Kampua @ Rasa Sayang Cafe

Kampua Mee or Foochow called it "Kam-muang" is one of the most famous local delicacy of Sibu until certain extend that Sibu people cannot live without it, seriously! Almost every kopitiam in Sibu will have a stall serving this noodles because that likely will attract more customers visiting the shop and thus boost the business.

If you ask me what is so special about this so called "Kampua"? I would say nothing special really. It is just boiled noodles mixed with sufficient amount of soya sauce, fried onion oil, Ajinomoto and the most important - the porky lard which provide the unique and irresistible aroma to the dish. The noodles then will be topped with pork and fried or/and green onion.

Different people will have their choice of "the best" Kampua served in Sibu. I don't really have a solid opinion on which is the best, but I'm more to recommendation. One of the kopitiam that serves a bowl of nice Kampua that I'll recommend is this shop with a very unique name "Rasa Sayang Cafe" located at Jalan Pahlawan, somewhere near the current Sibu bus terminal.

The place is always crowded with patrons especially during weekend morning craving for their Kampua. I guess one of the reason this kopitiam is so famous is because the kampua here has a very nice porky aroma which just meet the taste buds of Sibu people. Furthermore, the noodles are nicely cooked, not over boiled and remain certain degree of chewiness. All these are the keys to make a plate of good Kampua.

The price is very reasonable too. With the air-cond environment inside the shop, a bowl of Kampua costs RM2.50, just about 20 cents more expensive than the typical non air-cond kopitiam.

I had been there for couple of times, no doubt the Kampua is very tasty! You'll feel of returning after tasted once. However, I personally feel sometimes the Kampua is a bit too oily. This is the thing that may need some improvement.

The Kampua served here is topped with minced pork which look closer to Kolok Mee in Kuching. The typical Kampua normally will just have sliced pork and some fried/green onion topping the noodles. I'll to post  the more typical look of Kampua in my future post hopefully.

Besides Kampua, they also sell Sarawak Laksa and beef noodles. I haven't taste the laksa yet, but tried the beef noodles once. Not too bad, the broth is tasty but lil spicy. It was served with some green vege, red carrot, boiled egg and also quite a few chunk of braised beef. I like the braised beef as they're soft and easy to chew. RM4.00 a bowl. Worth the money!

1st Visit to Zoo Bee Cafe & 1Malaysia Cultural Village

Zoo Bee Cafe / Restaurant is one of the latest established eatery in Sibu located at Bukit Aup, just opposite Taman Jubli Bukit Aup, Sibu. The place is operated by Zoo Bee Enterprise Sdn Bhd, a local corporation.

Being to the place recently with Rojak Toh, Sparkish and Coolface just to feel the new place and taste the foods besides having some "guys talk". The eatery is basically an open air food court style where variety of cuisines, either eastern or western are available for orders. I heard there is a section which is fully air-cond, yet we didn't notice it on our first visit.

Foods' price in the cafe are pretty reasonable and at typical Sibu standard. However, I personally feel the waiting time for the food to be served ought to be cut down.

I had ordered a cup of ABC for RM 2.50. The price sounds very reasonable, but tasted not acceptable. What I got is just the over-sweet solutions with evaporated milk taste almost equal to zero! It was a big disappointment for me as well as my other friends!

We tried out some foods, just some simple foods. I had ordered Fried Mee Sua (Chinese string noodles) as this cuisine more hardly found on the market. RM 3.50 per plate is a very reasonable price and it tastes good too!

Sparkish ordered "Moonlight Char Kway Tiaw", Coolface tried out fried noodles topping with special minced meat source while Rojak Toh opted for fried vermicelli in Singapore style. All these foods are ranged at RM 3.50 - RM 4.00. Not much complain on the taste, they are as well very big portion, the only thing is some of these foods are just too oily! See the photo below and judge yourself!

We also tried the mix vege surrounded by deep fried mashed yam in medium size (RM 8) and also potato wedges (RM 5).

I personally like the wedges as they are not oily, just nicely fried with crunchy on the outer layer and soft inside. The mix vege tastes normal and didn't have much surprise.

There are also several Sarawak ethnics' cuisine which are available to be ordered such as Ayam Pansuh (chicken cooked in bamboo), a very famous Iban cuisine and also Umai (fish eaten raw, either marinated or with special sauce) which is Melanau ethnic's specialty!

After the eating and laughter, we then visited the so called "One Malaysia Cultural Village" just beside the eatery's premise and both are actually operated by the same owner. Our Prime Minister initially promised to attend the opening ceremony of this "cultural village" TWICE, but he somehow cancelled both the appointment at the very last minute for some unclear reasons.

Nothing much on this so called "cultural village" really. What I could see is just few nicely decorated pavilions represent different ethnic's culture and gorgeous landscaping design. Only portion of the place is opened for visiting at the night time. There is also a section specially built as mini botanical garden, but hide in the dark during our visit.

My advice is visit the place during daylight if you intended to see what is this "One Malaysia Cultural Village" is all about! For me, this name is a way too grand since it doesn't have too many cultural elements to be visited besides the pavilions with some cultural decoration touch up. A "Cultural Garden" would be more appropriate name in my opinion.

Anyhow, Sibu people has now a new leisure venue to go!