Food reviews

Piccolo Mondo review

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piccolo mondo

Piccolo Mondo is the quasi Italian restaurant
located at Mid Valley Megamall. It has seating on the outside and the
inside but its all the same due to the location inside a mall. The
tables and chairs outside is a better option if you like to people
watch, since you can see a significant portion of the mall and its
temporary inhabitants going about like ants in an anthill.

This is from my last KL trip – I forgot that there was another food post until I saw it today.

Piccolo Mondo is more renowned for its pizza, lasagna and tiramisu
but we didn’t feel like pizza and the tiramisu wasn’t ready (we went
early), so we chose to have some drinks first while we decided on what
to eat.

F.B.I. (Full Blooded Italian) @ RM 17.50
A typical Italian’s Mafia drink, consisting of Gelato ice cream, a shot of espresso, Bailey’s and Kahlua blended to perfection.

piccolo mondo fbi

This drink is really good – it has the consistency of a thick
milkshake and you can taste the liquor AND the coffee. It’s a very nice
drink after walking around a mall. I’m not a big fan of malls, I just
went coz my gf wanted to buy something.

Sicily Strawberries @ RM 12
Fresh strawberries blended to perfection with coconut, orange,
pineapple juice frapped with crushed ice and finished with a hint of
Grenadine.

piccolo mondo strawberries

This concoction is a non-alcoholic thirst quencher that my gf
ordered. I’ll tell you something, Piccolo Mondo really does have good
drinks. The fruits are generous and the whole drink just tastes good
and is thirst quenching to boot. What more can you ask for? 😉

Calamari Diavola @ RM 20

piccolo mondo calamari

I wanted to see how the calamari over here fares. This dish is
lightly breaded calamari served with a wedge of lemon and dip. It
didn’t taste all that good, if you want me to be honest.

Il Pollo Alla Valdostana @ RM 30
Pan-fried chicken breast and chicken ham, gratinated with cheese.

piccolo mondo chicken

This dish of chicken breast and ham cooked inside some sort of thin
pancake is dismal, at best. Chicken breast is the part of a chicken I
dislike the most but that doesn’t account for the bland taste. The
vegetables were overcooked and the mashed potatoes makes KFC’s mashed
potatoes look like haute cuisine…

I can’t really say anything nice about Piccolo Mondo’s food. The
lasagna and pizza, which are their specialties, would have been a
better choice. The tiramisu, which was what I really wanted, was still
not done by the time I finished my meal, so I didn’t manage to sample
that as well.

However, there’s one thing that redeemed Piccolo Mondo…the drinks.
Piccolo Mondo serves really good drinks, both alcoholic and
non-alcoholic blends, and they do it well.

Go there for the drinks, if not for the food.

Westwood Continental Cuisine

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westwood continental cuisine

This is Westwood Continental Cuisine at Jalan
Westwood. It’s a popular place for continental cuisine since the food
is good and the prices are reasonable. I’ve been here several times
before and while their steaks are alright, it’s not the best in town. I
went with a couple of friends again last night for dinner.

westwood interior

The place is usually packed at night. This is the interior of
Westwood Continental Cuisine. They have al fresco (heh) seating
arrangements outside as well, and on cool nights, that is much
preferable to sitting inside even though the interior is
air-conditioned. The lighting is warm and its central location is part
of its popularity as well as the good food and reasonable prices.
Westwood Continental Cuisine has been operational for quite a while.

westwood ribena 7up

I had Ribena 7-Up, which is my “usual” drink over there. It’s an
interesting concoction of concentrated Ribena (blackberry juice
concentrate) topped up with…er, 7-Up. The two goes really well – the
Ribena concentrate sits at the bottom while the carbonated 7-Up slowly
fizzes away to automatically combine the two. The drink is quite
volatile for some reason, you have to be careful not to agitate it too
much or bubbly purple foam will threaten to overfloweth on you.

westwood fish and chips

My friends all went there for Fish and Chips. It’s a generous
portion of batter fried Dory fish served with French fries, Westwood’s
special tangy tartare sauce and salad. It’s RM 9 for a serving, and
that’s a very good price considering the portion. This dish is very
popular due to its price and filling portions.

westwood_mixed_grill.jpg

I went for the Westwood Mixed Grill (lamb, beef, pork) at RM 15.50.
I had it done medium and the dish did not disappoint. The beef is done
well, as is the pork, but the two is outshined by the delicious lamb.
The lamb meat is infused with the gamey flavor that I love and the
juice just bursts out of the grilled lamb meat – it retains all of its
moisture! Divine…

Westwood Continental Cuisine serves a limited range of menu items,
but they know what they do best and all of the menu items are good. The
place also has excellent service, better than most of the eating
establishments in Kuching. Highly recommended for dinner before a big
night out.

Restaurant Mmm Yum Yum Bak Kut Teh

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myy bak kut teh

This has got to be the most hilariously named eating establishment ever. It’s called Mmm Yum Yum Bak Kut Teh
and is from the original Klang restaurant. This is the one in 1 Utama.
This place specializes in Bak Kut Teh, a potpourri of pork cooked in
variety of spices and herbs. It’s usually translated as pork rib tea.

myy interior old

It feels like stepping back in time, into ancient China while
walking into the interior. The decors, the seating arrangements, the
lanterns…everything in Mmm…Yum Yum Bak Kut Teh (cracks me up every
time) seems to preserve an aura of the old mainland dynasty elements.

myy har kau

I’ve always liked har kow so I ordered a dim sum platter of it. This establishment serves dim sum as well.

myy har kau prawn

The har kow is good, with a huge prawn inside, but the wrapping is a little too fragile…

myy radish cake

This is raddish cake, a savory appetizer.

myy bkt claypot

Going to the main – this is the claypot bak kut teh, the flagship
dish of this restaurant. It’s good bak kut teh. The small version for
1-2 person(s) goes for RM 18.

myy bkt claypot inside

Here’s a look inside – this is the mixed variety, a “combo” if you
will, containing not only pork spare ribs, but other offal from the
animal called pig.

myy bkt sauces

It comes with a choice of two sauces – either chilli or garlic. I like garlic with Bak kut teh.

myy you cakoi

Bak kut teh is usually complemented with you char kueh (or you cakoi as it states in the menu). It’s RM 3 for a serving.

myy rice

Rice goes for RM 1.20 per bowl. It’s for small appetites, but the
rice is very fragrant, the fried onions on top complement the rice
perfectly!

myy veggies

Add in a serving of vegetables (RM 8) and there’s a complete meal for you.

myy value bkt

There’s another option which is more economical – the Executive
Lunch Set which comprises of Bak Kut Teh, You Cakoi, Rice and Tea for
just RM 9.90. However, the portion is much smaller, as you can see in
the picture above. It’s only slightly larger than the rice bowl.

myy value rice

The rice is the same as the normal variety, but the you char kueh is
served on the side of the bowl. Nevertheless, it’s good value since it
comes with a bit of everything in the set. This place serves really
good bak kut teh and rice. It really deserves the title of Mmm Yum Yum
Bak Kut Teh! (or maybe I just wanted to use that phrase again ;))

myy dessert balls

Of course, the perfect thing to end the meal would be a classic old
skool dessert of hot glutinous rice balls filled with black sesame,
swimming in a clear bowl of sweet syrup…

Pure Fish Ball Cafe

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pure fish ball cafe

This is Pure Fish Ball Cafe which is famed for being the first to
introduce pure fish noodles here. Pure fish noodles means exactly what
it is – the noodles are made of fish! I’ve passed by this eating
establishment in Jalan Padungan many times, but never did get around to
reviewing it until lunch just now.

pure fish noodles

This is the famous Pure Fish Mee. It retails for RM
6 per bowl and its well worth it, considering what’s inside. It’s a
soup based dish with noodles made out of fish meat and various
condiments. There’s a whole lady finger stuffed with fish meat, crab
stick, tofu stuffed with fish meat, fish balls etc. You get the
idea…fishy stuff, basically. 😉

pure fish strands

Here’s a macro photo of the “fish noodles”. Perhaps a more accurate
description would be that fish meat was pressed into reels of noodles.

Little Lebanon restaurant Ramadan Special review

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little lebanon

Little Lebanon is the premier restaurant serving middle eastern
cuisine in Kuching. It’s located in a very central location and it
currently has a Ramadan Berbuka Puasa set meal promotion for RM 25++.
Little Lebanon is a very popular eating establishment and is frequently
fully booked.

little leb al fresco

There is an al fresco dining area lining both balconies and nice
indoor seating as well. There is prayer mats aligned to Mecca to the
back and we saw several customers utilizing this commodity before
breaking fast. It’s the fasting month for Muslims now and there are a
lot of places vying for the lucrative end-of-day breaking of the fast.

little leb yoghurt drink

We arrived early so we had to wait for about half an hour before
dinner was served. We had fresh yoghurt drinks while we waited for the
meal. It’s offered in sweetened and natural options – I would recommend
the natural, unsweetened version. It’s almost pure yoghurt, thick and
filling. Divine!

little leb glow

Little Lebanon comes to life at about 7 pm…the interior lights are
turned on; everything is ready for the patrons, the table linen all
done nicely. Notice the Sahara tent in the middle? It’s a huge private
dining area for large groups – there’s room for 20 people in there.
It’s the prime dining spot in Little Lebanon.

little leb menu

There are two choices for the Arabic menu in the Little Lebanon –
the main difference is in the main…chicken or lamb, something that
reminds me of long haul flights. 😉 There are also two choices for the
Local menu, but people don’t go to Little Lebanon for that, we’re here
for Middle Eastern cuisine, so we went for the Arabic menu. Both Menu 1
and Menu 2 were ordered to provide the best variety.

Dates

little leb dates

This is the first dish that came out – dates or kurma. It’s good –
the seeds are not as large as the ones I got the other day. It’s
customary to break the day’s fast with kurma (dates).

Bandung Drink

little leb bandung

This is a local favorite. It’s rose syrup with evaporated milk. It’s
creamy and thirst quenching at the same time. There are two options in
the menu – bandung drink and selasih drink.

Selasih Drink

little leb selasih

I’m not familiar with this one, but its very thirst quenching. It
seems to be a cordial of some sort, with jelly that looks like passion
fruit seeds.

Soup of the Day

little leb soup

This didn’t come out from a Campbell soup can – it’s made in house. It’s good, real soup, creamy and hearty.

Plate of Hommus and Baba Ghannouj with Lebanese Bread

little leb bread dip

The Lebanese bread came out piping hot.

little leb bread

It’s baked bread, with an interesting crispy/chewy texture that’s
unlike any other I’ve ever had. It goes very well with the two dips.

little leb dips

Mashed chickpeas blended with sesame seed paste and baked brinjal
blend. This is easily the best dish coz I like bread. I like oven baked
bread even more. Oven baked bread served hot is tops in my book. 🙂

little leb dips flash

This is a photo of the two dips taken with flash. I love the
presentation – the way they got the oil into the middle of the dip
intrigued me. It’s good, soaked up very well with the Lebanese bread.

Spaghetti with Yoghurt

little leb yogurt spag

This is an interesting appetizer…it’s a cold dish of spaghetti
cooked with yogurt and yogurt only. The spaghetti is done al dente and
the yoghurt sauce makes the whole appetizer cold.

little leb yogurt spag flash

Here’s what it looks like, taken with flash. It’s interesting, that’s for sure. It’s cold. It’s sour. It’s different! 🙂

Meat Sambousah

little leb samosa

Minced beef, finely chopped onions and pine nuts wrapped in thin pastry.

little leb samosa flash

Here’s a photo with flash, this warm sambouhsah is a nice item on
the menu since it came after the warm Lebanese bread and cold Yoghurt
Spaghetti. It’s a hot item again this time and this hot-cold-hot
appetizer leading up to the main meal is a very interesting decision on
the chef’s part.

Chicken with Polanjar Potatoes

little leb chicken main

It’s described as roasted chicken with buttered potatoes and that’s
not too far from the dish’s offerings. It’s given a Middle Eastern
twist with the unique blend of herbs. It also came with a side serving
of what looks like coleslaw, but isn’t.

Lamb Mansaf with Arabic Rice

little leb lamb main

This is the difference between Menu 1 and Menu 2. The lamb is served
around the rice, it’s good, cooked in some kind of creamy stew. The
Arabic rice has some mixed chopped nuts topping it up. It’s dubbed as
sliced lamb served with lamb sauce and rice. It’s good. This one has
more of a Middle Eastern twist to it than the Chicken. I’ll recommend
the lamb.

Fattoush

little leb fattoush

Finely chopped tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce, parsley, mint leaves
dressed with pomegranate and lemon juice. It’s an acquired taste,
that’s all I can say. You can’t really see anything from the ambient
lighting so here’s one with flash:

little leb fattoush flash

It’s an interesting vegetable based dish with all sorts of crunchy
stuff lining the plate. There are nuts and hard biscuits and crunchy
bread crumbs. It’s an interesting dish. I use the word interesting
liberally to describe the food coz it’s…er, interesting. 😉

Arabic Dessert and Seasonal Fruits

little leb dessert

This is the dessert to end the, er…interesting course. The Arabic
dessert is some sweet concoction which I can’t put my finger on and
there’s some fruits served to the side.

little leb dessert flash

Here’s a clearer but more washed out picture taken with quick flash.

little leb sisha

We were offered sisha during the dessert
and this, to the best of my knowledge, is the only eating establishment
that offers sisha in Kuching. I immediately agreed – there was an
option of various fruit flavors and we went for the mixed one. Sisha
looks like a bong, heck, it is a bong, but the cone doesn’t have anything psychoactive inside.

little leb filters

There are two filters provided with the sisha for hygienic reasons.

little leb sisha cone

Sisha is like a bong, except the smoke you’re inhaling is fragrant
incense. The fruit mix is a good choice, it’s a nice fusion. There’s no
nicotine or anything psychoactive in there, so don’t expect to get
anything out of it, but there’s something about smoking sweet fruit
smoke while talking and relaxing with a great view of the city…

little leb view

…it’s simply divine. Sisha seems like a popular choice here,
there’s at least one to every table. It only costs RM 12. Highly
recommended!

little leb me bernice

This is a farewell dinner of sorts for Bernice before she goes off
to KL. Little Lebanon is a nice place and their Arabic Berbuka Puasa
set at RM 25++ is a great deal. This time of the year is the best time
to try out the promotions going around as it allows a wide range of
dishes to be sampled for the breaking of fast ritual.

little leb sisha me

Peace be with you all, my dear readers… 😉

Magenta, Kuching

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magenta door

Magenta is the premier restaurant in Kuching, nestled in a private
alcove off a little side street. This eating establishment has been in
operation for about a year, and it has a reputation for fine dining.

magenta entrance

The private car park leads up to a cozy wooden structure, all very
nicely decorated in a subtle yet elegant manner, nothing loud or
vociferous here.

magenta

Subtlety is the key in Magenta. Elegance and subtlety.

magenta buddha

The ambience inside is very warm, with ample space between the
various seating arrangements and a waiter waiting to greet you at the
door. Excellent service all the way, I was very impressed.

magenta ambience

The other thing I like is that Magenta does not pack the area with
tables and chairs for maximum profit like other eating establishments
out there, but leaves ample room between tables. The decor is nicely
done too…it exudes a feeling of warm appreciation.

magenta mango beer

I had a mango smoothie which was very thick and they don’t skimp on
the fruits. We also had several rounds of this foreign beer I can’t
remember. It’s RM 15 but the beer really pampers your taste buds with
after notes of honey.

magenta prawn tail
Spit-roasted Soy-marinated Prawn Tail on roasted Red Pepper & Garlic Coulis (RM 20)

This is the starter dish that we shared. Actually, we just ate from
everyone’s plate so that we could try everything. The prawn tail is
good, but it’s nothing to write home about.

magenta linguini
Linguine with Seafood in a White Wine sauce with Garlic, Chilli and Cilantro (RM 26)

The linguine is one of our mains – it’s excellent, the pasta is done
al dente, with generous portions of mussels, squid, cuttlefish and
prawns. The dish is sprinkled with oregano, a nice touch and what seems
to be the signature of the chef here.

magenta orecchiette
Orecchiette with Tomatoes, Prawns and Parmesan Cheese (RM 25)

This Puglian pasta dish looks simple, but it tastes very good. It
has a nice home-cooked Italian flavor and the sauce and grated Parmesan
cheese works very well with it. Jesus, I’m starting to get pretentious
in my food reviews. 😉

magenta duck leg
Duck Leg Confit & Shredded Duck Breast with Honey Wine Jus and Creamy Tagliatelle Pasta (RM 46)

This duck leg confit is recommended by the chef…and I was
certainly not disappointed. It’s a great main course, the duck is
cooked well and retains its natural flavors. The duck leg portion is
generous too and it does not have the rubbery texture of badly done
duck. Highly recommended!

magenta us

Magenta is a great place for fine dining and the food is great. The
chef comes out at times to speak with the patrons and the service is
excellent – right from the start where the waiter unfolds the serviette
for you to the generous allowance they provide the patrons (we were
rather boisterous). The bill came up to RM 200+ and it’s well worth it
for a place of this magnitude. Magenta gets two thumbs up from me – I
haven’t seen a better fine dining place in Kuching.

Fu Yu Kopi Shop

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fu yu kopi shop

This is Fu Yu Kopi Shop at Sekama. It has a larger variety of dim sum and is famed for its fried prawn kolo mee.

fy balcony

The place has a wooden balcony type extension, that’s the best
seating arrangements for a breakfast…it’s nice, you can see the
bustling morning activity around you.

fy 99 ds

This is 99 Dim Sum, one of the stalls in Fu Yu Kopi Shop. The
proprietor is a friendly woman who has a large repertoire of dim sum
dishes…

fy 99 offerings

…as you can see here. The dim sums here are mostly one off i.e.
one of a kind, so when that dish is gone, it’s gone for the day.

fy dim sum

I think we ordered five dishes but she forgot about one of
them…either that, or the one that we chose was out. There’s also
chili sauce provided, which goes well with some dim sums.

fy chicken bits

This is chicken bits in Thai chili sauce. It’s very nice and flavorful, with the chicken meat flavor infused through broiling.

fy siu mai ds

Here’s a variant of siu mai which doesn’t contain pork, but a
conglomeration of other ingredients. It has mystery meat and other
fillers.

fy fish ds

This is a fish based dim sum wrapped in seaweed strips. It’s basically a large fish oblong.

fy stuffed ds

I thought this was har kau, but it’s not. It’s a mostly vegetable
based dim sum…in fact, I didn’t think I tasted any meat in there.

fy prawn kolo

Here’s the dish this place is famous for – prawn fried kolo mee. It
has two prawn fried batter pieces on top, but otherwise, it’s a normal
kolo mee. The fried prawn mini fillets were good though.

It’s a good place to have breakfast, with the al fresco (this term
should be banned in Malaysian food reviews, since most of our dining
establishments are al fresco by nature) balcony and the hustle and
bustle of the Sekama district.

Fock Hai Tim Sam Cafe

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fock hai tim sum cafe

Fock Hai Tim Sam Cafe has been a permanent fixture of Jalan Padungan
for over 10 years. It first opened its doors a decade ago and has been
serving basic dim sum ever since.

fock hai offerings

This is a really old skool dim sum establishment, what they’ll call
a tea house back in the days. They have a very limited array of dim sum
dishes, just the basics, plus several varieties of paus.

fock hai sio bee

We ordered some sio bee (pork filling in a paper thin wrapping). It tasted alright, but it’s not the best I’ve ever had…

fock hai har kau

Their har kau (prawn filling with translucent wrapping) is on a
whole other level though. It’s really good! I’ve never had such good
har kau outside expensive specialized dim sum establishments. Highly
recommended!

fock hai lmk

This is another staple of dim sum breakfasts – lo mai kai. It’s a
rice based dim sum, with meat at the bottom, steamed in fully wrapped
foil to infuse the rice with the meat flavors.

fock hai lmk macro

This place serves good lo mai kai but there’s a pet peeve of mine
that manifests itself here…they don’t fully de-bone the chicken, so
you have to spit out bits of bone…

fock hai bfast

Nevertheless, it’s a good place for a quick breakfast if you work
somewhere in Jalan Padungan…which would comprise of a sizable amount
of Kuching people, since it’s in the heart of town. 🙂

bing! lamb wrap

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bing bernice

I didn’t go out for lunch today due to a backlog of work that I need
to get done. I wasn’t hungry anyway, so I just figured I’ll skip lunch.
However, Bernice came in with a paper bag from bing!

bing lamb wrap open

She bought me a lamb wrap from bing! the coffee shop that everyone seems to like in Kuching.

bing lamb wrap sauces

The lamb wrap comes with a small tub of sauces – mustard, chilli and mayonnaise and the familiar orange bing! sticker.

bing lamb wrap opened

I’ve never had their wraps before – there’s a lot of crisp, fresh
lettuce with a bed of lamb meat. I like the taste of game, as she
knows. I like mutton.

bing lamb wrap

I just poured the tub of sauce into the wrap, rolled it up and ate it. It’s good. Thanks for lunch, Bernice! 🙂

Tok Janggut Cafe review

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tok janggut cafe

This is Tok Janggut Cafe in ChongLin Park. It serves a wide range of
murtabak containing esoteric fillings like camel in the mornings and
probably the best nasi briyani in town for lunch. I went there with the
new staff intake of Huygens Asia for lunch today.

tok janggut interior

Here’s what the main eating room looks like – the place is clean and
it has a reputation for good food. It opened quite recently, sometime
earlier this year.

tok janggut camel

Towards the back is the nasi briyani preparation place. The nasi
briyani unta (camel) is good. Nasi briyani is a type of savory rice,
it’s really good, infused with a plethora of spices. Tok Janggut serves
a wide range of nasi briyani – plain, chicken, fish, mutton and their
flagship camel variant.

tok janggut nasi

The afternoon lunch crowd usually goes for mixed rice or nasi
briyani. Murtabak and roti canai is only served during the mornings.

tok janggut aircon

There’s also an air-conditioned side room that’s very popular during
the afternoon due to the heat. I went there today with three of my
coworkers. Two new marketing department people came in this month and
we went out today to get to know each other better.

tongkat ali

I had Tongkat Ali for my drink. It’s coffee with tongkat ali for RM 1.90.

camel briyani

This is what I ordered – camel briyani. I love camel, the meat is
slightly tough, with just a hint of game and an interesting texture.

camel meat

Here’s a closer look at the camel meat. Sufian also had nasi briyani, but he went for chicken instead.

tok janggut fried rice

This is Tok Janggut’s fried rice that Elvinna ordered. She tried her best to finish it, commendable effort. 😉

camel curry rice

Here’s what Bernice ordered – Rice and Camel Curry. She gave me
nearly a quarter of her plate but I still managed to finish mine and
the additional load. Nearly, anyway. :p

bernice camel

This is another macro shot of the camel. Camel is good. Mmm…camel…

mohd el ber me
L-R: Mohd. Sufian, Elvinna, Bernice, Huai Bin (me).

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