In the family…

This coffee shop had its humble beginnings in 2015 with the wife running the noodle stall while the hubby took care of the drinks. We made our way there when we heard about it and yes, we did enjoy their own handmade noodles a lot. That was why we kept going back there since. Eventually, it started drawing in the crowd and it became so very popular that one would have to wait for a very long time for one’s orders to be served…and of course, after it became like that, we would choose to go some place else instead.

More recently, we noticed some changes at the coffee shop. They set up an additional stall for the kampua noodles and the kolo mee and so on on the other side of the entrance and some young boys, probably the sons, were running it while the lady carried on at the old stall selling some other local delights that she would cook on the spot – I got to know about it when a friend went there for the fried bihun with canned clams in soy sauce and cangkok manis and shared the photograph on Facebook.

So far, being put off by the long wait, we did drop by once not too long ago for lunch but I am not able to locate the specific blogpost on that right now. It was a week day and past the breakfast and tea break peak hours so we did not have any problem that day…which, I’m afraid, is not something I would say about our experience there last Sunday.

We went to the early morning Sunday service because we missed our regular sunset one on Saturday evening – we had gone out for dinner that night. Once we were done, we stopped by this coffee shop for brunch. It was rather crowded but there were tables/seats available so we went in, placed our orders and sat there waiting. I noticed that there were a number of very young boys, probably the sons, all of them, manning the noodles and also the drinks stalls.

I ordered the kolo mee (RM6.00)…

…from them for a change from the usual that I would have here, more or less the same but using their own handmade noodles.

Now, this was the first time I have seen kolo mee being served in a plate – usually, we would have kampua mee, not kolo mee, in a plate but there are a lot of places serving the former in bowls now. It is no big deal, really but of course, I was quite put off to see them using the gaudily-coloured plastic plates to serve the hot noodles and to make matters worse, the one I got was quite wet!!!

Obviously, they were very disorganised. No, they were VERY busy, everyone was doing something, whatever it was that each of them was doing and I saw that the one at the noodles stall had run out of plates and bowls so he went to the stack piled up in the sink and pulled out two and rinsed them so he could use them for the kolo mee that we ordered – it turned out that my missus also asked for the same thing in the end and yes, she also got hers in a plate!

Thankfully, what we were served here that day was very much to our liking. We have a lot of places selling kolo mee here in Sibu but I always call them “kampua mee in disguise”, made to look like kolo mee but the taste was exactly like kampua mee. No, make no mistake about it – they are not supposed to be the same! Kolo mee would have the fragrance of fried garlic and a hint of vinegar (usually what they use to pickle the sliced fresh chilies) while kampua mee is just fried shallot oil/lard and there is no sourish vinegar taste.

I also ordered a bowl of pian sip (wanton/meat dumplings) soup (RM4.00)…

…from the boy to share and even though it was quite mild/bland…

…I quite liked it. After all, at many places, the stronger tasting soup may not be the result of some nicely-simmered bone stock used, just the excessive amount of msg added!

The father/hubby was helping the wife at her stall and my girl ordered the chao chai bihun (RM11.00)…

…from them. I did not like the look of it when it was served – I don’t know why it was somewhat yellowish in colour and my girl was not at all impressed by it – I guess there are a lot of nicer ones elsewhere and goodness gracious me! RM11.00 is pushing it a bit too far. It was only RM7.00 when my missus had it in 2017 and it sure looked a whole lot nicer at the time!

I was told that everything else from the lady’s stall was RM11.00, not that they were anything spectacular or extra special. Ah yes!!! There was one – their own-made luncheon meat served with kampua mee and one fried egg! I have a soft spot for luncheon meat and I sure would love to give that a try but for RM11.00 a bowl, I think I would be quite happy to live without it.

I don’t know when/if I shall ever venture back here again but I am pretty sure that should I happen to do that, it would never be on a Sunday. Honestly, I was quite put off by the crowd and the commotion all around plus the long wait for our orders.

A One Cafe (2.297428, 111.824346)…

…is located along Jalan Tun Abg Hj Openg opposite the Kin Orient Plaza (aka old Sing Kwong) in the second block of shops a little bit further in from the Gather Pavilion and 23 Food Court.