Dinner @ Jon & Jay Bistro

"Good evening, ladies," a deep voice greeted us.

I did not recognise the chef at all. I did not know him, but my friends did. "Why are you here?" they asked him.

"Well, sometimes I'm there and sometimes I'm here," he replied.

Okie. "There" refers to Grand Palace Hotel and "here" refers to Jon & Jay Bistro. He was supervising the cooking at the Bistro.

Well, my friends and I were at Jon & Jay's for dinner the other day. We ordered ...

Sarawak Laksa
"Where're the prawns?" I asked when the bowl was placed on the table. There were, however, prawns swimming in the gravy somewhere. I never liked boiled eggs with laksa. It was inauthentic. The gravy needed a bit more tweaking, I thought. I did not like this dish.
 

Regata Pork Chop
Served with a cauliflower floret, coleslaw, french fries and a honey barbecue sauce
My friend thought the meat was too dry, but I did not think so. I liked the well-marinated meat and I thought the sauce went pretty well with the meat. Heck, I even liked the cauli which tasted of a faint hint of butter. The pork chop also came with an apple sauce, served separately in a little saucer. I thought the sauce was really tasty, fresh and fruity. Like.

Vermicelli and offal in wine soup
My friends kept saying that the smell of the wine was strong. Well, indeed it smelled strongly and very fragrantly of wine, which I liked. But when you taste the soup, however, you'd find that the it did not overpower. The boiling hot soup warmed my stomach, so I liked it. I also liked all the of fresh ingredients in there - the offal and what not.

New York Cheese Cake

My friend did not like the cheese cake, but I did. I thought it tasted really rich, creamy and cheesy, and not to sweet. It brought to me, a nice end to tonight's dinner. 

Well, I'd enjoyed myself tremendously, my friends liked the place but they thought that it was too far to drive out from the other end of town. Too bad, but fortunately for me, work place is just a stone's throw, so I'd be coming back more often in the future! 

Mille Crepe

Hmn, I don't know if any bakery or restaurant here in Miri sells this. But this was flown from Sibu. My friend, D**** came back from Sibu today bearing this dessert.

"What are we having for dessert?" I asked D****.

"Crepe," she replied.

Crepe? Hmn ... I had in my mind a thin slice of pancake wrapped with delectable fruits and cream ... But well, I thought wrong.

D**** opened up the clear plastic packaging and I saw a slice of  cake resembling kuih lapis or layered cake. "Is this crepe? But I thought ....., " I started.

Well, in fact it's mille crepe. Mille crepe is a French dessert, made up of many layers of crepe and held together by cream.

According to D****, only a limited number of crepes is made each day, and they sell out very quickly. Okie, I thought. This HAD to be really yum ..
 

Hand-made and hand-layered

Well, I must say that I am totally IN LOVE with Mille Crepe. It's not too sweet, soft with a subtle hint of vanilla. Very delicious, indeed and I wanted MORE. Unfortunately, I'd have to go to Sibu ... a place that I don't frequent all that much.
 
For the luckier people staying in Sibu, head over to The Noodle House at Lorong Laichee 1, Sibu. Heck, I have no idea where that is. But if I ever get to go to Sibu again, I'll not give this eatery a miss. Promise!

Special Otah

"Smell this," D**** said, shoving something under my nose. I took hold of the roll which I saw in the darkness of the car, was snugly wrapped in an aluminium foil. It felt warm and smelt great.

"Pie?" I asked her.

"No, no, no!!! It's Otah," she said.

Otah? Somehow in my mind, I associate Otah with Singapore and Johor. For it was at those 2 places where I'd eaten Otah. But that was a long time ago. I remember eating the spiced fish paste, but I do not remember being impressed with it.

"Did you get it from Singapore?" I asked.

"No!!!! From Sibu!!"

Sibu? Geez, I sure did not know that Sibu had any association with Otah. Ok. So what made D**** bring back this Otah? It HAD to be GOOD. I mean, D**** knew of a certain someone in Sibu who KNEW where all the good food is.

And so .... I watched in suspense as D**** unfolded the aluminium foil and tore open a layer of banana leaf which wrapped the fish paste.

Ta-da!! 

"17 ingredients in there," D**** announced.

Wow, I was impressed even before I tasted it. Lol. Anyway, the Otah was a light turmeric yellow colour, and was surely very fragrant. I could smell and the variety of spices used. I'd not be able to name them though. The Otah was very tasty indeed, because the blend of spices complimented the fish very nicely. It also had good texture. My guess? The fish was probably flaked and not minced. Both W** and I enjoyed the Otah. Thanks for the treat, D****.   

W** happens to be going to Sibu this weekend .... and she promises to bring some back this trip ..... Yippee .... it looks like we are going to have more Otah from Payung Cafe @ Lanang Street, Sibu. Soon.

Dinner @ The Vintage Tea House

The girls went to The Vintage Tea House for dinner that night. We'd always liked the food here.

Long Jing Tea Rice, RM2.00

Fluffy rice with a hint of tea

Meat Stuffed Tofu, RM2.50 per piece

This is really tasty, the meat and tofu a perfect combination. Both the meat and tofu are soft and the broth is savoury. This dish has a "homey" feeling, it tastes and feels like something Mom would make at home.

Puerh Bak Kut Teh, RM12.00 per serving

The broth is light and delicate with the taste of herbs. A great soup with the rice.

Bitter gourd with eggs, RM8.00 for a small serving

Yummy ... bitter gourd and eggs are just perfect together.

Buttered Tea Deep-fried Pork, RM12.00 for a small serving

    We've always been impressed with the Buttered Pork. But tonight, the sauce is too watery. It softens the meat too quickly and so it feels a bit icky ...

Overall, eating here is still enjoyable as usual. Chicken rice is nice here, but it is only served on Sunday.

Lunch @ Jon & Jay Bistro

Frustrated with work, my colleague and I headed for lunch at Jon & Jay Bistro. That's the new name for the eatery formerly known as Our Daily Bread.

So what did we have?

Dilmah Green Tea, RM5.00

 Vermicelli in Wine Soup, RM7.00

It was a huge serving! The soup was clear and very tasty, and there were amounts of pork and offal.

 

 Stir-fried Vermicelli, Wet RM6.00

Another huge serving of vermicelli in a savoury gravy. It too was yum.

 Pancake with ice-cream, RM8.50

The pancakes were soft, sweet and satisfying. They were drenched with maple syrup. I love maple syrup so I enjoyed the pancake even without the butter and the vanilla ice-cream!  

 Cutesy Angry Bird Cakes

I was attracted by these tiny cakes which sold for RM4.50 each. So cute, aren't they? I did not buy them but was very much tempted to indeed! 

A good lunch with lots of chit chat and that took away a bit of our stress.

Claypot Noodles @ Thien Sin

I don't know why I seldom eat at this coffee shop, Thien Sin. It is located opposite the Miri Civic Centre. Here, you can order the expensive fish or prawn claypot noodles. But I did not want seafood that day, so I had the Claypot Beehoon Special.

Claypot Beehoon Special, RM6.00

Hmn. I liked the clear soup, as it has a faint hint of fragrant red rice wine. It had in there slices of pig liver, kidney, pork slices, prawns, meatballs and mustard greens.

I enjoyed my hot breakfast.

Mr. Ho's Fine Foods

Hmn. We flipped the menu, undecided about what to order. Then came the Captain, and he said he would put together the house specialties so we would get to sample different types of food.

Actually, he was trying to be helpful, but I could tell that my friend was annoyed. I think she preferred to take the time to select the orders, though she conceded.

We had ... 

Warm Bacon and Walnut Salad, RM22.90
A light salad with balsamic dressing, the walnuts and bacons crunchy and complementing the crispy coral lettuce and sweet cherry tomatoes. The cheese cubes added character to the whole dish.

Mussels in Chilli Cream Sauce, RM18.90

My favourite dish of the evening, as the mussels were coated in a superbly rich and creamy, yet spicy sauce. Break a bit of the toasted bread on the side and dip it into the sauce. DIVINE!

Assorted Sliced Sauteed Sausages, RM18.90

2 types of sausages noted here, and sauteed with onions.

Spaghetti Aglio Oglio With Chilli Flakes, RM16.90

This is a basically spaghetti with garlic, olive oil and chilli flakes. And it is surprisingly tasty. There were some crispy bits of crunchy pork rind in there. It provided a rich flavour. Yum.

Crispy Roast Pork With Apple Sauce, RM19.90

The pork slices were tender, but I would have liked it to be a bit more salty. My friend liked the Apple Sauce, which did taste prominently of apples. But I'd be happier with mustard, or maybe a chilli sauce :)). I suppose apple sauce is more refined, compared to mustard or chilli ...

Bread Pudding

Hmn ... quite yum, actually ... delectably sweet and tasted great with the vanilla ice-cream

And washed down with ...

 

Apple Juice

Sweet and tangy and refreshing, but it oxidised and turned an ugly brown within 5 minutes.

I enjoyed the meal, but I'm not so sure about my friends ....... and I'm not sure they'd decide to return .... hmn .......... Wait and see.