KY eats – Sarawak noodle & Kuching Laksa at Restaurant Gembira, PJ
One of my weekend activities is visiting the wet market at Taman Megah, and right after that, breakfast, and that was how I discovered Restaurant Gembira that’s situated right opposite Ming Tien food court.
It was a quite amazing that despite staying within walking distance to this place, it took me some 7 years before I pay the first visit to this unassuming kopitiam. I’m glad I finally did, and as a reward, I found my favorite Sarawak kam lau mee.
Sarawak mee, one of the bests I’ve tried so far
Now, I can’t claim to be any good at determining the quality of Sarawak mee, in fact, Kuching is one of the cities that I’ve never set foot on (other than the airport), but I do know a good plate of hawker food when I eat it.
minced pork, char siu, noodle – simple and delicious
The dish is fairly simple – home made noodle, minced meat, char siu (bbq pork), and a little bit of chopped spring onion in a slightly salted clear sauce (without the dark soya sauce that is typical of wantan mee). It goes for RM 4.50 (regular) and RM 5.30 (big)
The combination was as sublime as it was good, and I think the key in this lies in the home made noodle that has a very good texture. It reminds me of the Sarawak noodle Irene once tapau for us from Kuching. It was delicious.
laksa sarawak here was quite frankly… terrible
The same stall also offers Laksa Sarawak, I’ve tried it once, and it was.. surprisingly terrible. The egg is a bit too burnt for my liking, prawn a tad too small, and soup not quite up to par. Don’t waste your time on this, the Laksa Sarawak at Bangsar is heaps better.
Any Sarawakian who tried this place before? Tell me what you think, and if there’s another place with better kam lou mee/laksa Sarawak that you know of, do share. 
Address:
Restaurant Gembira
Jalan SS+ 24/8
Taman Megah, Petaling Jaya
Selangor
GPS: 3.113943, 101.612206
Tweet
Actually there’s another one right opposite Restoran Gembira.
It’s the corner shop with Revive Signboard. I can’t remember the name tho.
There’s a stall hidden somewhere in there selling Kuching Kolok Mee, Sarawak Laksa and Tomato Mee/Kueh Tiao
I personally like the Kolok mee and Laksa there than this restaurant. You can check it out
Oh, do ask the tauke or tauke nio to put Red for your Kolok Mee.
The Red means Cha Siew Oil.
Cat & Hamsters: oo good tips! I shall do that next time. hohoho
Try before… the kolok mee is nice!
Nikel: best
It looks like wan tan mee with minced meat. Should be yummy.
Diana: yaa simple and nice.
Kolo mee is kon loh mee right? Enlighten me man
Kolok mee is 哥罗mee and not Kon Loh (干捞) Mee. It’s a name. So there’s actually a Kolok Mee Soup.
Michelle: I think they are different, not that I really know much. lol.
don’t really fancy kolo mee. but SARAWAK LAKSA IS YUM!!!
i had the authentic one when i was there during uni days hehe
annant: try the bangsar wan!
There are two types- Kolo mee (popular in Kuching) and Kampua (干盘面 very popular with the Foochows in Sarawak especially in Sibu and Bintulu).
The one you tried is more of Kolo mee in KL styled.
You might want to try these two authentic Sarawak Kampua at Bandar Puteri Puchong area; Restoran Strawberry Puchong and Beryll Cafe.
Jon: haha yah now I know. and thanks for the tips on restaurant strawberry, wish that Puchong isn’t that jam all the time :S
Is this the same as Kolo or Kolok Mee?
SLURRRPS!
Jules: kolo I think!
Have u tried the Sarawak Cuisine stall in Pavilion’s Food Republic? They serve a good kolo mee and Sarawak laksa…halal though
ulric: I haven’t but I work just five minutes away, maybe I’ll try soon
Me too…I think I saw u in Cosway last week
ulric: haha yah I was there last week.
Hi Ky, my wife actually is sarawakian and I travel kuching quite often, one of the best sarawak laksa around Klang valley is in sunway ming tien, you might want to try it.
Alibaba: awesome, thanks for the tips
Agree with Ali Baba, the Sunway place is the best kolo mee stall in KL I’ve had to date.
However, this place serves up very authentic looking kolo mee – correct type of noodle, minced meat and char siew. Looks good.
On a side note, bit of a rant here, can’t believe how many places in KL uses wantan mee as kolo mee and sells it as kolo mee. They’re not the same.
End Sarawakian pride rant.
Hey, ask the guy for “char sio yu” (char siew oil) next time – it makes the kolo mee red and it tastes much better. Some Sarawakians prefer to eat it that way.
Me included.
Huai Bin: looks like I gotta go to Sunway soon then. Yah, those with wantan noodle is just a kill joy
This is so awesome…to be a food blogger living in SEA. I think you can pretty much blog every single meal you have dining out and it will still be all right. I wonder if European and American food blogger can do the same! In Singapore there’s a franchise for selling Sarawak Kolo Mee call Jia Xiang. The abalone set is more than SGD 10 I think. Had it before but couldn’t recall the exact price.
Alex: haha yah that’s the plus side of living here.
Alex, yes we can, America is not just steak and potato. There are many regional cuisine ( Southern, Cajun, Pacific North west, Texas, Mid West, Tex Mex, South Western, Atlantic,….) no to mention diversity of culture ( Italian, irish,…….). Gotta be here to appreciate it.
cooknengr: haha true, spent over 4 years in the States myself
@cooknengr Oh I didn’t mean that there’s not much choice or variety of food in the States. Was referring more to the pricing compared to Asia.
A good Kuching kolo mee is not just the type of noodle but the garlic oil used. You should come to Kuching. There’s a ‘KY Cafe’ that sell scrumption kolo mee
Doreen Seow: haha I need to then!
hmm… by first look Sarawak Kolo Mee and Chili Padi just doesn’t seems to click. The original Sarawak Kolo Mee should serve with red chillis and vinegar. Anyway will give it a try.
William: yaaa, try it and tell me if you approve!