If ever you happen to go to PJ Old Town, there is a food circus.. er.. I mean.. food court diagonally across the traffic-lighted crossroads from Public Bank. If you also happen to be hungry, this is as good a place as any to find good food for a reasonable price... with one exception but we'll get to that later.
All the establishments here seem quite.. well.. established (",) with a steady stream of customers and all available tables taken. Never mind that the weather outside was sweltering hot and humid, the patrons keep coming in. Luckily, the drink sellers were prepared with their renditions of ice kacang and '"leong sui" (herbal tea)
There is this particularly well patronised stall that sells "char-siu" (barbequed, glazed pork), "siu-yok" (barbequed belly pork) and "siu-kai" (barbequed chicken) available with your choice of rice or porridge (congee to some folks).
Now, my boyfriend LOVES pork. Ergo, he made a bee-line for this stall and ordered "chair-siu-kai" (which is a combination of equal portions of each served with rice, for the benefit of those who are not well-versed with Chinese fare).
As he sat down at our table, he kept a firm eye on Stall 41 and noted that there was never a time when there weren't people standing on the sidelines, waiting for their take-away orders. The only server manning the tables was a harried Indonesian lady but she was efficient.
When his order came (cost him RM4.50), the portions were too small for his liking, so he decided to add a side order of "siu-yok". This came shortly after in an even smaller portion (yes, it was possible!) at a staggerring RM3!
I counted that there were only 7 bite-sized pieces of pork with 2 slices of cucumber and a careless garnish of chinese parsley. Wow! The only excuse for such a steep price tag would be the taste. So we each picked out a piece and chomped down, fully anticipating a good treat for our palate.
Alas..! Disappointments abound. There were no taste explosions. No heavenly amalgamation of flavours just regular barbequed pork. Nothing remotely spectacular about that taste to warrant the premium pricing *sigh* What a disappointment :(
I wonder if there is a "char-siu" sellers' association that I can refer to for guidelines on price setting?
All the establishments here seem quite.. well.. established (",) with a steady stream of customers and all available tables taken. Never mind that the weather outside was sweltering hot and humid, the patrons keep coming in. Luckily, the drink sellers were prepared with their renditions of ice kacang and '"leong sui" (herbal tea)
There is this particularly well patronised stall that sells "char-siu" (barbequed, glazed pork), "siu-yok" (barbequed belly pork) and "siu-kai" (barbequed chicken) available with your choice of rice or porridge (congee to some folks).Now, my boyfriend LOVES pork. Ergo, he made a bee-line for this stall and ordered "chair-siu-kai" (which is a combination of equal portions of each served with rice, for the benefit of those who are not well-versed with Chinese fare).
As he sat down at our table, he kept a firm eye on Stall 41 and noted that there was never a time when there weren't people standing on the sidelines, waiting for their take-away orders. The only server manning the tables was a harried Indonesian lady but she was efficient.
When his order came (cost him RM4.50), the portions were too small for his liking, so he decided to add a side order of "siu-yok". This came shortly after in an even smaller portion (yes, it was possible!) at a staggerring RM3!
I counted that there were only 7 bite-sized pieces of pork with 2 slices of cucumber and a careless garnish of chinese parsley. Wow! The only excuse for such a steep price tag would be the taste. So we each picked out a piece and chomped down, fully anticipating a good treat for our palate.Alas..! Disappointments abound. There were no taste explosions. No heavenly amalgamation of flavours just regular barbequed pork. Nothing remotely spectacular about that taste to warrant the premium pricing *sigh* What a disappointment :(
I wonder if there is a "char-siu" sellers' association that I can refer to for guidelines on price setting?
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