The ballad of John and Yoko…

Unfortunately, there is no Yoko, just Toto…so this post is not going to be about John and Yoko but about John…

…and Toto…

…instead. Muahahahahaha!!!!

They’ve set up a branch of this pie place in Kuching here recently…

– not a very big place, just half a shoplot (but it’s bigger than the one I went to in the state capital) with nothing too elaborate…

…as far as the decor is concerned but I would say it  is pleasant enough though I felt they could turn up the air-conditioning a little as it was a little bit too warm for comfort…or to me, at least.

I dropped by one afternoon with Melissa and the mum and like in the case of the one in Kuching, I can’t help wondering why they are using the singular form of the noun in the name too as it gives me the impression that they only have one pie there, take it or leave it….but as a matter of fact, even though they did have more than one, when we went that day, it seemed that most of those listed on their menu were not available.

We ordered the vegan pie (RM5.50)…

…to try but it was all pumpkin inside…

…and I thought I saw a slice of smoked cheese as well so that would not be suitable for vegetarians who are not into dairy products, I’m afraid. It was somewhat too strong on the spices and herbs so I can’t say that we liked it a lot.

We also ordered the signature steak beef pie (RM5.50)…

…and from the name, I was expected chunks of beef like the ones I had in New Zealand but let’s just say that I was kind of disappointed…

…as the filling was somewhat mushy and at best, all I could detect were some bits of meat that were so small that I would not even know they were there…

We all loved the chicken & mushroom quiche (RM7.50)…

…though but I thought it was rather thin for a quiche and more like a pizza instead.

I noticed that they had an oven that they used for heating up the pies though…so that got my double thumbs up. I, for one, am not a fan of the microwave and as far as I know, there are places that use that to heat up pies and stuff which is a no-no for me.

The so-called John’s special coffee (RM3.80)…

…was good and all in all, I would say it is a jolly nice place for a cuppa to sit and chat and catch up with friends and maybe, grab a bite of something light as well. For one thing, it is definitely more comfortable than sweating it out at a coffee shop although the iced coffee aka kopi-o-peng (RM1.20)…

…would be a whole lot cheaper and perhaps, nicer as well.

Well, talking about coffee shops, actually, I’ve been to this one a couple of times before here and here…and lately, I’ve been hearing a lot of talk about the place about how crowded it would get and how one would have to stand by a table to wait for the people to finish and grab it as soon as they stand up so one morning, I was out pretty early and the crowd had yet to show up so I decided to stop by and see what the attraction was.

It turned out to be more or less the same – the way it was and I did not feel like having the bitter gourd bihun that everyone has been praising to the skies and settled for the mee sua in traditional Foochow red wine chicken soup (RM5.50)…

…instead. If I’m not mistaken, this is Annie-Q‘s favourite in town and it is 50 sen cheaper than what I had here but I think I prefer the latter as the ginger taste in this one is a little too strong for me and I would not say that it was quite to my liking, not at all. Perhaps I should have gone for the bitter gourd bihun, after all.

So there you have it, the ballad of John and Toto! LOL!!!