KOPITIAM VS RESTAURANT

.
Kopitiam (Coffee Shop) is a very common sight in Malaysia (Singapore as well) no matter where you are! For me, “mamak tang” is categorized as Kopitiam as well. Not only does it provide shelters for the merciless rain shower common in Malaysia weather, Kopitiam also served a great deal of drinks and meals. Besides, getting a quick bite there becomes a common practice for us Malaysians be it Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, Tea, Hi-Tea, Dinner, Late-Dinner, Supper, Early Breakfast, & etc.

When comes to Kopitiam which often runs by Hawker stalls, best place to eat will be in Penang. The small little cute island on the northern of Malaysia where the finest Hawker Food served. Being labeled as Food paradise, most Penang Hawkers served at least decent meal and in a very cheap price as well. Take note that if you go to Gurney Drive to eat then you’re being scammed. The best hawker stalls for each and specific food is scattered around the island, you gotta run around if you wanted to eat the best specific food.

Below is some of the List of my favorites:
Char Kuey Teow – at the end of Siam Road in Georgetown, at the T junction beside a kopitiam. Usually open around 4pm onwards.
Koay Teow T’ng (Koay Teow Soup) – Air Itam Market, inside the newly build food court. Usually open for morning business only.
Penang Laksa – Just opposite of the Air Itam Food Court mentioned above. Somehow they open from morning till very late at night.

Best simply call me when you in Penang, and we can go around eating. Provided I’m in the island of course. (Currently stuck in KL) So one may pounder about dining in an Air-conditioned Restaurant versus Kopitiam so let’s look into it.

Price Factor,
Restaurant never failed to suck the blood of their customers with the additional 10-15% service charge and at least 5% Government Tax charge. Every time at the counter when I about to pay my bill in a restaurant, the scenery often change into the prosecution side where there’s a bucket just below me to receive my falling head the moment I heard the register counter “Ka-ching”. While eating in kopitiam, a simple cup of Black Coffee just cost you around RM1 but when you dine in a Restaurant, no doubt it’ll be triple or even more of that price. Nasi Lemak in Kopitiam RM1.20, while Nasi Lemak in Old Town restaurant is six times the price so enough say…

After all we just need to fill our stomach, so unless is a celebration or special occasion, going to restaurant is like asking Count Dracula to feed on me. I would have rather donate my ‘blood’ for other reasons. Long Live Kopitiam!!

Quality Factor,
Although Kopitiam mostly runs by Chinese Community but most Kopitiam these days served plenty of various cuisine such as Thais, Indians, Arabs, Taiwans, Singapores, and etc. Furthermore, many agree that food served in Kopitiam mostly better than restaurants. Common food like Char Kuey Teow and Nasi Lemak has been a debate forever between which is better but personally I prefer Kopitiam’s. Forget StarBucks! There’re plenty of Kopitiams that serve great coffees at 10 times cheaper than StarBucks.

Critics stressed that it may due to additional-unwanted-ingredients included in the food and drinks served in Kopitiam but as long as we don’t know and on denial, I believe we still satisfied. Besides, is not as if food served in Restaurant would capable of escaping the terrors of those creepy crawlers and their waste.

One may debate that restaurant is better for “Halal” reasons but I’ll say, what the heck… “Halal” Char Kuey Teow (CKT)? You gotta be kidding me!! This is perhaps the main reason why Restaurant’s CKT never beat the Hawkers.

Uniqueness Factor,
This is a difficult factor, kopitiam’s foods don’t come in decoration and usually they compete more on the taste rather than their appearances on the plate. Is not like as if we gonna eat the plates and those decorations, so what the hell do we need it for? Usually those unique food starts out as hawker and while receiving demands, they gradually grow into restaurants.

So if you want a unique food then you better hit the streets and stop searching through the nets. Hawkers work hard on improving their food rather than learning HTML to Market their stuffs in the nets!


Environment Factor,
Oh great, this is the only reason why I would choose to dine in Restaurants sometimes. Flies Flies Flies!!! This creepy hand shaker bug with big eyes is my worst enemies!! And they conquer every single Kopitiam in the world; they multiply like nobody’s business and never fail to bug me. They’re UGLY, Buzzy, Irritating, and always try to steal my food! So here you are… the part time job of most Hawkers will be spending time killing this freaking flies while most chef in the restaurant would have watch TV at their spare time in the kitchen.

Another thing to notice will be the improper drainage system in hawker stalls; you have to always watch your steps so you don’t get tripped and end up showing the other diners what they’ll only see in Blue Label Movies. There are even times where you can see children playing ‘ice-skating’ in the kopitiam, imagine how oily can the floor get.

Oh not to forget the heat, especially the afternoon sun can be really merciless and Kopitiam that equipped with only fans sometimes is not sufficient as the heat produce by the hawker stalls is equally deadly as well. So as you eat, you’ll realize that your meal may be a little salty thanks to your dripping sweat, especially Malaysians who Love Spicy Foods.

For animal lovers, BEWARE!! There’ll be times when cats and dogs storm Kopitiam to fill their growling stomach. How they do it? They attack our guilt and empathy by shining their sparking big sad eyes at us and as an added bonus a ‘meow…’ or ‘nyu…’ at you. The next thing you know? half of whatever in your plates or bowls will be shared with them. Only to realize that when you walk out the restaurant feeling the pathetic half filled stomach of yours.

Hygiene Factor,
Well, when it comes to kopitiam we always served with food with added ingredients that should not be included in the first place. However, we never really know so who cares? But sometimes we can’t help but to notices foreign objects in our bowls and plates. Hairs, bugs, ants, lizard dung, and etc. (You Name it) However it doesn’t mean the well furnished restaurants don’t have this added ingredients which is not in the menu as well. It just so happen that the chef takes the effort to take off the ‘visible’ to-the-naked-eye-extra-ingredients so we don't really see it but whatever the essences in that ingredients pretty much absorbed into our food or soup. Yummy~~

There's a saying "When you dine in a restaurant, never visit the kitchen." Sadly unlike restaurants where diners don’t really see through the kitchen, hawker stalls and how it operates is visible hence there’s higher tendency for us to critic of their hygiene environment.

I once dine in a restaurant and sat nearby to the small window where by I can see slightly peek into the kitchen. Imagine what I see? One of the chef spit on a plate and serve it out through the little window, I watch is horror and amaze how the poor targeted diner happily chow down his meal along with the ‘extra ingredients’. Of course, I’m not making a generalization that all chef does this but because most restaurant is a ‘close kitchen window’ which give the chef-in-grudge the opportunity to do so.

Argh~~! I cancelled my order and leave immediately without any reason. I recall the restaurant is somewhere in Klang Valley but is a one way ticket so I wouldn’t want to even remember the restaurant name. Sheesh~~

Business Hours,
Aside from Fast Food restaurants, most common restaurants close their shops at 10pm but Kopitiam is different. To cater Malaysian’s thirst for Football Fever, some kopitiam business start their business only at 6pm all the way to 6am. Besides, most Malaysian especially in states like Kuala Lumpur and Penang, people practically never sleeps. In Penang we call these zombies, Penang Nightingales.

In other words, Kopitiam owned Most Restaurants in these areas as they never failed to meet the demand of their customers when some of us would have been sleeping like a dead log at those hours.

Overall,
Kopitiam is the pride of us Malaysians; we never failed to visit it at least once in 3 days. For some, our daily meals depended on them. Penangites would have died without Kopitiams and that our life would never be perfect without them. Kopitiam is already part of our culture be it sub-culture or even counter-culture. Just accept it pal, Kopitiam is a necessity in our daily life and without their existence your life would have been empty.

Excluding the fact that we consume those ‘Unnecessary-extra-ingredients’ everyday thanks to the some creepy crawlers as well as the management style of the Hawkers, Many still live over 90 year old and can be seen playing Mahjong and spending their golden time idling in the Kopitiam. Besides, most of us would have prefer to ‘yamcha’ at Kopitiam don’t you agree?

Consider the price you pay and the quality of meal you received in the kopitiam, most would have agree that it is worth it. Besides, you can shout all you want and chat out loud and rarely people will pay attention on you unlike when you are in a restaurant.


So as a conclusion, Kopitiam is a necessity in the life of most Malaysians and their existence is crucial in keeping us alive. However, cutting down on our frequent visits there would be a wise choice. And if you wanted a romantic dinner with your soul mate, Kopitiam may not be your best choice unless both of you are Kopitiam Addict like me.

So who win this match?
KOPITIAM OF COURSE!!!
(At least can I slap the cook silly in the Hawker stall if i see him spit on my bowl...)