Local Cakes @ Noodles Expert

If I remember correctly, I used to be able to get a good selection of local cakes at Noodles Expert, Kenyalang Park Commercial Centre.

That morning, after my exercise, I went to buy some for breakfast .... and did not really find anything interesting there .... so I bought ....

Cai Kueh

Take a peek at the filling ... 

And I bought ...

Popiah

Popiah ... which did not taste very nice as well ... 

What a disappointing breakfast. 

J's Braised Meat Rice

J is my cousin's husband. And he loves to cook. At a charity sale recently, J sold Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice. And he made lots of profit, which he duly donated to the charity he supported.

Given the success, Second Aunt and I invited ourselves to try J's Braised Pork Rice. Lol. And he obliged us by cooking for us one evening ....

J's Braised Pork Rice

Now, J himself is a Taiwanese, and he takes pride in this dish that represents Taiwanese cooking. According to him, the secret to making good braised pork is in the soy sauce. Normally, he will use a Taiwanese brand of soy sauce for braising.

Well, with my bowl of fragrant steamed white rice, I spooned a serving of braised pork and its gravy onto the rice, added half a boiled egg and some chopped cilantro ... yummy .... I liked it but the older folks found the braised meat to be a tad sweet .... I think J noted that, and perhaps he would balance up the flavour after this.

J aims to sell this during the Kuching Festival Fair this year .... ooo .... that will be so cool. :))

Lunch @ Chicking Eating House

We said we wanted to go to the newly refurbished food court at Wisma Nation Horizon. The new place was too packed. And typical D did not like to be in the crowd ..... plenty of places to eat, he often said.

So we ended up at Chicking Eating House instead. Alright, then.

 Nasi Lemak, RM5.50

The rice had a greenish hue .... D seemed to like it. 

Nasi Ayam Penyet, RM7.80

This was what I ordered. First up, I liked the rice. It was good quality rice which they used, and was well-cooked - not too dry and not too moist. On Ayam Penyet, I think the most important item would be the sambal .... and I think the sambal here fell short of my expectations. I wanted the Muara-kind-of-sambal which packed plenty of punch. This sambal here was rather mild. I wished they added more vegetables to the platter ... perhaps more cucumber slices and maybe some long beans .... and I think that some blanched tapioca leaves would make me very happy. :P The chicken was alright, crispy and well-fried.

People on Foursquare recommended the Thai Style Tofu. So I ordered it .... D insisted that I should order because I wanted to eat it, instead of ordering just because people said it was good. Duh! I order whatever I want whenever I want. And I wanted to try the Thai Style Tofu ... 

Thai Style Tofu, RM3.50
And or course, the tofu was really yummy. They were in bite-sized pieces, with very crispy crusts, and yet retains its softness inside. I loved the tofu texture which could melt in the mouth. The sauce was rather on the tangy side, and yet did not zing. The shredded carrots and chopped peanuts appealed to the sights ..... and I .loved this dish. D said, "Not bad horrrr".

With 2 drinks, lunch came to RM20.40. I thought it was reasonably priced .... no wonder there were a lot of people at lunch time. But it was alright, as service was rather speedy. :))

No More Curry Rice @ Fu Cafe

I met up with D for lunch ... it was on an impromptu as we had not actually planned to meet that day.

He was at Fu Cafe, famous for curry rice .... but by the time I reached there, they'd all been sold out. How sad! D, who was there at least 30 minutes ahead of me, managed to have the second last plate .......

Most of the stalls were already closed ... and so I had no choice but to order a stir-fried noodle dish from one of the two stalls operating.

Kopi, RM1.30

Very thick and not sweet, so I liked the coffee. After a busy morning, I sure needed a cuppa.

Stir-fried Fen Gan, RM5.00

Eew. Leeks. D hated leeks. Hence he refused to try the noodles when I asked him to. Silly man!

But well, the noodles were rather tasty with the light smoky flavour. The leeks had hardly any taste, and I wouldn't mind if they had more in it. Perhaps they could even add more textures into the dish .... I'd say that black fungus would go really well with the noodles. Other ingredients in the dish included prawns, slivers of pork, and egg. I have always loved the smooth texture of the Fen Gan. 

Overall, the noodles were alright. :))

Sigh ..... I left the coffee shop unsatisfied ..... curry rice ... sigh .... curry rice ..... next week, D. We're coming for curry rice next week!!!

Nasi Lemak @ Kluang Station

I regretted paying nearly RM20.00 for my meal at Kluang Station. You see, I was craving for nasi lemak, and wasn't sure where I would be able to buy a good version of it here in Kuching .... so meanwhile, I headed to Kluang Station.

Though Kluang Station had opened for years here in Kuching, I had never eaten there before, and I thought why not I try the nasi lemak there ....

Nasi lemak with deep-fried chicken thigh

While the nasi lemak tasted alright, it did not really satisfy my cravings.

For I wanted the old-school type, which came wrapped in newspaper, the messy type with spicy red sambal all over the place, the type which I could happily eat with my fingers and feel very shiok doing so ....

Nasi lemak with cockles rendang, RM3.50

Can anyone recommend me good nasi lemak here in Kuching?

Eh? Changed His Mind ....

D texted me to say that he wanted to try the noodles at Noodle Descendants at Padungan. He'd never been there before in his life! I was aghast! How could he call himself a Kuchingite??

I'd warned him of the long wait, and of course, went through the rules by him .... Must queue, just sit and wait patiently, etc ... and I thought he understood. I even told him to charge his phone so that he could play with it while waiting .......... 

We reached there 10 minutes before 8.00 a.m., and the queue for the table was short .... I counted 3 persons ahead of me only. It would only take a jiffy ..... 

Queue up, I told D.

And he was put off by even that ....................... Goodness! He changed his mind immediately and decided to go elsewhere. 

Where?????? I demanded.

I bring you somewhere better, he said.

What????? I thought Noodle Descendants was the best there was!!! How could there be an even better noodle joint?

D lied. We merely went across the the road to Min Hong Kee. Lol.

Well, over here, there were also plenty to eat, with a number of difrerent stalls within the coffee shop. What was good? 

 Laksa, RM4.00 or RM5.00

Yummy ....

The laksa was really good. All the ingredients were correct, i.e. the beansprouts, chicken, omelette and prawns. And I loved the broth which was tasty and lemak. What I loved even more was the coriander which garnished the whole dish. That made the laksa superb, highly recommended.

 Kolomee, with Liver, RM4.50

 The kolomee was alright...... the noodles were blanched just right and was rather Q ... only that the taste of it wasn't really to-die-for ...

I overheard someone ordering kompia and thought I'd order too. D said I was a busybody. Oh well .... 

Kompia with minced pork, RM1.00 each

D and I both ate one each ..... and took away the rest ...

The kompia here was deep-fried, hence it induced plenty of guilt. I also did not like the filling which I found to be on the sweet side. It was also sticky ... meaning there was use of starch. 

What? They have popiah here? I exclaimed when I saw that many people were eating ..... D rolled his eyes at me. 

I got my wish to try the popiah. I took away 2 pieces. 

RM2.00 per piece

I loved the popiah more than the kompia .... Compactly rolled with sweet peanut sauce .... crunchy and textural .... and dip it in the sweet chilli sauce .... nice. I liked. 

Well .... so much for wanting to have breakfast at Noodle Descendants. We strayed. But I did not regret it. :P Next time, D. Will bring you again to try the "bestest" noodles in Kuching!! 

Dinner @ Grand Continental Hotel

School dinner the other day was at Grand Continental Hotel; food was mediocre, and here are the pictures.

Four Lucky Hot & Cold Seaons

Fish Lips and Assorted Seafood Soup

Thai-style Fried Rice with Chicken

Twin Flavour Roasted Chicken

Steamed Seabass Nyonya Style

Mixed Vegetables with Crab Meat Sauce

Black Pepper Prawns

Snow Fungus with Mixed Fruits Cocktail

I guess food catered from hotels are more or less this standard.