He says…

My missus and I were having our breakfast here when a lawyer friend, now a politician/a YB, a Senator, happened to drop by as well. He did stop to chat for a bit and he mentioned in passing that the dianpainngu (RM6.00)…

…here was very nice. Well, I am never a fan of that very popular traditional Fuzhou dish so I never bothered to check it out until the other morning.

It so happened that I was there and I decided to give it a try. My guess was it would be from the own-made mackerel fish balls stall…

…to the left of the mee sua/Sarawak laksa stall but everything was in Mandarin. I went and asked the guy and he said yes, they did serve dianpianngu…and it was only RM6.00 a bowl.

I asked for a bowl and went to take my seat. It came soon enough and I was glad to see bits of meng ngee (dried cuttlefish) in it…

That is an essential ingredient that some may choose to omit these days as it does not come cheap plus there are cheaper varieties (if I am not wrong, those are from Sabah or the Philippines) that are not so fragrant and delicious.

I was disappointed that the dianpianngu was in tiny bits…

– I would prefer it in broader sheets with a lot more bite to it. It tasted all right – I would say that I quite liked it and I would give them full marks for their perfectly-made, super QQ mackerel fish balls but I did not like how the soup was kind of murky and starchy, not as clear and refreshing as the ones here…

Incidentally, if you’re a regular at that all-time favourite dianpianngu shop in town (the cousin of the original in the town centre) in the vicinity of the Dewan Suarah area here, they have taken over the premises of this old restaurant that has since called it a day.

7七夜cafe (2.307862, 111.848497)…

…is located off Jalan Sena in the blocks of shops opposite Jalan Deshon on the right, the same side as Wikitea.