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B
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efore
we begin, I wish to inform you that I am fully aware that this is my second
Kolo Mee post in a month. I would also wish to inform you that I was guilty
of not being able to help myself. It’s Kolo Mee, and I was in the area! Julian,
the brilliant photographer who takes all these beautiful food shots for your reading
pleasure was also with me at the time so as the saying goes, Carpe Diem.
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| Traversing through alleyways to get to my destination |
The
location of the coffee shop known as Oriental Park is best known for being in
the very close vicinity of the old Cathay Cinema. Unless you’ve grown up coming
here with your family, been a movie-goer of the Cathay Cinema days or stumbled
upon this by foot, you are not going to be able to find this especially if you
are driving around the main road area. Its obscurity and walking through alleyways to get there is all part of Oriental Park’s charm. Do not worry about
directions though, because as usual I have a map provided below.
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| http://www.susanbkason.com/2014/09/03/the-cathay-cinema-on-borneo/#.VTXnniGqqko |
Oriental
Park was best known in the days of old when Cathay cinema was still a cinema
and not an abandoned building, as a place where movie goers would go grab a
meal before a film or some candy to enjoy said film with. Soon after Cathay
closed its doors, the food business in Oriental Park was in jeopardy of losing
its major clientele. Needless to say, practical food stall owners chose to
depart.
Mr
Thian, an ex-See Hua Daily newspaper employee who at the time ran the Candy
operations in Oriental Park had no plans to leave despite everyone else doing
so. He and his wife knew though that selling candy was not going to be
sustainable, so they took over the stall that belonged to the previous Kolo Mee
stall owner. Along with a new take on how to make Kolo Mee that was different
from the previous owner and with the support of his wife, Oriental Park has
been selling Kolo Mee and has been family-run for more than 20 years.
Mr
Thian, the proud owner of this establishment may be too shy to tell this story,
but his lovely wife would be more than happy to speak to you. I enquired if she
was scared when her husband left his stable desk job to sell candy and then
proceed to sell and make Kolo Mee of all things; her answer was a swift, “Not
at all”.
The
cause of this bravery is not clear to me, but judging by the crowd that always
make it over to Oriental Park despite the obscurity, I’d say it has something
to do with the Kolo Mee.
Like
most stalls of the like, there are a few choices of noodles you may partake of
but today like most days I prefer to play it safe with my noodles.
Speaking
of the noodles, the straight ones were well blanched as they came springy and
firm, though not as dente as I would normally prefer them. The “Mee Pok” or
linguini-like noodles do provide that firmness if that is what you are looking
for.
They
are also well accompanied by strong flavours of drizzled lard that coat these
noodles so well, along with fried garlic that brings a nutty sweetness.
Unfortunately they were out of spring onions that day, but believe me if they
were present, it would have really brought the flavours full circle with the added
light crunchy texture. Coming early is the lesson learnt!
Fortunately,
what was available that day was the minced meat and Char Siew. The minced meat
is as you can see, juicy and it brings a good saltiness to this bowl.
What
does make this bowl special and different from most shops is the Char Siew Pork
being made in-house. If you happen to be lucky you may see a Barbeque Pit on
the side of the restaurant, where Mr Thian barbeques this Char Siew to a juicy inside and crunchy outside.
The fact that it is barbequed instead of oven roasted
also means that its skin has a smoky flavour to it. You will also notice from
time to time, Mr Thian will go to the end of the shop to freshly cut up the Char
Siew to make sure that no cuts are left out in the open too long to be dried
up.
Another
note on the Char Siew is the “Ang (Red)” if you want to “Pang (Hokkien for “put”.
At least I think so. I’m not a very good Chinese) Ang” on your noodles. What
the “Ang” means is the Red Char Siew Oil and said “Ang” if you choose to
drizzle it over your noodles, will also be a sweet delightful experience.
The
sweetness of this has a good porky body to it and does not taste like sugar and
food colouring like so many other Angs you may find in Kuching, so yes. That is
a good thing. A very good thing.
Oriental
Park has gone through a lot, but it is inspiring to see brave people do so well
for so long when they have put their minds to it and are determined. From candy
to noodles, you know that the experience will be sweet regardless.
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| Candid while having found a seat amidst the full house. Come early! |
Oriental
Park opens every day from 6am – 1pm or till they sell out.
The
map provided below belongs to a very talented blogger/writer from Kuching,
named Anna. She did a very good piece on this shop as well, so do check her out
HERE.
Urban
Palate posts and tells it like it is every Tuesday from around 7-8pm Malaysian
time. If you have enjoyed this article, please do share us on Facebook, Twitter
and/or Instagram. Much love!
What price for different types of mee. Is price of drink reasonable??? After all been said, there is no mention of price...No point supporting if price is throat cutting.
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