I first went to try this guy’s…
…kampua mee a long time ago when a friend, a food blogger at the time, no longer active now, told me that his was very nice and that it was special, different from the rest as he added garlic to his. Of course I had to go and try and yes, I loved it, the second time around. I think I did buy several packs for friends in West Malaysia before when I went over.
One fine day, this young guy took over and the guy took over the running of the drinks business at that coffee shop until the former left to join his family in their business venture. That was why the old guy came back to run the kampua mee stall the second time. Of course, I had to go back there again to see whether he was still as good but unfortunately, it failed to get me all excited so I never went back again.
After a while, some other people took over the stall and the old guy went back to concentrate on his drink business. I did give these new people a try and yes, I did like what they dished out but much to my surprise, they did not last very long. Perhaps they had moved some place else.
One fine day, a friend of mine, also an ex-blogger, shared a photo on Facebook claiming that his was the best kampua in Sibu. I could not believe my eyes when I saw that the old guy was back at it AGAIN…for the third time! I just ignored it until he shared another photo the other day declaring that same thing so I just had to go back there to see how best his best was.
Well, the kampua mee (RM3.00)…
…was all right, not so strong on the garlic taste anymore, probably because of the quality of garlic these days and he added a bit of daun sup (Chinese celery) to the noodles and the soup and I liked that – the added fragrance brought the taste to a whole new level. However, I did not like how he cut the meat into long strips like that. I prefer how they usually do it – in thin broader slices.
All in all, if it is good authentic kampua mee that you are looking for, perhaps you should look elsewhere. Otherwise, this one is good enough for a decent breakfast, that much I would say.
MEI LE CAFE (2.313147, 111.846968) is located along Jalan Gambir, a stone’s throw away from the Delta Mall, straight ahead from the first turning to your left as soon as you turn into that road from Jalan Pedada, now Jalan Dr Wong Soon Kai.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
I salute you for having good memories. You are not alone. I also don’t like how they cut the meat, thick and hard to chew. Prefer the thinly sliced meat. The kampua mee looks good though.
The mee was o.k., nice but personally, I do not think it is the best in town, not my favourite, that’s for sure.
I will eat a lot of kolo noodles next month, I guess… hope they have kampua too in Kuching!
Yes, I noticed a lot of stalls selling our Foochow delights there, good or not, I wouldn’t know. I guess it is the same as everything else – must know where to go.
I almost had the same blog title as you lol as i used the mcd app three times in a row.
Oh? That would be an interesting coincidence, eh?
ooo, has the quality of garlic deteriorated in recent years? i haven’t noticed, but maybe i should have!
Yes, it is dry and hard, not moist and juicy as it is dehydrated prior to shipping so it will be lighter and will cost less to send. Same thing with ginger – we will not buy the nice, clean ones from China – would go for the dirty, covered with soil locally-grown ones – more juicy and “hiam”, a whole lot nicer.
Now that you mentioned it, I find that the garlic I buy these days are not so fresh and not as garlicky. I wonder why.
So you’ve noticed it too, eh? See my reply to Sean above – that is why!
The meat strips were thick. I dont like that.
The cafe is familiar. Cant remember I have been there or not.
You probably have – the chu char place at the back is very popular, always crowded. Maybe they have a new chef who uses the flour in boxes for the batter so everything has that unpleasant essence smell. That’s why we stopped going there.
I don’t know why the guy cuts the meat like that – in strips, not thin slices. If I did that at home, I would get a ticking off from my mum – “Any chor lo!!!”
Maintaining quality of hawker food in these changing times is going to be a challenge, hopefully it’s not all downhill from here.
Usually if the old folks are still around, the standard will be maintained. If the young ones take over, it may swing either way. They may have new ideas of their own but not all are good and eventually they give up and close down the place. Sad especially when it has been running for decades under the hands of their parents.