Familiar names…

Way back in 2012, 10 years ago, some friends of mine were running a cafe by this same name here but it did not last very long. Eventually, they got a Thai lady to come in to take over in 2013 – I did manage to go a few times before for whatever reason, they closed it down.

This place, however, had a different name. I used to drop by very often because I loved the kampua mee there – I would say it was my favourite in town. I think the last time I was there was probably in 2019 and of course, after that year, the pandemic broke out. I had no idea what transpired but eventually, it took on a new name – I was told that the kampua mee people had moved to some place in another part of town and somebody else had taken over the shop here. I don’t know if it is in any way connected to that aforementioned café and Thai restaurant or they just happened to be using the same name.

When my cousin from Bintulu came over to Sibu that day, she and her hubby’s family members did drop by there for brunch and she was telling us that what they had there were nice, very much to their liking. Of course, since then, we were waiting for an opportunity to go there ourselves and check things out.

It so happened that my sister took my girl and the mum there for breakfast the other day and my girl had their Sarawak laksa…

*photo taken by my girl using her smartphone*

I wouldn’t say I was impressed because it looked over-lemak (rich with santan/coconut milk). Those true-blue Sarawak laksa connoisseurs in Kuching would definitely frown on it as they are of the opinion that unlike curry, it should not be so lemak. Other than that, they probably did not sieve the broth well enough – those specks were most likely bits of the spices from the sambal.

Well, as they say, never judge a book by its cover and according to my girl, it was nicer than the one here that we like a lot. That is my current favourite Sarawak laksa in town at this point in time and if this one here is nicer than that one, it must be very very nice. I gotta go and try it one of these days!

My missus had their kampua mee…

*photo taken by my girl using her smartphone*

…and she said it was good while my sister had their own-made fish balls with tang hoon ( glass noodles)…

*photo taken by my girl using her smartphone*

…and yes, she liked it too.

Of course, after hearing all the rave reviews, I could not wait to go there myself and I did that the very next day. My missus had what they call the wanton kampua mee in their menu or what we would refer to as pian sip mee (RM4.30)…

…and once again, she said it was nice. I also ordered the wanton (pian sip) soup (RM4.00)…

…and I would say the exact same thing about it – that it was nice. Period. It was not anything spectacular – there are others all over town that are just as nice but no, you would not see me running back for more. In fact, the next time I drop by here and I want to order a soup to share, I would pick something else from their menu.

I asked for their kolo mee (RM5.50)…

…which looked very good but initially, I was put off by how it was so very sweet, probably due to the red char siew sauce added. Thankfully, they gave the standard condiment that will accompany any kolo mee in Kuching, the pickled sliced chili in vinegar…

…and I poured that all over the noodles in the bowl and mixed them well. There was a lovely hint of a lightly sourish taste after that and I did enjoy it very much. I wouldn’t mind having that again sometime.

ENJOY CAFE (2.304195, 111.848163)…

…is located at Lorong Pahlawan 7B/3, on your left as you turn into the lane to go straight to the Sibu Bus Terminal.