I was out and about very early that morning. Usually, I would take the car out for a spin around the neighbourhood to recharge the battery but I would venture out later in the morning or mid afternoon.
I was somewhat surprised when I drove past this very popular coffee shop and saw that the customers around there at the time were rather few and far between. In the past, it was always so crowded at any time of day and it was quite difficult to get a seat and if you want to tapao (takeaway), you probably would have to wait a mighty long time. I decided to buy something home for the ladies for breakfast so I parked my car right beside the kampua mee stall and went and placed my order.
During my more recent visits, either the boss or the Indonesian helpers would be doing the cooking – very rarely would I see the lady boss taking over the helm. That morning, however, there was a young girl doing it and from what I observed and heard, she was the daughter of the boss and his wife. Oh me oh my!!! How time flies! All these years, I never saw any children around the stall and suddenly, there was one, so big already!
She took the kampua noodles…
…and threw them into the cauldron…
…with the hot boiling water.
Then she put all the ingredients in a big stainless steel bowl/basin…
– the shallot oil (lard) and the light or dark soy sauce and a sprinkling of fried shallots and chopped spring onions plus of course, the msg. They do that at most places here, toss the noodles separately before pouring them into a clean plate to serve. At places where they do not do that, you may be served something that looks quite a mess, not a pleasant sight at all.
Once the noodles were cooked, she tossed them well with the ingredients…
…and poured them into the plastic bags…
The Indonesian helper added the slices of meat, tapao-ed (wrapped) everything before collecting the money and handing them over to be taken away.
My girl loves pian sip (meat dumplings) so I also ordered those…
…for her and after cooking them in a separate cauldron, they were packed as well for me to take home…
Things used to be more expensive here than most, RM3.20 while elsewhere, they were selling for RM3.00 or even less, depending on where you go. That was why I paid the Indonesian helper RM10.00 expecting to be given the change but when she did not do that, I asked her and she told me that I would have to pay her another 50 sen. The lady boss came over and told me that the prices had increased to RM3.50 now. Oh dear!!! I can’t say I was surprised though because that is what I have seen all round lately, the prices of virtually everything going up, up and away!!!
Thankfully, the ladies enjoyed what I bought for them. My missus said that both the kampua mee and the pian sip were great and she really enjoyed them especially when she had not had any for a long long time. When I told her about the increase in price, she said that she was not surprised either as there seemed to be a lot more meat…
…unlike before and they were a bit more generous with the noodles than elsewhere.
As far as I am concerned, as long as what they dish out is very nice, value for money, a little increase in price at a time like this is only to be expected. I did not bring along my tiffin carrier – it is in the boot of my Ol’ Faithful (the Wira) and I was not using it that morning. That was why I rushed home right away to take everything out of the plastic bags – I did not feel that comfortable, all that hot stuff wrapped in plastic. Maybe I should get another tiffin carrier, one in the boot of each car.
SOON HOCK CAFE & RESTAURANT (2.312181, 111.845824) is located among the Delta Mall/Jalan Pedada area of shops, facing the Methodist church along Lorong Taman Seduan 8, off Jalan Gambir
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Both kampua and pian sip looks good. I like how the girl toss the kampua in a big stainless steel bowl separately before putting them into clean plates to serve. Most won’t bother. At least wipe the sides of the plate before serving.
Yes, some will do that, wipe the side of the plate…but the cloth looks so dirty that I get quite put off at the sight of it. Just as bad as serving without wiping, looking so very dirty. I do not know why they are not bothered – it only takes a little bit of effort!
As long the food is good, price is not big issue. Good that the ladies enjoyed the kampua and pian sip.
Yes, that is what matters most, as long as we get value for our money. After all, these days, we have all the money in hand but no place to go, nothing to spend it on. I do not mind paying more to keep these people going – these are hard times and many have fallen along the way.
The kampua noodle looks like our local wonton noodles. Your pian sip is know here as wontons. For tapau only, the noodle will be mixed with sauce before they place into plastic bags or containers if provided. For dine-in, the noodle will be mixed with the sauces in the plate itself. RM3.50 is still considered cheap.
Yes, pian sip is the name in Fuzhou, whatever that means. They’re NOT THE SAME as wantons – wantons are dumplings with a lot more meat inside. In pian sip, they just apply a very thin layer of the minced meat paste onto the skin like butter on bread, wrap and cook.
It is a noodle dish, eaten more for the skin so there should not be too much meat in the dumpling. The texture of the skin is different and the taste of the soup too is not the same. Having said that, I do love wantons as well, just that they are different.
Some will mix the noodles with the ingredients in a plate and serve in that same plate, never mind that it is such a mess, looking so dirty…while some may use a piece of cloth to wipe away the stains all along the sides – like what I said in my reply to Irene, sometimes I cringe at the sight of the cloth, it does not look all that clean. Most will mix in another plate and pour into a new plate to serve so it is nice and clean…and a lot more presentable.
We can’t get RM3.50 noodles in my little kampung these days.
It’s RM5 or RM6 now! Scary inflation…
When I was a kid, a glass bottle of Pepsi was only 70 cents.
Yes, seems that RM5 or 6 is the standard price at most places now. That’s the way it is. I guess we will just have to learn to live with it. Ikat perut, they say in Malay.
I worry about hot food being stored in plastic bags. I think about the chemicals and plastic breaking down in the heat.
Yes, that is why I keep my stainless steel tiffin carrier in the boot of my car in case I need to buy anything home…just that that day, I was using my other car. I do need to get another tiffin carrier. I cringe at the sight of all the plastic in blogs where they order home deliveries! They should do something to cut down on the use of those containers.
Yum!!
Thanks for sharing your link at My Corner of the World this week!
Tastes as good as it looks! 😀