Every town has a small elite group of restaurants which are the local icons that everyone, young and old, knows about and where the big special occasions like weddings are celebrated.
In Segamat, Shi Wei Fu sits at the top rank of restaurants for the past 20 years. Shi Wei Fu began life humbly as a push cart stall in 1982. Shi Wei Fu’s inspiring rags to riches story, and hearing that the owner MR Lim Gu is also an avid photographer and traveller really piqued my interest to make the more than 2 hours journey to Segamat.
Locating the restaurant turned out to be an adventure in itself.
Without any good maps of the area, we relied on instincts and managed to find, after a couple of detours, the location stated on the address (Jalan Nagasari). To our dismay, we found only old and faded signs at the supposed location of this renowned restaurant. A quick check with a local revealed that Shi Wei Fu had just moved to a new location! She pointed us back towards downtown and a place called “Taman Utama”. Without maps, we had some doubts and even had thoughts of having made a wasted trip L (We had an appointment to keep in Muar that day.)
Off we went, following our instincts again, we made brave turns into the small tamans (precincts) within Segamat and finally found Taman Utama. We circled Taman Utama and kept a serious look out for Shi Wei Fu. We didn’t find it L
The reason being, we were searching the shop lots expecting it to be another restaurant in a shop house, oh, but we were so wrong.
As we were about to leave Taman Utama, a gigantic white (and new) building loomed before us. There’s no way that this is what we are looking for, I thought to myself, but after taking a closer look, THIS IS IT!
WOW! We got a pleasant surprise! Ample parking spaces are available next to the huge restaurant building. This small restaurant has transformed into a enormous double storey wedding banquet hall! I actually wondered if this is the largest banquet hall in the whole of Johor - I won't be surprised, if it is.
Catering to its long time, loyal clientele, a small section of the banquet hall is reserved to serve dishes to walk-in customers. When we were at Shi Wei Fu, many of the tables were occupied by three generation families.
The menu at Shi Wei Fu is the largest I have ever seen. It’s more like a National Geographic coffee table photo book than a restaurant menu. The more than 100 pages thick book has large exquisite colour photos of the sumptuous Chinese cuisine that Shi Wei Fu offers.
Our stomachs growling and our mouths watering after flipping though the menu, we quickly ordered a few of Shi Wei Fu's best known dishes.
Shi Wei Fu’s signature fried rice is one of its most popular dishes.
RM8 gets us a large plate of perfectly fried rice generously topped with small fried anchovies. The fried rice was not oily, and was tasty and fragrant.
RM8 gets us a large plate of perfectly fried rice generously topped with small fried anchovies. The fried rice was not oily, and was tasty and fragrant.
Mongolian Pork Ribs, costing RM8 per piece, we get our hunger satisfied with these huge ribs!
Marinated well and deep fried to perfection, this Mongolian Pork Rib is a must try for rib lovers! Slight saltiness and crispy exterior meets moist interior - the rib still retaining its natural flavour and character!
Butter Fried Fish, priced at RM38, this is an affordable plate of yummy goodness! The fish is deep fried to a high standard of crispiness, yet retaining the moisture under the crispy fish skin! Toppings of fried crumbs sprinkled all over the fish adds to the buttery flavour and crunchy texture of the dish. After devouring the whole fish, only an empty fish skull was left, all skin, tail and fins were chewed and eaten! I would gobble down the fish bones as well, if these were digestible too!
Shi Wei Fu is definitely a must try. I heard their crispy duck is very good – will definitely come back for this J
Shi Wei Fu is definitely a must try. I heard their crispy duck is very good – will definitely come back for this J
Restaurant name: Shi Wei Fu Restaurant
Address: Jalan Utama 2/4, Taman Utama, Segamat, Johor
Hours: and
Non Halal
Date visited: 10 May 2012
I was drooling reading your post in the office!
ReplyDeleteToo bad I'm not at Johor. Will surely try this if I do :)
http://www.cherylchanphotography.com/
Sorry ;P Like your blog - following your blog now. Nice pics.
ReplyDeletewow.. my hometown! :)
ReplyDeletecame here today,alone. fried rice is rm10/small and ribs rm9/piece (min two piece) its thurs nite, a weekday probly explains the slow crowd. observed that they use good quality ingredients but taste wise, in my humble opinion, nothing to shout about considering the big price in a small town. but thanks to the blog, i found a good eatery just behind my hotel for the night
ReplyDeleteThank you Bernard. What is the eatery you found? What should we try there? :-D
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