Dinner @ CGS Vegetarian Cafe

CGS Vegetarian Cafe at Faradale Garden here in Miri has been around for some time, but I have never gone there for a meal. Last night, we decided to have our dinner there. Why? Cause one of my friends, D**** was recently diagnosed with high cholesterol, and so we decided to cut down on eating meat.

The menu was rather comprehensive - there's noodles, rice, stir-fried vegetable dishes, mock meat dishes, soups, and even steamboats.

Last night, we ordered a steamboat. Depending on the ingredients, a portion costs RM10.90 - RM18.90. The RM10.90 set consists of just an assortment of vegetables, oyster mushroom, black fungus, tofu and vermicelli. The RM18.90 set has some mock meatballs, sausages and cuttlefish, besides the usual vegetables, mushrooms and vermicelli.

RM10.90 set

We shared a pot of steaming soup

I felt a bit amused, eating the mock meatballs, sausages and cuttlefish. Indeed they tasted like the REAL thing, and it was amusing that they were not! The more ingredients we added into the soup, the sweeter the soup became.

There was a sourish ground chilli sauce & an unidentified black sauce for dip. Overall, since it was a rainy evening, the soup really warmed us up.

With our rice, we had olive vegetable fried rice. Besides the olive vegetable, it had bits of long beans, mock char siew, and egg. The fried rice was quite tasty.

Olive Vegetable Fried Rice

We also had Preserved Radish Omelette. The omelette was fluffy, the preserved radish crunchy and not salty. Yum.

Preserved Radish Omelette

Another dish that we ordered and I liked a lot is the bitter gourd with 3 types of eggs. It was this rich flavour of the salted eggs, and will be real tasty if eaten with just plain white rice. It's really very good and my mouth waters just thinking about it.

Bitter gourd with three types of eggs

Finally, we had Butter Mushrooms, which was battered oyster mushroom drenched in butter milk gravy. The mushrooms were crispy on the outside, and richly flavoured with gravy. Quite yum.

Butter Mushroom

It was quite a pleasant going vegetarian for a meal for a change. I liked the cooking at the cafe, and I do look forward visiting this cafe again. The price was also reasonable, RM82.00 for 3 sets of steamboat, all the other dishes, inclusive of drinks.

So Pathetic

W**, A**** and I were at Bintang Plaza Megamall this afternoon, and we were hungry after walking and browsing in the shops.

There are a few fast food outlets here and we considered what we could eat to fill our tummies. Then, A**** raved about GCB @ McDonald's. There were long queues at 3 counters but we decided we would join in anyway, our eyes searching the colourful displayed menus for GCB a.k.a. Grilled Chicken Burger. However, there was a crude notice stuck over the menu and it said "OUT OF STOCK". Shuckksss!!!

Can't be helped, I suppose. It was the only McDonald's we have here in Miri. It catered to the whole of Miri city, and of course those invaders from neighbouring Brunei. No wonder GCB was out of stock! And no wonder the queues were miles long. Pathetic, isn't it?

So, we were left to consider other options. Starbucks? Nah. Pizza Hut? Hmn. Yeah, why not? We headed over for our pizza meal. We ordered a Regular Hawaiian Chicken Combo meal for 2, and upgraded our ordinary pan pizza to the stuffed crust Cheesy Lava, and sat happily waiting for our orders to arrive.

The first item served was supposed to be the Garlic Breadstix, as was in the menu. But instead of Breadstix, we were served this :

Where are the Breadstix???

Half of a roll of bread, quartered, and spreaded with garlic butter. The bread did not only look pathetic, it looked dry. When enquired, the waitress merely said they had not served Breadstix for quite long already. Why??? A cost-cutting measure? Why then do they retain Breadstix in the menu?

Then when our pizza came, we were again peeved, as the waiter failed to take note of our upgrade. We had a pan crust Hawaiian Supreme pizza instead.

Sigh. East Malaysians are really DEPRIVED!

Goodbye

I should have known
It hurts
But I have tried my best
And it's no longer up to me
So I accept it
I am resigned
For I cannot force you
I am just left to wonder
Why are you so brusque
And then I remember
That you have done it to her
And she was much more than I would ever be
So I accept it
With much regret
We are not meant to be
So it's good bye
To you and me

Sandwich & Noodles @ Double Star Cafe

Double Star at Pelita Commercial Centre has got a new and more comprehensive menu, as we found out when we visited the cafe this morning. W** and I shared a toasted ham and cheese sandwich.

Take a peek inside ...

The toast was lightly buttered and spreaded with mayonnaise. It has a slice of cheese, ham, lettuce and cucumber. Not bad, actually.

W** and I shared the Salmon Fish Head Mee Hoon. It was not bad, actually. Much better than the one at Shanghai Cafe.

Salmon Fish Head Mee Hoon Soup

This noodle soup came with dices of tofu and tomatoes, and slivers of salted vegetables. The deep-fried salmon fish head was crispy and yum. It had lots of bones, though. So be careful when eating.

Dinner @ Food & Tea

Food & Tea opened not long ago in Miri, and last night, my friends and I managed to go there for dinner. I had eaten at Food & Tea @ Berjaya Times Square, and I remembered liking the thick toast. Last night, as we were having dinner, we did not order the breads.

Well, W** and I shared a Shanghai-style Vegetable Rice with Pan fried beef (RM9.90). The rice was quite fragrant and tasty, and fluffy. The beef slices were tender and well-marinated, except that I thought it was too salty. The corn kernels added some colour and crunchiness to the bite. I wish they'd put more vegetables, though. There was only one miserable floret of brocolli, and 2 shreds of green vegetable.

Shanghai style vegetable rice with pan fried beef

A**** chose to have Fried Spaghetti with Pork Fillet in Hong Kong Style (RM9.90). I had some of those pasta and I did not think it was special in any way. It tasted merely of spaghetti in a mixture of oriental sauces and frozen vegetable bits. The pork fillet looked equally miserable.

Fried spaghetti with pork fillet

A**** and I liked the Baked Chicken Wings with Cheese (RM5.80). The sauce was rich and cheesy and flavoured the baked chicken wings well. The bigger wings, however, were slightly undercooked. I think I could just eat those cheesy wings with bread. Yum.

Baked chicken wings with cheese

We also tried some desserts. I liked my lotus seed & white fungus dessert (RM3.10), though it was quite sweet.

Lotus seed & white fungus dessert

Meanwhile, W** did not her Grass jelly with black glutinous rice dessert, which she thought was dry and thick. I think she preferred a more watery consistency for this dessert.

Grass jelly with black glutinous rice dessert

Overall, we were happy with the ambience and the quick service. We did not have to wait for long for the food. It could be that they were pre-cooked? Not sure. What's not so fun was the 10% service charge. For our meal we had to pay about RM5.00 just for service. Hmn ... RM5.00 could buy another meal at a hawker stall.

Breakfast @ Sun City

I had my breakfast at Sun City this morning. I ordered a kolo mee or dry-tossed noodles, and a liver soup. We waited for ages for the food.

When it arrived, I thought the noodles were dry and soggy, not Q at all. The taste was alright, but not great.

Dry-tossed noodles

The liver soup was nice, though, generous with liver and flavoured with red wine.

Liver soup

The service at this food court was poor, though. There were just too many people on a Sunday morning. We tried to buy dim sum, but my friend was really put off by the vendor who seemed indifferent to waiting customers. In the end, we decided not to eat.

I do not think I shall venture across town for breakfast here in the near future.

What Should I Do?

I thought I could put it down
And let it go
Because I know I have tried my best
And that I have no regrets
I am but a withered flower
Fading with the passing of time

But lately
I forget
That I have let it go
And now
The waiting
Torments me
My heart aches
And I do not know how to deal with it

Bye, Park Yong-Ha .......

I know him as Sang-Hyuk, the second lead in the popular Korean drama, Winter Sonata. I thought he was a good actor. He was a singer too, though I had never listened to his songs.

Park Yong-Ha
(Pic source : http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/07/01/2010070101116.html)

Today, I read that he had committed suicide. Why? Depression? Well, people speculate. But only he knew the real reason he decided to end his life. Sigh. What a loss of another Korean talent. RIP, Park Yong-Ha.

Inspector Singh Investigates : The Singapore School Of Villiany

Never judge a book by its cover, though the cover was pretty nice. Anyway, I picked up this book at MPH Bookstore and realised that Shamini Flint is a Singaporean writer. I decided to give it a try.

The story is set in Singapore, and revolves around a group of highly-paid expat lawyers. One of them is murdered in the beginning of the story and the police sets out to find the murderer. Soon, readers find out that each lawyer harbours a secret, and may be directly involved in the crime.

The protagonist is Inspector Singh. He is not your typical policeman. He is, according to his superiors, "a disgrace" to the police force. Lol. He is overweight and he cannot fit into his uniform. He drinks and chain-smokes. Despite all this, he's invaluable as he's the best investigator on the force.

Well, as soon as I began reading, I could not put down the book as I was so eager to find out who was culprit. I shall not reveal it here. Do read the book for yourself.