I was passing by here that morning on my way home after collecting the parcel from my cousin in Kuching at the courier service office in Sungai Merah so I decided to stop by and give their kampua mee a try.
The stall…
…is right in front and you can see how the brick ones here look a whole look nicer than the regular ones one would get to see at the other coffee shops in town.
There is a dim sum stall…
…in front now but looking at the photographs, it appeared to me that the lady was selling the exact same things as what one could get from the stall here. Yes, I’ve tried some of those at the latter and quite liked some of what I had but I found it kinda expensive – I only had a few items and the total went way over RM10.00 and the thing is I am not all that fond of dim sum to make me wanna fork out that kind of money. To me, it is just something that I don’t mind having once in a while sometimes for a change.
The kopi-o/black coffee (RM1.00)…
…that I had was very nice and I loved the table top – again, this is something you would not see in other coffee shops, the nice tables that they have here.
As for the kampua mee (RM2.80)…
…yes, they used the original traditional handmade noodles, straight and thicker than the machine-made thinner and curly ones that some would insist are like the ones they use for Kuching kolo mee, not kampua.
However, I thought it was kind of firm, not cooked long enough to get the noodles to be of the right soft texture so I can’t say that I enjoyed it plus it could use a little bit more shallot oil as it was a little on the dry side.
On the plus side, I liked how they sliced the shallots and fried it perfectly till nice and crispy and golden brown in colour – these days, most people will just use a blender so even though the flavour and fragrance are there, you will get minute bits of shallots in your noodles, some over-fried till black, and no, you will not get to enjoy biting into the crunchy slices like the ones here.
I also liked how they do not dye the boiled meat red like what they do at most other places which makes me wonder all the time what colouring they use to try and make the meat look like some pale imitation of the char siew (barbecued pork) which it definitely isn’t…and I also liked the fact that they were not using those colourful plastic or melamine plates and bowls that they use at a lot at places elsewhere around town – I understand they are not good for health when used to serve hot food.
At RM2.80 a plate, it is the same as many other places around town though some may go up to RM3.00 or more elsewhere but considering that one can get the same for only RM2.50 at this shop round the corner, if it is specifically kampua mee that I want, I would most likely go for the cheaper one…which I thought was nicer, that one time that I dropped by there to try it.
The pian sip, soup (RM3.00)…
…was very nice. The skin was very thin and the clear soup was just right on all counts and what I liked best about it was that there was no msg overdose. I don’t know why it is 20 sen more expensive than the kampua mee though – at all the other stalls, these two items are usually priced the same, no difference at all.
COFFEE & TEA (2.325932, 111.841566) is located at the junction of Jalan Teng Chin Hua and Jalan Ulu Sg Merah in the blocks of shops to the right of the traffic lights junction turning left into Lorong Sg Merah 2. if you are coming from town. On the other hand, if you are heading towards town, the blocks of shops are after St Teresa’s Catholic Church and the SIB Church on that same side of the road.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Some people are not very consistence in cooking their noodles. One time was having kolo mee at my favourite palce and it was cooked till too soft & sticky. I knew the taukenio well so I just go and tell her and she say maybe the person making the kolo mee didnt’t change the boiling water. In the end I didn’t finish it and was not charged too.
Lucky you! The texture of this one was not to my liking and I’d much sooner go for the cheaper RM2.50 around 100 metres away.
I actually prefer the noodles to be a bit on the firm side.
I know, some people prefer it that way. Those into Kuching kolo mee will prefer their firmer noodles to our softer kampua mee.
I do like that brickwork. There’s something rustic about it yet it sure looks more solid than a regular stall.
Yes, the regular stalls look kinda flimsy…and cheap. These here look a whole lot better.
I like the stone counter!
Me too!
The decor seems really nice. I hope all coffee shops here (especially those in the city centre) should at least be clean and tidy up their premises, then replace their outdated plastic tables and chairs with something nicer or old-school.
Dim sum looks delicious. I am intrigued by guang dong meat balls. On the other hand, RM1 for the kopi-0 is cheap.
Dim sum’s good enough. I had some at another place but I thought it was rather expensive to indulge in that. Not something I would go for on a regular basis.
Yes, it sure looks nicer than the regular coffee shops…and thanks to our municipal council, our coffee shops are all very clean, Italian tile floors and all unlike some in other towns and cities. They are graded A or B – the C ones would be in for a bit of trouble.