GEORGE TOWN, Aug 23 — Green, yellow, bright pink and brown; some sweet and sticky; steamed and fried; others savoury and wrapped in slightly charred banana leaves.
There is kuih bingka ubi, kuih cara manis, pulut inti, cucur badak, pulut dakap, wajik pulut, kuih sago, kuih cincin, kuih kodok, seri muka, kuih talam, cucur udang and kuih kosui.
Then there is the nasi goreng kampung, nasi briyani ayam, bihun goreng, mee goreng, koay teow goreng, nasi lemak, roti jala and a multitude of packets of rice and noodles.
It may be a roadside stall at the junction of a one way street and the busy Kelawei Road but the Jones Road warung is one famous haunt with literally thousands of kuih and hundreds of packets of rice and noodles on offer.
Open from the early morning at dawn, the stall is a long row of folding tables covered from one end to the other with large containers of assorted kuih and heavier meals of packaged rice and noodles with curries.
Manning the stall is Herman Haron who inherited the stall from his elderly uncle. He said the stall started more than 20 years ago before it gradually became one of the main breakfast/lunch/tea places for many living or working in the area.
While there is limited parking, it does not deter regulars from stopping by for a simple and fast meal or for a snack to go.
Best of all, the stall gets its supply fresh and directly from homemakers living in the flats right next to it so they get a constant flow of food up to 2pm every day.
“We get between 1,000 to 2,000 pieces of kuih and 500 to 700 packets of rice and noodles each day from our suppliers, all of different variety, tastes and flavours,” Herman said.
If you talk about nasi lemak, they have five to 10 different types and when it comes to fried koay teow, nasi tomato, nasi goreng or fried bihun, there are also several different varieties and all these are all ready packed, ready for takeaway or for a really fast meal at one of their plastic tables under a large umbrella.
Their packets of nasi, either tomato or fried, often come with either chicken or beef and sometimes, they offer extra side dishes such as sambal tauhu (spicy tofu in chilli).
One of the main draws of this humble stall, which like any other roadside stall is located underneath a large shady tree, is of course its highly affordable prices.
A meal of rice with some kuih and a glass of teh tarik costs no more than RM5 per person and even if you are particularly hungry and order more kuih, the total bill will come up to no more than RM10 per person.
“All our food is home cooked by our suppliers and I also cook some of the rice, so we can say all are home-made without any preservatives,” Herman said, adding that any kuih or food that is not sold by the end of the day is returned to the suppliers who will often give it away.
The leftovers are never kept for the next day so each day begins fresh with new home-made kuih and food.
The warung is open daily from 7am to 5pm.
