Nope! We were not anywhere near the beach nor the sea, just at this very new food outlet in town named Ark, located at the Esplanade along the mighty Rejang River. The owner is somebody somewhat religiously-inclined and his other restaurant is Manna at Wisma Sanyan. Bongkersz was in town yesterday, so I took him there for lunch. Outside, it does not look like anything to shout about…
…but inside, it is a different story altogether with its unique design and relatively classy ambience.
There seems to be a few sections on the ground floor and this is one of them. The whole place appears like it is not air-conditioned but apart from being environment-friendly, the fans plus the breeze bringing in the fresh air from the river make it quite comfortably pleasant and cool. The interior design is impressive. Formerly London Cafe and later a rather shabby Chinese restaurant, the renovations included some elaborate extensions around an old tree that they had circled with a fish pond with Japanese koi swimming around freely…
There is the staircase to the upper level but I did not bother to go and have a peek at what is upstairs.
For one thing though, the service needs a lot of improvement. We were there for a good 10 minutes or so and yet nobody came to serve us. When we spotted one of the staff, we had to wave frantically to get his attention before he came to show us the menu. There are a lot of choices – both local and western and we decided to try the former and ordered the lamb curry…
I liked it very much and no, they did not use A1 instant curry mix! LOL! It was more expensive (RM12) than chicken (RM10), but lamb is definitely more expensive in Sibu. The meat was nice and tender and the gravy was rich enough and very tasty. Thumbs up also for the ladies’ fingers with belacan (prawn paste) that we had…
…but the bitter gourd with beef, though good enough, was not as nice as Y2K’s or Ruby’s bitter gourd with salted eggs.
All that with rice…..
…came up to RM33.00, inclusive of drinks. Very reasonably cheap, I would say, for the fine dining experience at a much more sophisticated place than some of my usual haunts.
Well, Bongkersz, do come to Sibu again (or anybody else who would care to drop by) and we will go sailing again…..
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Nice food you had. They should add some ark features to the restaurant.
Yalor! When they were renovating the place, I thought they would build it in the shape of a boat…like The Ship in KL.
today i played smart n only read ur blog after i ate lunch! can’t wait to check out the bazaar ramadan around pj later!
No leh? The last few posts were not about food. Ooo…the Ramadan stalls!!! Just when I thought I would go on a diet! Hahahahahaha!
Still trying to figure out where is this building, is this a new one or old one converted, near the ‘Tua Pek Kong’ site? The bitter gourd looks yummy n see u in town soon STP!!
I’m sure London Cafe was already around when you were still here. It’s along Jalan Maju…across the road from Li Hua Hotel.
what a coincidence ! I went there yesterday too but my experience is somewhat shocking. I ordered the beef while my parents ordered some veges and meat and the total is RM 100 ! The beef is so miserably small and thin and guess what, of all my beef-eating experience, this is the first time anyone served beef as quick as them. It just took them 5 minutes. The food was warm but not exactly hot, so i presume they actually have it ready made.
WHAT? RM100 for 3 people? The prices are all stated in the menu so you can just estimate! Yes, the food came out pretty fast…which is a plus-point for them but then the lunchtime crowd was somewhat thin! (Ohhhhh!!!! No time to go for tuition, got time to go online!!!!! Must knock the head liao! LOL!!!)
Place looks ok o..and clean too…non aircon ya?
good to see new places..gosh.. I hope they don’t serve Kampua there..hope nobody nor group monopolise the joint..dont’t know about you but once its monopolised..that the end for me..he he he
Waitresses nice or not..???
Waiters interested or not? ROTFLMAO!!! But the girl at the cashier’s counter is one hot chick!!! Bongkersz was very quick to make that remark! I think they have kampua…fusion (for people in confusion, that is!).
Your blog is synonymous with food.Every time I come here..I will drool all the way in front the laptop…lolx…
Haiz! Don’t eat now, when leh? Next time, this cannot eat, that cannot eat liao! More food in tomorrow’s post!!!
is this the place you can borrow n read the christian book from the book centre in the same building?..I heard abt that. not sure its the same one or not.
the Lamb curry looks yummy..I love the taste of lamb.try eating lamb curry with hot toasted garlic bread..oopps its so heavenly.
I should think so. Maybe the books are upstairs. They have that at Manna…but here, I only saw a rack full of magazines. I think they have toasted garlic bread on the menu so you can have that instead of rice.
i wanna go sailing too…
really miss the kompia, the wet one near your alma mater…forgot the name of the place 😛
Come! Come! We’ll go sailing together… That place is along Tiong Hua Road. I hear there’s a better one at Hua Kiew Road, but I won’t know cos I’m not into kompias.
Very, very nice. I’m going to go there to check out the food too. The interior looks excellent! Very nice decor.
With the different sections you were mentioning though, is it themed as in one section serves Asian food and the other Western food etc?
If so I think to review this place would require quite a few trips…
Nope! I don’t see any purpose in the sections other than some complicated architectural design…or maybe there is, but I didn’t know. Wei! Wei! You’re going to check out the place and you’re not inviting me? Humph! Now where’s my pen? I’ll have to strike out a name from my regular guest list now!! Hahahahahahaha!!!!!
A case of ‘don’t judge a book by the cover’. Very nice! I know who to call when if I go to Sibu in the future. 😉
Good! Good! I’ll be Noah! Jeremy’s already on board…and remember in the Bible, everything came in pairs! Hahahahahahahaha!!!!!
Looking at the foodie pics alone is excuse enough to make a trip to Sibu!
Welcome, Daryl. Make yourself at home. I’ve dropped by your blog and was pretty impressed…but I haven’t had time to go thru everything slowly. Will visit soon. Meanwhile, I’ll link you in my blogroll….so, do come often, ya! Right, when you come to Sibu, let me know! I’ll make sure that you’ll get to eat ONLY the best in town! LOL!!!
Along Rejang River? Is this in Sibu?
Sorry.. cause I have no idea where is Esplanade.. LOL
I like the plants they have outside the restaurant!
It makes the plc a very good place for dining~
The Esplanade stretches from Kingwood Hotel to the new express boat terminal (where the old bus station was). The plants are all INSIDE the restaurant. They constructed the building around that old tree. Interesting, eh?
Wah… I wanna go Sibu and eat lar
Come, just let me know! I can arrange another meet-up with local bloggers, no problem!!!
Sesiapa yang datang melawat STP di Sibu… sangatlah untung pasal banyak sesi makan-makan … hehehhehe
Oops! Sorry, missed this comment! Replying 1 week later! Hehehehehe!!!! You come to Sibu lah! Sure I’ll take you jalan2 cari makan also!
er melbie, isn’t that what bloggers do when they meet up? 😛
Oops! I must have missed melbie’s comment! Now must go back and hunt for it!!! Maklumlah…so many commentors!!! Hahahahahahaha!!!!!