Kedai kopi Hai Peng — Restaurant in Terengganu

How can anyone come to Cukai and not try Hai Peng coffee and roti bakar at least once haha. Visited before 7am - before the breakfast crowd - and I found the atmosphere lovely, warm and relaxed.

Now the food isn't anything special, you can't really go wrong with roti bakar, half boiled eggs topped with soy sauce and pepper, and a cup of kampung kopi with plenty of condensed milk. The service was quick but maybe because it was still early. But by 7am, it was full house, with Chinese, Malays, Indians and Others, eating together in harmony and peace.

Quick note on the halalness. The town is mostly dominated by Chinese non Muslim restaurants and it is lacking in info on halal places to eat online (because it's not exactly a favorite tourist spot). The place is a quick way to fill up while us Muslims search for more religiously acceptable meal. Yup the cafe didn't apply for the halal sign and you might not want to bring the older more conservative folks here. (For that, go out of town to Kampung Geliga, there's plenty of delicious Malay food on offer such as otak otak, satar, fish crackers and all kinds of rice and noodles and noodles).

I'm not saying that we were in a darurah situation that we had to eat pork laden half boiled eggs, pork laden kaya on toast and pork laden local coffee, I'm saying exercise common sense and have faith in people that they won't do anything intentional to jeopardise your beliefs. That's better than making snide remarks and presenting Muslims as judgemental and impossible members of the society. Which I know a lot of us aren't. And the least these people could do is recommend better...

A must for every tourist or passerby and definitely popular for the locals and among those in the Oil & Gas industry that frequents Kemaman. This is the original and real deal of a kopitiam since the early 20th century.

The operating building had expanded & renovated. It is properly maintained over the years. A family business brings not only the typical local coffee, those delightful local taste bud food but also the nostalgia.

Both coffee and tea served on typical Chinese kopitiam thick cup and sauce with motives of the great yesterday, and don't ever skip sipping it with a set of two buns, filled with our typical Planta (magerine, but local just refer to the brandname) and that thick local kaya (coconut jam if you will).

There are variety of local delights like Nasi Lemak made by locals to be savoured, and also keropok (local fish crackers) to be bought back among others. The crowd is amazing and the service crew swing around quickly to take and bring your order(s).

Parking is ample, at the parking square across the street. Remember on a normal working day, a parking coupon is probably required. A small kiosk at the square can help you with that. Be careful crossing the road to and from Hai Peng on a rush hour, but it is part of the experience. When in Kemaman, no rush always safety first.

Be there and explore the sound and taste of Kemaman here. There you go, the nostalgia...

Our East Coast trip brought us from KT to Kemaman, a town bordered by Dungun to the north and the stage of Pahang to the south. As we had quite a lot for breakfast in KT earlier, we were not exactly hungry at that point of time but we had some time to kill before checking in our destination for the day.

I just want to enjoy another cup of tea with light snacks, so Tong Juan was definitely out of the picture. What was more appropriate than the famous Hai Peng Kopitiam? There's a saying that you haven't been to Kemamab if you didn't go to Hai Peng.

A kopitiam where you can find all the major races in Malaysia sitting under the same roof, they have been operating since 1940s. ◾keropok lekor - coated with batter and deep fried, this is what Terengganu is famous for. ◾ nasi lemak Kari ayam - this national dish came with a sizeable portion of Fragrant santan rice with good sambal.. not too sweet nor spicy (just right!). ◾legendary teh/kopi - kaw kaw beb!

We didn't get to try their famous roti bakar, nasi dagang ikan tongkol nor mee siam - the other things that they are famous for. But our tummies were already happy with the quick stop to recharge before our journey.

Owned by Chinese but you'd see mostly our Muslim friends sitting down enjoying their kopi/teh with their food in the morning till late afternoon. Definitely...