Eternal flame…

This place is very new – in fact, it does not seem to have a sign up yet, probably because it just has had its soft opening only, not quite in full swing, and if not for the name on the “opening soon” banner…

…one would not see it and know this is the place.

My friend, Julia, was back in Sibu from Perth, Australia and as always, every time she comes home, we would go out for dinner and since she said she did not mind western or whatever cuisine, we agreed to meet here and give this place a try.

While I was taking the above snapshot, a lady walked out of the place, heading towards the shopping complex next door. She smiled and asked if I was there for dinner and I said yes, and went on to ask her if the dining section was upstairs seeing that there was a bar on the ground floor. She said that I could go to the upper floor or go through the bar to the section on the left. Of course, going up the stairs is out of the question so I chose the latter.

Once we were seated, a nice Indian man approached our table and made some suggestions as to what we could order. I asked and he said he was originally from Taiping, Perak but spent most of his life in Ipoh, Penang or Kuala Lumpur and he had been recruited to “carry out the training” here at this point in time so he would not be around permanently.

He recommended the pork chop and sausage platter, small (RM45.00)…

…and I asked if they made the sausages themselves but he said no, they were imported German sausages…

…and of course, I wanted that.

Now, that is what I would call a pork chop – very well-chopped or clobbered using the spiky meat tenderiser hammer unlike what I have had elsewhere where the chops are not pulverised and can be really tough at times. It was very nice especially with the very delightful gravy that came by the side (though I thought they could have wiped the side of that little bowl before serving). As for the sausage, it was very strong on the herbs but after the initial few bites and getting used to the fragrance, I would say I enjoyed it as well. The mashed potatoes underneath were very nicely done and I loved the broccoli and the corn on the cob but not the cauliflower – I never buy the ones here as they are bland, absolutely tasteless and do not have that very nice cauliflower fragrance, so nice that I could just eat it, boiled with just a pinch of salt, on its own.

They certainly were very generous with the serving and that dish alone would have been more than enough for the two of us. I think it is good for 3, or perhaps 4 even but the man suggested a pasta dish to go with it and said that we should try their specialty with fresh prawns and pork (RM32.00)…

Again, the portion was big enough for 2 or 3 persons and yes, it was very good too. The pasta was very flavourful and a bit spicy, probably with the addition of chili flakes and the roast pork…

…was so good – not quite the same as the ones at the Chinese places and personally, I thought this one had an edge over all the rest that we can get here.

As for the grilled freshwater prawns…

…these huge ones would set one back by around RM55 a kilo at the wet market and one would not get all that many. They were all right but eating the head was out of the question as they did not remove the sac and the black stuff…

…inside. I would always remove that when I de-vein the prawns as it has an unpleasant bitter taste but I guess you can’t remove it if you want to keep the heads whole for a more impressive presentation.

So based on our two orders, I would say that the food was really great and the service was prompt and efficient. Julia kept insisting that they probably knew that I was a blogger as she did not see the man going to talk to any of the customers at the other tables. Hmmm…I wonder if it was so. Iced water with two slices of lime in each glass was RM2.00 each…and poor Julia seemed to attract a lot of mosquitoes while we were there. I was left in peace all night though probably because my old skin is tough and hard and not to their liking. LOL!!! However, I was quite annoyed that there was a fly fluttering around and my guess was that these pesky insects could come over because of the open bar on the other side.

In-house music was all right, not too loud – mainly retro oldies like Chicago’s Hard to say I’m sorry for one, nothing that would create a pleasant ambiance and put me in a feel-good mood. The place was brightly-lit, great for photo-taking but I did wish they did not put the huge à la 7-Eleven kind of fridge in the open at the back – the lines of beer bottles were fine but the not-so-nicely-arranged boxes of fruits, probably for the fresh juices, and whatever else inside…

…were such an eyesore. There was a wooden staircase by the side, at the back as well, leading up to a platform and I could see all the carton boxes dumped on top like it was some kind of attic used as a storeroom and that too was not a welcome sight. Probably a couple of bamboo blinds up in front of the platform would do the trick and keep everything out of sight.

Other than the aforementioned, I was wishing at times that they would station their waiting staff at strategic places and not leave them to their own devices, walking around doing their own things and talking among themselves and what not…but at least, I did not see any fiddling with their smartphones like one that I saw at one place here. I also noticed that one of the plates were chipped – for a classy place, that is a no-no and considering that the plates are big and heavy, they should tell their workers to be a lot more careful when handling them. Well, they’ve only just begun so hopefully, they would manage things a little better and make sure that everything is of that same high standard as the delightful dishes served.

Thank you so much, Julia, for the scrumptious dinner treat and also for the goodies you brought home from Australia…

…for me. That is so very sweet of you, as always and I sure look forward to the next time you come back to town. Take care there, God bless and all good wishes in your current undertakings. Cheers!!!