Six years ago…

I love the old Malay lady’s mee goreng special, that goes without saying. I would say it is my favourite in town and there is none that I have had elsewhere that comes anywhere close. I did try her kway teow goreng once and even though it was quite nice, it paled in comparison.

I remember her nasi lemak was not anything to shout about as far as the lemak-ness went. Yes, with everything that came with it in a plate, I did enjoy it but the rice was like most of the others around here, not that lemak at all. I do recall that the last time I had it six years ago, I was pissed off about something – looking at my blogpost now, it looked like I was kind of upset because I asked for the special and was not given one fried egg with it. She must have heard me wrongly or missed something that day because she collected RM5.00 from me only – the special should be around RM6.00 at that time, now it has gone up to RM6.50. That was why there was no fried egg.

Anyway, I dropped by again one morning last week and much as I wanted to order the fried noodles, I forced myself to go for the nasi lemak special…

…instead to see if it was any better now, the same more or less or worse than before.

Well, my worst fears were confirmed – it was not lemak! Maybe there was a very remote hint of the santan in it, so remote that one could hardly feel its presence, that was all. Thankfully, the rice was not dry and hard like some nasi lemak around here so with all the add-on’s, I did enjoy it to some extent.

There was the very nice masak hitam beef…

…and the delightful fried chicken wing…

…and no, she did not forget the egg this time, fried traditionally in a wok so there was this delightful golden fringe all around…

…with the yolk still runny, exactly the way I would like it.

The sambal was a different shade of red, more like orange, I would say…

…but it tasted more or less like the regular nasi lemak sambal, plus it was very spicy for which I would give my double thumbs up!

There were those few slices of cucumber as well but wait a minute!!! Where were the peanuts and the fried ikan bilis (dried anchovies)? Those are the very basic ingredients a nasi lemak should have so there is no excuse at all for her to omit them completely like that. Even the RM1.50 a packet nasi lemak that I buy from my neighbourhood shop has TWO peanuts and a few of those tiny anchovies!!!

Thankfully, the complimentary soup was VERY nice, very flavourful, very tasty…unlike what one would get at the Chinese stalls and shops so at the end of the day, give and take a little bit here and a little bit there, I would say that I did enjoy eating what I was served that morning but no, I don’t think I shall go for it again especially when I find that I do enjoy the old lady’s mee goreng special a lot more.

Perhaps the next time I come by this way, I would give the kampua mee from the stall next to the old lady’s in the shop…

…a try. I’ve seen a lot of customers going for it and yes, it looked quite good. They also have fried kampua mee on their menu, something I have never tried before. Perhaps it is time for me to do that.

Incidentally, do I see any raised eyebrows? Yes, make no mistake about it! We do have this all over town – a non-halal Chinese stall right beside a Muslim one in the same coffee shop. I was told by some West Malaysian (blogger) friends when they came to town that this is something quite unheard of in the peninsula. Thankfully, we are more liberal here, more understanding and we know our boundaries…so we will always respect one another and live together harmoniously, making sure at all times that we do not violate any of their beliefs and practices.

FAST CAFE (2.319100, 111.832213)…

…is located among the shops opposite the RTM station in Sibu in the Sungai Antu area. At the end of Jalan Kpg Nangka, just before its roundabout with Jalan Tun Abg Hj Openg, you turn left into Jalan Tapang Timur and go straight ahead – it is the first shop in the last block on the left.