We’re back…

My friend, Mary, contacted me and asked me when I would be free to go back here…

…for her chicken rice that we loved so much the last time around and praised to the skies. Well, for the uninitiated, this is the Flavours Thai Kitchen at the Orchid Hotel (2.292906, 111.828398) at Brooke Drive here in Sibu where this used to be sometime ago. Of course, if it has got anything to do with food and such good food at that, I am available anytime! Hehehehehe!!!!

Well, before I knew it, there we were, back again the very next evening, with my missus and my friend and ex-classmate, Robert, and all the rest for the awesome simply-the-best chicken rice in town and the perfectly done white steamed free range chicken…

…to go with it…and if you think that was all there was, you couldn’t be more wrong. If you know Mary, you can expect a whole lot more than you can imagine so the dishes kept coming like they were never ever going to stop.

This was the table setting for another big group of people there that night…

…and this was our table…

…complete with “excavators”…

…for anyone who may need to do some excavation works in the course of the evening. LOL!!! The chili dip in the bowl on the right was for the chicken and it went so very well with it that everyone went back for more and in no time at all, it was all gone.

We also had the grilled catfish (ikan keli)…

…which was really good but somehow it did not to go down too well with the rest. Perhaps, they were not all that keen to mess up their fingers and it was quite a hassle eating that with a spoon and a pair of chopsticks. Of course I did not care and jumped right in – I could always go to the washroom to wash my hands right after that. I had my fair share of three of those – the rest did eat a bit, all of them, and Mary was so sweet as to insist that I took the remaining three home. Yippee!!!

The mango kerabu (salad) on top was so good and Mary even asked the chef to make more so I could take that home as well along with the fish…and I took home with me what was left of the huge bowl of chicken rice too. “face palm* Ah well. Mary insisted that good food should never ever go to waste and of course, I wholeheartedly agree. Hehehehehe!!!!

There was this dish of shrimp sashimi…

…too and I loved it! Some were of the opinion that it was too spicy but I thought it was just nice. Then, Mary got me this – the sea crab sashimi…

…from another table to try…and I heard someone saying, “How come he has crab and we’re not getting any?” Na na na na na!!! LOL!!! Yes, it was very nice too, the first piece that I had and I loved it! Then I went on to the next piece and oh boy!!! You can guess from all those chili seeds on it what happened! Hmmmm…if any of the rest had that, they would be drinking gallons of water to “put out the fire”, I’m sure.

Because of the general opinion of the rest, Mary asked the chef to tone down the level of spiciness of the som tam (green papaya salad)…

It was good too and there were prawns and sotong (squid) in it but between the two, my vote would go to the mango salad on top of the grilled catfish. I felt that was much nicer.

Then, there was this dish of chicken satay…

…and I enjoyed a couple of sticks just like that. Each one was bursting with the flavours of the marinades that went into the cooking though I wouldn’t mind it if it had been grilled a little bit more for those lightly burnt edges that would enhance the taste even more. I did hear praises of the dip, something with pickled cucumber or whatever, but no, I just had it on its own and it was good enough for me – anything that tastes so good, I would not want to drown it out with whatever sauces or dips.

There was also a dish of kangkong fried with lots of garlic and whatever else but I did not manage to take a photo of that – I was enjoying the fish at the time and it was all gone before I could take out my camera. Then, somebody said that Mary’s kampua mee was so very good…and she insisted on getting the chef to make one for me…

…and it was indeed very nice! No, it was not the same as any other kampua mee as everyone would know it – it had its own special taste and yes, I did enjoy it very much.

It was indeed another delightful evening with the most wonderful dinner – thank you so much, Mary, for having us all back again. Cheers!!!