CHONG CHOON CAFE: BREAKFAST EPISODES

Here in Sarawak, it is a norm to see many heading to their favourite breakfast or brunch spot for laksa, kolo mee, mee jawa and so on, accompanied with a nice cold glass of teh c peng special. Because of this, some of thse breakfast spots have become so popular, that they opened even more branches to cater to those living in different areas as well. Today we'll be adventuring to one of these breakfast spots, that has also opened another of it's branch in Green Heights. Located at Abell Road, it's none other than Chong Choon Cafe.

One thing to bear in mind, if you plan to make a visit here, parking is pretty hard to get. We parked along the streets of Padungan and took a walk to Chong Choon. Why not explore some of Kuching's city scenery as well right?

Here we are at Chong Choon.

This place would be pretty packed with many people and normally you would have to wait at least 10 minutes to get a seat. 

Chong Choon Cafe offers many local delicacies such as laksa, kolo mee, mee jawa, mee goreng, char kueh, toast and also a selection of traditional kuih.

Many would come to Chong Choon Cafe specially for their laksa and teh c peng special. Here you could also order them in extra large sizes. These XL sizes are guaranteed to satisfy and quench your thirst as the size of these XL glasses can fit your whole fist if put in.

Besides the laksa, most people would come here for the mee jawa as well. It came with generous sticks of chicken satay drenched in peanut sauce. The chicken satay was very tender and flavorful playing its role as a nice compliment to this dish.

The noodles were also cooked just right and its texture was not too soft either. The potato gravy was thick and had a nice savory-sweet taste to it. It was also not too thick but coats everything in this dish just right.

I like how it has a little sweet taste balancing out the other savory flavors in this dish. It wasn't too spicy either, but has a small mild spiciness in the gravy.

Chong Choon is one of those places serving laksa with these sprouts instead of coriander. The broth was spicy and had more of a curry flavour in it. This laksa didn't really have a rich broth, but I would say, leans more towards the spicy side. The whole dish was pretty light as well, and didn't quite have a strong fragrant laksa taste to it. The rice noodles were also a bit undercooked and didn't really go well with the rest in the bowl. Overall, I would have to say, I have definitely tasted better ones.

I really love the Teh C Peng Special here, you can tell that their tea is really strong. It has a thick dark yellow-orange colour and has a nice strong fragrant tea smell to it. When combined together with milk, gula apong, and enough ice, just makes you wanna have more.

One thing special about this char kueh is that they add bean sprouts to it. The char kueh had a mild spiciness to it, complimenting it's savoury taste well. The carrot cake was also soft, leaving some crispy bits inside along with a generous addition of pickled radish.

Wondering where to have your next brunch? Come visit Chong Choon Cafe and try those for yourself!

Chong Choon Cafe opens daily except Tuesday from 6.30am till noon or sold out.

Chong Choon Cafe
Lot 121, Jalan Abell,
Section 3,
93100, Kuching,
Sarawak.

This is Jolynn signing off this week's episode on The Makan Post. Stay tuned for more.

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The Makan Post brings to you weekly food adventures, so be sure to catch us every week for new episodes and dont forget to subscribe to us. Just click on the Follow button below. Also, check out our instagram page @themakanpost. Cheers.

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NYAN SHIN CAFE: BREAKFAST EPISODES

We all have that one breakfast place where our family has been going to for the past generation. One where your mom or dad went as a child now he or she is bringing you. For me, it was my dad's dad who brought him there when he was a kid, and now he brings us for as long as I can remember to it. I don't know how true that is. But I just can't imagine my dad as a child.

Anyway, used to be every Sunday morning but he got concerned about the health of eating noodles every week and well now we go there whenever we feel nostalgic, which is every two to three weeks. Which upsets me since we have been donwgraded to semi-regulars, they used to reserve a parking space just for us in front of their shop, but now we have to find a space like common folk. I mean, a parking space, A PARKING SPACE. But the lady there though still remembers our orders every time, she sees us and ask how we are and then goes into a string of our regular meal.

It's well known to a certain group of people, like me, their parents were regulars and now so are they. I mean their noodle is that good till like two set of generations would be regulars. I mean it's not even a competition to every other mee stall but I have to proclaim right now that they are the best. I know it's probably cause I'm biased, since I've been going as long as I can remember and my taste buds and brain now just compares every other noodle I ever had to it but it's so true. Ask my brother.

It's a small shop, with I think less than ten tables, so when it's full, you got to wait. They sell hakka mee, or whichever type of noodles you prefer, regular mee, kueh tiaw, bee hoon, with a choice of pork, chicken, beef (taiwanese style) and mutton. I always have pork with mee, it's making me water right now thinking about it. And then we'll have a bowl of dumplings and our drinks.

It's a family operated restaurant, the brother cooks the food, sister takes the orders, the two girls working at the counter are cousins, I can never remember which one belongs to which sibling and they hired some other people, some who I've know since I was kid, that serves the drinks or your meal.

Their noodles are handmade. The guy cooking the noodles is the one that makes it.With a certain taste to it that differentiate itself from all other mee. I can taste a certain tangy sensation on my tongue whenvever I eat it, I don't know what the ingredients are to the mee but it's delicious, and then there's the minced pork and char siu they put on top, like every other kolo mee.

 I love it when I mix the mee with the onion oil and the fried shallots, the condensation flies in front of your face and the smell just overwhelms your senses. The noodle is just tossed with the meat and the oil and shallots, and you take a huge bite with your chopsticks. And it's heaven, everything makes sense in the world and you're as happy as clown. I cannot forget the taste of it till the day I die, honestly the best noodles in the entire world.

The dumplings are seasoned well, and so is the soup. There's the onion oil and shallots in as well. I like drinking the soup, but I eat the dumplings with the noodle together.

There's always going to be a queue because it's not a very big shop, but I think it's worth the wait. It's not a very big wait anyways, and another thing, the noodles run out pretty fast and they close like at 11.30 am, also because of it's location on carpenter street, finding parking space is a hassle. But like I said, it's worth it.

I highly recommend this place, if you don't think it's the best mee ever, you suck. I'm joking, it depends on your taste. To each, your own. Regardless, there's no harm in trying it out right? They have a page on tripadvisor, which gives out the location. The link below:
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g298309-d3562423-Reviews-Nyan_Shin_Cafe-Kuching_Sarawak.html

Nyan Shin Cafe
Carpenter Street (Blacksmith Road)
Kuching, Sarawak.

Opening hours:
6.30am to 11.30am (or until sold out)
Opens everyday.

This is Sharon signing off this week's episode on The Makan Post. Stay tuned for more.

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The Makan Post brings to you weekly food adventures, so be sure to catch us every week for new episodes and don't forget to subscribe to us. Cheers.

themakanpost@gmail.com

Oriental Park Kolo Mee: Breakfast Episodes

One of the many meals one would have during a typical breakfast here in Kuching is none other than a bowl of Kolo Mee, paired with a nice and refreshing glass of Teh C Peng Special or Kopi Peng Special. Yes, Kopi Peng Special. Here in Sarawak, we can make anything special.

Kolo Mee is one of the most highly consumed breakfast meals here in Kuching. In fact, kolo mee is also consumed during lunch, tea, dinner, supper, you name it.
So what could be a better way than for The Makan Post to kick start our Breakfast Episodes with this amazing and popular local dish: Kolo Mee.

Oriental Park Kolo Mee, one of the most famous Kolo Mee spots here in Kuching, also one of the most talked about kolo mee stall in Kuching, is well known for their char siew also known as roasted pork meat, as well as their authentic bowl of kolo mee. Here we are, about to give this hyped about place a shot.

It’s located in the midst of a few shop houses, I would say it’s actually quite noticable as you would be able to see the many cars parked around it when they’re open. Also, if you are familiar with the old Cathay Cinema, it’s actually just located next to it.

It would be great if you can manage to find a table there, or if not, just be prepared to wait at least 15 minutes or so to get one. If you have been to Noodle Descendants along the streets of Padungan, you would be able to find some similarities in their ordering system. The rules are simple: No walking up to any of the staffs to order, just wait till we come and get your orders.

Wondering who made these famous bowls of kolo mee? It’s this uncle right here. 

Apparently he has been making these for many years as generations from all sorts, young to old, claimed to have been eating these bowls of noodles that were made by him ever since their younger days in school.

We ordered two different varieties to try, one which is the usual original kolo mee and the red sauce kolo mee (red char siew oil).

Mine came with a strand of noodle hanging on the side. 

Decorative don’t you think? Jokes.

As I dug into the bowl of noodle, mixing and tossing them, I noticed that it’s fairly dry, not your typical bowl of kolo mee you normally get outside in most kolo mee stalls where they are served drenched in sauce. For this one, it had totally no sauce or gravy found in it. Upon taking a bite in to these noodles, I noticed that the texture of the noodles are very springy and bouncy, a great perfect kolo mee texture you would want to have. The noodles themselves however, tasted a little more towards the salty side. Actually, they are slightly saltier than average. It was overpowering too as I could only taste the saltiness of it, even though there were small bits of pork lard in it.

I was very curious to have a taste of the char siew, as we heard this place is well-known for it, as the char siew are actually barbequed at their pit located just outside the shop.

The char siew was flavourful, and you could taste the smokiness from it. It did bring some sweetness to balance out the over-powering saltiness from the noodles itself. I would say the char siew was alright, but also, it was nothing much special compared to most char siew found in other kolo mee stalls.

As for the red sauce kolo mee, I expected it to have at least a bit of sauce but it was indeed still sauce-less, and as dry as the original plain kolo mee. The sweetness from the char siew oil did give the noodles a better balance in flavours- the salty and the sweet. The good thing was, it definitely was not coated with a cheap red colouring like some stalls use for this dish, you will be able to tell its sweetness is the type that comes from the juices of the char siew. This dish was a better version than the original kolo mee.

Overall, I would say this place brings just an average kolo mee to my taste buds. Nothing special about it as well, I would have to say I’ve definitely eaten better ones. Nevertheless, I’m pretty sure you food lovers would like to give this place a try too as well and see for yourselves. Here are the details below:

Oriental Park Kolo Mee
Jalan Market
(Next to Old Cathay Cinema)
Kuching, Sarawak.

Opens daily from 6am to 1pm. (Might sell out earlier than closing time).

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Cheers.