Raub SYC Hainan Kopitiam — Restaurant in Pahang

A trip to Raub is not complete without stopping here

There... I said it. Back in the days of yore, Hainanese kopitiams were all the rage. Almost every town that you go, there will be few kopitiams to choose from. In Raub alone, I could name 3 kopitiam that I used to stop by for a cuppa whenever I was in town - FYI, Raub is located about 40 minutes from Kuala Lipis.

Along the main road, Jalan Tun Razak, were Sun Yuen Cheong and Tong Nam Bee... While Kim Fah was located along Jalan Dato Abdullah. Three of them make good Hainanese tea, and each of them has their own strengths. Sun Yuen Cheong is particularly old school.. as you'd see 1 Malaysia drinking their teh or kopi under the same roof.

The elder brother of Sun Yuen Cheong decided that it was time to come out on his own, setting up a new kopitiam aptly named Raub SYC (yes, the initial) Hainan Kopitiam in the then newly built Pusat Perniagaan. FYI, he was in charge of the preparation of the drinks back then so I knew that in his able hands, the drinks will be good. Sure enough, he was still making most drinks himself - or at least my drink whenever he sees me.

◾Hainanese tea - he knew how I love my teh si and I get the same consistency everytime I placed my order. Try their kopi or cham... Both are quite powerful too. ◾Croissant - I like old school style and what's more appropriate than with Kaya & butter? Lately they have added a salted egg yolk croissant which was very nice (in my opinion) with generous salted egg yolk lava inside. ◾toasted bread - most of the time, I'd choose this... I asked them to separate my butter and kaya so I can DIY. Please specify so or they will do it for you instead. ◾half boiled egg - a wise investment in sous vide machine so all eggs come out perfect! Perfect sous vide egg is 63° ◾nasi lemak - something carried over from his father's shop. It was more of a Chinese style nasi lemak with sambal bawang, fried egg, kacang, ikan bilis, fried chicken on top of the rice. ◾Vietnamese stall - selling Vietnamese fare but with Chinese twist.. fried wantan, pork noodle, etc. Taste wise so so but good for those who want something different from the regular kopitiam fares.

We talked to each other whenever possible, especially when he was not too busy with works... Catching up with each other's lives as well as the general topic. This kopitiam has sort of become the default place for me to satisfy my teh si craving whenever I pass...

Seriously, their order management and food preparation need some improvement. You will find this shop crowded with ppl even during normal weekdays. Here are my thoughts:

I observed they were using only 2 household ovens, where 1 oven was only able to fit 3 slices of toast. I waited almost an hour for my toast and 2 hours for my salted egg croissant. Fortunately, the salted egg croissant tasted kinda good. Unlike other kopitiam, they did not purchase bundles of half-boild egg maker. I waited for 2++ hours and was still unable to get my eggs so I cancelled the order. Understood beverage making and food preparation took time. In the end I did not get my kosong nasi lemak but luckily I still got my hainanese coffee. Their coffee is above average and the aroma is strong.

I hope this shop will be more comparable to their competitor - Tong Nam Bee in the future as their food and beverage are not bad oso, just that there's room for...

Came here a few months ago and their service was very bad. However when I visited today, they have vastly improved.

Serves very nice cham coffee and have a wide selection of nasi lemak. Cham coffee is reasonably priced at RM 2.20 for a takeaway.

They also have a noodle shop which serves pan mee and a few other noodle varieties. Price is slightly high for raub at RM 7 per bowl as most other restaurants sell at RM 5.50, but there's a lot of ingredients in the bowl so its well worth the money.

Usually packed at breakfast, so you may need to share a table. Parking is quite difficult to get at this area but its not a huge problem if you don't mind walking some distance.

Open air restaurant, no air-conditioning but its airy and not warm. Good place for an early lunch...