One of my anonymous blog readers commented on my post the other day on my favourite kampua mee in town and he/she suggested that I should check out the one here…
I went and googled and ended up at their Facebook page. Much to my surprise, many of my foodie friends had been here before, their posts dating back to 2012!
HERE WeGo gave the address as Jalan Long Bridge…
…but whoever that commented said that it would be at Jalan Tan Sri. Yes, you will have to come via Jalan Tan Sri and make a u-turn at the refuse bin centre to go into this part of Jalan Long Bridge to get to the coffee shop in that blue-coloured part of the building on the left…
If you come in via Jalan Long Bridge proper, you will have to turn left at the t-junction – it is a one-way street so you cannot turn right to get here.
There was an old couple running the stall in front, a very very thin old man and an equally thin wife…and looking at how animated the man was, moving here and there, doing everything so fast, I must say that I was not in the least surprised he was so skinny. The orders did not get served that quickly though, unfortunately…so one would have to wait…and wait…and wait for a long time to be served. Word has it that the guy is from Kuching and it sure looks like he has brought along with him that “worth its wait in gold” policy at one place there. As a matter of fact, what I was served eventually was more or less what one would get at that place in Kuching or here – I think my blogger friend, Rose, will drop by the latter sometimes.
Just like when one goes for kolo mee in Kuching, I got the pickled sliced chili in vinegar and whatever…
…but the mee was kampua mee, not kolo mee…
…and yes, it was very nice – very original/authentic, very nicely done but I think my favourite in town remains unchanged.
The guy asked me if I wanted the soup and of course I did and when I was served…
…I was delighted that it was something like those at the aforementioned places in Kuching and yes, it was very very nice. The soup was so rich with the bone stock, as nice as that of the old lady’s meatball soup but sadly, she has retired and her daughter or whoever has taken over her place and the last time we dropped by, everything was somewhat disappointing so we never went back again. I sure enjoyed this one to the max, especially with all the innards in the soup and I was wishing there were some pig’s blood too but there was none.
It so happened that while I was there that morning, I met the boss of a printing press in town with a group of people. I was in charge of the publication of the school magazine before I retired and without fail, he would see me year after year after year…and he went and paid for what I had! I asked the guy’s wife when she was serving me how much the mee and the soup were altogether and she said RM6.00. Gee! That’s really inexpensive, don’t you think?
I certainly would not mind coming back here again for more but I was quite put off by the crowd even though it was so very early in the morning, between 7 and 8…and of course, I am not all that keen on waiting that long all over again. It looked like the main attraction was the guy’s porridge – everyone else was having that – I was the only one having the noodles and soup, and an Iban guy at the next table who had the noodles in the soup served in a very big bowl. Other than that, this is a very congested part of town and parking can be a real pain. All things considered, I guess it will be quite a while before I venture to that part of the woods again.
HOOVER CAFE (2.285696, 111.831327) is located at Jalan Long Bridge, off Jalan Tan Sri. The back of the coffee shop faces the back of the shops along Jalan Maju where Hai Bing Seafood Restaurant is located, facing the Rejang Esplanade.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
I don’t have the patience to wait if the waiting time is too long, like Noodles Descendants and I don’t think their noodles are that great. It is weird to see that kampua mee are served with pickled sliced chilli. Nice bowl of soup to have with the kampua noodles.
I think if I had added the vinegar to the noodles, it would be something like kolo mee. I’ve tried that at home – add a bit of vinegar, fried garlic and fried garlic oil, all these that you will never get when you go for a plate of kampua mee and that is why the taste is very different.
Not everyone in Sibu is a fan of kolo mee – that is why my favourite, though the favourite of many (always crowded), is frowned upon by some people here – not the same, they would say, not like kampua…and kolo mee is more “khiew” – one reason why I prefer it…and it is for that same reason why some people do not like it, so hard, they would say. Heard lots of complaints from those from Sibu when I was in college in the 70’s. They hated Kuching crispy fried noodles too.
I dislike waiting for too long and even if the food was very good, I’d pass.
Me too. That is why I would have second thoughts about going back here, never mind that what I had was so very nice.
Usually kampua goes with chilli sauce. Kolo mee with sliced chilli in vinegar. Whatever, it is own preference and taste.
Nice soup. Similar to Kuching cheng soup huh??
Yes, very nice. I loved the one at Kin Joo a lot too.
I saw kampua mee in the supermarket today, I think I’ll try making it at home soon. 🙂
I guess it’s the celebrated THE KITCHEN instant Sibu kampua? Very aggressive marketing. I think one place to get that is at TTDI (“Raw Meat”, the pork shop perhaps). It’s very good, as authentic as it gets…follow the instructions, perfect timing in the cooking is important.