As usual, the other Sunday, we went to attend the midday service at the cathedral in town and then we went for lunch.
We had not been here…
…for quite sometime…
…as usually, we would go to their Japanese joint a few doors away or the pork place right next door, all along Jalan Chew Geok Lin (beside the Tua Pek Kong Temple/Seven-storey Pagoda). More often than not, I would avoid this place at night as it gets very crowded and extremely noisy and also around lunch hour on weekdays but it is all right on Sundays and so it was that day – except for the guy at the next table who seemed to be selling something to his girlfriend and could not stop talking the whole time we were there. Tsk! Tsk! We had no choice but to sit right next to them as I wanted a place right by the window for the light so that the photos would look a lot nicer.
My missus had the stonebowl own-made fish tofu udon soup (RM15.00)…
…which both she and my girl said was very nice. I wouldn’t know as I did not give it a try myself.
I had what they called the Dayak lamb rice set (RM22.00)…
…though I really wondered about that Dayak and lamb combination as I would not think that lamb is a regular feature in our local ethnic cuisine. However, the way they cooked it reminded me of how they would cook the exotic wild game like wild boar, wild deer, iguana, snake and so on at the shops in the small towns like Selangau with a lot of lengkuas (galangal), serai (lemon grass) and chili with thick soy sauce and I would say it was very nice.
The lamb was also served in a stonebowl and came with two cubes of tau joo (fermented bean curd)…
…which went extremely well with the rice and the meat, a great change indeed from the usual salted fish that one would find in the similar claypot pork belly or chicken dish…and coming from me, one who does not like the stuff at all, this may be regarded as a huge compliment!
My girl opted for their chicken chop rice (RM19.00)…
…which was very nice too…
…though it did take quite a while to be served and I would agree with my girl when she said that what we had here was very much nicer.
I also ordered their cake of the day (RM8.00)…
…for dessert, what they called their black and white cheese chocolate cake even though there was neither black nor white as far as I could see. I had expected them to use Oreos…or perhaps even Japanese bamboo charcoal but it turned out to be just the usual cheese cake on top of the layers of chocolate cake and cream – ok, not bad…but nothing to shout about.
All in all, it was a pretty good lunch, nothing sensational nor was it all that cheap but I always believe that it is perfectly all right to give oneself and one’s loved ones a nice treat once in a while…especially considering that I had been neglecting them quite a bit when my Singaporean friends were in town.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
I call it foo yue, that fermented beancurd.. Never seen lamb served with that, but bet it’s very fragrant and flavourful, and very nice to be eaten with rice..
I guess that’s in Cantonese. Imagine claypot pork belly or chicken with long kiam hu (salted fish) – it goes somewhere along that same line. Very nice!
Never try all those food you have. Look good to me.
Ok, there may be other nicer ones in town. My lamb was great! Just a little pricey…especially when considering that the dinner we had in yesterday’s post was only RM26.00 for 3 persons – sure makes a lot more sense to go for that instead.
What’s the white thingy on top of the Chicken Rice? Egg?
Sure looks like egg, eh? Some thick cheese gravy.
not bad the food. Looks quite good.
Yup, generally good here, some very nice selections on their menu…but it gets very crowded and very very very noisy – would have been a nice place to dine, very nice ambiance and all.
Cafe Cafe, sounds familiar. There are 2 branches in Kuching, wonder if they are the same owner or in anyway related. Chicken chop looks good. Weekend is here again. Have an enjoyable one.
Yup! The one and the same. Two guys used to run their two outlets here plus the Japanese and the pork places and a lounge – now, one has gone over to Kuching to run the two there, the first one at Rubber Road and now, they’ve the second one. Must be doing really well. If you like cincaluk, go for their cincaluk fried rice. Nice…and huge serving, big enough for two, at least. The mee mamak is very popular as well…and their chao chai hung ngang, if you don’t mind Dory.
Most important, is the family time together…
Exactly.
How nice. Family and friends time is so important.
I certainly would agree.
The food looks quite nice. I remember being served with those metal pots at a Japanese restaurant. That’s quite a thin slice of cheesecake I see. I would like that very much 🙂
You may like it but I am not into cheesecakes so it was just ok by me.
When I look at the prices, it seems the kind of prices I would pay here. Do you find it expensive?
Yes, it is expensive but it’s ok if the things served is exceptionally good. We did think everything’s great…but not exactly exceptional. I do think they’ve much better stuff at their Japanese restaurant or their pork place – I’d much sooner go to those instead.
I just realized I asked basically the same thing as mun..
You did? Well, I’ve told you how I feel. There are other places in town with prices of this standard and if I can get much better at those, I would not think twice about giving this one a skip. For one thing, I’m not really crazy about these fusion places where they try to cash in on everything. Jack of all trades, master of none.
ooo, there’s a restaurant called cafe cafe in kl too, but it serves french food, and am sure it’s not related at all this one 🙂
Yes, I’ve seen it on Google but no, no connection with the ones here, only their outlets in Kuching.
oooooo.. I can skip the main meal and go straight to the dessert.. or perhaps I can eat together with the main dish… I simply love sweet and savoury at the same time.. weird but true!
Ahhhhh!!!! Then you’d love one place here – no system one. They’d serve as they please – sometimes, even desserts first…or anywhere in between the other orders. I would have to state clearly – desserts last…or eat first and then order dessert., some with ice cream…cannot put by the side till I’ve finished eating. 😦