Some folks…

…have opened this new place…

…here in the Tunku Osman area right next door to this coffee shop.

As far as I am concerned, this is one of the worst locations especially on working/school days as parking is practically impossible and it sure does not help one bit that they open during the busiest hours, 8.30 a.m. till 3.30 p.m. I certainly would avoid this area after school hours at around noon as the parents of the students at the school at the back would flock here to pick up their kids instead of going to the front entrance on the other side.

I guess like that beef noodle place that I blogged about not too long ago, the best time to go would be on Sundays and that was exactly what we did – after the church service…

…on Easter Sunday morning when finding a place to park the car would be quite a breeze.

It looks like a pretty decent place…

…a little inclined towards things Vietnamese…

…and since they can’t get an authentic sun hat for the decor, the Melanau one will have to do…

Hehehehehe!!!!

I saw the Vietnamese coffee strainers/filters on the counter so I went closer to see what brand they had on the shelf…

Hmmmm!!!! Trung Nguyen, one of the leading brands in Vietnam. I did blog about it once when I got a packet from my niece, the one working in Singapore. Well, as long as it is not one of those that came out of an animal’s you-know-which-hole, I would be fine with it.

My missus wanted the grilled chicken rice…

…and one look at it, I am sure you would not blame us for feeling a little disappointed the moment it was served. The chopped bits of carrot and whatever beside the rice was coleslaw and they certainly were not all that generous with the chicken…

…but if I remember correctly, that was only RM5.50, not too expensive. I suppose it tasted all right, not anything to shout about – my missus did not say anything about it.

I asked for the nasi lemak special…

…and therein lay another disappointment. The rice hardly had any santan (coconut milk) richness and fragrance and there wasn’t any ikan bilis (dried anchovies) by the side and the salsa-looking thing…

…was actually the sambal and to give credit where credit is due, it actually tasted quite nice despite the fact that it did not look anything like the real thing. The drumstick was all right, nothing great that would get me to want to order this again ever.

I ordered the panini egg and beef…

…for my girl and she was put off the instant it was served – they had just used ordinary bread instead of panini in which case they should have called it an egg or beef sandwich (the other option available is tuna)…and Vietnamese bánh mì, it certainly wasn’t!

It tasted quite good though and my girl loved the beef brisket…

…inside the beef ones. I went to ask where they got it from – I had not seen any in town – and the girl told me that it was a joint order together with one of those (expensive) branded coffee places in town. Hmmmmm!!!

The sweet young girl was running the place all by herself with the help of her very nice mum. According to the latter, everything served here is msg free which is one good thing, I would say. However, I don’t think I would be coming back again for any of the things we had ordered…except maybe for the beef sandwiches and I will call them that till they start serving them with the right kind of bread – those grilled lines on the toasted sandwich bread sure do not count.

I did notice though that everyone else was having the beef bihun (rice vermicelli) and it so happened that an ex-student, now a dentist in town, dropped by and he too ordered that…and later, he told me that it was good and worth a try. I wonder if that was anything like the celebrated Vietnamese pho but I guess to find out, it will have to wait till the next time I drop by.

Incidentally, Huai Bin dropped by my place yesterday to pass me this…

– Hokkaido red bean Kit Kat! Obviously, he brought that back with him on his recent trip to the Land of the Rising Sun. I really appreciate how people are so thoughtful, carting home a little something for everybody while on their travels. Of course I have not tried it yet – that will have to wait till my girl comes home this weekend. Aren’t we parents all the same? Thanks so much, Huai Bin…and to you too, Ling.