Blackbird…

Basically, the hornbill or the burung kenyalang as it is called locally is a blackbird with a bit of white and some colours on its beak and around its head. Sarawak is popularly known as The Land of the Hornbill or Bumi Kenyalang even though we would get to see hornbills a lot more easily elsewhere in the peninsula like at Pulau Pangkor, for instance, than here.

Anyway, this is not going to be about the bird but about this coffee shop…

…right across the parking area from the Sibu Public Library…

I was out early last Saturday morning and  I decided to drop by for breakfast.

The coffee (RM1.70)…

…was so-so, nothing great, a little more expensive than elsewhere, RM1.50-1.60 but cheaper than some places, RM1.80 and above.

I had the gu tor th’ng (beef tripe soup), small (RM3.00)…

…from this stall…

…and I sure was glad that they gave the chili dip…

…that is supposed to go with it, not the usual chili sauce like at some kampua mee stalls.

The soup was very nice with a mild hint of the Foochow red wine in it – I liked that a lot more than the vinegar they would add elsewhere. I guess if one likes it a little stronger, one could always ask for more but I was fine with it as it was.

However, I wasn’t there that morning for that. When my cousin from Melbourne, Australia was in town on a whirlwind visit, one night only, she asked me to go for breakfast the following morning before her flight out of town. Unfortunately, we had to leave the house at the break of dawn to send my girl back to her school in the jungle that same morning so I was not able to join her. It turned out that her brother took her here for what she said was the favourite kampua mee of her sister in Bintulu. Since then, I was waiting for the chance to try and finally, I did (RM3.00)…

Yes, it was very nice. I just couldn’t place my finger on it but there was something in the taste that put it a cut above many of the rest. No, I would not say it was my favourite in town but it was good, just a little bit on the soft side – I would prefer the noodles slightly firmer.

Obviously, it is the favourite of many in town as by the time I was done, the coffee shop was already full despite the fact that it was so early on a Saturday morning. I heard their liver soup is very nice too and I would love to try their pian sip (meat dumplings) some day so I guess I will be dropping by here again when the opportunity arises.

KENYALANG CAFE (2.293891, 111.827688) is along Jalan Keranji, the first shop in the block past the Sibu Public Library and the parking area on your left if you are coming from Brooke Drive.