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. :))