Yes, I do remember quite vividly that when the Ruby Restaurant here in Sibu first opened many, many years ago, it was owned by a couple. The wife was from either Taiwan or Hong Kong. It became quite popular then, especially for its signature dish – the pandan chicken…
Pandan chicken @ Ruby Restaurant (under its present-day proprietors)
Then the restaurant changed hands and the couple left town. I don’t know whether the present owners of the place were the ones who took over or there were others at the time but word went round that the food was not so good anymore, so I did not bother going for quite sometime.
Eventually, the couple came back and they opened Dynasty…
…and I went there a couple of times. The food was all right but what I did not like was that the people could not speak Hokkien or English and I had a tough time, trying to make myself understood…and on more than one occasion, I had to resort to Malay in a Chinese restaurant! In comparison, the Ruby boss and his wife were both conversant in English and the Chinese dialect, so I felt more comfortable there. Besides, later when they came out with some yummy dishes like their butter scotch prawns, mayo-lime lamb and so on, I never went back to Dynasty ever again.
Finally, after all this time, I went there again yesterday for lunch. Actually, we wanted to go to Hotel Zuhra but the food at the counter was running out and I didn’t want to wait for them to refill, so we headed to Dynasty instead – which is just a stone’s throw away in the next block. I must say that I appreciated the fact that they tried to practise good hygiene and soaked everything in hot water….
We had the kiam-sor hay (salty and crusty prawns)…
…that tasted good and different from the same dish at other places, probably due to the variety of ingredients used in the preparation and the garnishing. The cuttlefish with dried chillies was very delicious too…
Normally, I never liked this sort of cuttlefish – the type they have in jiew-hu eng chai (sotong kangkong) and preferred the white type. But I was pleasantly surprised that they managed to do a good job with it and it definitely was to my liking. Other than these two dishes, we also had the salad tofu…
Again, the dish was different from elsewhere. The tofu was coated with some very tasty batter and even the mayonnaise was different. It was not the plain straight-from-the-bottle stuff. They had some ingredients inside like garlic and spring onions and I must say that they did a pretty good job. For the vegetable dish, we had kangkong fried with belacan (dried prawn paste)…
Oops! I did it again! I think I had ordered too much and there were only two of us…and partly because the servings were so substantial, we had a hard time trying to finish off everything. I would think that there was enough food for at least four or five people!
And the bill came up to only RM35.oo inclusive of rice and drinks. Last week or was it the week before, I went with another friend to Ruby and we had two meat dishes and one veg and the bill totalled RM28.20…and they even wanted that miserable 20 sen! Obviously, some people need to learn that little things mean a lot, even if it is only the rounding up of the figure by a difference of a mere 20 sen. More often than not, it is such token goodwill that keeps drawing the customers back to the same old restaurants and eating places again and again…
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Well, good for you. At times you get value for money and at times, big money for small portions.
Like they say, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose… Btw, I’ve drafted a poem for tomorrow’s post, so make sure you drop by…but please be kind with your “critical appreciation”. Shudders!!! LOL!!!
You make me sound so merciless. Just so you know, I’m always trying to find some redeeming qualities even in the worst poem, not that yours is. I’ll definitely drop by and give you a boost to your ego. 🙂
Even before seeing the poem, he has started biting! I’m always trying to find some redeeming qualities even in the worst poem Ouch! Ouch! Hahahahahaha!!!
Is your couple of times two times or a few times? Just curious.
What do you think the tv or aircon repairman means when he says, “I’ll be there in a couple of minutes,” or what the mechanic means when he says, “It will be ready in a couple of days.” Chew on that!
I thought you being a punster wanted to make a point when you said “…the couple came back…and I went there a couple of times.”
Not really! It was purely accidental…or should I say, coincidental?
oh no!! I’m really hungry now hahahha~ going back next week~ must try out all these restaurants you mentioned 😀
Are you inviting me to tag along? I can show you the way… Hahahahaha!!!
HAHAHaaa.enjoyed the reply to couple of times curiousity.It’s commonly understood to means more than once la.What’s the difference between twice and two times?
What is Lampa?..include lampa poi and lampa chee or not?…must check with Ah Beng later… and what couple came back?..he & he, she & she or he & she?
Ooi! Still in the mooting mood, I see?…At my meetings in KL, I met many who would stick steadfastly to the old traditional rules and surprisingly, those English people from Cambridge themselves are more receptive to change. Have I told this joke before about St Peter? When he heard a knock on the gates of Heaven, he asked, “Who’s there?” A voice on the other side replied, “It is I!” “Oh no,” St Peter groaned, “Not another English teacher!!!”
kpenyu, i guess you couldn’t resist reading the fine print.
what do you make of “the couple couple a couple of times”? how many are there?
That’s his job! To look for loopholes and to twist and turn to make simple statements complicated and confuse the judge! LOL!!!… Now, I would say there were two but how many times would depend on a lot of factors – like age, stamina…and whether they had time to stop by the pharmacy!
*drool* pandan chicken…now I feel like eating pandan chicken 😛
I’m sure they have that in Kuching. Lok Thian… May be even nicer!!! Go! Go! Then you post on it…. The wedding dinner has dragged on too long liao! Oops! Hahahahaha!!!
I never tried Pandan Chicken before, this is the first time i heard of it, Cikgu. i wonder if I can get it in KL. 8)
It’s actually a Thai delicacy. You can get it at any Thai restaurant, lots in KL! Gee! You’re not very adventurous as far as eating goes, it seems.
LOL… yeah, not really adventurous when it comes to eating. =.= I cook and eat at home most of the time. Summore when I was still living wif my parents, my mum cook every damn day! Only eat out of bday and anniversary. So lack of exposure to foods outside. LOL…only eat those things that I dunno how to cook outside like Japs food, Korean, etc.
Not into Japanese and much less Korean food. Would prefer Thai! So much nicer!
RM 35 is seriously cheap. Or at least so a JB-ian feels. Of course, RM 28 is even better 😆
But the RM28 was one meat dish less, no prawns or cuttlefish (more expensive) and servings smaller!!! This meal is really value for money!
Either way beats it. But having said that, there’s always ways to overcome the “higher prices”. Hawker centres here are one alternative 😀
But hawker centres are so very hot! We have a few good stalls here – open air but I would usually buy home to eat instead of eating there. I opted to go to this one that day as it has been so very hot here and this place is airconditioned.
You’re right I guess. But all our air-conditioned restaurants are packed with Singaporeans and all the car packs filled with the ‘S’ car plate numbers. We locals where got chance to eat there? 😛
Book the zero fares on offer right now from that cheap airline and come over! Unbelievably nice food and the best part – cheap!!!
yum yum yum
Yum yum…
My family prefer there becoz it is cheaper than the ‘mei wei’ restaurant. For one thing, i don’t like their poor services, especially with an old man there. ==!!
The taukeneon there is a beautiful lady. XD
That must be the Taiwan or HongKong lady. Got old man meh? Not so old lah…but didn’t look very friendly. I think the food at Nice House tastes better though…
Ya, Nice House is better but more expensive. If you order similar dishes and with same number of people, you will save around ten to twenty ringgit.
Ya, i coming for you. XD.
You are?…LOL!!! Don’t worry, I wouldn’t scold you anymore! Hahahahahaha!
the 20 cents make a big difference. Imagine they were 50 customers a day and with that 20cents, it would be RM10! Can buy 5 bundles of vege!
But if they say never mind the 20 sen, the customer will feel good and will come again and again and again. Long term investment mah! LOL!!!
That’s cheap for such dishes. But my mum and dad don’t like that place. that’s why i will not show up in that place. but the food looks nice.
I never really liked the place. I think I went once with my family, another time with my in-laws – somebody’s birthday and another with my friends – birthday also. That’s about it but I felt the food was just so-so…and it did not look attractive. This time around, it still does not look nice but the food is much better now and very cheap.
yup…d food was nice & cheap, thanx 4 d lunch……where shall we go next STP?
Wait lah! Long long time…sekali! If eat like this every day, die lor… Have to get lorry to angkat the two of us! LOL!!
If the proprietor is reading this, the next time you go there to makan the exact same meal, she/he will charge you RM29.50 and say never mind the 50 cents. hehehe.
Then, I’ll be so impressed and will keep going there! The tricks of the trade, I guess! Like But one, get one more free – Bet the cost price is a lot less and they still make a lot of profit!