I’ve been complaining and grumbling a lot lately – I think I am slowly turning into one heck of a grumpy old man. I am so pissed off by how people simply jack up the prices of food and the customers do not seem in the least bothered by it. In the meantime, I had this feeling that the food is not so nice anymore, even at restaurants that I used to love so much and enjoyed going all the time.
Well, I thought it was just me because I do not see anybody else complaining until my friend, Annie in KL, came home to Sibu – she always does that around Ching Ming every year. In one of her many Facebook posts, she said,” This trip, I noticed that not all kampua mee taste as nice now. Big portion, but no taste and some of the food too.” Obviously, I’m not alone.
Well, it so happened that I dropped by this coffee shop the other morning and I tapaoed their kampua mee…
…home to eat. It is RM3.50 a plate now, up from RM2.70 in 2016 but if I am not mistaken, it was not the same people doing it then.
Of course it will not be as nice as eating it there, piping hot from the boiling cauldron. If you do not eat it right away, it would have turned cold and the strands of the noodles would stick together in a clump…
You have to press the packet gently on the sides to loosen the strands a bit and do the rest using your chopsticks…
…when you have taken it out of the packet.
It was all right – not bad at all and at that price I do not see any cause for complaint. They are selling this same thing for RM4.50, some up to RM5.00 at a lot of places and many of them are not even half as good! Having said that, they could have boiled the noodles a little bit longer so they would be less firm – I like them softer but not till over-soft and soggy.
These people push the blame on the rising price of pork which is nothing but a lame excuse. You see those same few same pieces of pork with the noodles, sliced so very thinly that it would be quite impossible to slice it even thinner. You do not jack your prices up 50 sen to RM1.00 when you are not doing anything differently or giving anything extra.
One possible reason why their kampua mee is not as nice anymore these days is probably how they scrimp on the ingredients in order to make more profit. They probably will not use lard anymore as lard is expensive and I do know of some who mix the lard with cooking oil so they do not need to use so much. Other than that, the amount used will make a world of difference – what I had that day was badly in need of more oil as it was very dry (and a bit on the hard side). You do not see it glistening with the fragrant oil when served.
These days, you may not get to see a lot of the fried shallots, if at all. In my younger days, every afternoon, at all the coffee shops, you would see them frying HUGE woks of sliced and peeled shallots in hot boiling oil till golden brown. The fragrance that filled the air was overwhelming, to say the least. You do not see that anymore these days so I wonder when they do it…or if they bother to do it at all.
Many do not use the fragrant shallot oil/lard, they do not garnish their noodles with the fried shallots and more often than not, you do not get to see any chopped spring onions either. Without these add-ons and using ordinary cooking oil that is not fragrant at all, it will surely make a world of difference in the noodles.
Sadly, folks here are not discerning eaters. Ah well! Foochows, since time immemorial, had been notorious for bland, tasteless food – high on quantity (you get a lot) but low on quality, so when I see the coffee shops overflowing with people EVERY DAY going for the miserable, most disappointing, expensive kampua mee, I can’t help thinking that we have gone backwards as for as our eating habits are concerned – paying a lot more and feeling quite happy with a lot less.
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.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
I believe as one aged, most if not all will have grumpy behaviours even at the slightest thing and also our tastebuds will change. That is normal and I am also in the list…😄😄.
Well, of course everything eaten piping hot from the wok to the table will taste a whole lot nicer than tapao home no doubt about it. Over here, also the same, add-on like fried shallots or chopped spring onions are nowhere to be seen in kolo mee and also pickled chilli unless you ask for it and what they give you is only a tweeny tiny bit. Sighhh!!
I guess that is the sign of the time, people everywhere shortchanging customers, cutting costs to make more profit . I keep telling people, increase the prices, never mind but don’t compromise on the quality. Looks like they are too greedy – they only want a win-win situation good for themselves.
I agreed on your sentence “You do not jack your prices up 50 sen to RM1.00 when you are not doing anything differently or giving anything extra.”
Unfortunately most of the sellers just taking this opportunity. 😞
Pork lard really makes noodles especially, whole lot tastier.
Just because they have a good excuse , all of them jumped at it. So unethical, may they burn iñ Hell.
Well over here the prices are 8.. 9.. some even more!
This is just for kampua mee. There are others, anything less than RM10 can be considered reasonable. Some can give you a heart attack, absolutely ridiculous.
Ha ha, I think I’m getting grumpier as I age too! Less willing to tolerate many things.
LOL!!! The sign of the times!