NICE APAM BALIK

Apam balik (半个月亮) is also known as 'terang bulan' or 'martabak manis'. Apam balik is sort of a pancake with plenty of butter, sugar, corn and peanut crumbs in the middle. It is cooked in a pan griddle and tuned over to look like omelette.

As you go along Sungai Merah in Sibu, you will come across a small stall in front of a coffeeshop, selling apam balik. I love their apam balik because they put plenty of butter and coarse penuts. Each costs RM2.00 only.

SWEET DESSERTS AT THOMSON CORNER, SIBU

Thomson Corner is well-known in Kuching and Sibu for its breakfast, their large varieties of sweet dessert drinks and nice food. In Sibu, Thomson Corner is situated at Pusat Tanahwang and a smaller one located inside the Medan Mall shopping complex.

American Breakfast at RM4.50

Their famous dishes include Laksa Sarawak, nasi pataya, kampua/bihun with sambal (nice) and nasi lemak (my fave).

Their Laksa Sarawak comes with bihun, shredded fried egg slices, some prawns, crispy tauge and chicken shreds. Quite nice, but I personally still like the one in Aloha Corner better.

Laksa Sarawak

Talking about their nasi lemak, it is coconut rice with delicious sambal stirred with fried peanuts and anchovies, half of a boiled egg, some cucumber slices and some crispy fried chicken pieces. Forget about the calories and you'll be one tummy satisfied customer.

Sambal bihun

The typical Foochow noodle, the Kampua, is quite nice, especially the ones with sambal. If you don't like Kampua, go for their bihun ones. 

Apart from the nice meals, you'll be refreshed by their wide variation of sweet dessert drinks and soups, eg. bubur chacha, ice chendol, bubur buang panas(similar to Lin Chee Kang), nata de coco, ai yu drinks, longan ice, ice blended drinks, fresh juices, etc.. too much for me to remember. Yes, they taste really nice and refreshing indeed. I had some bubur buang panas, which has red dates, dried winter melon, cubes of jelly, some barley in sweet syrup and topped with crushed ice. Lovely!

Bubur Buang Panas (Lin Chee Kang) at RM1.80

Their version of bubur chacha has cubes of softened sweet potatoes and yams, in thick fragrant coconut milk. This you can either have it warm or cold. They also serve ice-creams in sundae cups... kid's favourite.

Bubur Chacha at RM2.20

Ice-cream

If you prefer burgers, there is a selection of burgers and toast to choose from. Apart from these, there are snacks, such as kompia, hotdog on skewers, fishballs, dumplings, rojak, rojak sotong, french fries, etc. A lot of people like to go there for some snacks and a thirstquenching sweet drink.

Chicken dumpings

The prices are reasonable and affordable by most people. So, when you are in Sibu, this is a place not to be missed.

TEOCHEW PORK PORRIDGE

A simple, healthy breakfast of pork porridge with runny egg yolk.... a great taste despite its simplicity.

Situated on the 1st floor of the Sibu Central Market, stall no. 49 sells the teochew-styled pork porridge. They don't have much variety because their signature dish is the pork porridge, but you can opt for either one egg or two eggs. The pork porridge smells and taste great, served with fragrant minced pork, preserved vegetable and some bits of spring onions.

There is also one located in Bai Shun Coffeeshop in Sungai Merah.

ALOHA CORNER - A HOTSPOT FOR GOOD FOOD

As you travel along Jalan Tunku Osman in Sibu, you will see a corner coffeeshop named 'Aloha Corner'. This coffeeshop is usually fully seated in the morning, around 7:30a.m.-8:30a.m., where people come for their breakfast and in the mid-afternoon, people crowd the coffeeshop for their lunch.

There are roughly 8 stalls in this coffeeshop and they offer a wide selection of yummy food.

The first stall sells nice Kampua mee and wantans. I love having the Kampua with dark soy sauce and chilli sauce.

The next stall sells a tasty Lor Mee (better than most Sibu stalls), kompia with minced pork and rojak.

Lor Mee

The third stall sells their signature Laksa Sarawak, which for me, is the best in Sibu. They sell only one type of food, and that is the food that is driving most people to this coffeeshop. Their Laksa Sarawak recipe was a family inheritance. They use the best rice vermicelli in town and the laksa gravy was a concoction of various spices with coconut milk, topped then with prawns, tauge, fried egg strips, chicken shreds and some bits of spring onions. I couldn't resist slurping at the orangey spicy soup until the last drop.

Laksa Sarawak

The next stall in the corner sells fried noodles, char kway teow, meehoon, etc. You should have a go with their fried macaroni, a little oily but nice.

At the back, we have two stalls. One owned by a chubby woman who sells homemade fishball soup with tanghoon (my favourite), pork porridge with century egg and also red wine chicken mee sua (very nourishing and tasty). The homemade fishball soup is a light but aromatic soup stewed for hours and hours using fresh fish bones. The fishballs, known also as Foochow fishballs, is homemade by the chubby lady with a mixture of fresh fish meat and some seasonings. In this soup, you can find seaweed, some slices of carrots, a few pieces of leafy veggies, some fried beancurd, a piece of bitter gourd and some lady's fingers.

Homemade Fishball Soup with Tanghoon

Another stall owned by a man in his forties (I hope I got his age right) sells his signature Teochew char kway teow, a different version from the usual ones that we have. It is char kway teow wrapped up by eggs, served with some chilli sauce. This char kway teow does not come with meat (like the usual ones we had), just noodles, beansprouts, eggs and spring onions, but surprisingly, it does not taste bland at all. I remember I had to wait for an hour for it during one of the Chinese New Years, so just imagine!

Teochew Char Kway Teow

There is a Malay stall in front, selling roti canai and kuih-muih. There's a variety to choose from.

Aloha Corner also sells waffles. My favourite is peanut butter waffle.

Waffle with peanut butter

Address: ALOHA CORNER

              Jalan Tunku Osman,

              96000 Sibu,
              Sarawak

INTRODUCTION TO SIBU (詩巫) - MY HOME, MY DESTINY

Of the 13 different states which made up Malaysia, 11 states are in Peninsular Malaysia, and two states, namely Sarawak and Sabah are what is known as East Malaysia, in the north-western region of the island of Borneo. Sarawak itself accounts for up to 40% of the total landmass in the country. Located some 60 miles from the South China Sea, Sibu is one of the major towns in the Sarawak. It is located at the confluence of the Rajang and Igan Rivers, some 60 kilometres from the ocean and approximately 183.3 kilometres east-north-east of the state capital Kuching.
Its population is dominated by Chinese as well as indigenous Melanau, Malay, and Iban. The main Chinese ethnics consists of mostly Foochows, and a portion of Hokkiens, Teochews, Hakkas and Cantonese.

                                     

Also known as 'The Swan City' and 'New Fuzhou', Sibu is proud for its great variety of delicacies and sightseeing spots eg. the Tua Pek Kong Temple, Sibu Town Square, Sibu Central Market, Sibu Lake Park, Yu Long Shang Tian En Shi, etc, which I will show you in my future posts.