Waste not…

I guess everyone would know that I would be up at the break of dawn on weekdays to send my girl to work and once I have dropped her off at her school, I would make my way home. Well, it so happened that one morning, I felt a craving for some kampua mee so I stopped by here and tapao-ed two packets for my missus and I.

This used to my favourite and if you go browsing around Youtube, you may stumble upon a few video clips that claim it is the best in town. Well, I would not insist on that but I would say it is still massively popular despite the fact that it is one of the most expensive, RM4.80 a plate while others are sticking to RM4.00 or RM4.50 (I did hear of some places charging RM5.00 a plate but let us not go there) and even at around 6.00 a.m. in the early morning, all the tables were occupied!

I wouldn’t touch on the taste though – to each his own! All I would say is it was nicer before…but the other day, I wanted to buy their pian sip (wanton) for my girl. She loves the ones here. I thought I would just round it up and asked for RM5.00 but the girl said that they no longer sell those for RM5.00 – if I wanted a large serving, it would be RM5.60. *FAINTS* Never mind! Since it was for my girl, I went ahead and bought it…and somehow, I did notice that she did not seem to be enjoying it all that much. Perhaps if we had gone there to eat, it would be nicer…and incidentally, my missus did not finish the packet I bought her that morning either. I rest my case!

In the meantime, I went and had the pian sip here – I had it once and it was very nice plus it was only RM3.00 a plate. Now it has gone up to RM4.00 and no, I did not enjoy it. For one thing, I asked for the dry version and was given the soup instead. On another day, I stopped by this coffee shop for the kampua mee – the guy there did not look like the one before and no, what I had was nothing to shout about plus I was not given any complimentary soup and it was RM4.50 a plate. Needless to say, you would not see me going back there again either.

And just when I was about to give up on all the kampua mee places in town, I had the one with pian sip (wanton) here…

…that day because I was way too early to pick my girl after school and I thought I would just have a bite of something to pass the time while I waited.

Yes, as far as the taste went, it was very good – I wouldn’t mind it if they would cook the noodles a bit longer as I like them softer and less firm…

The complimentary soup was so very tasty, unlike many that you would get all over town where it is nothing more than tap water with light soy sauce and msg added. Tsk! Tsk! Even the chili sauce was nice and adding a bit here and a bit there to the noodles and the dumplings sure brought the taste to a whole new level!

The best part, of course, was this…

Believe it or not, it was only RM3.00. This probably is the cheapest in town and there is ample parking all around the building and in the cathedral grounds, absolutely free!!!

As soon as you have placed your order, they will give you a mug of hot boiling water to sterilise your chopsticks and spoon…

…or your fork and spoon depending on what you want to use to eat. This is in accordance with the directive from the municipal council here – all eateries will have to comply. Other than that, due credit must be given to them for the use of glass plates and ceramic bowls and spoons instead of those horrendous gaudily-coloured plates and everything else. Many have switched to ceramic but there are still some recalcitrant ones who are sticking stubbornly to plastic. Some will use plastic bowls to serve the complimentary soup!

You may recall that this is the place where everyone helping out is doing so on a voluntary basis and all proceeds from the sale of the food and drinks would go to the church. I saw this on the cover of their menu…

-something that we all should take note of and bear in mind. As they say, waste not, want not!

LAUDATO SI’ CANTEEN… 

…is located in what was previously known as the Catholic Centre in the compound of the Sacred Heart Cathedral, Jalan Lanang and St Rita’s Primary School, Jalan Bukit Assek.