Thursday

A morning after the half way mark of the week. I offered to take Jeannie, my wife, the Batik Influencer; to Taipan for her dental appointment.

We decided that we would have breakfast at one of the coffee shops in Taipan, the one that we patronize most often: New Nanking. There are quite a few coffee shops in Taipan, but New Nanking is the most convenient for us, somehow. “Restoran” (Malay for “restaurant”) New Nanking – “stylo milo, (1) dun play play (2)” name is fancy. New Nanking is called a restaurant or kopitiam (3) these days. It would have been referred to as a “coffee shop” as in the old days, before the turn of the century.

We look for convenience, comfort – it has to be comfortable enough for us to have our meal relatively decently, clean, bright, with easy parking (though this is not the case most times, especially during peak hour times. However, we can live with it…at times), and there has to be a good variety and selection of food. I am as some say… quite fussy with my food. However, I tend to look at it as I am quite careful with what I eat.😀

One of the main reasons that drew us to the New Nanking was to have Tai Poh mee for breakfast. This is amongst the best breakfast choices in Subang Jaya.

Tai Poh mee is a very popular meal at New Nanking, so much so that it is usually sold out during lunch. It is delicious. With the noodles comes minced pork, a few slices of char siew, (5) some vegetables, a small bowl of soup, and a little container of their version of chili sambal. Each item in the meal complements the others.

The meal comes in a generous size / portion. What we like about it most is that it does not make you feel bloated after finishing it.

The people who run this Tai Poh mee stall are the Cheang brothers. They have had this business for several years. They take pride in the meals they prepare and serve customers. Their food has been consistently good all the time. When you are next in Taipan USJ Subang Jaya, drop by and visit the Cheang brothers’ Tai Poh meal.

Jeannie ordered a hot tea. It was served in one of those traditional Chinese tea / cup & saucers sets. I ordered a ….oh, this is a toughie, an kopi peng kaw. (4) We were done with breakfast within an hour and headed on to the next item of our planned day.

NOTES:
1. “stylo milo” is a local Malaysian slang for Stylish; fashionable.
2. “dun play play” means seriously; not joking; really.
3. The word “Kopitiam” – kopi means coffee in Malay, and tiam is the Hokkien word for shop. Hence, Kopitiam translates literally to “coffee shop”.
4. Kopi Peng Kaw is iced coffee with condensed milk, strong. This means more coffee is added to make the drink stronger, less sweet.
“Kopi” is coffee in Bahasa Malaysia.
“Peng” is iced
“Kaw” or gau means thick or strong.
5. Char siu originally comes from Cantonese cuisine, and the word chā sīu 叉烧 literally means “pork roasted,” which is a nod to the traditional cooking method of skewering seasoned pork with long forks, and placing them in an oven or over a fire. madewithlau