So-called BEST Kolo Mee in Kuching
Aug 5th, 2008 by Clare
Carpenter Street is not the place you’d normally hang around much. The streets are so narrow that they are congested most of the times. Finding a parking here is out of question but you can always take the risk and park by the yellow line 
Turn around a corner of Carpenter Street and Bishopgate, you’ll come face-to-face with an old school coffeshop called Min Joo.
The shop will not win the best interior design award ever but it is always packed with customers!
Customers of all sizes flock this place just for a bowl of noodle and pig innards soup.
So the unwritten rule is you stand around a bit and wait for a vacant table.
Waiting…
Waiting…..
30 minutes later…
Still waiting…
And when you see someone wiping their mouth, get your legs on stand by to grab the seat once the customers stand up to leave. There is no such thing as waiting for your turn here. You found a table, you sit down! Expect to share a table with strangers.
Once you are seated, do not walk up to the stall operator and order your food. Expect to shut up and wait some more. After what seems like ages, someone will come up to you and take your drink order. I ordered my usual Teh-C Peng
It took another century for your drink to arrive. In the mean time, some other guy will come and take your food order
The standing guy in white.
He is loud. He is deemed unfriendly. Only when he comes to your table to take your order then you order your food. Even before you are finished with your specific order, he left! And expect to wait for another generation for your food to arrive.
You wait…
And you wait…
And you wait…
Mee kosong (without minced pork or pork slices)
With a thud, the bowl of noodle you ordered landed in front of you! I looked up in heaven before whipping out the camera and said The Grace Before Meal (TM)
This is mee pok with char sio (BBQ pork slice) extra bak cho (minced pork).
This bowl of pig’s innards soup is a must when you are here. I have no idea why some people call it spare parts of the pork. Pigs (and even us) have no spare parts okay! They only have the original parts *smirk*
They have everything in the soup! Pig’s intestines, liver, stomach, pork, prawns, seaweed, salted vegetable, etc could all be found swimming in the soup.
The noodles are nothing to shout about. It’s the soup and the things they throw into the soup!
Heaven opens, a bright light shining down on you and you can see a choir of angels singing “HALLELUJAH!” is how I describe the taste. OK, I’m exaggerating a little bit. Fine, a lot! But it is good, for a pig’s innards fan like me 
You can tapao the food from here as well but I’m not too sure about the waiting time though 
Total time spent: 1 hour 30 minutes, from waiting outside the coffeeshop till we left.
Total damage: less than RM20 for 2
The service sucks, the waiting time is long, the place is unhygienic and yet the crowd is never-ending. One taste said it all!
the uncle taking order is not that bad lah… I mean he literally jokes with my friends and I when he come over to take our orders lehh… and he does have a good memory on who comes first, who comes later and remember your exact orders (eg. don’t wan cha-sio, put more liver)…
but I do have to agree… no other kopitiam in Kuching with this kinda hygiene rating (C) and limited sitting capacity can match the overwhelming crowd that comes to makan at Min Joo every single day…
He’s not bad. I was just writing about the impression that he’s giving people. Oh yes! He does have good memories. Damn! If I had that memory, I’ll do a lot better in school
They say, the dirtier the place, the better the food taste. Got extra spices mah! LOL!
is kolo mee da same as kampua?
Nope! Totally different thing. I love ‘em both
Yo sexy momma!!! You’ve been travelling a lot - that is very exciting eh.. I wish I had the time to do some travelling myself. Anyway, I think I’ve been to the so-called-best kolo mee (Min Joo) - I was there two years ago. You described them perfectly well - “The service sucks, the waiting time is long, the place is UNHYGIENIC and yet the crowd is never-ending.” Haha, about the taste, I haven’t got the best of comment, being not a fan of kampua nor kolo mee. =p My bro helped me to “wallop” the kolo mee, couldn’t take it anymore. Wouldn’t mind having them once in a blue moon though. Ahaks. Take care aright =)
Hi my dear Anne the Great!
Oh, you’ve been there. The mee is not that nice as they claimed but the soup is!
carpenter street lidat mah full with carpenters loh???
they got sing the song “Close to You” wan also arr???
Hahahahahha! I think that’s how they got the name of the street
No sing “Close To You” lor 
Oh yeah, this is the infamous kampua place manned by a person with anger management issues right?
I think that’s what everyone is talking about. Eh, but its kolo mee place, not kampua
Yeah.. looks fairly well run down..but despite this..lots of customers…
maybe the boss could give Starbucks management a few tips.
Hahahaha! Starbucks is a totally different species. They can’t compete.
*makes mental note* Never ever go to that shop! No matter how nice, l think l can live without it, no thanks!
Me too! I don’t think I’ll go back to that shop anymore
maybe i am hungry now… looks rather delicious. with my current condition, i dont think i will be drinking that kinda soup… not tat i am travelling to kuching anytime soon.
Hahahaha!!! Murphy’s Law, people always accidentally read food post when they are hungry
Sometimes looks may be deceiving. The shop may look filthy, but the food is awesome. It may also tells you that, this store has been in operation for quite some time and they are experienced. I found many newly established store, looks clean but the food is not that good, some more it’s more expensive.
I agree with you. If the food is good, as filthy as the place can be, people will still come and eat.
the coffee shop b4 the temple at the end of carpenter street serve same food taste better and get my b rating in cleanliess and service fast and drink(KOPI O PENG) is wowwwww!
how about the one at 10mile coffee shop next to the padawan council office?not bad the kolo mee!try the rm9.00 super duper kolo mee!prawn as big a size D batteries!
any idea on the best ABC in kuching?
didn;t u notice the uncle and aunties sweating and drooling and scolding ppl whoch chase them up… thats the super ingredient makes you soup tastes nice lady… i don’t consider theirs as the best kolo mee, having said that, its not even categorise under kolo mee… its difference class of same genus. best kolo me is at 7th mile, served only during night from 7-10, some time 930 finish oledi. just next to the teh c peng special. try it when you got chance.
One thing about this kolo mee shop…. it demolished the principle in Marketing, economics… and other related subjects in hinger learning / education… hahaha..
we always heard… “customer is always right…”…here.. “if you want to makan… sit down quietly and WAIT!!!”
Maybe some research should be done… PhD Candidates… please do research… Prof Micheal Porter (Havard Uni) please explain this situation… hahahaha
Anyway…. lovesssss the kolo mee… not just because of the taste, the most important is its “BIG PORTION” hahaha