Joystar Garden is managed by Faye’s sister and she’s been insisting that I head over to review the place on the blog. I found the perfect opportunity this month – I have just been transferred into a new division with a great boss. I didn’t enjoy working in the previous division for personal reasons and I’m now doing what I like doing so I booked a table for six (6) for a Chinese banquet to celebrate. 🙂
Joystar Garden is located on the second floor and is fully air-conditioned. The ground floor of Joystar Garden is a coffee shop under the same proprietor. There are private rooms and a stage for speeches and karaoke sessions in the restaurant. The service is attentive and the waitress to diner ratio is kept very high so you’ll be hard pressed to be unable to summon a waitress’s attention.
The obligatory peanuts were served while we waited for everyone to arrive. Peanuts deep fried with batter is a traditional snack to munch on before the actual food arrives in Chinese restaurant banquets.
I had a small bottle of Guinness Stout to celebrate my new transfer into the division. I figured it was kinda sponsored by Guinness anyway from the earnings off the Nuffnang Guinness 9 Ball Tournament ads. 😉
This is the first dish that came out – Chinese banquets usually start with a dish containing several different items. It’s called Four Seasons or Hot & Cold Platter in generic terms and it’s a starter dish that serves as an appetizer. Joystar Garden’s version has wrapped rice vermicelli, shrimp, crab sticks, lemon chicken, and slices of pork intestines.
The second dish of a traditional Chinese banquet is usually the soup. This is Shark’s Fin soup and true to Chinese etiquette, it’s divided up on a separate table before the individual soup bowls are served to the diners. The remainder of the soup is placed at the center of the table for refills.
I could only discern one piece of shark’s fin in the soup but for the price, I didn’t really expect for it to be loaded with the stuff. 😉
The next dish that came out is sweet and sour pork ribs in a ring of yam (taro). It’s served with prawn crackers on the side.
I thought this dish tasted pretty good, with the sweet and sour pork ribs combining well with the sweet yam and the texture of the crackers.
The next dish is Thai style fish pieces. The portions were HUGE and (more than) a little too much for six people. I started feeling full around this time…and so did everyone else.
Next came the deep fried mayonnaise chicken. This dish was barely touched coz we were all so full at this point. I was told later that you should deduct two (2) people from the amount of food to tell the chef preparing Chinese banquets coz the portions are usually meant for the amount of people plus two so that everyone would have enough to eat.
The last dish that came out was the mixed vegetable dish. I couldn’t eat anymore – I was absolutely STUFFED at this point.
There is also the obligatory fruits platter at the end of the Chinese banquet. Joystar Garden served oranges and watermelons for the dessert with toothpicks.
The Joystar Garden Chinese banquet set cost RM 128 for six people not inclusive of drinks. You can get different customized sets on request. It cost me RM 161.80 for everything and it’s a special price from Faye’s sister. Thanks!
Caution: Joystar Garden has a karaoke setup that is very loud and this makes it a very non-conducive environment for conversation. Potential diners should be warned that less than sober mature ladies belting out Chinese golden oldies might appear on stage. I’ll let the video above speak for itself.
yummy~~, Yes! it’s a nice place and the food is great and the price is affordable. Nice place to bring your family to have a dinner ..but, the problem is…where’s the parking place!? not much … .. .. ;(
where is this? miri? sibu? sarikei?
That’s cheap. With that price, you even get a big bowl of shark fin. A must to visit this place. But can I order the same food for the same price you pay?
Hi! Nice site u got! Very nice foody pic! Feel so hungry after looking at the foody pic!
Have a very nice day!
Humph!!! Why wasn;t I invited??? Sulk! Sulk! LOL!!!
direction map please!
hallo…..
been there once… some place in sungai merah izit o wats the place name i also forgot… hi hi hi anyway the food is not bad though…. hungry hungry better not read ur blog st nite cos nw feel like having supper lo… anyway, good nite and sleep early…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
guinness foreign exta, a man after my own heart 🙂 i like the stuff too.
Man those food are absolutely tempting! I can’t wait to have those on my next trip home.
I find one thing pretty Sibu when I visited it. Anything deep fried like to be topped with mayonnaise. Hmmm…
babycicak: It works out to around RM 20 per person. That’s non-inclusive of drinks but it’s still affordable for a Chinese banquet. What do you mean? There’s PLENTY of parking bays over there. Sheraton is the nightmare – good food (especially the curry fish head) but NO parking.
bengbeng: Hello bengbeng. It’s in Sibu like I told you last night. The place is near Sg Merah Bazaar, turn towards the Bukit Aup road and you’ll see the blazing red neon sign.
Choonie: I could count the amount of shark’s fin inside on one hand and none of them are bigger than a couple of strands of hair. It’s still cheap though, especially with the portions. Amazing.
You probably can, you can get them to quote you packages. It ranges depending on your budget.
Horny Ang Moh: Hello there! Glad you enjoyed reading it.
suituapui: It was all my coworkers (plus a fiancee, and Faye coz of her sister). It’s meant to be an office celebration. Come out of retirement and head over here (don’t mention where I work) and next time you’ll surely be on my guest list. 😉
alexallied: Hmm…
Joystar Garden is near Sg Merah Bazaar, turn towards the Bukit Aup road and you’ll see the blazing red neon sign. You can’t miss it.
bubble7866: Yeah, that’s the place! 🙂
They have specials for lunch too – cheap, for the food. I remember a RM 5-8 package inclusive of drinks for two (2) people. That’s their lunch set package. The cheapest one is even cheaper than eating chap fun.
William: It’s the only type of Guinness we get over here. 🙂
That’s the for-export Guinness. I’ve seen the cans with the thing that produces a foam head like draft beer in Australia but not over here.
JoeNiece: Joystar Garden is doing an aggressive promotion right now. Advertising in papers etc. The proprietor also bought me lunch now and served us fish to thank me for the writup. They’re going after new media (e.g. blogs) too.
fish fish: Yeah, especially in the food stalls. It’s a very popular dish, deep fried chicken with mayo. Nowadays, there’s even “Salad Chicken Rice” which is deep fried chicken…with mayo (and sometimes Thousand Island Sauce).
wow… i go there on my way to work everyday, he he, i just had the restaurant only once, when its just opened, there’s a lot of shark fins there… not like the other restaurant
That video is made of pure genius and win.
Good food… great company… and a Faye with a halo. 😛 What a dinner!
clementwpy: Yeah, I heard you mention that day that you live quite far away from Sibu town. 🙂
The owner is the same person as the K&L Cold Storage downstairs. Their food is sourced from the place, but I don’t know where they get their shark fins from.
jessy: Haha! Yeah, the lady can sing, huh? 😉
al’sera: Yeah, it’s just coworkers and friends. Comfortable company. It’s a small celebratory dinner for my new transfer into a division I actually enjoy working in.
Hmm…I don’t know why the lens bloomed right there? I’m thinking oil smudge but it wasn’t on the other photos so I don’t know what it is.