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EVENING AT TAIPAN CITY KOPITIAM

/ Alan Atkinson / Leave a comment

a.k.a. TCP

Being a weekend, one would expect things to be a bit more laid back from its usual uptight, rigid, everything must be done in a hurry to meet ever increasing, closing in deadlines. Even the sun and somewhat the weather; were also on a chill (pun?).

The big, fiery, flame-spewing ball / planet, some 93 million miles away, can be imagined sitting on a long, white deck-chair; donning a pair of C De Cartier Precious Sunglasses (1) (get it? The sun wearing sunglasses!😉😀), sipping on a alcohol-free margarita (alcohol is flammable – the sun), eating kuachi (2); relaxing.

The Batik Influencer, Jeannie; and I, that is “we” 😃; decided on hawker food, at a kopitiam (3) in Taipan, USJ, Subang Jaya (4).

A kopitiam used to be more commonly known as a coffee shop 15 or more years ago. Calling a coffee shop a kopitiam sounds more fanciful and upmarket. However, what seems to be a trend is that the old style “kopitiams” with marble-looking tabletops are more and more popularly identified with owners / businesses who own and even franchise a number (which is growing) of such style restaurants, out.

Here, you can see the drinks counter. The drinks seller is usually the owner of a restaurant like this, sub-letting space to food vendors to operate their stalls.

These kopitiams or coffee shops used to be exclusive to Chinese food. In recent years, the food offerings have widened to include western, Indian, Punjabi and Malay food.

Taipan City Kopitiam is just next to the other coffee chop…er…restaurant (it is part of their name), “New Nanking”. It hosts a variety of different hawker food, mainly Chinese food. It does have one stall offering western food. I had in mind what I wanted for dinner. I have been to this kopitiam several times, but I don’t think I have ever ordered fried kway teow. This time I did.

Milo Ais kaw drink with char kway teow.

When the plate of fried kway teow was served and put in front of me… a whiff of the aroma from it, the hot smoke rising from it as it was just from the cook’s wok to the plate… the noodles were inter-twined with the tougey (bean sprouts in English, kuchai (5) and fried egg. The prawn (6) and lap cheong (7)… it was as though the whole dish was artistically decorated and placed…like one of those top 6 star restaurants whose chefs decorate the sides of the plate with sauces (this one no decoration la. Here you pay only RM9. Those fancy restaurants will charge RM125).

Don’t let it’s looks fool you. Not just another pretty dish. The fried kway teow did not only just look good. It was delicious to the last noodle on the plate.

The meal was finished almost as soon as I started. It was that delicious. I left the prawns and lap cheong for Jeannie, as I am not into that. The meal was good. It looks like there is strong competition between the char kway teow “chef” here, and the one next door at New Nanking.

Here, the lady in green, runs a vegetarian food stall. You can see the owners of the wester food stall, too. For drinks, Jeannie ordered “Limau Ais” (iced lime). I ordered a “Milo Ais Kaw” (iced Milo, strong).

The lady owner of the western food stall, who also serves the food to her customers; is well dressed with jacket, too.

Jeannie’s rice porridge meal.

Jeannie’s rice porridge meal was good, according to her. She ordered a sort of a sweet sour pork, what looks like a big portion of yam and spinach to go with her porridge. And enjoyed her meal, she did.

Jeannie, about to tuck in to her rice porridge meal.

At the back of us, are more stalls, including the one that sells wan tan mee. The wan tan mee here, is really good. You should try it if you get the opportunity.

We finished our meals, minum-ed (Bahasa Malaysia for “drink” in past tense [ed]😊). Jeannie said the next time we come here, we must support the stall that sells vegetarian food. Remember the blond-hair lady in a green shirt? Looks like the “next time” is going to be soon.

NOTES:
1. Cartier Precious sunglasses in rose gold, rimless with rose gold coated lenses. Dimensions: 62 mm lenses, 14 mm bridge, 140 mm temples. Price: US$8,495
2. Guazi (Chinese: 瓜子; Indonesian: kuaci), also called kwasi (Burmese: ကွာစေ့) refers to roasted plant seeds. It is a popular snack in China, Malaysia (kuachi) and overseas Chinese communities, especially in Indonesia. While directly translated as “melon seeds” it usually refers to baked seeds of the sunflower, pumpkin, or watermelon seeds. It is often served as an appetizer during banquets. Wikipedia
3. The term kopitiam in Malaysia is usually referred specifically to Malaysian Chinese coffee shops. Food in a kopitiam is usually exclusively Malaysian Chinese cuisine. Food courts and hawker centres are usually not referred to as kopitiams.
Wikipedia
4. Taipan is a bustling business centre in the vibrant city of Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.
5. kuchai is a kind of leek, ranked-scented, green, growing 20 to 40 centimeters high. Bulbs are small, white and clustered.
6. Prawn resembles a large shrimp, many varieties of which are edible.
7. Lap cheong is a dried, hard sausage usually made from pork and pork fat. It is normally smoked, sweetened, and seasoned with rose water, rice wine and soy sauce.