Where’s everybody?

When the chu-char (cook & fry) guy was at his previous locations, business was so very good and it was very difficult to find a seat. It was the same when he moved here – the crowd followed him and every day, you would see the customers overflowing. Of course I was not surprised, not in the least, when I found out that it was this guy and of course, I did not bother to drop by to fight tooth and claw with the crowd there.

Eventually, they opened a stall selling roast meat at that same shop and soon after that, they began selling kampua mee with the roast meat by the side. Of course, I had to go and give it a try but unfortunately, I was not impressed. That was why I never went back there for more, never mind that these very popular international vloggers loved what they had there so much! It was not until quite recently that I heard they were brothers – the roast meat guy and the chu char fella at the back.

Well, the other morning, we stopped by there – my girl, the mum and I and without a second thought, I ordered their roast duck kampua mee (RM7.00)…

I guess everybody knows by now that my missus has an aversion for the poultry (as well as ikan keli, lamb and ikan buris among other things) so we never get to eat it at home but wait a minute!!! Where is everybody?

Yes, there were some people eating there but overflowing would be the last word I would use to describe the number of customers around at the time.

The roast duck that some people would insist is the best in town…

…was to me a disappointment. It was too salty and rather tough – quite a hassle to wrestle with while trying desperately to enjoy it.

The noodles…

…were worse, so bland, so tasteless as if they forgot to add the ingredients to toss them in thoroughly!

The complimentary soup…

…was good but that did not manage to save the day. One thing’s for sure, you will never see me coming here for this ever again. Period!

My girl wanted the chao chai hung ngang…

…that took a long time coming and when it was served, one look at it said it all. This guy used to be so famous for this dish, rated among the best in town but what we were served that morning was nothing like what it used to be. There was so much sesame oil, hardly any trace of our traditional Foochow red wine…and the fact that it came in that horrendous red-coloured plastic bowl was the last straw!!! My girl just ate a bit and left the rest there!

Thankfully, the sambal kway teow…

…that my missus ordered was very good. The two of them did not have to go hungry in the end as they were able to share what was in that plate…

I did not ask for the breakdown of the prices for the two dishes but the total for the two came up to a whooping RM17.00, definitely not cheap at all. Anyway, whatever it is, seeing how it was like that morning, I certainly would not take any chances and would not bother to drop by here again – the way it was, I might as well try my luck at the other nicer places in town.

Gather Pavilion 欢聚阁is located to the right of 23 FOOD COURT (2.297349, 111.824644), among the shops along Lorong Tun Abg Hj Openg 1, opposite Kin Orient Plaza (where the “old’ Sing Kwong Supermarket is).