Kedai Kopi Ming Fong

A quick post. My internet connection is very slow again. I went to my hub's office last night to make some online payments and was taken aback by how fast the internet connection was; the page appeared right after clicking which seems like magic to me. I'm used to watching the what-do-u-call-it go round and round as the page tries to load and reload, stops, stalls and I have to start all over again.

We don't normally have late night meals now that we are our age and our size. But since school's out for Wey, we take him out once in a while because he needs 5 meals a day, especially just before he sleeps.

My sis told me about Kedai Kopi Ming Fong behind the burnt-down Servay Supermarket in Penampang whose young cook used to work at 'Bamboo Inn' (my translation) up on the hill slope near Taman Century in Shantung Au. I'm sure you know the Bamboo Inn. It was a very popular place to bring tourists for a very local meal because they served game such as wild boar, 'flying foxes', snakes, whatever else that I'm not aware of, in a wooden shaky open hut perched precariously on a hill side. I used to dread eating there because the hill was kind of spooky at night, although the air was very fresh and it freaked me out that my food may be contaminated with the blood of those exotic animals. It is also because of this reason that I don't go to Hong Kong or southern China in winter, because that's snake-eating season. Anyway, despite the large crowd, the place was closed down a couple of years ago after the landowner sold the property. Once in a while, I wondered where the restaurant relocated to. According to the young cook, all of them have gone on to work for other restaurants but he stressed that he'd work long enough at Bamboo Inn to come up with the same dishes, and the dish I wanted to eat was what I called 'Sabah mi fen' and what he called 'Fish sauce mi fen'. Btw, if you liked the guotie they used to serve at Bamboo Inn, the couple and son also relocated to Ming Feng. Gone are the days when people couldn't find a table. The concrete structure of the coffeeshop does not have that quaint wooden ramshackle-hut-in-the-jungle atmosphere so people don't bring their cousins visiting from Germany or Ireland here anymore. I suppose ambience was the real puller for Bamboo Inn. But I'd suggest you give the young cook a chance because he cooks pretty well and fast (okay, including us there was just another family in the whole restaurant).


Sabah style mi fen RM5/US$1.40, also known as fish sauce mi fen, is thin rice noodles fried with fish sauce, dried shrimps, sometimes salted fish, Sabah veg (vital) and a sprinkling of bird's eyes chilies, the hottest chilies in this country. 'White mi fen' is not easy to fry, since there's no soy sauce to lend any flavor, so there must be enough wok hei (heat of the wok that gives a smoky char flavor). The fish sauce, salted fish or dried shrimps and Sabah veg contribute to the subtle but yummy taste of this dish, best eaten with a belacan sauce or a lime-chili sauce.


Watan ho RM5/US$1.40, flat rice noodles with an egg gravy. It was okay, lots of wok hei but not exceptional in taste.


Guotie, pan-fried wheat flour snacks, was RM0.60 each and tasted like regular Malaysian-style guotie with a meat and onion filling.


Deep-fried quails, RM4.50 each, were lean and tender but a little too much for hub and I because Wey wouldn't touch it. "It's a little bird!" Yes, but so is chicken. "I don't like chicken anyway."

Bill was about RM26/US$7, cheaper than eating a pizza.

Ming Fong is in the middle of the last row of shop lots on the left side (if you are facing what used to be the entrance) of the Servay plot, on the road linking to Wong Kok Restaurant.