Kopi Tiam Kopi Tiam

The half-boiled eggs, still whole in their shell, come served with soy sauce, pepper and salt to choose as garnishings. Sitting beside them are squares of two-layered toast, sandwiching a rich and inviting layer of spread called the kaya, To complete the trifecta in a winner of a breakfast is a small cup of milked coffee, looking as brown as the sandwich spread.

To get to this set of food, there was a queue of around 20 persons, all willingly waiting for their dose of this traditional mix, based on British colonial, Straits Chinese and South Indian tastes. In the sixties and seventies, this was the ubiqutious expected fare in down-to-earth coffee shops (kopi tiam) along every respectable main street in countless towns and villages in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore. Such coffee shops still exist, but here I was in an ultra modern shopping complex called The Curve in the Klang Valley of Malaysia, and the coffee shop I was in was a shop lot on an upper level of the building and not street side. In Singapore, such fare is also served as fast food from economical outlets in MRT commuter stations.

Familes, singles, couples and children all took in their food with a gusto. Some order more spicy and chillied food like curry laksa and nasi lemak, both South-east Asian in origin. The laksa dish is akin to having curry soup combined with your choice of noodles, meat pieces and green garnishings. The nasi lemak is served with bits of deep fried anchovies, fresh cucumber cuts, a dash of sambal paste, slices of hard boiled eggs and gutsy Indian curry chicken. Sambal is the granish that gives the kick and glues all the different sensations together - the fluffiness of rice cooked in coconut milk, cruchiness of fresh vegetables and the spiciness of meat.

Watch out Starbucks, a newly revived trend in public eating may have emerged, one that provides a return to local values and also suburban chic. The business formula may look familiar - provide a few signature items that customers will eat on a regular basis; provide a shop ambience that encourages homeliness; ensure fast service and fast turnaround; employ young people at low cost in the shop; and ensure that the food - and coffee or tea - is flowing throughout. Oh yes, the coffee or tea - it must have its stand-out taste, with its own peculiar brand as well.