A step further…

I went back for the lei cha…

…again last Friday. After the one I had two weeks ago, I could see the after effects of eating that Hakka delight – the next day, it did look like some kind of detoxification had taken place.

Yes, I did not go too early this time around so I did get the brown rice…

…unlike the previous time and I went a step further this time around – I ordered their fried ikan bilis (dried anchovies)…

…to add to the lei cha…

…so as to give it a little more taste and yes, it was good!

It was much more bitter this time around but that was fine by me – I heard there were people who wanted it this way so the boss added more of one of the 10 types of herbs used in the cooking of the soup. I barely managed half of the soup though – I mixed it with the rice and everything else to eat and I was literally drowning all of it in the green stuff…but I saw the guy at the next table drinking it all straight from the bowl, right down to the last drop. Wowwww!!!! Unfortunately, I am still learning to enjoy this thing, yet to reach that level. Hehehehehe!!!!

None of the ladies wanted any of the same though so I ordered the mushroom soup…

…for my girl – it was not available the last time we were here. I think they had a bit of shitake mushroom in it this time around and my girl was not fond of that. Besides, it was too thick, like the canned soup from the can, yet to add the milk to cook. Still, I thought it was nice, something like a cross between a soup and mashed potatoes, and of course, I helped her to finish most of it.

I did mention that to the boss and he said that he had been so busy he did not have time to check on his boys before they served it. Indeed, there were so many people at the cafe – the  lei cha sure seemed very well-received and in a little more than an hour or so, it was already sold out! It is available on Fridays only from 11.30 a.m. onwards so if anybody is intending to go for it, I would suggest that you go early…or call first and ask them to reserve some for you.

It is still the season of Lent so it was a no-meat day for us that day. My girl would have loved the Payung fish but that had soy sauce in it so we settled for the pomelo salad…

…and our favourite, the Payung-style otak-otak…

…and also the belimbing prawns…

The boss mentioned that he did tell the boys to give me two servings, six prawns altogether, but they just gave me one. Well, I told him it was perfectly all right as there were just the three of us. If I had had other people with me, I would have told him right from the start that I would want more prawns so that we would not end up fighting over who should get the crustaceans…and every time, he would oblige willingly, giving me a lot more than the usual portion and yet charging the same price as stated in the menu.

Together with the drinks, the bill came up to RM65.00, almost the same as what I had to fork out here…and no price for guessing which one we enjoyed a lot more.

PAYUNG CAFE (2.284049, 111.833014) is located at No.20F, Lanang Road, Sibu, Malaysia, back to back with the multi-storey car park of the Kingwood Hotel which faces the majestic Rejang River.