Accidental Discoveries
Some of the best things in life are discovered by accident.
For example, some of the most used inventions in today’s world were discovered quite by accident. Vulcanized rubber (rubber that was resistant to heat and cold, and did not change shape even after the force exerted was lifted) was not invented, but was found when a mixture of rubber, sulphur and lead was spilt – by accident – on a hot stove. Penicillin – most important scientific breakthroughs ever made – was discovered simply because Alexander Fleming did not clean up his workstation before going on a vacation, and upon his return found that bacteria did not thrive near some of his cultures which had a strange fungus growing on them.
Well, I didn’t make any breakthrough discoveries but the other day I found this really nice mamak quite by accident.
I was at e@Curve with Aiman and we were both feeling out of pocket, so we walked around the lower ground floor where the “cheaper” restaurants were.
There was this restaurant called “Ah Cheng Laksa” which proclaimed to be “Best in Subang Jaya & Sunway… some even said in PJ!” That was a pretty bold statement to make considering that PJ was full of fantastic food, so we thought OK, let’s just give that a try.
It must either be a cook who simply could not recreate the same taste, or the people in Subang Jaya & Sunway have very poor taste… because the food was below average and very dissatisfying. After the meal, we were still hungry (who wouldn’t be?) and Aiman was staring at Popeye’s which was just opposite the restaurant. But I was starting to feel sleepy and I wanted teh tarik, and the only mamak we knew was at Tesco’s. We didn’t really want to walk that far, and it with great reluctance we dragged ourselves all the way through Curve to Tesco’s. We were even tempted to stop at Pappa Rich, but my craving for the good ol’ mamak tea made me insist on going on.
When we got to Tesco’s, we didn’t see the mamak we were looking for. I guess that goes to show how long we have not been to Tesco’s… but I don’t know when the mamak changed. We didn’t even remember the name of the mamak that used to be there, and if it was the same (we used to just call it “The mamak at Tesco’s”), and what we saw in its place was an air-conditioned restaurant called “Q Bistro” with modern chairs and tables. We were already there and we didn’t really want to waste that walk, so we peered at the menu and saw mamak-looking food. Oh what the hey. Let’s just give it a try.
And the food was really good! And so were the drinks!
They had a huge variety of food, ranging from roti canai to nasi kandar to western food. It was basically a mamak, but with fancier setup, pretty menus, and comfortable chairs… and similar prices! We even came back to Q Bistro for dinner after we watched a movie.
I like it so much that I’ll probably go back there again soon just for the food. And we wouldn’t have found the place if we didn’t try the monstrosity called Ah Cheng Laksa and have been completely dissatisfied.