QUOTE(PangurBan @ Jun 27 2010, 01:30 PM)
Has anyone any experience with this shop on Petaling Street? They've been around forever and people go there for their timsam and noodle dishes. Four of us had brunch there this morning and we didn't seem to have had very much so we queried the bill of RM54 and were astounded when they quoted a figure of 10+ (十几文) for a pot of kukpou for four.
Is this the going rate in that part of the world? Or were we fleeced?
The Chinese younger generation are moving away from KL and JLN petaling in particular and now when the old folks born in 1930s and 1940s fade away the JLN petaling area are turning into a foreign worker and tourist area with some hardworking Chinese hawker still holding the last ground. I have stopped going to there since 10 years ago although the restaurant is famous and is a reminescent of some good chineses dishes.
I foresee that the JLN Petaling in 2020 will really be a ChinaTown when chinese population dwindle to 8% from 33% from 1965, not because the 6.5MM Chinese population since independence has not growed at all since 20 years ago while the Malays and immigrant population have increased exponentially. The rest is up to the reader intepretation.
Is RM54 for 4 persons expensive (RM12/person), well if you go to Esquire kitchen and order a soup, a set meal or you go to Ipoh Beansprout Chicken rice to order some simple dishes, or you go to Macdonald and order a Double Big Mac it would cost from RM14 to RM26 per person. You have to budget around
Rm15 per person for tea time and RM25 per person for each lunch or dinner meal.
So the answer to your question is no, it is not expensive for 4 persons to spend RM54 ordering some fry noodle dishes.
But is our pay justified the higher cost of living ? If you are making 2,000 a month and have to spend RM54 for a family meal, maybe a bit tough but if you have worked hard and is earning RM4,500 after 5 years working then it is still affordable.