Food reviews

Halia Cafe

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halia cafe

Halia Cafe is a newly opened eating establishment offering Muslim food. The place is owned and operated by a couple of friendly Malays and serves authentic halal fare. I have been told a lot of good (and not so good) things about the spiciness factor of the servings they dish out, and I was eager to check out the place since I’m a big fan of spicy food.

halia cafe interior

The interior of Halia Cafe is clean and the abundant ceiling fans operating at full speed does wonders to the ambiance, considering they don’t have air conditioning. Halia Cafe takes over from Eden Cafe (a Vietnamese restaurant) and much of the interior fittings looks rather familiar.

jus cinta

I went there with Faye during lunchtime and was pleasantly surprised to find the place relatively empty. My lunch hour is rather short and I have been looking for a place with quick service and good food. I ordered the Jus Cinta (RM 2).

jus cinta plum

Jus Cinta is a local concoction of sour plums and calamansi lime. The plums here are larger than the usual ones from coffee shops.

nasi kukus sotong

The waitress recommended the Set Nasi Kukus Halia Cafe which is a set lunch of sorts and their signature dish. There are options for fish, chicken and squid. This is the Nasi Kukus + Sotong Goreng Sambal (RM 5). The dish also came a couple of fried prawns (shrimp) which was a nice touch.

nasi kukus sotong macro

The steamed rice is flavored with santan (coconut milk) and the squid was fried with sambal. This is pleasantly (for me) spicy and salty, and gets two thumbs up from me. Faye didn’t quite like it though coz she’s a bit of a wuss when it comes to spicy food. 😉

nasi kukus ayam

I ordered the Nasi Kukus + Ayam Kunyit (RM 5). The chicken was grilled in a banana leaf and topped with spicy sauce. There is also a serving of cold pickles on the side for those of the faint of heart.

nasi kukus ayam macro

I liked this dish as well, the chicken was grilled to perfection – sweet, tender and moist. It is rather spicy though so people with more conservative taste buds should take note.

Halia Cafe is a nice place with halal food offering authentic Malay cuisine. It comes highly recommended for those with a taste for adventure. People without desensitized taste buds need not apply. 🙂

Cuppa Kopi Roti

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cuppa kopi roti

Cuppa Kopi Roti is another one of those Hainan toast and coffee establishments that is springing up like mushrooms these days. These establishments cater to nostalgic memories of old coffee shops in modern surroundings, often offering free WiFi and air conditioning.

cuppa bar

Cuppa Kopi Roti is located in Pedada and I went to check out the place with Faye (plus kids, not mine) this morning. There isn’t much of a Sunday morning crowd to speak of but the open kitchen is doing a brisk business in boiling eggs (for whom, I can’t say).

cuppa kitchen

Despite the modern surroundings, Cuppa Kopi Roti uses the old coffee shop style kettles and filters for boiling coffee. They also insert the traditional pat of butter into the coffee for a richer taste. However, the eggs are done using a machine.

cuppa interior

The back of Cuppa Kopi Roti is air conditioned and comes with tasteful fittings. There are also games like Uno and Scrabble for customers to indulge in.

cuppa band

The place also has a space for live performances. I’m told that the proprietor plays music on weekend nights here.

cuppa kopi

I ordered Set A which is their flagship product at RM 4.50. It comes with 2 slices of traditional bread toast, 2 half boiled eggs and your choice of coffee or tea. The coffee comes in those small cups and saucers that you see in the traditional coffee shops that this place is emulating (albeit with more comfortable surroundings).

half boiled eggs

The half boiled eggs are HUGE and comes with pepper and soy sauce on the side. I’ve been told that this place serves huge eggs and I certainly wasn’t disappointed. Another plus point is the chicken motif bowl that it came in, definitely authentic traditional Hainan. 🙂

traditional toast

The traditional bread toast was crispy and bigger than the usual bakery produced bread. It’s sliced rather thin and that probably contributes to the crispness.

traditional bread toast

The butter is not slathered on but sliced and then inserted. I like this method, it makes everything creamier.

toast and egg

My favorite way of eating these things is to dip the bread into the heavily seasoned eggs before eating it. Kinda like toast soldiers. I don’t know why nobody I know likes eating it this way.

square bread toast

The kids (not mine, as mentioned above) went for the square bread toast (RM 2.30). This uses the standard thicker bakery produced bread slices.

cuppa chocolate

They also shared a chocolate milk bubble tea (RM 3.50). It was alright, but specialty bubble tea establishments do this better.

french toast

Faye went for the French toast set (RM 4.50). The French toast came out soft and fragrant and it has a side of kaya to taste. She liked it, but I didn’t think it was anything special.

cheese toast

The cheese toast (RM 3.80) also uses the thicker style of bread and comes with a slice of cheddar toasted into the bread. Surprisingly the bread was soft despite toasting.

hotdog bread

The hotdog bread (RM 3.80) was the best of the bunch. It also came with a side of kaya and this is an especially nice touch.

sausage bread

The saltiness of the sausage combined with the sweet creaminess of the kaya adds a whole level of texture to this offering. This comes highly recommended. 🙂

cuppa photo

Cuppa Kopi Roti has reasonably priced food and comfortable surroundings. It’s a nice place to spend a quiet Sunday morning. 🙂

The best BBQ Chicken Rice in Sibu

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lian kiew cafe

I am told that Lian Kiew Cafe has the best BBQ Chicken Rice in Sibu. The four of us decided to check out the place and found it packed during lunch hour. The coffee shop is doing a rather brisk business in chicken rice and it seems that most of the patrons were ordering the dish.

bbq stall

There is a wide selection of BBQ cuts at the chicken rice stall. There is no steamed chicken on offer, the proprietor only does BBQ chicken. There’s a wide variety of BBQ meat available – BBQ chicken, BBQ duck, BBQ pork (various cuts), BBQ Taiwanese sausage and even BBQ chicken wings.

bbq butcher
“They call me The Butcher”

I ordered an assorted platter of BBQ meat and it was sliced up into a bed of cucumbers.

bbq chicken

L-R: BBQ Taiwanese sausage, BBQ chicken wings, BBQ char siew, BBQ chicken, BBQ duck, BBQ pork. (RM 25)

bbq chicken rice

The rice is pretty fragrant for chicken rice too.

bbq meat lovers

It comes highly recommended from me for meat lovers. 🙂

Lunch @ Manna Cafe

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manna lunch

Manna Cafe is located pretty close to where I work and thus, I headed down to Manna Cafe for lunch with Amy. My lunch hour is just what it sounds like – an hour (plus 15 minutes to get to and from the place) so it tends to be a rather hasty affair.

nasi lemak

Amy went for their Nasi Lemak which is really the February 2008 promotion, but for some reason it’s still on the menu due to its popularity. It’s served with either beef rendang, chicken curry or beef masak hitam and comes with coffee or green tea for RM 7.90.

stone bowl

I opted for the Stone Bowl Ribeye Steak Rice for RM 8.90. The dish is billed as “grilled ribeye steak over savory rice, topped with black pepper sauce and melted cheese, brought piping hot from the oven to your table”. I like Manna Cafe’s stone bowl offerings and I thought this version was pretty good.

fresh fruits

It also came with a complimentary dish of fresh fruits over shaved ice. 🙂

manna us

I think the food from Manna Cafe comes out a little on the slow side and one hour is probably cutting it a little too thin, especially taking rush hour traffic into consideration. Unless you work somewhere in the building itself, of course.

Sushi Tie review

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sushi tie

Sushi Tie is an eating establishment that has been around for some time. The exterior has seen a face lift since I was last here and the dominant orange hue lends a dash of gaiety to the family sushi restaurant.

sushi tie interior

The interior looks pretty much the same as I remembered and the place was packed during lunch. The ambiance is preserved by the friendly staff who shout out a cheery “Irashaimasu!” upon the tinkling of the bell at the front door. I remember that part about Sushi Tie too.

making maki

Sushi Tie does not have a sushi train but makes up for their lack of locomotive conveyor belt action by offering an “open kitchen” of sorts, with their resident sushi chef making sushi and maki in the middle of the eating establishment.

green tea

I had iced Green Tea (RM 1.30) while my dining companion opted for the hot variety of the same.

tuna

This is the Shiro Maguro (Albacore tuna) sashimi that goes for RM 6. The sashimi here is just about the freshest you can get in Sibu.

sashimi

We also ordered salmon sashimi (RM 6) and it came in nice chunky slices. I like thickly sliced sashimi. I’m not really a big fan of the thinly shredded stuff.

unagi set

I also ordered the Unagi Set (RM 13.90). It came with rice, miso soup, deep fried tofu and watermelon.

eel

I’m a big fan of eel. I love the rich, oily taste of the stuff. 🙂

Sushi Tie is a good place for Japanese food in Sibu. It’s marketed as a family restaurant and they don’t serve alcohol of any kind, so don’t go looking for Kirin here.

Sri Shan Curry & Such review

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sri shan curry and such

Sri Shan Curry & Such is an eating establishment offering “authentic rich aromatic Southern Indian cuisine” that opened its doors recently. There aren’t a lot of authentic South Indian food in Kuching so I went with *x to check out the place. She was buying lunch.

sri shan decor

Sri Shan Curry & Such is located at Jalan Ban Hock and has interesting décor at the open entrance which looks like a cross between an elephant and Bigfoot. Sri Shan Curry & Such is a large establishment that spans two shop lots and there are ample seating arrangements.

sri shan vegetarian

There are vegetarian options for the ones who practice vegetarianism…

sri shan meat

…and meat for the rest of us normal people. 😉

sri shan chicken

This is ayam kurma (chicken cooked South Indian style) which goes for RM 5.

sri shan lamb

This is kambing paratal (lamb cooked in a sweet and spicy sauce) which goes for RM 6.

sri shan veggies

She also ordered deep fried vegetables at RM 1.50.

sri shan saffron rice

The food comes with saffron rice (RM 6) and a cracker.

sri shan dhal

We also ordered some dhal (free) to go with the saffron rice.

sri shan meal

It was a great meal, and I really liked the lamb. The total damage came up to RM 22 inclusive of drinks which *x says is overpriced compared to another authentic Indian cuisine outlet.

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Lunch Box Café review

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lunch box cafe

Lunch Box Café is located at Travillion Mall and I went there for lunch with Joanne to check out the place. Lunch Box Café is small compared to other eating establishments there and it seems to cater to people who actually work there.

lunch box cafe special

There is a chalkboard lunch special that has a set lunch for RM 4.50 and Heineken beer at RM 19.50 per jug which we both went for. The décor is reasonably presentable with the water feature…

lunch box cafe art

…and miscellaneous pieces of art inside the cramped space.

lunch box cafe interior

Lunch Box Café, as previously mentioned, is not a big place and you can practically see through the eating establishment from the exterior.

lunch box cafe counter

This is the food counter where you get to choose the stuff you want with your rice for the lunch special.

lunch box cafe food

There are various meats and vegetables on offer and its cooked Malay style. You have the option of one (1) meat and one (1) vegetable.

lunch box cafe joanne

This is Joanne’s dish – she ordered ayam masak merah (literally “red cooked meat”) and a vegetable which I don’t know the name of.

lunch box cafe hb

This is mine – I had the same meat but went for brinjals for my vegetable option. There is cincalok (fermented shrimp) served with the lunch special.

lunch box cafe salad

There are also a la carte options at Lunch Box Café – we ordered the Hula Hoop Salad (RM 7.20) which is described as “Deep fried popcorn chicken, pineapple and mixed greens tossed in home made salad dressing”.

lunch box cafe salad toss

We had to do the tossing ourselves and I highly doubt that the Thousand Island Sauce is home made but it tasted great. It’s inspired by KFC’s Garden Salad with Popcorn Chicken [sixthseal.com] but better coz the chicken was piping hot.

lunch box cafe us

Cheers to drinking at 2 pm in the afternoon! 😉

It’s always 5 o’ clock somewhere, right?

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Koko, Bangkok

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koko

Koko is an eating establishment in the busy Siam Square district of Bangkok, Thailand. I went in with MDC coz she was really hungry and it’s the nearest restaurant.

koko interior

Koko seems to be popular with the locals as a lot of Thai natives were in there when we walked in and only one person speaks English.

koko decor

I take that as a good sign for authentic Thai food. The interior of Koko is nicely decorated with interesting pieces like this plant in a test tube.

koko coffee

I had Thai iced coffee (which tastes like the iced coffee over here) and MDC had mineral water since we both had the runs after eating street food the night before. The interesting thing about Thai tube ice is that it’s much smaller in diameter than ours.

koko shrimp

Lunch was ordered a la carte with rice and this is the appetizer which we didn’t order. It’s raw prawns in chilli paste. Koko messed up our order something awful and they don’t speak English (except for one person, and he wasn’t that good) so it was certainly an interesting experience.

koko macaroni

Macaroni cooked in Thai sauce was served up (which we didn’t order) and the waiter took it away and gave it to the guy behind us (who ordered it). Koko really needs to get their orders right.

koko curry

This is curry pork which we DID order for once. 😉 It’s really good – the pork makes all the difference in the curry – and that’s the verdict from MDC and me.

koko morning glory

We also ordered a dish of morning glory stalks which was really sweet and has an interesting texture.

koko chicken

The other dish we ordered is deep fried chicken which was alright. Koko serves good food but I cannot recommend it based on the mixed up orders which happened at an appalling rate.

The lunch set us back about 600 baht or so (RM 60) so it’s not cheap either…

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Mango Tango @ Bangkok

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mangotango

Mango Tango is a dessert specialty shop in Siam Square, Bangkok that found it’s niche in mango desserts. Thailand is famous for its mangos and they certainly like their mangos over here. Mango Tango offers a variety of mango desserts and is a franchise with chains all over the world.

mangotango display

Jia Chui had came here the previous night and she brought me and MDC here coz the Mango Tango outlet was supposedly very delicious – we were not disappointed. The front of Mango Tango has a nice display of fresh mangos and replicas of their mango desserts outside the counter.

mangotango interior

The interior of Mango Tango is divided into two floors with seating arrangements for two and four. Mango Tango is very clean by Bangkok standards and the walls are adorned with phrases proclaiming the benefits of mangos. It has a really nice and cozy ambience.

Mango Tango (130 baht)

mangotango mango tango

Mango Tango is their signature dessert and consists of a halved and partially diced mango served with a side of mango pudding topped with whipped cream and a ball of mango sorbet. It tasted really good – it’s THE must try flagship dish.

Mango Delight (120 baht)

mangotango delight

Mango Delight is a selection of tropical and imported fruits served with huge mango chunks. It’s a great dessert for people who like fruit.

Mango Sticky Rice (100 baht)

mangotango sticky rice

Mango Sticky Rice consists of a scoop of mango sorbet, sliced fresh mangos and mangos with glutinous rice (sticky rice). It tastes surprisingly good – especially the mango mixed with sticky rice…it’s out of this world!

Mango Iceberg (74 baht)

mangotango iceberg

Mango Iceberg is a dish with mango ice cream, milk sago and mixed fruits. It tastes a lot like cold bubur cha cha except it’s full of mangos.

mangotango me mdc jia chui

The Thai sure like their mangos (and pork) and mangos are practically a national dish over here. Check out Mango Tango if you’re in Siam Square – it’s worth every single baht to eat the famed Thai mango desserts.

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One Tree Hill Restaurant review

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one tree hill

One Tree Hill Restaurant is located at the ex-campus of Lim Kok Wing college. It was converted into an eating establishment recently and there was some debate to the actual name of the said eating establishment (One Hill Tree, One Branch on a Tree and so forth were evocated, mostly by me) until we got there. My dining companion told me I’m dyslectic.

one tree hill restaurant

One Tree Hill restaurant is nestled nicely on top of a hill and there is ample parking space. It is one of the new Magenta styled themed eating establishments except One Tree Hill has one hell of a menu. “Diverse” was the word my dining companion called it. There was Asian cuisine, Italian food, as well as more general dining fare people here associate with “Western Food”.

one tree hill al fresco

One Tree Hill has a shaded al fresco dining area out in the front. It’s nice but perhaps a little impractical for the Malaysian climate. It may be good at night though, and it’s shaded under tent-like structures at least.

one tree hill bricks

The bulk of the One Hill Tree dining experience is stage left. There are nice brick textures to the structure of the restaurant and it imparts a general feeling of coziness. The interior of One Hill Tree is completely air-conditioned and reservations are recommended.

one tree hill interior

One Hill Tree has a full bar and serves alcohol as well as a variety of wines and has seating accommodations to cater for just about any number of people. The tables for two are nicely done, it’s not too small like most dining establishments but it’s cozy enough to allow for meaningful conversation at the same time.

one tree hill painting

There is an oil canvas in featured in the dining area of One Tree Hill and I thought it looked very much like the mansion where One Tree Hill is currently now based. The restaurant is perhaps better described as being a mansion converted into an eating establishment.

one tree hill natural lighting

One Tree Hill has one wall that has see-though glass for sunlight to come in. The area is curved so it allows what little light that filters in is able to permeate the entire dining area. It has a nice view of the car park and surrounding areas.

one tree hill view

This is the view from the window at One Tree Hill restaurant. The lush gardens and trees featured is quite pleasing to the eye (lots of green ;)) and that’s probably where the name of this restaurant came from – there is a huge single tree that stands out from the rest of the trees.

one tree hill shrimp salad

Shrimp Salad (RM 15)
Delicious shrimps, apples and potatoes tossed in our special cocktail dressing served on a bed of crispy lettuce.

It’s good. It’s a little over-dressed (too much 1k Island Sauce) but at least it’s cold. 😉

one tree hill chicken kiev

Chicken Kiev (RM 25)
This is what my dining companion had. It’s good, I had a bite of it and it contains ham (?) in between the chicken fillet.

one tree hill chicken kiev inside

I cannot name my dining companion due to certain issues of circumstance so don’t ask. :p

one tree hill burger

One Tree Hill Beef Burger (RM 23)
Mouth watering grounded patties of lean sirloin with crispy lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, chilli and tomato sauce, dill pickle and a touch of creamy mayo. Comes in a sesame seed bun.

It also contains a note that all One Tree Hill burgers are accompanied by their home-made coleslaw and French fries.

one tree hill roasted lamb

Roasted Lamb (RM 32)
This came recommended from our waitress and it did not disappoint. Its good roasted lamb in slices and the presentation is great, with baby corn and other miscellaneous items adding color to the dish. We shared this one and this is the best item on One Tree Hill’s menu to date.

One Tree Hill restaurant comes highly recommended from me – the service is good, the ambience is great, and the company is immaculate. 😉

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