For better or for worse…

I had to make my way to the town centre last Sunday as there were things that I needed to buy and I decided to go early as there would be fewer people around. Unfortunately, I did not look at the clock carefully and got there…

…at least half an hour too early and they were not open for the day yet. I decided to go over to the shops across the road in the block behind the petrol station to buy a few things that I could keep in the fridge/freezer to heat up for my breakfast in the morning.

I stopped by here to buy their char siew pao (RM2.20 each)…

…which are a little cheaper than the ones (RM2.50) at the dim sum place that I went to that day. Gosh!!! They were only RM1.50 each when they first started their business in 2017.

I like the skin of the ones here, soft and cushiony, a lot more than the mushy cotton-like skin of the dim sum ones and the ones that day were not all that great – they would need to improve on their making of the skin. The ladies in the house thought the filling was too sweet for their liking but I was fine with it. Actually, if you asked me, I would say that I liked the filling of that one more than this one…

To me, this one was kind of dry, not quite to my fancy. If I am not wrong, it was not like this before, much nicer.

Moving on from the char siew paos, I was quite sure that I bought their lor mai kai once before and I did not like it. However, a foodie friend bought one sometime ago and he shared the photograph on Facebook. I commented that I would go there and buy too but I never did…and that was before the pandemic started!!!

Well, finally, I managed to get hold of one (RM4.00)…

…RM1.00 cheaper than the one I bought at the dim sum place but that one was bigger.

Yes, there was a bit of meat plus shitake mushroom inside this one as well…

…but it was overcooked – the glutinous rice was way too soft and way too sticky and I did not quite fancy the taste either, all soy sauce and nothing much else. Despite the fact that it costs a ringgit more, personally I do feel that the other one is a much better buy.

While I was there, I also picked up a packet of these (RM2.00)…

…for my girl and yes, they were all right, probably the same as the ones I bought here before. I was told that there are two different people making these kuihs and leaving them for sale at this shop (and elsewhere) and looking at the rest of the stuff that morning, I was quite sure these were made by this girl who has been around since 2019 and is obviously doing very well.

I also stopped by the coffee shop next door to buy these changs (meat dumplings) with peanuts (RM4.00 each)…

My ex-student/lawyer friend, Louis, gave me one to try that day and I really enjoyed it. I gathered that these are Hakka changs and personally, I do feel that they are very nice and all things considered, I would much sooner buy these…

…instead of the aforementioned lor mai kai, both of them.

SIN KIAW CAFE (2.291287, 111.826611) is located along Ramin Way, the first shop on your right as you turn in from Jalan Kampung Nyabor, behind the petrol station located at the bend and HONG KONG PUFF is right next door, to the left.