One man’s meat…

A friend asked me why I had not been here (2.325145, 111.839914)…

…before as she thought the food was nicer and not as expensive as here. I asked her what their signature dishes were, what I should order if I were to drop by and she said everything, everything would be nice. Duhhh!!!!

In fact, it is located quite near to where I stay, in the vicinity of the Sungai Merah bazaar, facing what they told me is called the Lovers’ Bridge…

It looked like they had put up some nice colourful lights all around the so-called heritage walk area so it is rather nice by evening, not too bad a place for a pleasant evening stroll and to go for a lovely dinner.

It so happened that a boat went past while I was there and I loved the rippling effect of the waves on the reflection in the water of the colourful lights on the bridge…

Nice, eh?

Anyway, back to the restaurant…

…it has been around for a year or so now but somehow or other, I had never felt the urge to drop by. I did check out their Facebook page and had glimpses of some of the things they served, the happenings – a whole lot of wine and not so much dine – but I did not see anything that really turned me on. Once, some friends of mine dropped by and shared some photographs on Facebook so I quickly asked them if it was any good. Their reply was, “By our standard, it was good.” I guess that spoke volumes, don’t you think so?

Anyway, I thought we would go some place special for our Easter Sunday dinner and after discussing with my girl, we agreed that we would check this place out.

I loved the decor…

– very nice and tastefully done…

…and very much nicer than that other place (with the hideous giant fridge at the back and everything stuffed inside and the wooden staircase to what looked like the attic where they dumped all those unsightly carton boxes and all)…

…and while the ethnic waiters and waitresses over there spoke Malay mostly (except one who was proficient in Mandarin and insisted on speaking to me in the language till I replied in Iban), the Chinese boys here conversed in Mandarin but I think they could understand English. The proprietress, I think that was who she was, came to chat and asked if everything was all right and she spoke English, and very good English at that. Service was great and prompt at both places and I loved the colourful individual stoneware plates…

…here that they gave us to use while sharing the orders and no, no chipped plates here – another point in their favour!

Dinner got off to a really good start when the Penang char kway teow (RM16.50)…

…was served. It was really very nice and there were prawns, cockles and even lap cheong (Chinese sausage) in it and even the kway teow (flat rice noodles) seemed different from the regular ones we find around here, the thick, coarse and white ones. We enjoyed it very much but did somebody say the things here would be cheaper than at that other place?

The pineapple fried rice (RM18.50)…

…did not go down as well with us. We did not think it was as nice as some that we had had before here…or here, for instance and at best, I would just say it was edible, not anything to get anyone jumping up and down with delight and for that kind of money, I would much sooner go for the baked cheese pork chop rice (RM17.00) or the dried chili pork rice (RM16.00) at that other place – both of them go for around the same price, slightly less, and both would win hands down, anytime.

We had what-they-call the Farmer’s Feast for 2 (RM22.50)…

…and while it was RM23.00 at the other place for just one sausage, though a much bigger one at that, maybe longer by one third, the one here came with bits of bacon, egg and potatoes and I would have enjoyed it a lot more if it had not been chorizo – I can’t say I am all that fond of that so personally, my vote would go to the one at that other place. However, I do not think it would be very fair to make a one-to-one comparison – somebody who enjoys chorizo who probably enjoy this very much.

I had the panna cotta (RM9.50)…

…for dessert and I loved the hearts in the jam…

…by the side. However, it paled in comparison to the ones that I love so much here (RM8.00) – it did not taste as nice, the texture was not as smooth and it was not as nicely wobbly but it tasted all right and at least it had an edge over the awful one I had at the Italian restaurant in Kuching sometime ago.

My girl had their own-made Nutella ice cream (RM10.00)…

…and she said it was good.

While they had the sentimental love songs from the 80’s at that other place, here, they played R&B from the likes of Alicia Keys, Babyface and so on but just like at that other place, I do wish they would turn down the volume here as well and turn it up later in the evening at around 9 or 10 when everyone would have had enough drink to numb their senses and they would be too intoxicated to tell the difference.

Well, I liked the place, service was good but no, the food was not cheap, not at all, and of the three that we had, we would probably order the char kway teow again if the price had not been so steep. However, there are still many things on their menu that we did not try so we probably would come back again sometime to see if there is anything that will keep us going back for more. I do not really mind the prices if it is that good and real value for money…and yes, I will tell them to turn down the music next time if it is still that loud!