Listen to the music…

This place has been around for quite sometime. If I remember correctly, it had a different name and it only changed to this one quite recently.

I did not bother to go as it got a lot of not-so-encouraging-reviews from my Malay friends. An ex-student of mine went not too long ago so I asked him for his opinion. All he said was that the sambal that came with the ayam penyet was very nice.

Finally, at long last, we decided to drop by the other day as we were at a loss as to where we could go for lunch. Much to my surprise, there was quite a crowd there and the one next door/on the other side was pretty full as well. I sure did not expect that!!!

There was a female wheel chair-bound busker…

…singing, entertaining the crowd with her soothing, sentimental Malay songs. She sure drew a lot of attention when she sang Teresa Teng’s “Yue liang dai biao woe de xin” (The moon represents my heart). Yes, she had a good voice and sang very well but I did not see anybody giving her anything. I walked up and dropped my contribution into the donation box and I was delighted to see a lot of people doing the same after that.

An older lady took over the mike for a while and sang Bob Tutupoly’s “Widuri“ and she did such a good job at it that I gave her a round of applause. Honestly, there were so many people there but nobody bothered to show any appreciation of the display of talent and the pleasant (free) entertainment. The lady sang another song, the Hetty Koes Endang classic, before she left to do her shopping at the supermarket in the vicinity.

This was truly unprecedented and I really enjoyed myself so much. That sure brought a lot of pleasant memories of those wonderful days when I used to frequent pubs and music lounges to have a drink and listen to the live music at those places.

Oopssss!!! To get back to our lunch that day, my girl decided to try their Sarawak laksa, biasa (RM8.00)…

…which was very vaguely like what it should be. I guess one look of the colour would tell you that. They have a lot of so-called specials on their menu including one Sarawak laksa Pattaya where it is served in a bowl lined with a thin piece of omelette. There are others with extra prawns and clams (lala) – the extra sweetness may help enhance the taste, I wouldn’t know.

I wanted to try their belacan bihun – I did not like the one I had at one place in Kuching but I really enjoyed one at another place so I thought I would give the one here a try. However, when I opened their menu, I saw that they had ikan keli (catish)…

…so of course, I asked for the pecel lele/nasi keli penyet (RM15.00)…

…instead. The sambals that came with it were so very nice – I must say that I really enjoyed what I had that day – I am quite sure it wasn’t because of the nice music in the background.

My missus had the nasi ayam geprek (RM14.00)…

Initially, she did not know what that was and wanted something else but I encouraged her to give this Indonesian dish a try. That sure was a lot of sambal on the chicken and they also give another one in a saucer by the side…

My missus said it was nice and yes, she did like her order as well.

The two ladies had their teh tarek ais (RM4.00 a glass)…

…while I just had the complimentary soup that came with my order since I am on a low/no-sugar diet.

This place opens throughout the whole day starting at 7.00 a.m. until 10.00 p.m. The girl whom I asked noticed the surprise on my face and she quickly added that they worked on shifts here, not the same people the whole day through. Yes, I must say the service was very cordial and very efficient and when I wanted to pay for my bill – customers are supposed to do that at the cashier’s counter themselves, I told the girl that I was not that mobile (pointing at my walking stick) and the sweet girl happily did everything for me.

The ladies went browsing around at the supermarket while I sat there waiting for them, enjoying the music. She did play some English songs – John Denver’s “Leaving on a jet plane” and Lady Gaga’s “Always remember us this way”, just to name two. I wonder if she will be there every day – if she is, I sure would not mind dropping by a lot more frequently.

MAT LAKSA (2.308351, 111.820696)…

…is located at No. 67 & 69, Jalan Kuda 2, Kampung Nangka, right across from Cabe Ijo in the next block, both facing the main entrance of Bisonte Grocer & Deli.