Green is the colour…

Sometime last year, I went in search of the noodles made using the moringa leaves and I heard that it was available here…

*Archive photo*

…but when I dropped by there, I did not see any sign of it.

Well, it so happened that we were there again the other day and I noticed that other than what used to be the kampua noodle stall…

*It would take a while to figure out what some of the translations actually mean, it seems.*

…there is another one now…

…on the other side of the front part of the coffee shop and there it was, at the latter stall, the vegetable noodles. I wasted no time in placing my order and I sat down to wait.

The kopi-o-peng, iced black coffee (RM1.60)…

…was all right, not the best in town and not the worst either.

My missus ordered the zhao chai hung ngang (RM6.50)…

…from the former and she said it was nicer than the very nice one she had here especially considering that they use ikan tenggiri/bay ka (mackerel) instead of those frozen fish fillet sold at the supermarkets and this one was 50 sen cheaper than at that other place. No, they did not give the fish in slices – they have taken it to make those pieces of what was a little like the texture of fish balls but not to the extent of it being that springy or chewy.

I ordered this minced meat soup (RM3.00)…

…from that same stall with the vegetable noodles and yes, it was very nice and as for the noodles (RM5.00)…

…yes, it was green all right…

…and since it was prepared the same way as kampua noodles, it actually tasted more or less the same. The texture was slightly different though, just a bit – I thought it was not as firm as the regular kampua noodles but on the whole, I could not detect any distinct difference in the taste and I would say that it was all right, nothing sensational, not anything to get excited about.

However, I was not all that pleased with my fried egg which was overcooked, the yolk was not runny and when I looked at the photograph in the display, there was a dumpling (shui jiao/jiaozi) and I did not get any in mine. I did not ask the lady – some say that they make the noodles using spinach, not moringa leaves but whatever it is, at that price, I would much sooner go for something else here…or elsewhere.

YISEN CAFE is located opposite the Lovers’ Bridge along Sungai Merah among the shops to the left of Jalan Teng Chin Hua before its junction with Lorong Sg Merah 2.