Sail on…

This is undoubtedly one of the most popular places in town for young people to dine and hang out and not too long ago, they opened a branch at the Giant MegaMall and soon after that, word went round that they’d taken over The Ark at the Rejang Esplanade here in Sibu, making it their third outlet in town – the CafeCafe @ the Ark.

I was supposed to go there for dinner with Julia, Luke and Justin but unfortunately, it was closed on that particular night…but I did manage to drop by the following night with Philip who would be going back to the US of A a few days later. According to reliable sources, this particular joint is different from the rest in that it is non-halal so you can expect to see pork on the menu.

We decided to try their spicy fried rice with XO sauce (RM15.00)…

…and both of us liked it a lot…despite the overcooked fried egg, sunny side up. I must say that this is a big compliment as usually, I would not be very impressed by most of the fried rice available here, there and everywhere so you can take my word for it – this one’s good and worth ordering should you happen to drop by the place.

We also had their Thai-style midin (jungle fern) with roast pork (RM18.00)…

…and again, we were not disappointed – it certainly tasted great.

Now, if there are only two of you, I would suggest that you stop right there and enjoy the two dishes alone – the servings are so huge that it would be quite a struggle to finish especially if you’re not a big eater like me. I should have known better as the servings are also very substantial at their other outlets but I could not resist the temptation to order a few more items on the menu to try.

One of them was the stuffed crabs (RM20.00)…

…which were really good…

…but I must say that I prefer the baked cheese crabs at the Heritage in Kuching.

The pork satay (RM15.00)…

…was a disappointment in that it was in no way like satay as we know it – the only similarity would be the appearance but it was not marinated with the usual ingredients so in the end, what we got was some very tasty chunks of pork that were something like a cross between char siew, roast pork and bak kua (barbecued pork slices). Let me reiterate  that it was very nice, make no mistake about that…just that I would not call it satay and there wasn’t any peanut sauce to go with it even.

Actually, Philip wanted to go to the pasar malam (night market) to eat some of the local delights sold there but after that heavy dinner, we decided to abandon the plan. The service was good and despite the fact that the waiters were not that proficient in English, at least they managed quite well while taking our orders and serving us…unlike at other places where they would just speak in Mandarin regardless.

All in all, I would say that it was a delightful dinner and I certainly would go back there again –  but I guess I should refrain from ordering too much the next time around.