I think I mentioned in a recent post that my daughter and I went to The Ark but it was closed. Well, my friend, Jimmy, from Bintulu was in town again and look at what he brought me… Two different types of tempuyak (fermented durian) and some very nice cincaluk (fermented shrimps)!
So the day he came, we decided to try again and went to The Ark for lunch and to our delight, it was open for business.
This is the main section where the cashier’s counter is…
…but I prefer the section to the side where I sat the last time I came as it is brighter and airy and you get to enjoy the cool breeze blowing in from the river. I think I had some more photos in that earlier post of mine on the place. Jimmy was very impressed by the whole place…
…but of course, what matters the most would be the food. I ordered the two items that I had before for the simple reason that they were very nice. The lamb curry (RM11.00) was enough for at least two or three persons…
…and they were also quite generous with their ladies’ fingers with belacan (RM6.00)…
…and we also had the Thai-style crispy chicken (RM8.00)…
Unlike other places where they would just use the Thai sauce from the bottle, here they prepare their own and I could detect hints of lemon grass and maybe even bunga kantan. It was good but probably, more of an acquired taste and less adventurous diners may need more time to get used to it. My daughter had their Chicken Cordon Bleu (RM12.50)…
It may not look much in the photo but in reality, it was huge! A quarter chicken, at least…and they had it stuffed with ham and cheese. Ooo…double thumbs up! My friend wanted to try their condensed milk with peanut toast (RM2.50) so we ordered that as well…
It was o.k. but I would prefer more peanut (butter) and the condensed milk tasted as if they had opened the can for quite sometime now.
What I like best is the fact that they do not have the plus-plus on the bill (10% service charge and 5% government tax) unlike some other places, including that empty garden. I thought that the government had waived the 5% tax in view of the current economic recession?
All in all, it was no doubt a pleasant dining experience…and I would not mind going there again…and again…and again!
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
where is this place anyway?
You wanna go? Come, give me a ring…and I’ll take you there. LOL!!! You can click the links to my previous posts and you will see where it’s located.
very nice…cordon bleu at rm12 is cheap!!!
It is cheap…and nice too!
T__T
I’m hungry !!
Come, let’s go there…I belanja u! Hahahahahahaha!!!
despite all the negative reviews i’ve seen, yours comes out like a bed of roses… honestly, how much commission are you getting this time?
No leh, I just gave my frank opinions…Good, I’ll say good and if not good, I’ll say so too. I hinted that I didn’t really like the Thai-style chicken and I thought the condensed milk wasn’t exactly fresh. Price-wise, it is very reasonable compared to other similar places and nope, I’m not getting any commission. I used to love Garden…A LOT but not anymore. Wouldn’t mind the price hike if the quality of the food had been sustained.
Saying that I’m hungry would be an understatement right now. And so cheap too!!! I notice the staircase near the cashier counter… is food served upstairs as well or is that a gallery up there? The place looks cosy and nice. One request, IF ever I do make it to Sibu… you gotta take me there. Can?
Yes, they’ve something upstairs, probably another section for diners…and one smaller one at the back. Very nice and unique architecture and interior design. Ya, the prices are very reasonable and sure if you come, we’ll go there. no problem at all…!
AND I still haven’t dined here yet! By the way the cincaluk looks yummy! I can finish my lunch with only white rice + cincaluk, no problem! Cincaluk fried rice is nice too…*drool* Oh, it’s lunch time, no wonder 😛
Had cincaluk fried rice at Cafe2 last night. Will post on that soon…and you’ll just have to wait and keep checking up my blog if you wanna know what I think of it! Hahahahahahaha!!!
AND I still haven’t dined here yet! By the way the cincaluk looks yummy! I can finish my lunch with only white rice + cincaluk, no problem! Cincaluk fried rice is nice too…*drool* Oh, it’s lunch time, no wonder 😛
Oops! Duplicate comment? Good! Good! The more the merrier! LOL!!
which post?lol
Just click the two links I have provided in the post…or you can go to victor’s blog. He has more pics of the place and nicer ones too here… http://victor-kiu.blogspot.com/2008/10/le-ark-cafe-gallery-sibu.html 😀
Very reasonable price for food the lorr! I would love to have that old clock. LOL
Ya, very reasonable for an impressive place like that. Ha! That’s why I snapped the pic of the clock…very unique! And all the crockery they use from IKEA, no less…not one of those made-in-China Supersave stores!!
I’ve tried the toast before, and it was disappointing. The western foods were all pretty good, haven’t tried others but as far as I know, the reviews weren’t too good either. Venue wise, its great and I love it!
The lamb curry and belacan ladies fingers were good. Ya, the toast wasn’t great. For RM2.50, better go have kampua…but the place is really very nice.
The food looked nice except for the toast. The condensed milk doesn’t look fresh too. With that much of milk, you’ll sure get diabetes eating that.
It’s ok as we cut that up and shared it among us. Can’t remember the last time I had condensed milk…and these days, it’s not available anymore – just sweetened creamer.
So did Noah go there for lunch too?LOL!
No, just the animals…and one big fat one! Hahahahahahaha!!!
You know STP,you are reminding me of that character in Ratatouille, the food critique that is the most feared by all the famous restaurants n what stars he will rate in the ones he has dine in!LOL!
I didn’t see the movie but Mel says the character’s skinny and mean-looking…definitely not like me.
The food looks much better now than what other bloggers had blogged about in the past. Haven’t been there myself though.
So far I only came across two – victor who seemed to like it and goolooloo who slammed the food but praised the place to the skies. I think the food’s nice…and the prices are reasonable for that kind of place and ambience. Try the “big” hotels – a lot more expensive and the food may not necessarily be nicer.
Food!!!
Now I’m really hungry esp when I only ate during breakfast!
Gosh…I wouldn’t be able to survive a day like that! LOL!!
i like that place too!! and the food is quite cheap if compared to the others cafe!
Yalor…and not bad what! I would go there again…and bring friends along too. If it is that bad, I would rather go some place else no matter how nice the place may be.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ……… what !? Do i hear the buzzing of a housefly? The Ark, i believed i told you how my lunch cost me my fortune. But the scenery there is very good. Very expensive taste.
You must have eaten a lot! I did not see anything expensive on the menu leh? The RM12.50 chicken cordon bleu was among the more expensive items. I’m sure it’s more expensive elsewhere.
The atmosphere is nice & the food looks great. Especially the Chicken Cordon Bleu, very Yummy haha
It certainly is. And welcome…thanks for dropping by. Hopped over to ur blog. Looks interesting but can’t comment – forgot my password. LOL!!! Will add u to my blogroll! Do come often!
The food looks delicious! I also like some restaurants that don’t include the 10% service charge and the 5% govt tax. But then they may have already include that in the nett price, well some restaurants do that, though not all.
This one probably didn’t as the things are still reasonable cheap. We liked the food there…
wah.. chicken c.Bleu for RM12.50..over here at the high class Coffeehouse is RM22.50++
what is the white sauce covering the potato–cheese gravy?
That’s why I said the prices are very reasonable for a place of that class. The food at Tom’s Place in Bintulu is nice…but of course, the place isn’t so comfortable and attractive. Price-wise, I wouldn’t know…Friends paid! LOL!! Dunno what’s the gravy…but it was nice. Loved the ham and cheese inside the chicken.