Bigger now…

I had this bowl of beef noodles…

…early on Sunday morning when I dropped by this coffee shop…

The last time I was there was in 2017 and it was just one shoplot or maybe, two, I don’t quite remember now but today, it stretches across three shoplots, almost the whole block!!! I never went back since because this coffee shop is in the town’s Golden Rectangle so the area is always congested, parking is such a pain and you may not be able to find a seat in the coffee shop.

I was thinking of buying some roti canai for the ladies in the house for their brunch and after the disappointment that last time, I did not want to go back to my one-time favourite place in town, no, thank you. It was very early, around 7.00 a.m. and I was thinking that I might not be able to find a place that would be open. They usually start a bit later, at best, around 7.30 or 8.00 a.m.

I remember I liked the one I had at the stall in this coffee shop that time in 2017 so I drove past to have a look. Much to my delight, it WAS open so I quickly parked my car and went to place my order at the stall. Thankfully, the crowd had not started coming yet even though there were quite a number of customers there already.

In the meantime, I went to look around and I spotted this sign…

…at this stall…

…there.

Yes, I am not really into the Taiwanese version but I love the ngui chap in Sabah so so so much or those beef noodles with the plain, dark, clear soup. Without wasting any time, I placed my order and took my seat outside to wait for it…

…to be served.

Yes, it was nice but no, it did not sweep me off my feet. The soup was tasty enough, a bit sweet but I could not detect any beef flavour. Perhaps it was too early in the morning and the stock required a bit more time to simmer. Thankfully, the beef was very nice and tender…

…but it was the special chili dip that came with it that saved the day. The beef and the noodles tasted so very nice with it and all in all, I would say that I enjoyed it very much. After all, it was only RM6.00 a bowl, not RM15.00 or worse, RM26.00 like the one I had here – I really can’t complain!!!

When I was done, I walked around the coffee shop to see what else they had there and I saw that they actually had ngui chap at the stall, the complete works (see photograph above) for only RM11.00! I certainly would go back there for that or something from the numerous stalls there one of these days.

As for the roti canai, yes, it was VERY good. I loved the very thick and rich dhal dip that looked nothing like what I was served in 2017…

…even though I did enjoy the dip at the time. It was RM1.30 then, RM1.50 a piece now. I bought 3 pieces, RM4.50 altogether and I gave the girl a RM5.00 note and told her to keep the change. Much to my amazement, she simply refused and insisted on giving me back my 50 sen. If it had been at those classy fine dining cafés and restaurants, I wouldn’t be surprised if they would look scornfully at the 50 sen and grumble behind your back that it was like adding insult to injury!

JING CAFE (2.292823, 111.826829) is located along Jalan Kai Peng in the block right behind Ta Kiong Emporium occupying all the shoplots except the first one (Ta Kiong’s Korean Store).