Well, I wouldn’t say I had much of a choice. At 6.00 a.m., most of the coffee shops would be closed and at the few that may be open, if you’re lucky, you can get a hot drink and kampua mee as chances are they will tell you that the water has not started boiling yet so you will have to go some place else.
I decided to drop by here once again as this is the only one that starts real early and at 6.00 a.m., all the stalls, except the chu char (cook & fry) place at the back, would be in full swing, even the roti canai stall. That sure is a surprise as those people usually do not start so early.
Usually, I would order the sambal kway teow from this stall…
…there as it has always been good, never fails to please – spicy with its lovely char (fry) fragrance plus the nice taste of the sambal and that is only RM4.00 a plate.
This time around, I wanted to try the Penang char kway teow (RM5.00)…
…because I had that at the coffee shop across the road and it was really very good and had a whole lot of prawns but that was RM6.50 a plate. Unfortunately, when I ordered that, the lady said she did not have any prawns that morning. Oh dear! No prawns, no cockles, just lap cheong (Chinese sausage)? What kind of Penang char kway teow is that?
Nonetheless, I went ahead with my order as I couldn’t go any place else anyway and I was quite sure it would be all right especially with the lady’s super spicy chili dip…
This is so good really and goes so well with whatever the lady dishes out. She said that it is a recipe handed down from her father – she used to help him make this when she was young.
The kway teow…
…was pretty good but I think I would stick to the very much cheaper sambal kway teow here and if I want some very nice Penang char kway teow, I would go to the coffee shop across the road as it does have an edge over this prawnless one. Of course, that one is RM1.50 more expensive and it will have to be much later – I shall not be able to drop by there THIS early in the morning, that’s for sure!
KOPITIAM FANTASY, otherwise popularly known as Tiam Tiam Lai (2.292435, 111.835066), is located among the shops in the Jalan Chew Siik Hiong area of shops behind the Rejang Medical Centre, facing Jalan Mahsuri.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Over here RM5 CKT, there is only egg and taugeh and some places may charge a bit more. I also don’t mind there is no prawns in CKT but must have the wok hei fragrance and lots of taugeh. Another thing is the chilli dippings.
Wowwww!!!! So expensive! The very nice sambal one at this stall, only RM4.00. Once on a Friday, I asked for no meat and she gave me a discount even though I did not ask for it.
Yeah perhaps it was still too early? Hence she had not bought those ingredients yet.
Still you are expected to purchase them the day before right?
No, she said no prawns that day. Period.
Hmm. Normal taugeh kway teow is good enough as long as the wok hei is there.
Sambal ckt, yum yum. I like that. Now I am kind of missing my mil’s special homemade sambal. She used that to fry with noodle. Her signature dish in Kapit.
Oooooo…next time you go back to Kapit, ask for a bottle for me, pass to me when in Sibu on the way back to Kuching. LOL!!!
ohhh nooo.. no prawns and cockles does not maketh a good Penang CKT. hehe…
There’s one stall here near my work place in Pudu, KL which serves really good Penang CKT. I refrain from taking it often though, need to jaga health already lah.. 🙂
I do not go slow on prawns…yum..yum…but I hardly ever take cockles. High lead content, very toxic…and the worst they say are the ones from the Straits of Melaka…where you all get yours. Best avoided!!!
Beats me. What is the difference between penang ckt and normal ckt?
I haven’t the slightest idea – maybe the Penang ones have cockles, prawns and lap cheong. Normal plain char kway teow would have egg and taugeh only.
At 6am, I definitely need coffee.
A mug is a must to wake me up and start my day! LOL!!!