Madam Tang's @ The Spring Food Bazaar

When I last had Fried Chicken noodles at Madam Tang's, I was impressed. The noodles were just so tasty that I could drool just thinking about it.

Hence, when Fourth Aunt and I went for a meal at The Spring Food Bazaar recently, I quickly ordered Fried Chicken noodles at Madam Tang's stall. This time, however, I was disappointed as the noodles were rather dry and not quite as tasty. What happened?? Different cook? Different cooking method? The ingredients did look the same, but there was no broth at all. It was just not as yummy. Hmn .... I was definitely let down. I ate all the fried chicken fillet and the vegetables and left the dry noodles behind.

Aunt ordered the Nasi Lemak with fried chicken fillet, which I ate some too. I liked the nasi lemak as the rice had the fragrance of the coconut milk. The sambal was piquant and spicy and was real yum when eaten with the rice and the other items on the plate. Not bad, and I would definitely recommend it to all nasi lemak lovers.

Nasi lemak

Quirky Bra Hanger

Fourth Aunt and I were browsing at a discount store at Tabuan Heights, and we came across an interesting contraption.


This plastic household item has twin concaves, and is used for hanging bras. Amused, I snapped a photo while Aunt posed. Lol.

The hanger sells for RM5.50 for 3 pieces.

Soft Talk Chocolate Muffin

Packaging

Hmn. Quite a large piece, selling for RM1.60 is the Soft Talk Chocolate Muffin. I bought a piece to satisfy my curiosity.

Elongated Muffin

Well, the muffin was soft, quite light, not too sweet, and tasted chocolatey enough for a mass produced piece of cake ;p. Nevertheless, it had a really overpowering smell and taste - sharp, sweet, milky, and strong. Long after I had finished eating the muffin, I could still remember the smell and taste. It kind of made me wonder whether these were power preservatives. Hmn.

Venture to Hills Shopping Mall

Fourth Aunt had never been to Pullman Hotel. She was not even sure where it was. Hence, I brought her there one afternoon. Pullman Hotel Kuching is located at Jalan Mathies. Not sure where that is? Well, it's near Hilton Hotel and Crowne Plaza Hotel, sitting atop a hill.

I drove and parked at the basement. Basement parking was RM1.00 per entry.

Aunt and I walked around the Pullman Hotel lobby, admiring the decor. We even sneaked a peek at the swimming pool located at the second floor.

In the same building is Hills Shopping Mall. It is a 2-storey shopping mall which house retail outlets like The Body Shop, Times Bookstore, HSL Circuit City, Calvin Klein Jeans, to name a few. Eateries include Sushi King, Marry Brown, Old Town White Coffee, and so on. Many of the shops are yet to be opened. But this mall felt empty, dreary, and boring, with low consumer traffic. It's in a rather sorry state, I think.

On the second floor was Wan Chai Restaurant, another attempt at a Hong Kong style cafe. Aunt and I flipped the menu but we were not attracted to try any of the food items. Instead, I ordered a Korean Rice Cracker Ice Cream.

Well, the cracker was crispy, much like our keropok, except that it was not savoury. But it was good enough to eat on its own. The ice-cream was of the soft serve variety. I chose vanilla flavour, but it really was not nice at all. It was sweet, and I thought it had a funny taste. Not milky enough.

The ice-cream quickly made the cracker soggy, so it was rather difficult to eat. Sigh, this ice-cream is not worth trying. It's RM2.50 per serving.

Korean Rice Cracker Ice Cream

Soft serve ice-cream

There's a teeny weeny food court on the first floor. There were but a few stalls there, inclusive of a Kim Bay outlet, and All Joy Desserts Bar. I thought the place seemed dim and uninviting. However, I there was this stall which attracted a lot of customers.

The stall was manned by a few youngsters, busily taking orders, cooking and packing little balls of goodness. Well, the stall is called Japan Boat Takoyaki. A banner at the side said "First and Only in Kuching" and "Never Try Never Know".

All right, Aunt and I were persuaded and we decided to try a box of 3 pieces which cost us RM3.20. We had to wait quite a while as there were so many orders. Aunt and I sat and watched as the workers busily prepared the takoyaki balls.

First batter was poured into the takoyaki moulds. The lady then put a tiny bit of octopus into each mould. Next, shredded cabbage was sprinkled over the cooking batter. The balls were then turned over and over as they cooked. A while later, cooking oil was poured onto the mould, and the balls sizzled in the burning oil. Seeing the amount of oil that was used, I had really doubted whether I should consume those snacks, which I knew would be really high in fat content. Anyway, the lady let the balls cook till they became a bit charred on the outside.

When they were ready, the balls were packed into paper boat boxes, brushed with a brownish-looking sauce, and topped with mayonnaise, and sprinkled with fish flakes. You could actually have your takoyaki with other flavours like wasabi.

A boat-shaped packaging

Sprinkled with fish flakes

Stick a toothpick in a ball

See the shredded cabbage and a tiny piece of octopus inside

I asked the man what the brown sauce actually was and he said he could not disclose. Lol. It was apparently a secret recipe, a firmly guarded trade secret. Lol.

Eaten hot, the balls did not seemed to feel that oily. Hence, I did not feel as guilty as I should have. Lol. Aunt liked the sauce but found the octopus bit too hard and difficult to masticate. Well, the takoyaki balls proved to be a satisfying snack, and we were really tempted to buy another pack. It was just that we did not want to wait the 10 minutes it took for the balls to cook.

Well, Hills Shopping Mall was not interesting at all, but I really do not mind going back just to savour those yummy takoyaki balls.

Lunch @ SCR

Second Aunt and Uncle wanted to bring me to SCR for lunch, and I could not fathom why they chose SCR. I was never impressed with SCR here in Miri.

SCR is the abbreviation for Singapore Chicken Rice, with many outlets around Kuching. Just to name a few, there's one at Jalan Song Thian Cheok, another at the Spring, one outlet at Jalan Song, and another opening soon at Tabuan Plaza.

Anyway, they took me to the outlet at Tabuan Heights Commercial Centre. The restaurant looked clean, was brightly decorated, and air-conditioned. There were quite many customers at noon, and the tiny space on the ground floor was packed. We climbed upstairs to find more seating area.

Every table had jars of ground ginger and tangy ground chilli, and bottles of soy sauce and pepper. Patrons could help themselves to as much or as little of the condiments as they liked.

We ordered 3 sets of chicken rice with steamed chicken. And this is what it looks like :


Each of us got a plate of rice and a bowl of soup, and then a platter of steamed chicken to share. Slivers of sliced cucumber lined the boat-shaped dish, and there were some pickles on the side too. The chicken was doused with a mixture of sesame oil and light soy sauce.

Well, take a spoonful of rice, a slice of chicken, a slice of cucumber. Drench with tangy ground chilli and shovel the food into your mouth. Yum!

Tangy ground chilli

Aunt insisted on ordering a Seafood Cantonese Fried Kueh Tiaw. It came in a mini wok. I thought it looked quite interesting. You can see lots ingredients swimming in the gravy, such as prawns, fish slices, fish balls, crab sticks and lots of mustard greens.


The Kueh Tiaw had a burnt charcoal taste that is so essential for a fried noodle dish. Plus, the sticky egg gravy was really tasty. I do like to recommend this dish to all.

Today's lunch did not disappoint. Admittedly, I had very low expectations of SCR. After today's visit, however, I am glad to say that I had a better impression of this chicken rice chain. Nevertheless, I cannot be assured that I will get the same quality of food at its outlets in Miri. Will I visit SCR in Miri? Hmn ... I cannot enthusiastically say I will. Just wait and see ;))

Soft Talk Peanut Butter Bun

I was at Kuching International Airport the other day, and being early, I browsed at the few shops in the departure hall. At the front of the shop, there was this metal rack filled up with individually wrapped buns and muffins in attractive packaging. For a while I thought Gardenia was finally making its way into the shores of Sarawak.

But upon scrutiny, I discovered that these were buns manufactured locally by a company named Soft Talk Bakery Sdn. Bhd. Curious about how these buns would taste, I bought one with the words "Peanut Butter" on the packaging. It cost RM0.80.

Soft Talk Peanut Butter Bun

Well, I must say that the bread was quite fresh, the texture was fluffy. The bun was slit lenghwise and spreaded with a layer peanut cream. The peanut cream was also not too sweet.

Peanut cream filling

There were many flavours to choose from, among those that I remember are blueberry, sweet corn, red bean, and chocolate. No harm giving the rest of the flavours a try the next time I can get my hands on the buns!

Anchovies Fried Vermicelli

This was what Ah Nga at Season Motor Canteen @ Piasau made.

Anchovies Fried Vermicelli

This is what I made today ;p.

My version

My ingredients were blanched vermicelli, cangkuk manis, an egg, anchovies, and shallots.

Ingredients

The verdict? I liked it!!! It probably did not look as professional, nor taste as good as Ah Nga's, but I think my version was not bad at all. Dad reckoned it was better than Kim Bay's Hong Kong Style Fried Vermicelli. Lol.

Happy Dumpling Festival 2010

A few of us at home went to the Moral Uplifting Society to give offerings to our ancestors, in conjunction with the Dumpling Festival.

I do not know much about the practices and the rituals, nor the items to be offered. So I asked and according to the elders in my family, there had to be rice, wine and tea, 3 types of meats, 2 vegetable dishes, firm beancurd, huat kueh (发糕) and fruits. It is a complete and elaborate feast for the deceased ancestors.

The huat kueh symbolises prosperity for the family, whereas the beancurd is "passport" to the underworld. Believe it or not?? Because this is the dumpling festival, dumplings are offered too. Mom made the dumplings herself.

Mom's dumplings

Yum ...

Mom made 160 pieces of dumplings this year. Amazing, eh? I've already blogged about Mom's dumplings. Read here. ;)

Breakfast @ Choon Hui Cafe

This is a famous cafe in Kuching, located along Jalan Ban Hock. Don't know where? Well, it's near Grand Continental Hotel.

What's famous here was the laksa. The original laksa vendor, however, has retired. It has since been taken over by someone else, but the laksa is still very popular.

The laksa is RM4.00 a bowl. The gravy was brownish in colour, and had good consistency. It was nice, but just not spicy enough for me. No complains about the noodles and the topping.

Laksa

I ordered a bowl of kolo mee too. It came with lots of ingredients, like the liver, prawn, a slice of chicken and pork, char siew, minced pork, and veges. The kolo mee was RM3.50 a bowl. Not bad but I still felt that it lacked that oomph.

Kolo mee

The charcoal toasted bread is also quite popular here. The toast is spreaded with butter and kaya, and costs RM1.20 per set.

Charcoal Toast

A
And that sums up today's eating adventure.

Lunch @ Kim Bay HK-Macau Restaurant

I went for lunch at Kim Bay HK-Macau Restaurant at The Spring, Kuching. Mom and I had sugarless cold green tea, served in a drinking jar. Refreshing.

Iced Green Tea

Dad had Hong Kong Style Coffee. Dad liked it. I had a sip but I think the coffee I had in Hong Kong was much nicer than this.

Hong Kong Style Coffee

We wanted to try the dim sum here. All were RM3.80, except the Har Gao which was RM4.30.

Char Siew Pau

Siew mai

Har Gao

Chicken Feet

Egg Tarts

The dim sum, though pork-less, was quite nice. The egg tarts, of course, cannot compare to Choi Heung Yuen's. Nevertheless, they were alright.

Besides the dim sum, we ordered Fried Hor Fun with Sliced Beef. All of us liked this dish. The noodles were tasty, the bean sprouts crisp, and the beef slices tender. Quite yum. It was RM7.30 per serving.

Beef Hor Fun

We did not like the Fried Hong Kong Style Bee Hoon though. The noodles were flavoured with curry, and had chicken slices and prawns and sliced green peppers in it. We found it dry and ordinary. Not recommended. This dish was RM8.30.

Fried Hong Kong Style Bee Hoon

The meal came to RM46.00, inclusive of 5% service charge. However, the restaurant gave a rebate of RM1.00 for parking, as long as patrons spent a minimum of RM19.00 in a single receipt.

Nancy's Beef Noodles

Nancy has moved from 28 Food Centre. She is now located behind Kaya & Toast.

The menu now offers beef noodle soup, dry beef noodles with soup, seafood noodles, chicken curry with rice, assam seafood with rice, and laksa.

I think the quality of the food and the service is so much better now.

For one thing, it is not so crowded here as compared to 28 Food Centre. Hence, I did not have to wait as long as previously for my orders.

Spoons, chopsticks and saucers are now placed on the tables at diners' disposal. I remember at one time, they offered disposable chopsticks. I hated it, and often wanted to bring my own when eating there. Besides those eating utensils, so were the chilli sauce and limes placed on the tables. I could have as much as or as little as I like.

Quantity wise, the serving of the noodles seemed larger now. And the bowl of beef broth seemed more substantial, with lots of crispy beansprouts, tripe, tender slices of beef, garnished with chopped cilantro. I was disappointed that there were no beef balls which I liked a lot.

Dry beef noodles with a bowl of soup

Beef broth

The beef noodles were really good, and a set costs RM6.00.

I also ordered a laksa, RM5.00. It was good, but I still did not like the hard-boiled egg and the fish cake in there.

Sarawak Laksa

S**** and I were both flabbergasted that Laksa Special cost RM10.00 as stated on the menu. One day, we would want to come back and try it!