Talking about Sarawak Laksa, Kuching has the highest reputation in serving this specialty in Sarawak. Even when Sibu people selling laksa, some intended to name it as "Kuching Laksa" to boost their business and attract more locals to visit their stall.
So if you happen to visit Kuching, don't forget to try Sarawak Laksa here. About which stall in Kuching serve the best and most authentic taste of Laksa Sarawak, there are many versions, much depend on local preference.
The one I had been brought to in a recent trip to Kuching is this one,
Chong Choon Cafe at
Abell Road which some locals believe it serves the best Laksa in town by its Laksa stall here - Poh Lam Laksa..
Legendary may not always be true, but you just can't deny it when you see the patrons flooding the shop. At over 10.30am, the place is still crowded with patrons most of them craving for Laksa spoke everything.
We were fortunate enough that day to get a table once we walked into the shop. I heard even on weekdays, sometimes you still have to wait in long queue for your turn, or you have to "tap toi" with strangers just to eat its Laksa. This is how legendary the Laksa served here, no kidding!!
It is not logic if I tell you I went all the way to this old-school kopitiam for its legendary Laksa but in the end I didn't order the Laksa, right? Of course I ordered one!
Quite surprisingly, despite full house of patrons, the Laksa was served to my table within a very acceptable waiting time. For me this is an extra credit and thumb up!
At the first glance, the bowl of laksa did not look that attractive. The slightly darker reddish Laksa soup than it supposed to be, very limited eggs and chicken slices made me feel doubtful of its quality.
However when i slurped it into my mouth, it's unexpectedly tasty! The laksa soup tasted good despite the color not look alike. The soup is one of the key point to determine the tastiness of a bowl of Laksa. The rice vermicelli is not over cooked.
Nevertheless, the shrimps are not juicy and sweet enough. Otherwise it'll be another added point. I believe that if the stall owner could be more generous in topping the eggs and chicken slices plus some herb as decoration on top... that'll be even more perfect and presentable (but is that necessary??)!
Besides Laksa, Chong Choon Cafe also serves very nice toasts. There are quite a number of variation of toasts to choose from, but we only ordered 2 of them, egg toast and butter cheese toast to have a try.
They were indeed quite delicious especially go with the old-school coffee. Another
specialty in this kopitiam is Teh-c-peng special a.k.a. 3 layers milk
tea (as Sibu people called). I didn't try this since I did not realized
it at the first place and I was coughing at that time. Will have to give it a try next time when have the chance to visit the shop again!
Oh ya! Something very coincident to share! On our way walking to Chong Choon Cafe, we suddenly spotted this van parking nearby. I bet Sibu people would be very familiar with this "uniquely decorated" van. Yes! It was belongs to the so called "Uncle Bersih" (By Peninsular people) or "Uncle Crazy" of Sibu,
Hii Tiong Huat. Not sure what he did there, but what is for sure was that he drove this van all the way from Sibu to Kuching!! Sometimes you just need to salute him for his "craziness"!
