Lao You (老友)  Coffee Shop 

151 Jalan Masjid 1, Sungai Petani, Kedah

 

 

Foodelicious

 

Lao You Coffee Shop is famous for its excellent and fresh soy, as advertised by the blue and orange sign above. And it is not a lie. This coffee shop has one of the best if not best homemade soy milk and 'tau fu fa' (tofu pudding) in town. Must try if you stop by.

Lao You means 'Old Friend' in Chinese, which is another appropriate name for a coffee shop (see my last post on Usual Place's). It's located by Cayman Square. There are quite a variety of food here: Hock Kian Mee, Chicken Rice, Curry Mee, Wonton Mee, Pan Mee, Chee Cheong Fun, Char Koay Teow, etc. So if you are looking for variety, this is a good option.

  

Mum said Hokkien Mee here is one of the best so I decided to try it. Delicious!! See those fried shallots and extra chili paste? The more the merrier. That bowl was wiped clean when I was done with it.

 

Char Kway Teow is one of my favorite hawker food. So we ordered one. Not bad. It came on a banana leaf, which I believe gives it a better aroma. It also has some medium size shrimps and Chinese sausage. 

 

The Char Koay Teow stall also sells Char Koay Kak, another one of my favorites. It's fried the same way with the same ingredients (as you may notice from the pictures). For some reason, I do like this better than the kway teow.

 

The Shredded Chicken Noodles looks beautiful. I was told it was good so tried some of it. This is not a dish I would order but if I wasn't so full, I would have eaten it all.

 

Oh! Here's a shot of the fresh, homemade soy milk. Very good!

Food                            4.0

Customer Service     3.5

Ambiance                   3.0

Décor/Details            2.0
Parking                       2.5

 

  

Usual Place's Western Food (for breakfast)

151-152 Jalan Lagenda 6, Lagenda Heights, Sungai Petani, Kedah

 

 

Foodelicious

 

I believe Usual Place’s Western Food only serves Western food in the evening, which I have never tried.  We stopped by for the first time one morning for breakfast. I supposed it operates as a coffee shop during the day supported by various stalls. 

As with most coffee shops, the first to arrive is your drink. Each of us have our own favorite breakfast drink so we ordered four distinctive drinks (from top clockwise): ‘Teh Si’ (tea with evaporated milk), Iced ‘Milo’, ‘Oh Teh’ (brewed ‘Eight Treasures’ herbal tea), and extra thick Nescafe with less sugar. That last, complicated one is my dad’s – as usual. 

We all agreed the drinks here were exceptionally good. Most coffee shops serve drinks that range from mediocre to good but this place definitely stands out above the rest. The Chinese name for this restaurant - 老地方 - is actually appropriate for a coffee shop. When good friends meet especially in my parents’ generation or the generation prior, they usually ask ‘where?’ and more often than not, the answer would be, “the usual place, lah!” Let’s just say the drinks made such an impression that I feel it could be that ‘usual place’ where good friends think of when they simply want to have an old-fashion coffee shop drink.

I noticed the coffee shop was also selling some ‘nyonya kuih’ – ‘Kuih Talam’ and ‘Seri Muka’. Those are one of my favorites so we got some. They were yummy!

Both types consist of light green and white layers. The light green color on both are from the ‘pandan’ flavor - a fragrant and sweet flavor, which I love. ‘Kuih Talam’ (talam means tray) has the white coconut milk flavor on top of the ‘pandan’ layer. ‘Seri Muka’ (Pretty Face) has the colors reversed, ‘pandan’ layer over glutinous rice.  

 

My mum ordered the Thai Curry Laksa. By appearance, it looks like any curry laksa except for okra and tomatoes added. The curry has more of a Thai curry flavor. Hence, the name. 

 

I don’t normally Wonton Noodles at food courts or eating places since there’s usually other options that catch my fancy. The one drawback with this coffee shop is the limited selection. But it could have been a blessing in disguise. I actually quite enjoy this wonton noodle – ample sauce, noodles has the right ‘bite’, and the char siu is juicy. Need proof of how much I like it?

 

  Here you go! Cleaned the plate…

One complain – wish the wonton filling was more plump. But in their defense, I have not really found one stall that is not skimping on the filling yet. Then again, I probably don’t order this dish enough to make an accurate judgment. 

Food                            4.0 (Drinks 5.0)

Customer Service     4.0

Ambiance                   3.0

Décor/Details            2.5
Parking                       5.0 (in the morning)