Situated at Jalan Ban Hock, Choon Hui Cafe is an old-school coffee shop serving one of the best laksa’s in Kuching! It is usually fully-packed during breakfast time. Do come early if you don’t wanna wait. Otherwise though, you can get a seat in around 20-30 minutes, if you’re lucky

Jam-packed coffee shop with the by-standers waiting for their turn to the limited seats available.

Choon Hui Cafe serves Kolo Mee…

Popiah…

Roti Kiap (Someone ate the other half)…

Half-boiled eggs…

and of course, the laksa!

Fresh, juicy prawns, and tender chicken slices on top of the best laksa soup base ever!!!
*I know the coriander might be a spoiler for some of you.

No, there won’t be any parking lots left if you’re here late. Best chance would be to find a parking lot near Hotel Grand Continental, or across the main road.

Choon Hui Cafe was Choon Hui Coffee Shop, like 20 years ago?

A normal bowl of laksa here costs you RM4.00. At RM5.00, you’ll get an upgrade of their prawn sizes as well as the portion. Trust me, it’s worth it if you’re a prawn fan.

Do expect long queues here.

Kuching Kolo Mee is a famous commodity here too. This stall serves fresh meat noodle, prawn noodle, fish ball noodles, and wantan.

The Popiah stall. Popiah is a type of spring roll stuffed with fillings made of mainly “Bangkuang”. The Popiah “skin” is a soft, thin paper-like crepe made of wheat flour.

The Popiah Ingredients – Grated Bangkuang stir-fried with grated carrots and minced meat.

The Popiah. I’m not a big fan of Popiah, but my wife love it very much.

After all the great food, I just had to wash it all down with their not-so-signature Milo Peng.

“Tauke” (The boss) reviewing list of uncountable orders, and of course, uncountable money…

More Moolah for him today!

Tucked in the middle of the busy streets just before the Jalan Tabuan – Jalan Bang Hock roundabout, Kuching’s Bla Bla Bla Restaurant is the place to go for a out-of-the-ordinary dinner.

Bla Bla Bla is recommended by many Kuching locals as well as patrons alike.

A little sneak preview of what’s inside the restaurant. The cushion pillows and huggables makes you feel like home.

Menu for you to browse, giving you an idea of the varieties of food they offer.

Bla Bla Bla is a simple, but yet catchy name for a restaurant. Easy to remember and to be spread around. At first I thought it was just another casual dining place. But it turns out to be much better that what I’ve expected.

Bla Bla Bla… Restaurant on a chalkboard sign.

The introductory table with their menu and name cards.

My reservation with 12 pax.

A vintage wooden cabinet from the 60s. They’re using it to store the restaurant’s ingredients.

On the left is bar cum reception area. Notice the ice cream on the top?

The entrance area is a bit on the tight side, but it is only a teaser to what’s inside.

The restaurant is being designed and built in a pretty auspicious manner, applying fengshui elements evidently through their koi pond.

It is also my favorite part of the restaurant. The cool koi pond with elevated footpath leading to their dining area. I’m gonna get one of these for my home someday!

The koi brings a sense of active flow and is becoming a point of attraction to the restaurant.

Raw ingredients on display at the restaurant, all of healthy local greens.

Yam leaves

Bicycle hanging on the ceiling. I wonder if that has anything to do with fengshui? No?

You’ve seen enough of Facebook’s wall photos. Now this is the real deal at Bla Bla Bla Restaurant.

The sleeping Buddha prior to the dining area.

Very well air-conditioned. Giving dinners a cool breeze in a hot and humid Borneo climate. Not too cold, but cool enough.

Dim but sufficient lighting makes it a great place to have a family and friends get-together. I think the overall atmosphere is making everyone happy there.

Now to the food…

The appetizer. Picked Papaya.

Roasted peanuts.

Apple juice and Iced Lemon juice.

Vanilla milkshake

Spicy and sour Tom Yam soup to boost your appetite for the delicious food ahead!

Bla Bla Bla’s signature fried rice, with raisins, prawns, and chicken floss.

Kailan vege with fried salted fish.

A Must Order! dish when you’re at Bla Bla Bla, another signature dish, the deep fried soft-shell crab, topped with chicken floss and mayonnaise, comes with a small portion of salad in the middle.

Roasted chicken in special sauce and loads of sesame.

A signature dish again. This is a cold dish of Midin (a local fern) with sliced chili, onion, garlic, and shallots. It is topped with cheese powder and I think it taste pretty good together.

A rare timepiece. It’s almost 11pm and the restaurant is closing at 11:30pm.

Where is it?

View Bla Bla Bla Restaurant, Kuching in a larger map

Restaurant’s Information

Business Hours: Monday – Wednesday (11am – 11.30pm)
Address: 27, Ground & First Floor, Tabuan Road, 93000 Kuching.
Tel/Fax No: 082-23394

This is the best and the most authentic beef noodle I had ever tried. I’ve tried beef noodles from Sibu, to Kuching, and all the way to Penang. I’m not sure about you, but this is the one I reckon that is the beefiest of them all!

Located at a five-foot way along Tengkat Tong Shin, the street behind Jalan Kejora (formerly known as Jalan Alor). So famous it is, it doesn’t even have a proper premise!

If you can find Corona Inn, you’ll find the Ngau Kee Beef Noodle stall right in front of the street.

Step inside. Don’t worry, it looks a bit worn, but if you see this signboard, then you’re at the right place!

There are about 10 tables, they’re usually packed with diners when night falls, and during weekends.

Chinese tea ice, herbal tea, Cincau drink, soft drinks, and lime plum juice. You would better order an iced drink as it’ll be very hot during the day.

This is my favorite dish. Hor Fun (rice noodle) with minced beef. I’m such an addict that I can finish two big bowl of it, and it looks good enough to be on postcards to send your friends and family!

Complimented with its aromatic beefy soup, carefully cooked to perfection with beef products, such as beef balls.

Their signature chilli sauce. This may seem unhygienic for some of you, it’s a big open bowl of chilli sauce that they’ll pass around from table to table. I don’t fancy it, so I’ll pass it.

They’ve been doing the best beef noodle for many decades and I hope they’ll continue serving good beef for many decades more!

What’s great about this place is its very vintage and originally Sibu’s design and decor. You can find lots of old photos of Sibu town as the wallpaper and wall photos.

When you look at the mascot. What comes into your mind?

Set lunch of the day: Salad Pork Rib rice + ABC Soup + Ice Lemon Tea/Kiwi Juice.

Uncle Dom Cafe’s outdoor dining area.

“The Place to be…” I wonder if the boss were working in KFC 10 years ago? Not only the mascot/logo looked like a complete clone of the KFC Colonel’s head, but the slogan sounded like them too! Remember the line, “That’s where I want to be?”.

Upon entering the premise, this is how it looks.

Ample space for diners. What I like about this cafe is it’s spacious dining area, and the really detailed decor they have. This is 100% not Sibu-style! In Sibu, typical kopitiam won’t even have any aircond to boot!

Look at the large landscape photo in the middle of the photo. The perspective of the photo gives a false illusion that there’s more space into the shop. Really good play with photographs as the wallpaper there!

Ipoh-style kopitiam breakfast. A couple of half-boiled eggs with a cup of Ipoh white coffee.

Another depth and space creator. A HUGE mirror!

The reception counter.

The entrance.

Vintage photos. Most of them are taken during the British colonization era. I still could recognize some of the location, some were taken at the Cathay cinema, some at the old airport.

Bottles of Pickled fruits and veges, with descriptions of the benefits of every bottle.

A vintage cash register.

They tasted somewhat special, and not some ordinary Ice lemon tea.

We ordered the daily set lunch.

Salad Pork Rib rice.

ABC soup, comes in a traditional ceramic soup container. I like the vintage feeling of this shop!

The soup contains white carrot, and red carrot, boiled with pork bones. I just loved this kinda soup! Easy and tasty!

Chicken chop with mushroom sauce

And the bill comes to…RM22.70. Of which, RM1.08 were accounted as 5% service charges.

Don’t you just love the old and vintage photos wallpaper? All of them are taken in Sibu decades ago. Truly Sibu.

I declare that Uncle Dom Cafe, is the place to be…I would certainly come again.

Although I would say they still have rooms to improve on the service aspect. They really need to thoroughly train their waitresses and waiters to be more knowledgeable in the cafe’s menu, apart from their passiveness in taking orders.

Business Location:
Lorong Chew Siik Hiong 1A, Fortune Commercial Centre.
(The block behind Mitsu Tea House and opposite of Sushi Tie)

Business Hours:
Opens from 8:30am – 10:30pm weekdays.
7:30am – 10:30pm on weekends and public holidays.

After that long, 8 hours journey from Sibu, the first thing that comes to our mind once we’ve reached Kuching City is FOOD! We’ve yet to take any solid meals since we left early in the morning at 6 a.m. I’m nursing a sorethroat and any hot, deep fried finger food at the rest stop is prohibited by Mary.

It’s freaking hot and humid here in Kuching, a scorching 38 degree celcius sunshine is burning our skin off. Sitting under the lowly covered zinc roof food court isn’t such a good idea, but the food must be good enough to be able to lure us here! Many thanks to Mary’s brother-in-law, Francis, for bringing us around Kuching to hunt for their best foods.

Kuching Open Air Food Court. Not the orange concrete building.

Another stretch of the food court, which only opens at night.

Inside the food court. The ceiling is made of the old asbestos board and the roof structures made of wood, which is abundant in the timberland of Borneo.

The famous Sin Kwang Heng Kuching open air market Sio Bee (Siu Mai – 烧卖). So famous it’s even being “exported” to Miri! But you gotta try the fresh ones here.

Laksa. Although I’m nursing a sorethroat, but die die I’ve to order laksa, because I’m in Kuching! They said Kuching laksa’s the best in the whole of Sarawak. But, I have other ideas, I would say Miri has the best laksa – and it’s at Jalan Krokop 10 just beside the Krokop Wet Market.

We also went to the place where they serve the best Laksa in Kuching at 3rd Mile, Golden Arch. Also, disappointingly, not as good as Miri’s.

Kolo Mee. This is the best kolo mee I’ve had for years. They “saturate” the noodle with their “Char Siew” (BBQ) oil, which brings about the addictive aromatic fragrance to their kolo mee. Although it’s a bit too oily and certainly not good for the health conscious bunch.

Kuching Rojak. I know this is not the best rojak in Kuching. Nevermind that, cause Bintangor has the best Rojak in Sarawak.

Nothing beats this cool and refreshing 五味汤 (5-flavor syrup) on a hot sunny day. It’s a mixture of 5 (sometimes 6) different Chinese herbs in a sweet syrup with a scoop of blended ice on top. Perfectly cooled me down after a bowl of hot laksa.

Bb had her favorite ABC.

This concludes my first day in Kuching City. Stay tuned for more stories from the Cat City!

“Diang Miang Ngu”(鼎边糊, similar to Taiwan’s 鼎边銼)- a savoury soup is available at many stalls as a late night supper. A popular joint is in an alleyway by Jalan Blacksmith.

- Wikipedia

Mary’s in town and she had been wanting to taste the Diang Miang Ngu for quite some time now, we both headed downtown to hunt for the classic food of Sibu.

This is Chop Hing Huong. I think it’s over 50 years old. Who can give me an exact age of how old this business is? Not many people know its name, but most people will refer it to as the “Little Alleyway’s Diang Miang Ngu shop”.

The shop is hot and humid, there’s no air-cond. But crowds just keep coming in, almost non-stop. It’s always full during weekends and you’ll definitely have to queue for seats like it’s the Krispy Kreme’s Donuts franchise.

We ordered the Sarsi. Not the F&N brand. It’s Sibu’s own brand. Made in Bukit Lima.

It’s got Protein, but not detected, Sugar, Fat, Carbohydrate, and “Engergy”, another sign that it’s made in Sibu.

This is the Diang Miang Ngu we’re both waiting for. This is the “Special” with extra toppings. More fish balls, squids, and other additives.

RM4.50/bowl. (?)

So, next time you’re in Sibu, remember to come to the little alley for the famous Diang Miang Ngu!

“Kom Biang” (光饼)- a Foochow delicacy made with flour, baked in an oven and eaten either with or without meat and a special gravy. It is somewhat similar to a bagel. However, it can be either in a crisp or soft version. Nice soft kompia dipped in pork sauce can be sought from Tiong Hua road and the Sunday Market at Pedada road.

- Wikipedia

This is the Ah Kuok kompia stall. You can’t miss it once you’ve stepped into Taman Muhibbah food court (just a few blocks beside Delta Mall), with his signature “KL Twin Tower” replica. He claimed that the towers “construction” costs him about RM800+. He draws the idea with his visits to KL some time ago, and came back to built this model for his own shop. Very patriotic of him!

The kompia, with minced pork as stuffing. There’s sliced pork stuffing but we didn’t order it. The look doesn’t really sells, but believe me, it tastes great!

The bihun from another stall. Simple and nicely done. A bit oily though, but just good for me.

This is one of the signature dish of Taman Muhibbah – the Fruit ABC (Air Batu Campur), it’s an ice shake with bits of tropical fruits, jelly, condensed milk, and syrups. Highly recommended! You’ll need to order it as 水果冰in Mandarin.

Another product of tropical fruit, the Soursop Juice. Yummy!

What’s good of the nice food without a lovely companion in Mary? Thanks for being here bb!

Anyway, whenever we meet, food is the top agenda. Pizza Hut is one of our targets this time. I don’t really fancy pizzas, but I really loved their onion bread and roasted chicken wings! It’s been a very long time since I last stepped into Sibu’s Pizza Hut, a lot has changed.

Nowadays we don’t get to scoop our own mushroom soup, everything is brought to your table. Cutleries, food, soup, bills, etc. Back then, it was mostly self-service, even when it comes to payment. But now, you’ll just have to diam diam sit down, eat, pay, stand up, pat your ass and walk away.

We order the stuff-crust seafood pizza set deal that comes standard with the Pepsi drink and the Onion bread.

The onion bread.

We side-ordered the roasted chicken wings. A must have for any visits to Pizza Hut!

Mary indulging on her favorite, Chicken Wing! You can get the same roasted chicken wings at the Miri Esplanade beach at RM1.50/each ^^

Loved their onion bread. Recipe for bad breath though.

Seafood Spaghetti. Pop 2 prawns on top of the standard spaghetti and you’ll get Seafood spaghetti. So easy!

Halfway during our meal, this famous DAP supporter pops up in the premise and start selling the party’s newsletter. He’s a very hardworking man, going from kopitiam to cafes, McDonald’s to Pizza Hut. DAP is lucky to have you!

Now the main course, the Pizza itself of course! Looks tempting ain’t it? The seafood is fresh and the cheese is thick!

Total damage to the wallet: RM27.85. Quite reasonable I would say, if compared to 100 Yen, opposite of Delta Mall, along the Lot 9 shoptlots. I’ll cover that soon.