Oriental Passion is one of the new eating establishments that have mushroomed up in Jalan Padungan in Kuching. The distinctive red signage of the eatery features a square ancient Chinese style stamp with a bright red background and an intense light source illuminating the signage.
The incandescent lighting radiating from Oriental Passion is inviting. There are curtains softly billowing at the entrance. Oriental Passion also has al fresco seating arrangements and a main seating area which follows the theme a little too literally by providing patrons with stools instead of chairs.
Oriental Passion has a wood themed interior, with a lot of bamboo features and a large tree trunk anchoring the partitions. The real wood and bamboo feature actually obscures the wash basin for patrons.
The interior of Oriental Passion also uses a lot of mirrors to create the illusion of a larger space (and for the convenience of patrons to check their make up by just glancing to the side ;)). There are large reflective glass panels everywhere.
Oriental Passion also incorporates the mirror concept into the brick foundation of the walls. There are small mirrors embedded into the bricks on the wall every few feet. I went there with Irene [blogspot.com] last night to check out the place.
There is also a bar seating area with lounge chairs and the rest of the seating arrangements lines the side of the unique tight and long space characteristic of the Jalan Padungan old shop houses. The back also houses a tatami area.
The gramophone at the cashier counter lends a rather retro look to the place. There are also bottles of home made chilli sauce for sale at the cashier counter. Oriental Passion had a Valentine’s Day menu and we both went for that option.
Download: Oriental Passion video tour [sixthseal.com]
Oriental Passion has three Guinness mixed drinks which we tried in successive order:
GuinnessLad (RM 10)
This drink is Guinness stout mixed with a mixer that I couldn’t
identify. It’s the plainest one of the series and the alcoholic content
of all three drinks are minimal at best.
GuinnessLass (RM 10)
This one is Guinness stout with a cocktail of fruits and ice cream. It tastes great!
GuinnessBerry (RM 10)
This is Guinness stout blended with blueberries. It’s a sweet drink
that goes down well, albeit with an almost indistinguishable stout
taste.
The Oriental Passion St. Valentine’s Day Dinner menu goes for RM 49.00 per pax and entails:
ORIENTAL Chef’s Salad
Passionate sushi-meat roll, fried bags of fortune served with refreshing lettuce.
Cream of Mushroom Soup
Button mushroom affectionately boiled with chicken stock and cream.
Rosemary Lamb Chop
A tender lamb romantically filled with scent of rosemary flanked by salad and fries.
This is the main course…the lamb meat is great, with the meat slightly charred outside while the flavors of the lamb is infused inside the tender meat.
Delightful ice cream topped with fine dark chocolate that melts your evening!
The Oriental Passion Valentine’s Day Dinner comes with a small complimentary gift-pack full of candy given out after the meal.
Oriental Passion is a great place to head to in Jalan Padungan coz it tends to be less packed than the other eating establishments in that area.
It does seem that they took the Oriental part of Oriental Passion a little too literally though…all the eating implements seems to be sourced from Singapore Airlines! 😉
]]>