In comparison…

One morning, before we went to Kuching, I dropped by this new so-called food street in town…

…which is, in fact, not a street and nothing more than a big coffee shop with a number of stalls selling the usual stuff, nothing spectacular or at least, not that I saw. It is a branch of this place in the Delta Mall area which, of course, is very much closer to my house, just round the corner.

The kueh chap stall there is the same one as at that other place, a branch of it, so to speak – if I remember correctly, they were saying that this one was at a coffee shop in town before and they moved so somebody else took their place there.

I had the kueh chap special (RM8.00)…

…which was all right, not anything that would get me to go back all the way for and while the chili dip…

…was nice, it could do with a little bit more belacan (dried prawn paste) and chili to give it that much coveted kick – I’ve had nicer ones elsewhere, that much I would say.

In the meantime, when I was in Kuching, I went to this place that they call Lao Ya Keng, which I thought, all these years since the 70’s, meant, literally translated, a lousy place (See correction in comments below)…

…where there is this kueh chap stall…

…that seems to be the favourite of many in the city.

I had their kueh chap special (RM9.00)…

…which cost a ringgit more than the one I had in Sibu and the bowl was smaller, around two-thirds the size. The broth tasted different, nice but different and was stronger, not so diluted or watered down and they were a lot more generous with the ingredients, except for the half an egg, but I had to enjoy eating everything without touching their chili dip – it was completely different from the ones we would get in Sibu and no, it did not tickle my fancy.

Thankfully, both did not have that repulsive smell like the one I had here some years ago which probably would be an indication that they did not clean the innards properly but I do know of people who insist that kueh chap is not kueh chap without the smell.

In comparison, I would say both were all right – something one might consider having when at either of these places but not anything I would purposely go out of my way for.

CHOPSTICKS FOOD STREET (2.279983, 111.840216) is located along Lorong Aman 2A, off Jalan Aman in Sibu while LAO YA KENG (1.558573, 110.345601) is located at No. 19, Carpenter Street, Kuching.