We have not been here for such a long time! The last time was most probably before the COVID-19 pandemic breakout and then came the lockdown starting in March during which time the place was closed and no, they did not bother about doing home food deliveries and all that stuff at the time.
Eventually, when the situation got better, it reopened and I did drop by a couple of times. They did some renovation to make the place a bit more spacious and put in more six-seater tables – if three (0r four) persons occupy one, there would be a whole lot of room for physical distancing plus it is never really crowded here most of the time so you do not have to worry about people getting too close for comfort.
My girl had to go back to school and there were always a lot of things going on. Our weekend outings had to be shelved and when we did go out, it would be to some places close by (that were not crowded) and we would not need to go out of our way. Right now, the schools are having their holidays and I would try to take everybody out for lunch as frequently as possible – that would be a break for the mum, having to cook every day…and for us too, having a change from what she would cook in the house.
Well, that day, my girl said she would like to go to Payung and so Payung, it was!
The mum wanted the kacangma chicken (RM16.00 with rice)…
…and it was so so good that she kept singing its praises. For one thing, she had not cooked her own at home for a long time now and we were missing it much!
My girl wanted the mushroom roll (RM8.00)…
…and it was the same as always and to everyone’s liking.
She also wanted the Payung rojak (RM12.00)…
I forgot to say that I wanted the small so we were served this huge serving. Never mind! We loved it and managed to finish most of it. After all, we had not had that for such a long time.
Both my girl and I wanted the lamb dishes and we saw this notice on the wall…
They used to be RM21.00 (with rice), if I remember correctly but like what I’ve been saying all this time, with the prices of things going up and up and up, any increase in the price of anything is to be expected but most importantly, they must maintain the quality and not scrimp and save on the ingredients and shortchange the customers.
For one thing, the servings seemed a lot bigger than before, so much so that it would be best to order just one of the two to share and an extra rice plus maybe a salad and/or a side dish.
Incidentally, the increase affects the lamb dishes only – lamb is getting more and more expensive especially when you want the good quality Australian or New Zealand ones that do not have that strong a smell that may put some people off. Other than those, they have maintained the prices of all their other dishes even in these pressing times.
The lamb masala (RM25.00 with rice)…
…that my girl had was great and so was the curry lamb (RM25.00 with rice)…
…that I picked.
We sure enjoyed our lunch there that day and we certainly look forward to going back there again soonest.
PAYUNG CAFÉ (2.284049, 111.833014) is located at No.20F, Lanang Road, Sibu, Malaysia, back to back with the multi-storey car park of the Kingwood Hotel which faces the majestic Rejang River.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
As always all the dishes looks so good and big portion. Kacang ma and rojak for me pls. Just kacang ma dish is enough to make me have extra plates of rice. As for rojak, they are ever so generous with the shrimp paste compare to some places over here giving some tiny tweeny bits only.
Their paste is special, ownmade…and it is cooked! No shrimp paste so it is vegetarian-friendly. The boss said he saw them making the paste at a factory and decided to come out with his own. Yes, kacangma alone is enough…but I would want a vege dish – not much else here. just the rojak and the salads.
The kacangma chicken looks exquisite and traditional. The mushroom roll though is something that I want to try.
Kacangma is a Hakka confinement dish. You can read about it here:
https://suituapui.wordpress.com/2018/07/13/thirty-days/
All worts are good for depression. Convalescing mums are known to suffer from post-natal depression – this will be good for them.
The mushroom roll here is the favourite of many, very popular.
It feels great to be back to our favourite and taste our favourite dishes after such a long time.
Dishes looked good as always. Everything expected to increase in price and more after the CNY, I read in today news. Just today we had a taukey complaining to us of price hike in chilies and spring onion while we were having our brunch. Lol. Even those little things no longer cheap nowadays.
Yes, shallots up to RM20 a kilo now, the India ones. I’ve noticed kampua at a number of places, no fried shallots, no chopped spring onions anymore. So terrible!
I’m glad the people at Payung have maintained the prices of all their dishes here except the lamb ones and nice of them to make the servings bigger.
First time I’ve heard of kacangma chicken. Sounds interesting.
Acquired taste. You may not like it initially but like in my case, it grew on me eventually and now I love it!!! Like the Campari slogan says, “The first tome is never the best!” LOL!!!