Food reviews – Page 48 – sixthseal.com

Pizza Ria, Kuching

February 6, 2004 by HB

Pizza Ria @ Da-Light Food Court

This is Pizza Ria, an outlet with meat filled pancakes, pizza,
spaghetti and even combos like 1/4 pizza with spaghetti on a plate. It
used to be at this food court who’s exact name eludes me right now.
That was easily a decade plus in the past though. I know it moved (or a
branch opened up) to Siang Siang Food Court, King Center (?) when I was
studying in Inti College, Kuching (yes, I went through 3 colleges,
don’t ask :p).

pizza ria pancake
The pancake tastes better with a runny egg, this one is overdone.

I am also aware of a Pizza Ria in A La Carte (now defunct) at the
same time, around 97/98. Remember that food court below Star Cineplex?
It was bought out and renamed by Siang Siang, which was aggressively
taking over food courts then, but strangely enough, I haven’t seen any
this time around. Come to think of it, I’ve never seen Pizza Ria
outlets outside of Kuching as well, so it’s probably a local operation.

pizza ria special pancake
This is the Special Pancake with chicken (sausage), beef, cheese and egg. Best eaten with lots of chilli sauce!

It tastes just like the ones I remember – there’s this unique taste
to the pancake that I haven’t experienced in any of the other things
that I’ve eaten. It’s like Ramly burger…no other burgers seem to have
the same taste! I’ll equate Pizza Ria pancakes to that. The thin
pancake is smooth and soft, folded in half, with the meat and vegies
nestled inside. It’s the best savory pancake around. It’s certainly
something on the “must try” list if you happen to drop by Kuching.

I will post again and reply all comments later tonight (after dinner). 🙂 I’ve finally got myself a monitor.

Tandoori Chicken @ Ali Maju

January 6, 2004 by HB

Tandoori Chicken at Ali Maju, Pusat Bandar Damansara. It goes well
with garlic naan and I always ask for the drumstick – it comes with the
upper part of the thigh too at Ali Maju. A tasty and filling dinner
would be one tandoori chicken (shared between two people), garlic naan
(a must have, one serving each) and maggi mee goreng (one serve each).
I don’t know why but that combination tastes really good. The best way
to enjoy it is to alternate between naan + tandoori and maggi +
tandoori i.e. one bite of the first, then one of the second, repeat
till plate==empty or person==full. One ABC special with ice cream (they
make huge ones here) after that and you’ll be sorted. 🙂

On a more serious (well, perhaps personal would be a better word)
note, I’m about to decide on a very, very big issue which may have long
lasting and severe consequences that will affect me on a personal
level. Of course, I can’t talk about it here due to my readership, and
if you know about it (yeah, both of you), you shouldn’t comment here
coz it’ll jeopardize me. I’ll think it through, discuss it with several
people and then we’ll see how it goes okay? I’ll post about that when
it’s set.

Oh yeah, would someone please come over and run a needle and thread through my lips? I just did a very stupid thing today. I’m famous for that, you know…

Guess the price of my nasi campur (photo included)

December 30, 2003 by HB

Guess how much this combination of nasi campur costs? There’s more
sotong pieces than meets the eye, some of it is obscured by the chicken
drumstick. No, I didn’t play “Hide the sotong” intentionally, it was
due to the real estate on the styrofoam packs. By the way, “Hide the
(most expensive item)” is a technique where you cover up a more
expensive item with a less expensive one – like covering a drumstick
with cabbages. This is an extreme example, it’s just to illustrate the
point. I’ve never done that intentionally though, not for any moral or
personal reasons, it’s just coz I don’t bother.

The way things work over here is like this – you get handed a plate
or take away pack filled with rice and you choose whatever you want
from the array of dishes displayed. You can opt to have as many items
as you want and the portions you choose is up to you. The price (which
can vary depending on time of the day, whether you’re a regular, as
well as many other factors) is tallied up when you’re done, based on
your choices. However, “Hide the xxx” doesn’t work all that well
nowadays, because the proprietors usually check underneath due to the
popularity of this method.

Back to the post, my lunch has a drumstick, sotong and chili covered
brinjals. You don’t eat for a couple of days and then you feel hungry
enough to eat a horse. 😉 Anyway, guess how much this nasi campur pack
costs?

Genki genki sushi sushi

December 11, 2003 by HB

Greetings Earthlings! These are the photos from Genki Sushi
yesterday, read them and weep! Yes, that doesn’t make no sense, but
neither does anything else in life. 🙂 Anyway, a prelude before the
pictures, I took unpaid leave (again) today to wash my laundry since it
won’t dry if I take leave tomorrow and people who knows me in real life
can attest that my wardrobe is rather limited, to say the least. 😉 I
don’t buy clothes, it’s not how I choose to use my expenditure. But,
sushi! That’s what we’re talking about now. Here are the photos from
Genki Sushi:

Some sushi with chicken on drop and which I dropped promptly the
moment I picked it up. We also got something like this, but didn’t take
a photo.

Some deep fried parcel like things.

Something that looks like moshi and it’s sweet.

Salmon sushi, we think, there is one with a different shade of red.

Genki Satay. Or something. Tastes like chicken. Lost the receipt so I dunno wat it’s actually called. Very aerodynamic.

Green tea that can be refilled with a tap labelled “Hot” on the table. Nifty. Quick I have to be fast.

Obscene radioactive sauce with liberal wasabi (not made by me). My
friend went “Johnson & Johnson No more tears” went and ate one
slathered with this. Indeed, no more tears. Myself, first try made me
cry. Fared better on the second endeavor. Desensitized after that. 🙂

Tempura. Done!

Anyway, I shall throw down the gauntlet and ask if I can finish my
work at my company before 12 pm and then go to (client’s place) to
finish my work there and then leave to ensure that I can make it to the
airport on time. I don’t know, personally, I think that’s pushing it
quite a bit and it reflects badly on me, since I’m basically a new
employee on my first job, and the IT industry is not exactly booming
now due to outsourcing to countries with citizens who will accept lower
pay for similar results like India and China.

However, if I’m ever going to taper off my pharmacopoeia I’m going
to have to STOP worrying about everything and chant “Que sera sera”.
Come on now, do it with me!

Que sera sera
Whatever will be will be
The future’s not ours to see
What will be, will be!

Let’s go to Melbourne! They have this e-visa thing going on now. Now
where did I put my reference number? Nevermind, let’s go to Melbourne
anyway!

Maggie Mee Goreng @ Smart Curry House

November 11, 2003 by HB

Restoran Smart Curry House.

This is Restoran Smart Curry House – it’s located at Jalan Gereja,
near St. John’s Cathedral and relatively near my workplace. I have to
say that this is one of the more abysmal Maggie mee goreng that I’ve
ever had…they batch fry it by the dozens (literally). It’s this big
wok and they get a lot of maggie mee goreng orders in the evening/night
since the roti stall is closed so they mass cook it in a big wok and
serve it up. It looks like this:

My gf who had the mee hoon goreng reported that it was dismal as well. Here’s a photo of the interior:

It’s not packed coz two groups left and their tables were cleaned up
when I took the shot but it’s surprisingly popular. However, I’ll go
for Ali Maju’s Maggie mee goreng any day. It’s not the best, but it’s
good anyway.

I apologize for not posting the nasi ayam post, it’s really long and
this one is shorter and I need to go to sleep. However, I did reply the
comments and I will reply your email (unless you’re in NZ, no it’s not
you ;)) later tonight. I have to apologize for not replying emails – it
is impossible to do so with the volume I get everyday, sorry to
everyone who mails me. I suggest IM if you want to get in touch with me
– my UIN is 7345320 and I’m only online at night, after work and
dinner, usually around 10 – 11 pm but most times I’m tired and I don’t
switch on ICQ.

Anyway, the promised nasi ayam post will be up tomorrow during lunch
time (GMT +8). I’ll write it during my lunch hour, I reckon that’s fair
since it is after all a break. I’m not taking up company time if I
update during my lunch hour, right? Right. I don’t even go to my own
blog during work hours now. Wait for it tomorrow! 🙂 I’m going to eat
supper and then go straight to bed.

The Taj @ Crown Princess Deepavali Buffet

October 23, 2003 by HB

The Taj.

This is the write up of the annual XM Malaysia Deepavali dinner at
The Taj @ Crown Princess. There are heaps of photos in this post, which
would probably hurt me more than the US$ 60 I just paid for excess
bandwidth, but hey, it’s Deepavali tomorrow. 🙂 Anyway, XM Malaysia and
Zenith Media booked the entire restaurant for the annual get together.

This is one of the many fringe benefits we get at XM. Free beer
anyone? 😉 Anyway, the tables were half taken by Zenith and half by XM.
Our table had mostly tech people, plus quite a few Project Managers and
two from Creative, IIRC. Caveat: I don’t remember all that well when
I’m on this particular GABA agonist my doctor prescribed (Shh! People
who know shouldn’t comment about it. :p) and when there’s free beer
involved since the two potentiates each other, resulting in an early
loss of inhibition. 😉

Anyway, about the food at The Taj, it was okay, but not great. Don’t
get me wrong, it’s good…just not as good as their desserts! They have
really great desserts and sweets. I like this particular brown chunky
thing that I don’t remember the name of, but readers from Melbourne,
you can find it opposite the Clayton station exit (from the City). It’s
two shops down from that discount bottleshop where I usually buy my
beer. The shop specializes in North Indian sweets.

Well back to the event, like I said, I don’t remember much, but
there was this speech where 3 new people from XM and 3 new people from
Zenith Media gave a speech describing their first weeks and the best
one gets RM 500 and the one which the judges deemed was the worst has
to sing a song. Oh right, I just remembered something VERY
EMBARRASSING…I blame the venue for not labeling the toilets properly.
:p

Anyway, about halfway through the event, I felt the urge to answer
the call of nature, as one tends to get after drinking beer – which not
only is a liquid, but a diuretic as well. I walked to the toilets –
there was one male and one female, both side by side. I went into the
male one, saw a toilet for the disabled to my right and went straight
in and relieved myself.

Well, the urination process took longer than usual, considering I
had a full bladder and suddenly…there was this feeling that something
wasn’t right. I stood there, aiming my member and trying to think about
what it was that felt unusual. It’s…voices. Female voices. “Why are
there female voices in a male toilet?”, I wondered. I zipped my pants,
forgot to flush and opened the door to…

A group of females standing right outside the door! I stared blankly
at them. I think both parties said “What are you doing in the guys
toilet?” and “What are you doing in the girls toilet?” at the same
time. There was about 6-8 of them and I knew all of them. How
embarrassing…that damned toilet sign, it looked like a male one! Chih
Ning wanted to grab my digicam and take a photo of me in the girls
toilet but good thing I made a quick exit, escaping the laughter behind
me. 😉

I think I didn’t even wash my hands in my hurry to get out…

I strongly suggest better signs to distinguish the male and female
toilets to avoid situations like this. I’ve lived at on campus since
2000 while in uni and the toilets and bathrooms are co-ed so I wasn’t
too bothered about it, but this is Malaysia. It’s a good thing that all
the people in the female toilet at that time were from either XM or
Zenith Media. If there were any strangers, I wouldn’t know what the
outcome would be from that mistake. 🙂

The Taj. Fine North Indian Cruisine.

Anyway, back to dinner, here are the photos of the annual XM Malaysia/Zenith Media Deepavali get together!

Zenith Media table. I only know Chih Ning (the one in white). She’s the one that gives out paychecks. 😉

Candid shot of the people opposite me.

This is the other side.

This is my side.

This is Jemay. He put me in a very uncomfortable position once during a TGIF meeting when my blog was brought up by him. 😉

L-R: Jit, Janet, E-Ling

Miscellaneous shots

More miscellaneous shots

Yet more miscellaneous shots

Tamater Ka Shorba
Tomato Soup with Indian Herbs

Nan
Indian bread baked in clay oven

Matar Pulao

Dal Tarka
Yellow lentils tempered and seasoned with exotic spices

Palak Paneer
Spicy spinach with Indian cheese

Gobhi Kelandi
Cauliflower with yoghurt and spices

Goshi Kurma

Fish Tikka

Tandoori Murgh
Tender Chicken marinated with freshly ground Mint, Coriander & Spices

Kingfisher Beer! It tastes more like cider than beer…

Kingfisher beer is made in India!

My plate of food.

My dessert plate.

Us techies.

L-R: Chia (blue), Anthony (white), Mandy (grey), Felicia (black), Loh (light blue), Huai Bin (me) (black)

Happy Deepavali!

Aero (Jalan Sultan Ismail)

October 15, 2003 by HB

Aero Restaurant

This is Aero Restaurant & Lounge at the corner of Jalan Sultan
Ismail and Jalan Raja Chulan. The place has a strong emphasis on
windows and transparency and I’ve always been intriuged by the design
of the place whenever I happen to pass by.

The distinctive orange stripes of Aero.

Aero’s bar area.

This is a shot of Aero’s interior.

Aero opens at 12 pm for lunch and the crowd doesn’t seem to be
particularly big…in fact there wasn’t even a crowd in the true sense
of the word. There was an expariate type dining alone at a table in
front of a TV and a couple in their late 30s in the table beside us.
There seems to be some construction work going on though – perhaps for
a revamp of the interior. The menu was rather limited, it spans a
meagre 3 pages and did not offer the wide range of choices expected.
Their food has been refered to as “Modern European” or “Fusion”. I did
not have the chance to sample their main dishes though due to time
constraints.

Chicken salad. The peppers were grinded on the spot into the dish.

Chocolate cake.

What is lunch without a martini?

This is drink with bits of apple floating on it.

I don’t know what this is…

Dessert – some cocktail with a heavy Cognac presence.

The food @ Aero.

Aero has good service (which isn’t unexpected as the waiter to table
ratio was 2:1 by the end of lunch) and a nice ambience – it overlooks a
busy intersection in the heart of KL through large glass windows. I
didn’t find their food especially delicious though, but it was okay.
The drinks were better. 😉

Original Okonomiyaki Hiroshima Style @ Plaza Low Yat

August 22, 2003 by HB

I’ve eaten here the last time I was in KL and figured I would go
back and take photos of the okonomiyaki making process. The seating
arrangement allows you to sit in front of the grill and watch them make
your okonomiyaki. Okonomiyaki has been described as a “Japanese pizza”.
I had the nikutama ika ebi (pork and seafood) okonomiyaki with soba
noodles (you can choose to have udon) and the spring onion topping.
That came up to RM 18. Here’s the photos of the making of my order:

Pouring out the base

Adding shredded cabbages and sprouts

Shaking pepper and salt

Adding the seafood

Layering several slices of bacon on top

Here’s a close up of the partially made okonomiyaki

Soba noodles fried seperately in the next grill

The okonomiyaki pushed over in preparation of combining with the soba noodles

Turning over the okonomiyaki

Combining it with the soba noodles

Compressing the whole thing

Lifting it onto an egg (fried seperately)

Making everything neat

Slicing up the okonomiyaki

Drizzling okonomiyaki sauce on top

Generous sprinkling of spring onions

This is the finished dish – nikutama ika ebi okonomiyaki pictured with iced rooibos tea.

Durian season!

August 5, 2003 by HB

The annual durian season seems to have started in Sibu. A friend of
my dad dropped by with a couple of durians. These are local ones, seems
unripe but it tasted great! Soft, creamy custardy texture, just the way
I like it. Photo story will be up later tonight (early morning
probably), applications for employment gets priority. 🙂

Teochew Roasted Meat Flat Mee

July 12, 2003 by HB

Teochew Kampua Mee @ Central Market, Sibu

This is said to be the best kampua mee in Sibu. I went last night
with a couple of my buddies but I’ve been busy so I only posted it
today. This stall is on the second floor of Central Market and I’ve
been told it’s only open from 8 pm – 11 pm at night, except for
Sundays. 3 hours per day, and they have heaps of customers due to its
reputation so be prepared for a long wait. I think we had to wait more
than 30 minutes, which is a long time for kampua mee!

Teochew Kampua Mee (Plain)

Anyway, I thought it was okay, it’s good, but I’ve had better. :p I
had two bowls – one plain and one with soy sauce + chili sauce. The soy
sauce + chili sauce one is better, IMHO. The soup is great, I don’t
know what they put inside, but it’s different from the usual kam pua
soup. The meat is roasted (smoked?) pork, tastes slightly better than
the normal ones, but the noodles is helluva oily. The reason for the
long wait is not only coz of the many customers, but because they cook
each bowl separately, unlike other stalls who just chuck everything in.

Teochew Kampua Mee (Soy Sauce and Chili Sauce)