Not what you think…

If you think this is Pattaya fried kway teow…

…well, it isn’t.

Way back in my teenage days, there was a man named Ah Tor who would fry kway teow (flat rice noodles) this way, coated with egg and it was indeed very popular at the time and even to this day. Of course, Ah Tor had passed away and his son is carrying on his family trade here.

When my friends from Singapore came in 2015, I ordered a plate to share but I can’t remember whether I had any or not. Later that same year, my uncle and his family in Kuching came to town and they thought it was somewhat disappointing…and when they got to try the one here, they were praising it to the skies, declaring it to be so much nicer. I did have that one there a long time ago, 8 years to be exact in 2010, but it did not leave a lasting impression. As a matter of fact, a friend of mine was telling me about it too at one time and he said that I must ask the wife to cook – it would be very much nicer.

Anyway, the other morning, I thought I would just drop by there to refresh my memory. I liked  the mug that they used to provide the boiling water for sterilising the chopsticks and the spoon – I thought it was very cute…

The coffee had gone up in price, from RM1.50 in 2015 to RM1.70 now and the one I had that morning was very diluted, hardly any coffee fragrance and taste – I certainly would not order that should I happen to drop by here again. It certainly is a whole lot better at many places around town.

I ordered this bowl of beef soup…

…to go with my fried kway teow and had a shock when told that it was RM8.00 a bowl but of course, beef does not come cheap here and they have access to fresh beef from the Malay butcher who used to run a stall selling the meat at the wet market in town but not anymore. They told me that they would book ahead of time and anytime they slaughter any, they would grab a whole lot to store in the freezer for their use.

Come to think of it, I should have asked for a smaller bowl, the size of the ones that they serve with their kampua mee…and yes, it was, as always, very nice and went well with their own-made chili dip.

The fried kway teow is different from those omelette-wrapped Pattaya dishes as it is done quite differently. Firstly, the kway teow is fried with garlic and soy sauce and bean sprouts, chives and egg plus some seasoning are added. Once done, it would be pushed aside and an egg is broken into the wok and is spread around thinly and when almost done, the kway teow is lifted and laid down on the layer of egg and it will be stuck to it, once done. I guess one must dish it out carefully so the egg that was at the bottom would end up on top, intact (RM4.00)…

I tried it and yes, I did like it a lot – it tasted really good but somehow, I don’t quite recall Ah Tor’s to be anything like it. No doubt his was simpler or at least, it tasted that way, but it was also nice in its own right. Sometimes, there is beauty in simplicity…

CHIP CHUNG CAFE (2.318239, 111.839305) is located along Jalan Gambir behind the premises of the Sibu Kidney Foundation (that faces Jalan Chong Jin Bock) just before the turning into Jalan Bunga Dahlia (if you are coming from Jalan Pedada).