Lunch @ All Joy

All Joy is a very old eatery in Kuching. Does anyone remember it selling the best soy-braised duck rice ever? Well, that's over 30 years back, but I remember the fluffy white rice, served with tender slivers of soy-braised duck meat, drizzled with a sweet soy-braising sauce ..... and served with crunchy pickled cucumbers.

I do not think soy-braised duck rice is in the menu now. D and I went for lunch at the outlet at Wisma Saberkas the other day ..... and I ordered the chicken rice combo ....

Chicken Rice 

The chicken rice combo consisted of a large platter of rice topped with steamed chicken and pickles, papaya salad, soup and a glass of iced sweet orange cordial. The portion was huge, no doubt. I liked the pickles and not really anything else. 

D was on his carb-free diet ..... but he had a bowl of bubur chacha .... which I found to be too sweet. 

 Very sweet bubur chacha

And he ordered a bowl of chicken bak kut teh ...

Another huge portion here .... 

The soup had a strong taste of soy and was not as aromatic as I would have liked it to be ..... I did not like the soup but D liked it.

Hmn ..... I guess I did not particularly like eating there at all. :P

Chill @ Starbucks

We were supposed to join DS for dinner at Imperial Bak Kut Teh .... but then, later on, D decided not to. We headed to my favourite mall, The Spring, instead. D had a bowl of banmian. I

Banmian

The banmian were square sheets, instead of strips. I think there were some minced chicken in there and some deep-fried anchovies. Of course, not forgetting the all-important cangkuk manis for some added texture and colour.

Then D and I went to chill at Starbucks, where I had a complimentary drink. We only bought one cup but both of us could have a drink each.

Yums .... 

It's one of those days I allowed myself to indulge in a high-calorie drink like this one ..... sigh .... loved it lots! 

Bake & Brew

There is this new coffee place at Jalan Mendu named Bake & Brew. D and I went the other night for a cuppa .....

I loved the ambience ..... casual and modern, with lots of seating outside of the little shop.

We ordered a peach tea and a white chocolate almond, not knowing that the white chocolate almond was a cake and not a drink. Lol .... but the pot of peach tea that I ordered was more than enough for the two of us to share.

Peach tea, RM7.00; White chocolate almond cake, RM8.50

The tea was aromatic and enjoyable, D and I could have 2 cups each. We both loved the cake too, which was crumbly and very nutty.

I loved this place. Will be back.

Jacket Hunting

D and I were at the Spring a lot recently, because we were shopping for a jacket. There wasn't much choice, really ...... and after 2 trips, we finally settled on a smart-looking Bonia 2-way jacket; The damage? RM463.20. Pricey it was, but at least it was a classic piece which could last for a while.

We'd been to the Food Bazaar for our meals ....

 Ban mian

Ban mian was from the beef noodles stall. D seemed to like it as he ate this on two occasions. 

Braised Fried Noodle

The braised fried noodle was ordered from the wok-fried stall. I did not eat it, so I did not know whether it was nice or not.

I ordered rice from the "Melayu" stall on one occasion .... 

 Rice with beef masak kicap, yam stems masak lemak, and sayur ubi

The dishes were alright .... the beef was tender but a bit strong in cinnamon flavour and the sayur ubi was a tad salty. It was an enjoyable meal for me. The rice platter cost me RM9.80 though.

On another occasion, I wanted to eat a burger, so I bought a Swinger from Sugar Bun,

Swinger, RM6.90

Toasted sesame bread, cheesy sauce, seasoned chicken breast fillet with spicy coating, cheese, fresh lettuce ....

 The chicken did not fill the whole base oft he bun ... 

The burger was a bit dry .... but tasted alright. Not really that great, actually. After tax, I paid RM7.30. Not cheap.

Groupon Lunch @ Pinnacle Thai Restaurant

My colleague PH bought a groupon voucher at RM40.00, but the voucher value was RM80.00. So on Friday, the three of us went for lunch.

First up, hot plain water was RM0.30 per glass. Cold plain water was RM0.50 per glass. To add lemon into a glass of water was RM0.50 too.

We ordered only 4 items .....

 Pineapple Fried Rice, RM30.00

 Midin belacan, RM10.00

 Panda Chicken, RM18.00

The rice was a large serving, enough for 4 persons, actually. It was quite textural with diced vegetables, pineapple cubes, chicken, prawns, egg and garnished with cashews. It tasted faintly of curry flavour ..... not bad actually.

The midin belacan wasn't nice .... though the vegetables were crunchy and not over-cooked, the belacan paste was tasteless .... 

The thigh meat used for the pandan chicken was tender .... but the flavour of the seasoning did not come through.

PH's favourite dish was the prawn creamy tom yum soup which was spicy and sour. A milk-based creamer thickened the soup. I liked the soup too, except that I found it too salty. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photograph of this dish .... The prawn tom yum soup cost RM25.00

Our meal came to RM84.60; We paid only RM4.60 after we used our voucher to redeem. I think the food was laden with lots of msg ...... as I was thirsty the entire afternoon ...   

Cuppa @ Pak Somet's

D and I went out for a cuppa one night .... at Pak Somet's at Jalan Chan Chin Ann.

Iced plain black tea and fresh lime

I also ordered a platter of deep-fried banana fritters with cheese. 

 Banana cheese, RM5.00

Well, the banana fritters were quite tasty by itself already ..... the grated cheddar was sparingly sprinkled over the fritters and drizzled with condensed milk. I'd have more cheese on the fritters minus the condense milk ..... but well, this made a sinfully nice snack anyway. :P

Siang Siang Food Court 4.5 Mile

It was an awkward time to eat, at about 2.30 p.m. .... but at Siang Siang Food Court, there were still stalls operating. I opted to have this tofu, meatball and fishball soup with vermicelli ....

Meatballs, fishballs, stuffed tofu with vermicelli

The entire dish tasted alright ..... just that I felt that there were too much of processed ingredients in there - the meatballs and fishballs weren't exactly healthy ....... hmn ....

Char Kueh Tiaw @ Ting's Cafe BDC

After massage, D and I, together with his friends went around looking for snacks. We were at the Premier 101 area .... and at that awkward time of 4 p.m., there weren't anything appealing. So we drove to BDC to Ting's Cafe. Perhaps it was a public holiday that day ... or perhaps it was really an awkward time .... and there weren't much choices really ....

But D and I shared a plate of char kueh tiaw .....

Hmn ..... some tiny cockles which I think were either canned of frozen ones .... some fish cake ... beansprouts and shredded cabbage .... not really a great plate of char kueh tiaw ....

D still preferred Hui Sing .... :P

Laksa & Satay @ Lau Ya Keng

I was looking for a kaki ... lol .... or buddies to hang out or lepak with. These were my options.

1. Plan A - look for D. 
2. Plan B - look for CM and S. 
3. Plan C - look for CC.
4. Plan D - stay at home and rot. 

So D and I negotiated on where to go ..... and he agreed to bring me to Plaza Merdeka. We were supposed to shop for a telco service provider which would provide me with a more reliable network (than my existing one) and at a more reasonable price. There were only 2 telcos there at Plaza Merdeka as we found out ..... but at least we could make the necessary enquiries. In the end, I opted to switch. It was a breeze - just a matter of filling up a couple of forms and I was good to go with a new sim.

After some shopping, it was time to have lunch. D wanted to go to the food court - the newly re-branded Food Heaven.  I was aghast. I did not like the food court despite its revamp. Convenient, sure. But I did not like the food there. "I don't want to eat here," I sulked.

Glad that D indulged me and, we headed elsewhere. D suggested we go to Lau Ya Keng or the Carpenter Street Temple nearby to have lunch. Oh yes! Anywhere but the food court!

At Lau Ya Keng .... I met S (my plan B, lol) .... and D happened to meet his colleague and client .... hmn .... This is a popular place, D surmised. Indeed. For it was packed with locals and tourists alike. A tourist couple even had to share our table. We found out that they were from Switzerland, and here in Kuching for the first time.

Today, D had the fishball vermicelli while I tried the laksa.

 Sarawak laksa, RM6.00

Not the best laksa I had eaten in town, but it was alright. It had all the right ingredients - the vermicelli, beansprouts, egg shreds, chicken and prawns. But the laksa also had chicken offal .... which was kinda eew to me. This was something extra, something uncommonly found in laksa anywhere else. The all-important gravy, was on the diluted side, but tastewise, it was alright. Not the kind of laksa I would come back for. 

I also ordered satay .... which D had said he had never eaten before. How could he had never eaten the best pork satay in Kuching ? (Gosh! Kuchingite? Seriously? Roll eyes)

Delicious pork satay, RM0.60 per skewer

Wow ... these were moist and juicy and tender, and so full of flavour. Yums. D liked them too. :))

Siniawan Night Bazaar

Where are we going? I asked as I climbed into A's brand new Mitsubishi ASX.

Siniawan.

What?? Lol .... I never expected that we were going there, that's why. Anyway, there were the 4 of us in the car - A, W, L and me. A and W had never been there, but L and I had. I went with AT the last time, but we went in the morning. This evening, we were going to the night bazaar. But it was too bad that it was drizzling .... otherwise it would be even more fun!

 People with colourful umbrellas, strolling along the wet street .... 

 Live band! 

 One of the restaurants called "The Post"

 Kampung pig and kampung chicken? Sounds organic! 

We walked along the street, and ordered some snacks to try ... and these were some of them.

 Pork roll roll

This was barbecued pork, well-marinated yet not overdone, and still retaining its sweetness. We liked this pork skewer. It came with peanut sauce as well, but actually, it was good enough to eat on its own without the peanut dip. 

 Oyster omelette

We felt that the oyster tasted too "raw", but the egg bits were nice. 

 Pan-fried meat dumpling

These get soggy so quickly .... that the skin became oily and soggy ... not nice.

 This purple "goo" was not bad, the pastry was made of sweet potato and the filling was mung bean. It was not so sweet, and the texture was nice and chewy. 

We went back to the post .... 

 Kampung pig stirfry

Not sure if kampung pig is the same as wild boar? Anyway, the taste was alright, and the meat was tender ..... I ate only a small piece; wild boar isn't a favourite of mine. 

 Not sure what veg is this, this was just average in taste. 

Kampung chicken

We felt that the best dish among the three was the kampung chicken .... tasted prominently of ginger. 

Eh? Where was the lamb? We thought we ordered but apparently we did not .... well .... 

Know what's great there? The durian tarts were absolutely fantastic! They were so limited that when I went back to buy them, they were all sold out!!!

W seemed to enjoy herself. She wanted to come back. In 2 weeks time when she'd be here again in Kuching. Lol. Till next time then.

Homemade Muruku

I have an Indian student in my class .... and I ordered muruku from her mother. It was freshly made and very crispy and I loved it when the spices exploded in flavour when I chewed the muruku. 1 kg sold for RM30.00 .... and it came in 2 large bags ...

Freshly-made muruku 

Back home, I packed them in smaller bags and gave them away some to my friends. Of course, I kept a large container for myself to snack on  .... yums.

Sin Poh Poh

I came to eat here for two days in a row. This coffee shop is located at Jalan Padungan now. Last time, they used to operate at Ban Hock Road.

The first day, I was here for lunch. It was near noon time, and most of the food had already sold out. Both D and I ordered from the same stall.

D ordered the Ding Bian Hu, a Foochow delicacy, cooked by pouring rice flour batter over a heated wok and then broken up and slided into boiling hot broth in the wok. Normally,

 Ding Bian Hu, RM5.00 

Yummy

The dish was served really hot ... and D attempted to cool it off a little by stirring it around. Then I could see all the ingredients hidden in the broth - the pieces of flat rice flour pastry, the black fungus, carrots and green crinkly mustard, lily buds and fish balls. I helped myself to the soup, and liked the consistency which was not too starchy. The taste of the soup was quite heavenly too! Sweet and hearty. I'd love a bowl of Ding Bian Hu too, some other time, though. 

I had Mee Sua with Chicken Soup .... 

Mee Suah Chicken Soup, RM6.00

Here, the mee suah was served with poached egg, chicken and mushrooms. The red yeast chicken stood out because of its bright red colour. I loved the egg a lot ... cause the yolk was not overcooked and was still a bit runny. Yums. The soup had just a faint flavour of sweet red wine ... not bad, but I would loved lots of red wine in my soup, actually.

The next morning, Dad and I went to Noodle Descendents to takeaway noodles ....  it required about 40 minutes for our noodles to be ready. So Dad and I walked to Sin Poh Poh where we had laksa.

The laksa ingredients here could be customised ... one could have it plain without any meats and seafood, or with fishballs, or with clams and so on. I chose to have mine with chicken and prawns. That's the standard version.

Laksa, with chicken and prawns, RM6.00

Hmn ... the ingredients were standard, no complains. The broth ... was thick and rich, good consistency. But it had a strong clove flavour ..... not for those who dislike the overpowering taste of spice, Took a bit to get used to, but overall, it was alright. 

DS once told me that he liked the cha kueh here .... but I would have to try that some other time. :)) 

Noodles & Drinks @ Song Kheng Hai

It was a bit late as we headed for lunch at Song Kheng Hai Hawker Centre. Actually, I attempted to bring D to Noodle Descendents, but as usual, the queue was way too long. Min Hong Kee and Sin Poh Poh were both closing already .... and there seemed to be not much of choice for us.

Song Kheng Hai was pretty busy at the time! We even met a few acquaintances there. Kuching is such a small place.

What's great at Song Kheng Hai is of course the signature drink ....

 Fresh sugar cane and coconut mix, RM1.60 per glass

We had ordered the drinks from Stall 24. The drinks were absolutely refreshing .... but I think I preferred stall no. 1's mix which seemed to be thicker and sweeter and more satisfying. 

From stall 25, we ordered these .... 

 Fried noodles, RM4.00

One could have the noodles stir-fried in a sweet or savoury style .... D preferred the savoury version.

Tomato kueh tiaw, RM4.00

Hmn .... I liked the tomato gravy which was sweet and tangy ..... but the ingredients were pathetic. I guess if it were to be more yummy, there needed to be some greens, some prawns at least.

Well .... this is still a popular place among Kuchingites ... especially noon onwards. 

Meet Up Over Dinner

N and I met up with our former P over dinner the other day. It was sure good to see him again, and we chatted over our meal .... and it reminded me so much of our weekly meetings every Friday, where we would discuss work matters over some food. How I missed those days, and how I missed working with my former P, a truly passionate educator who inspires me every time. Had he not left the school, I would probably also still be there .....

With us that evening was a teacher from Melaka ... and so, we wanted to have him try our local delicacies. Oh by the way, we went to Top Spot for dinner.

 Ayam pansuh 

 Umai obor-obor 

 Midin belacan

 Tom Yum soup

Sweet and sour fish

We also ordered Nestum prawns .... and I did not have a photo of that, though. All the food was delicious, and I particularly loved the ayam pansuh.

So it led me to wonder why was it that when I ate here with AT the other day, the food was really horrible ...... Read here. Then I realised that it's probably AT himself at fault ..... AT always told the staff that he requested for low-salt and no msg .... and that's perhaps why the food tasted icky. Lols. Next time, I'd do the ordering!!

Introducing Noodle Descendents

My friend S comes from Perak. She's been here for a year, and she has not tried Noodle Descendents. She's heard of its fame and its reputation for being tiresome to wait for. But she's curious and she wanted to try it ...... so I brought her there on Saturday. My favourite and childhood noodle shop.

Our meal took 2 hours.

 Yummy .... 

Well, S was not too impressed with the noodles. Why? Well, firstly, I'd say that she ordered the wrong type of noodles. She had the mee pok  and the texture is not as springy as the ordinary noodles. Secondly, S did not eat offal ..... so she was busy picking them out and giving them away .... 

 Mee pok

I ordered a small bowl of soup for us to share .... but in the end, I was the one who finished the entire bowl with all its content ... sigh ....

Soup

Well, I'd certainly say that you could customise your noodles and your soup. Just order them without the offal. I did not know that S did not eat offal .... so I did not advise her as I should have. I'd probably spoilt her experience eating here. :P

Chinese Barbeque Specialist 烧腊第一家

D asked whether I wanted to eat at Chinese Barbeque Specialist or SCR Chicken Rice. We were at Song Thian Cheok Road ... and both shops were just there. I picked the former.

We ordered a combination of roasted pork, roasted chicken, and sausages. The sausages were my request. D made a face when I insisted on them. But after he tried them, he loved them too. Lol.

Lunch! I finished the rice accidentally, lol. 

 The roasted meats

The roasted pork was fantastic .... salty and aromatic and crispy. I would give it a thumbs up. The sausages were a bit dry for me, but the taste was nice. I did not quite fancy the roasted chicken which I thought was looking a bit too pale. 

 Kailan Stirfry

I never quite liked kailan, but I was glad that I could eat the version here. I especially loved the stems which had been cut in thin diagonal slices! So crunchy and yummy, and reminded me so much of asparagus. 

With 2 drinks, we paid RM23.90 for our meal.