It certainly was nice, there’s no denying that – the fried noodles…
…that my missus bought for me from here…
…the classy café at the mall near my house.
The ladies were out all morning and come lunchtime, there was still no sign of them. My guess was they had a lot of shopping to do and decided to just have their lunch outside…and I was right. They went to Colonel Sanders’ and I was not in the least surprised. My girl loves going to those franchise places, these youngsters.
Having had their fill there, they went to this restaurant on the same floor at the mall to buy me this tub of noodles…
…for my lunch.
I don’t know if that was supposed to be our Foochow fried noodles but it did look quite similar. However, before anything else, I would deduct a few marks for the use of those factory-made, packed-in-plastic fried shallots sold at the supermarkets. Some have a smell that puts me off but thank goodness, this one was all right. For one thing, fried shallots are not a crucial ingredient in Foochow fried noodles – the basic ingredient is the fried finely-chopped garlic.
Of course, coming from a place like that, like the mee mamak at such upscale joints, this did not come cheap. My missus said it was around a whooping RM15.00 and I was not in the least surprised. She said she did not know of any place in the vicinity where she could find some really nice Foochow fried noodles and of course, I forever held my peace. LOL!!!
But to give credit where credit was due, they certainly were very generous with the added ingredients such as the sotong (squid)…
…and the tiny shrimps…
…and the sliced fish balls and fish cake but I was wishing the whole time that they had not added those strips of thinly-sliced dried shitake mushrooms. They were somewhat overpowering so if they simply had to add a bit of mushroom, they could have used those canned champignons (button mushrooms) instead as those would not have such a strong fragrance or taste.
Having said all that, the taste simply was not quite there, if you are hoping for some authentic Foochow fried noodles, that is. Obviously, no lard was used in the cooking and no meat (pork) either. But don’t get me wrong! I would say it was, in fact, rather nice. If I were served this at some restaurant overseas, I certainly would enjoy it a lot and be consoled that I could get to eat something vaguely or remotely similar to the real thing!
SIMPLY DELICIOUS…
…is located at No. 14 & 15 on the upper ground floor of the Delta Mall (2.312168, 111.846980) located along Jalan Pedada, now renamed Jalan Dr Wong Soon Kai.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Deduct marks for using the polystyrene container too. I thought they are banned from using them and are replaced by the transparent type. In my household I use more fried finely-chopped garlic than dried shallots. I do love mushroom in my cooking.
No, they used those recyclable plastic containers. We usually wash and rinse and reuse – those are all right. Are the polystyrene ones banned in Kuching yet? Thought I read about some people talking about it? Here, it has been banned for many many years now so we do not get to see it anymore…most of the time and there is also the ruling about providing hot boiling water for customers to sterilise their cutlery. Do they have that in Kuching too?
Yes, same here! Fried garlic for frying vegetables and most dishes, hardly use shallots except maybe for the shallot oil/lard for tossing kampua mee…or for garnishing soups. I am not into that actually as they change the colour of clear soups, turn them brown. May still taste good but do not look so nice.
I like shitake in our traditional Foochow red wine chicken soup but not really into these dried ones in other dishes, not even the fresh ones. My girl loves mushrooms…but is not a fan of shitake. I think it’s the strong smell that puts her off.
I don’t know whether the polystyrene type is totally banned in Kuching or not but I still see people using it. It could be the old stock left so they make use of them to get rid off. Over here, regarding the rule about providing hot boiling water for customers to sterilise their cutlery, so do some doesn’t and most recently I heard by 1/1/2023, drinking straws are also prohibited.
Yes, no more drinking straws here. They do not bother to use the paper ones either – just do without…mostly.
Sad to hear it was not quite there, I know the feeling. Youre expecting something good but it does not make the cut
Sometimes it’s best not to expect too much, just accept at face value. Dunno what they call it in their menu but It is actually a very nice plate of seafood noodles, just not quite like our Fóochow fried noodles.
The noodles so look very good! My late grandma disliked those shitake mushrooms due to the smell.
Same here! I only find it compatible in the traditional Fóochow red wine and ginger chicken soup that we serve with mee sua. Not the same without it!
First glance, it looked like mee mamak to me. And wow, sure not cheap.
You go CafeCafe and other classy places like that, all the mee/noodle dishes are around that price. I know! Everytime we go western, my missus is not into it so she will order mee mamak. So expensive, no problem for her. I pay!!!