Sundown…

The weather had been scorching, so much so that even after sundown, it was still so very hot. I was thinking of some nice, cool place for dinner and at the same time, I wanted Mandy and Yee Ling (and her girls) to try our exotic local ethnic cuisine, so we ended up at this restaurant that night.

As usual, we were served these keropok (prawn crackers), probably the nice ones from Mukah, as appetisers…

…but unfortunately, they were not on the house and even though you do not order those, you would find those charged to you in your bill eventually.  Thankfully, everybody loved them especially Yee Ling’s little girls and in the end, we ordered another round of those for the two…and the  rest of us.

Of course, I ordered the lokan…

…which is some kind of clam actually and they scoop out the flesh and mix that with minced meat and what not to stuff the shell and deep fry…

This restaurant claims to be the only one in Malaysia serving this but I do not know to what extent, that is true.

Mandy loved the umai (raw fish), a Melanau dish…

…which was very much nicer than the one I bought from the kampung Malay food stall as they used calamansi lime juice, not vinegar and they were very generous with the belacan. Unfortunately, it did not tickle Yee Ling’s fancy so the rest of us had it all to ourselves.

They were okay with the paku (jungle fern) cooked in santan (coconut milk)…

…but as far as the midin (jungle fern, a different variety) with belacan (dried prawn paste) – no msg added, it said in the menu, was concerned…

Mandy felt that the one she had at Ruby would win hands down.

They liked the sea cucumber soup…

…but I did not think it was all that great. In fact, it was quite different from what we would get at the other places in town.

Still, it was a pleasant enough dinner and we managed to finish everything…

…even though it was not really cheap – the bill came up to over RM90.00 for four adults and two kids (who hardly ate anything other than the keropok).

Hey! Wait a minute! Actually I had intended all along to order some kacang ma chicken for them to try but somehow or other, it completely slipped my mind that night when we were there. Sigh!!! Sign of old age, no question about it! Now it looks like they will have to come to Sibu again if they want to try that. Hehehehehe!!!!

Personally, I do wish they would do something about the place really as to me, it appeared somewhat shabby and rather gloomy. A new coat of paint would do wonders, I’m sure…and perhaps, some simple and nice decor as well, no need to be too elaborate. I’m pretty sure at the prices they charge, they can jolly well afford to do something to make the place look more presentable and pleasant to the eye. Other than that, if anyone is planning to go there for dinner, it would be a good idea to sit nearer to the door as it seemed a bit cooler there (but darker). We sat further inside where it was brighter but it was a bit hot and not very comfortable. In fact, the air conditioners looked kind of old – probably, they had moved those from their old location many years ago.

All things considered, frankly speaking, if not for the fact that I wanted Mandy and Yee Ling to try those stuff that would not be available elsewhere, I would not have gone there…