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! 
My choices go to the ang sio tauhu and honey prawn balls. So satisfying!
I guess you do not eat beef…and no meat on certain days?
Yup!
Righto!
I am not a beef person, so ang sio tauhu and honey prawns for me. If you have ordered servings for two instead of three, then I think it is just nice and you can finish them without leftovers. If can, I would like to avoid eating leftovers too but sometimes it is hard to estimate how much to cook.
Yes, two would be just right for the three of us. I do not mind eating leftovers, just that my missus keeps cooking new dishes and forgets about what’s in the fridge. I will have to take out to make sure she remembers we have leftovers. Sometimes too long already, I will just throw away.
HOney prawn balls surely look delicious to me.
Yeah…businesses will take time to fully recover…if they ever will.
Your daughter is happy to have a father like you for sure.
Only daughter, everything in our lives revolves around her. Anything to make her happy.
Sad that things will never be the same again – we will just have to learn to live with it, climb up again slowly, do the best we can under the present circumstances.
Businesses are affected and slower during this time. People is still fearful and cautious.
Nice to tapau dishes and cook rice at home to enjoy. Sometimes I do that.
Yes, things seem better in West Malaysia, looks quite busy over there. Here, rather quiet but a lot of cars on the road, dunno where everyone is going to. Maybe bored at home so just drive around.
Yeah, times are bad.. only good thing is now there is no more crowd and long waits. Yesterday I ordered for dinner, called them and picked the food up at 6pm… last time no phone call orders…
Good for us, not so good for them. Hope they make enough to keep them going. I guess they can no longer expect to make as much as before anymore.
Times are very hard indeed. Many restaurants have opened for dine-in but I don’t see many customers returning just yet. Still cautious I think. But I have been happily eating out.
Over there too, eh? Sad, isn’t it? One consolation here is I have not seen any place closing down. Probably the rent is low so they think they can manage to pull through.