An Ethnic Lunch

It's a stressful day today, as we checked through a huge bundle of papers. We needed to kill plenty of brain cells going through the pile of papers set for today. Hence, we certainly looked forward to our meal times, where we could take a short break.

We did not even want to go out for lunch, as we did not want to waste time navigating through the busy lunch traffic. Such workaholics, aren't we ;p? Hence, my colleague ordered and had some food delivered to us.

Today, our orders were from The Summit Cafe @ Centrepoint Miri. This eatery serves authentic Kelabit fare, and according to my colleague, is always packed during the rushed lunch hours.

My colleagues ordered the nuba laya, or leaf-wrapped rice. The rice was compacted into a bar, and wrapped in a leaf. I had tried it before, but I was not really used to the soft texture of the rice, which is akin to a softer and smoother version of nasi himpit.

Leaf-wrapped rice

Hence, I ordered the ordinary rice, which came in a polystyrene container.

My tapau

With the rice, I had a pork belly stew, a minced fish, and the compulsory tapioca leaf. The dishes were quite tasty. The meats and vegetables were mildly-flavoured, and I could still taste the natural flavours of the ingredients used. I especially liked the tapioca leaves, which had this fragrant 香 taste. The dishes went very well with the rice.

No doubt it was a simple and quick lunch, but I felt that it was really wholesome and satisfying.