My young friend, Nicholas, was back in Sibu recently to visit his grandparents and we were able to go out and grab a bite of something to eat before he left to go back to the UK where he is currently studying.
My missus and Melissa came along and his sister too…and we went to this place which despite its name, hasn’t got that many choices of noodles on their menu. I ordered their wanton QQ noodles (RM6.50)…
…which I vaguely remember having had before and was not all that impressed by it. Well, I still think it isn’t anything to shout about plus the noodles were slightly overcooked – I sure would prefer them a little bit firmer…or as they say, al dente.
Nicholas had another noodle dish – their sizzling black pepper beef kampua (RM9.50) that I insisted he should try and yes, he said it was nice. His sister wanted their porridge and Melissa and the mum shared their seafood cheese baked rice (RM16.90)…
…which they said was not as nice was what I had – the pork chop version plus the seafood was hard, probably overcooked.
I thought the golden wanton (RM6.20) was overdone too…
They look fine in the photograph but either we were seated in a dim corner that day or they actually looked a darker shade of brown to me, not golden at all. They tasted fine though and I guess that was all that mattered really.
On the other hand, their dry-fried dumplings (RM8.90)…
…were under-fried – only on the bottom unlike when we had those a number of times before…but as in the case of the wantons, they tasted all right. I wonder if it was one of those days when the chef was not in his element or there was quite a crowd at that point in time and the kitchen hands simply could not cope but for a place like this and at those prices, I do think there should be a fair amount of quality control or people may start going elsewhere instead.
We had the mille crepes for dessert – their rum and raisin (RM7.80) and the tiramisu (RM9.00)…and yes, everybody agreed with me that the former was the much better choice.
It sure was nice seeing you again, Nicholas and to your sis, glad to have made the acquaintance. I do think it is so sweet of you two to come all the way to spend your holidays here in Sibu just to keep your grandparents company. Frankly, the likes of you are few and far between in this present day and age, I would say.
Anyway, to get back to the topic of names, this place certainly has a good one…
Untong in Malay means profit so as far as the name goes, that certainly augers well for this particular business enterprise and I would think it is most likely the case as it has been around for quite sometime now – two years, at least and it does seem to be going on strong.
I don’t frequent the place though despite the fact that I live pretty close by but that morning, I dropped by the place to meet a friend to discuss some personal matters and we had some steamed paos (buns)…
…with our drinks.
I had the meat one…
…and I would say it was very nice – both the skin and the filling, nicer than the celebrated ones at Hua Kiew Road here. I don’t know the price, I’m afraid as my friend picked up the tab so I can’t make any comparison in this aspect.
I saw these plastic miniature food models on the counter as we were leaving…
…and I could not resists snapping a photograph of those – I thought they looked so real and so very nice.
Of course, there have been places around here that I have blogged about before and there would be some people asking why they have been named thus – like this cafe here…or this one. Whatever it is, as Shakespeare would say:
What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet
…and to me, the most important thing is whether the food is nice or not, never mind what the place is called. I bet all of you would agree with me on this one, right?
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 