Gather ’round…

This place isn’t exactly new – in fact, it has been here for around 4 months now and I understand that it was located at another place in town for a number of years before that but I did not know of the existence of this restaurant anywhere around that location even. Now it has moved to this building that houses a new hotel here…

…on the first floor…

Do be careful when going up the steps of that rather steep staircase though – I found them a little higher than usual and too narrow for comfort.

It’s quite a big place and can accommodate 40 tables if you want to host a wedding…

…or whatever banquet here and I think they have karaoke facilities as well so you can enjoy singing your heart out! I would say this place is ideal for small private functions though I can’t say I am all that fond of the gaudy pink colour and all the fake flowers.

I also found out that they do home catering as well and will deliver orders for buffet parties starting from RM20.00 per head for a minimum of 20 persons. For more information, you can call them at these numbers…

…to enquire.

It so happened that my sister-in-law flew into town the other evening for Ching Ming which falls on this coming Monday, 4th April, and my missus and I went to pick her up at the airport here and we decided to stop by this restaurant for dinner…

…before sending her to my mother-in-law’s house.

The Foochow fried noodles (RM6.00)…

…looked really good and tasted great plus they did seem extra generous with the ingredients but unfortunately, it wasn’t anything like what I enjoyed eating in my growing up years. Somehow, it just wasn’t quite there.

The midin (wild jungle fern), RM10.00…

…was good, more or less the same as most anywhere else serving the same.

Oh dear!!! I forgot to insist that they cooked smaller servings, just enough for two so for the steamed lajong (RM40.00)…

…we were given three slices of the very nice fish. I had one all to myself but the ladies only managed to share one between the two of them and were too full to have anymore so I had to finish off the last slice. If we had been given only two slices at two-thirds the price, around RM25-26.00, it would not have been that expensive.

Anyway, that is to be expected here – if you are having fish and prawns (RM30.00)…

…you can expect the bill to be on the high side. The cereal prawns that we had were very nicely done, the crustaceans were big and very fresh, so they were firm and succulent but there was just too much for us three to handle so we had to tapao the leftovers home.

I would not say eating at this place is more expensive than most. If we had ordered one meat dish, one veg and a soup and requested for servings for two, I guess it would come up to around the same as most other similar places around here and most importantly, the food was pretty nice – nothing exceptional, I must say, but yes, it was good.

This restaurant opens seven nights a week and if I remember correctly, they do not open for lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays. As for the location (2.306990, 111.845320), it is on the left hand side of Jalan Pedada if you are heading towards town, a short distance from the traffic lights at the Jalan Pedada/Jalan Pahlawan t-junction. Turning left at the junction will take you to the Sibu Bus Terminal.

I must say, however, that they should draw arrows to make the traffic in the rather small area around the hotel more systematic. At the moment, once inside, one would not know whether one is coming or going. There are parking spaces…everywhere, making it even more cramped and not too comfortable to drive in and out. I can imagine if there is a big function at the restaurant and a lot of people staying at the hotel, it would get terribly congested, I am sure…unless you go early and park by the side of the main road beside the entrance into this place and walk in.