I love coming here in the daytime – it opens at around noon for lunch and stays open till 2.30 p.m. but it is closed on Mondays.
Unlike when I drop by for dinner in the evenings, I can get to see all the nice decor in broad daylight…
…and take photographs of them…
I understand that the boss of this place got these plants…
…from the boss here, the one that needs no introduction anymore when it comes to unique, exotic decor. Besides, I would be able to take more flattering snapshots of the food served as well.
Personally, I do think it would have been a very nice place to dine…
…if it had not been so dark…plus they could do away with the colourful twinkling lights that make the place look kind of tacky and I get put off by the giant screen tv and all that noise blaring from the speakers all around…but perhaps, they have a reason – maybe they get a lot of people coming everytime there is a live telecast of some football match somewhere in the country or in the world…and one look at me will tell you that I am not into those things. I would prefer some peace and quiet and maybe a little bit of soothing relaxing songs or music in the background.
Anyway, one thing that cannot be disputed is the fact that the food here is great and that day, my missus had this seafood curry (RM15.00)…
…from their Indonesian menu. If you love the fish head curry here, I can tell you that this tastes something like that and is just as nice…or perhaps even nicer!
To be frank, we were not all that impressed when it was served…
…but it was love at first sip – the curry gravy was so so so good! They had all kinds of stuff in the curry too – other than the fish fillet, there were prawns, squid, bamboo/razor clams, mussels and all the rest. If you have only one chance to drop by this place and you can pick only one thing from their menus, I would suggest that you pick this one. It is that good, believe you me!
We also had these tauhu isi (stuffed tofu), RM10.00 for a set of 5…
…also from their Indonesian menu and though I would say it was very nice, great for a light meal…
…I can’t say I was impressed by the fried bihun-like filling inside. Perhaps that is traditionally Indonesian and most of the time, when it comes to anything with filling here, we’d get to see a lot of meat…or vegetables.
Melissa insisted on sticking to her favourite – the lamb bryani (RM17.00)…
…and she said that the rice was much nicer than the last time she had this here. The rice had a darker shade of yellow and she could sense a lot of flavours in it…
In other words, it tasted much nicer now and if I’m not mistaken, the North Indian chef that they have now is different from the one that they started off with initially when they first opened.
I decided to try the garlic naan with butter (RM5.00)…
…and to go with it, I chose the chicken masala with butter (RM10.00)…
I did not really think it was all that great. I think I enjoyed their plain naan more and I would prefer their Indian butter chicken curry that I had once before.
All in all, that certainly was a delightful lunch for the three of us and rest assured that I would be going back there again and again to try more of the many items they have on their menus – Indian and Indonesian…but if you’re thinking of doing the same, do take note that the North Indian chef will be taking his annual leave in March and would be going home then so throughout that entire month, the Indian delights will not be available. Never mind! They do have some very nice choices on their Indonesian menu too so that will not be much of a problem really. Go ahead! Do drop by and give it a try!
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Interesting…. to have bee hoon stuffed inside tofu
First time seeing this. Indon recipe, maybe…and dunno how they make them – no cuts, could not see how they stuffedthe filling inside.
You are tempting me. The seafood curry rice and stuffed tofu are looking good so no doubt they taste great too.
I am hungry now after looking at your food photos. Lol.
You haven’t been yet? The food is really very nice, worth dropping by to try. Right behind the BSN, Sibu branch – Lai Chee Lane.
All looks awesome especially the seafood curry. They used tauhu pok for the stuffed tauhu, rite?. Something new, stuffed with fried bihun, and at first glance thought it was mengkuang (turnips).
It looked like it but I could not find the cut – usually we would cut to stuff and then deep-fry…but theirs was one whole cube. I wonder how they do it. Very impressive.
Make another trip there and ordered this. Like you say, can’t find the cut, then how to stuff in the bihun. I am curious to know how they did it too if really there is no cut. Maybe your eyesight not so sharp liaw, hehehe!!!!….Ask Melissa to help you find it.
No, all three of us tried looking – we could not find anything. It wasn’t like they coated it with batter and fry, no. Maybe they made their own with the filling already inside and then they deep fried to make the tauhu pok – so no visible cut by the side. Impressive! It did not taste all that special though…so I would not want to order that again – would rather try something else.
oh, seafood curry, stuffed toufu, lamb briyani and garlic naan with chicken masala.. hmmm, give me five STP, i would probably order the same thing as yours.. 🙂
Come on over, I’ll treat you to these and lots more… 😉
All your pictures are always nicely taken..They are very clear, and I love looking at them.. I take pictures with my smartphone only.. Oh, Melissa loves lamb? Same here, give me 5! I love lamb shanks and their “sou” smell, yummehh…
We love lamb shanks too, fall of the bone tender…so so so nice. Thanks for your kind words.
I would definitely go for the curries especially Melissa’s choice!
The Indian menu’s good but we can get the same elsewhere at any Indian restaurant – more or less the same, the better ones…but I’ve not seen any/many Indonesian restaurants around and this one’s really very good.
they always stuff beehoon into things… once got conned with stuffed karipap and Rissole… hate that hate that!
The Indons? Ohhhhhh!!!!! So that is their standard practice then – stuff things with bihun. Hmmm…we learn new things every day!
Never tasted the stuffed bihun in taufupok before.. normally we stuff fish paste or sengkuang inside… would love to try out how it taste like… as usual, I would go for the fish head curry with the plain rice, I don’t know how to enjoy those spiced rice yet until today… 🙂
That’s seafood not fish head…but it’s nice, very very nice. I would order that for myself the next time I drop by.
Garlic naan with butter… it does look so oily. Don’t you think?
That’s the melted butter. You can opt without…but it was all right, not oily, more fragrant though personally, I think I prefer the plain naan. Well, at least, I tried.
See that the portion of the rice ok, as normally what i had, the rice seem big portion…
Thought that’s one standard bowl scoop? Usually, we would ask for just half…or we order one and share.
How much was the iced water? Here some charging 50 sen and some rm1.
Looks can be deceiving ah. Yummy right? Christmas time I was like that also. Saw the bihun looked plain but when eat…slurpppps….
RM2.00…bottled water. Go to the hotels and they serve you Evian or Perrier, one of those – see how much you will have to fork out. 😀 The tahu isi? Ok lah…very nice but no, no wow factor!
Dark good … You can bring your missus alone for a romantic dinner. However, ya la…ask them to tone down the music.
Dark, lizard falls into your food you also do not know. Presentation is important – I would like to be able to see the food.
Looking at the curry gravy, I suddenly felt like having curry for lunch today ! So appetizing to goes with rice
Yes, I think I will go there again tonight for dinner…and no prize for guessing what I will order… 😉
Well, I think it’s normal for a restaurant to not serve all yummy food, cause it depends pretty much on individual, we all got different taste bud right? 😉
Huh? What are you talking about? As far as the food goes, it’s all yummy here – and of course, with our different tastes, we may like some more than others and that’s our prerogative…and there are people who are not fussy at all and will not discriminate. Anything edible is good for them. To each his own.
Glad that you lovin the Indonesian bihun filling kroket, we used to eat that as a moning supper and brunch…
Loving the Indonesian dishes served here – I think they’re more Padang-style, my favourite!
Why March? Hmmmmm…I always love the food here. Don’t mind to go there to try their indonesian food.
You’re coming back for the March school holidays, aren’t you?
I can see the nasi briyani looks very yummy..love nasi briyani any time!
And they are quite generous with the variety of seafood in the curry. Yum yum too!
It is refreshing to see photos of the decors in Payung in broad daylight 🙂
This isn’t Payung, it’s Cafe Ind – an Indon-Indian fusion cafe here. Nice too but I prefer Payung.
The water is free serving??
Unfortunately, no… 😦
Cafe Ind! I remember you bringing me here. 🙂
It’s nice, the food. I rather liked the Indonesian and Indian food and it’s definitely the most authentic in Sibu.
Yeah, the place looks different in the morning…not just no blinking lights, but no guys tapau-ing pork to eat with beer outside. Haha!
Now that it’s certified halal, I guess they would not put up with that anymore. The blinking lights are still there – just can’t stand those.
The naan is a tad costly? almost like KL’s pricing.
It’s ok – only one in town plus the chef’s from North India and they had to build the special oven for him. Can’t get more authentic that this – don’t mind paying as long as it’s of commendable quality.