Some days, we will have leftovers from the previous day for lunch and cook something else for dinner. I am not entirely fond of that as we will not be able to finish and the next day, we will be eating leftovers again. That was why the other day, I said instead of cooking, I would go out and buy a few dishes for our dinner.
I was rather early, around 5.00 p.m. and most of the Chinese chu char places were still closed. Much to my delight, as I was driving past this one, one of our favourites in town, it was open so I parked the car and went in with my tiffin carrier and placed my orders.
The lady boss was not her usual cheerful self so I asked her if things were getting any better. She said, “Char th’nee, char tay!” (An expression in Hokkien meaning, “Far from it!”) Indeed, it did seem very quiet, a far cry from what it was like before. In the past, if you did not have a reservation, you might as well go some place else as the place was always full.
There wasn’t anybody there when I went in but I noticed that somebody had ordered a few dishes to be taken home for some kind of celebration…and by the time I was done, a couple with a kid and an old man went in. They were making steamed bak paos and sio bee probably to supplement their income and make up for the loss brought about by this COVID-19. I did not buy any to try as the next day was Friday, our no-meat day.
I asked for my girl’s favourite sizzling beef (RM18.00)…
…but of course, since I was taking it home to eat, we would have to do without the hot plate.
I also wanted another dish that we enjoy a lot here, their ang sio tauhu (RM9.00)…
…using their very special own-made tofu and their very nice pepper and honey prawn balls (RM16.00)…
…totalling RM43.00 altogether.
The lady who took my orders asked if they should cook servings for two which usually would be enough for three and of course, it would be cheaper but I told her no, I wanted servings for three. After all, I don’t think we will be coming here to eat, not anytime in the near future, I’m sure and besides, we had not enjoyed their dishes for some three months or more now.
When I got home, my girl was super delighted and she asked for more rice for dinner that evening. We managed to finish the beef and we had the rest of the prawns the following day, Friday but the tofu had to wait till Saturday. Nothing went to waste.
NICE HOUSE RESTAURANT (2.29201,111.82739) is located in the vicinity of the Tunku Osman shops, opposite Rejang Bookstore.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 