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.

sarawak mee, one of the bests
Sarawak mee, one of the bests I’ve tried so far

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.

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
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
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. 😀

map to restaurant gembira

Address:
Restaurant Gembira
Jalan SS+ 24/8
Taman Megah, Petaling Jaya
Selangor
GPS: 3.113943, 101.612206

KY eats – Sarawak noodle & Kuching Laksa at Restaurant Gembira, PJ
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42 thoughts on “KY eats – Sarawak noodle & Kuching Laksa at Restaurant Gembira, PJ

  • January 14, 2012 at 2:40 pm
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    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.

    Reply
    • January 16, 2012 at 9:12 am
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      Cat & Hamsters: oo good tips! I shall do that next time. hohoho

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    • April 11, 2012 at 11:21 am
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      alex kolo mee and his laksa across the road is better..but his moving to kelana jaya soon

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      • April 12, 2012 at 10:03 am
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        andrew: oh, interesting. Will try next time. 🙂

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  • January 14, 2012 at 9:29 pm
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    It looks like wan tan mee with minced meat. Should be yummy.

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    • January 16, 2012 at 9:12 am
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      Diana: yaa simple and nice. 😉

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  • January 15, 2012 at 12:51 pm
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    Kolo mee is kon loh mee right? Enlighten me man

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    • January 15, 2012 at 8:29 pm
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      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. 🙂

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    • January 16, 2012 at 9:13 am
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      Michelle: I think they are different, not that I really know much. lol.

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  • January 15, 2012 at 10:08 pm
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    don’t really fancy kolo mee. but SARAWAK LAKSA IS YUM!!!

    i had the authentic one when i was there during uni days hehe

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    • January 16, 2012 at 9:13 am
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      annant: try the bangsar wan!

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  • January 15, 2012 at 10:11 pm
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    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. 🙂

    Reply
    • January 16, 2012 at 9:14 am
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      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

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  • January 16, 2012 at 12:32 am
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    Is this the same as Kolo or Kolok Mee? 🙂 SLURRRPS!

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  • January 16, 2012 at 8:40 am
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    Have u tried the Sarawak Cuisine stall in Pavilion’s Food Republic? They serve a good kolo mee and Sarawak laksa…halal though 🙂

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    • January 16, 2012 at 9:15 am
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      ulric: I haven’t but I work just five minutes away, maybe I’ll try soon 😀

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      • January 16, 2012 at 9:33 am
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        Me too…I think I saw u in Cosway last week 🙂

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        • January 16, 2012 at 10:52 am
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          ulric: haha yah I was there last week.

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  • January 16, 2012 at 9:10 am
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    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.

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    • January 16, 2012 at 9:16 am
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      Alibaba: awesome, thanks for the tips 😀

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    • April 24, 2012 at 11:15 am
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      can’t agree more. sunway mingtien got the best s’wak laksa in KL/PJ in my opinion. i’ve been staying in KL for more than 12yrs.. and just found this stall last year.. gosh.. and the kampua mee is really authentic. exactly sibu style char siew and they make their own mee 🙂 they’re frm bintulu by the way 🙂

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      • April 24, 2012 at 2:02 pm
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        gene: ok will try that soon! 😀

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  • January 16, 2012 at 2:48 pm
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    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. 😀

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    • January 16, 2012 at 4:36 pm
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      Huai Bin: looks like I gotta go to Sunway soon then. Yah, those with wantan noodle is just a kill joy

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  • January 17, 2012 at 11:05 am
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    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.

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    • January 17, 2012 at 12:01 pm
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      Alex: haha yah that’s the plus side of living here.

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    • January 28, 2012 at 4:20 am
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      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.

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      • January 28, 2012 at 7:01 pm
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        cooknengr: haha true, spent over 4 years in the States myself

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      • February 1, 2012 at 12:22 pm
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        @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.

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  • January 17, 2012 at 3:40 pm
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    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 😀 :mrgreen:

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    • January 17, 2012 at 4:28 pm
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      Doreen Seow: haha I need to then!

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  • February 20, 2012 at 5:00 pm
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    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.

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    • February 20, 2012 at 11:34 pm
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      William: yaaa, try it and tell me if you approve!

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  • May 3, 2012 at 12:11 am
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    this stall have moved to kelana jaya. Beside SMK kelana jaya.

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    • May 3, 2012 at 8:33 am
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      Adam: thanks, will check that out. 🙂

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    • May 27, 2012 at 2:17 pm
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      Where exactly moved to? Can give more detail or shop name or road?

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      • May 28, 2012 at 6:54 pm
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        Blacky: that would be restaurant New Yew Sang

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  • May 5, 2012 at 4:04 pm
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    Please don’t be confused with Sarawak noodle.kolok mee and kam pua mee is totally different. Kolok mee comes from Kuching and kam pua mee is from sibu.
    Most people in Kuching takes kolok mee and laksa for breakfast. In Sibu and it’s surrounding they have kam pua mee in Kuching majority of the Chinese are teochew ,hakka and hockien but sibu majority is foochow.

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    • May 6, 2012 at 5:19 pm
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      Adam: thanks for the education. I’m not very familiar with Sarawak cuisine tbh. 🙂

      Reply

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