap here, eh? 😉