She’s happy…

I did mention before that when my girl comes home on weekends, we would go some place special for lunch so she would have a nice break from her dreary routine in her jungle school. Well, it’s the mid-term school holidays right now so of course, I would make it a point to buy things that she can and likes to eat and take her to places for stuff that she enjoys…and as long as she’s happy, then I’m happy too.

One of her favourites in town would be the bryani rice with mutton curry (RM19.50)…

…here so of course, I made it a point to stop by there the other day just for this.

She said one of her colleagues said that the naan cheese (RM7.00)…

…was very nice so I ordered it to try. Unfortunately, I was the only one eating it because it was not gluten-free owing to the use of wheat flour in the making of the bread. Well, it was nice, very fragrant but I can’t say it would be something I would want to order for a main meal plus I would rather have plain naan to eat with some dhal dip or curry gravy and that is the very reason why I never bother to order those roti canai cheese available at all the stalls and shops around town.

Then the boss asked his North Indian chef to make this aloo gobi naan…

…for me to try. At this point in time, it is still listed as coming soon in their menu, not available yet. I liked this one more than the aforementioned cheese version but I wouldn’t mind a bit more of the potato and cauliflower filling and if it could be a little bit stronger in its somewhat very light curry taste, then it would be nice to just eat it on its own, no need for any dip or gravy.

I expected my missus to go back to her kalio ayam but no, she still wanted the ikan kembung sumbat (RM17.50)…

…that she had the last time she was here. I guess she likes that a lot too.

I decided I would like to try another new item on their menu – the ayam masak habang (RM14.50)…

…the Indonesian version of the Malaysian ayam masak merah. Unlike the latter, the chunks of chicken were not deep fried first before cooking and the gravy/sauce was different too. While the Malaysian version would be something like sweet chili sauce with the fragrance of the spices added such as the cinnamon sticks, the star anise and all the rest, I could not detect any of those in this one…and the gravy was thick and rich with santan (coconut milk)…

I liked the chicken but perhaps, they could come out with something a bit more special instead of the blanched green vegetable by the side with oyster sauce poured all over it – somehow that came across to me as being so Chinese. Either the kerabu or the grilled brinjal, skin removed, in the stuffed fish dish that my missus had would be nice…or perhaps, they can come out with some cucumber acar (pickle) instead.

No, it was not cheap, this sumptuous lunch that we had that day but when I went to pay our bill, the boss said that the two pieces of naan bread were on the house and though I had the iced ginger tea, large, he just charged me the price for the regular (RM6.50), the same as the one that my girl had. The mum had the teh tarek with cincao or black/grass jelly (RM7.00)…

…and for all that we had, I had to fork out RM70.00 altogether and considering that it is not every day that we go for something like this and it was a special holiday treat for my girl, I would think it was worth it, very much more than going some place and paying as much or even a little less and having to settle for something less than satisfactory.

CAFE IND (2.290813, 111.829294) is located along Laichee Lane, right behind behind a block of shops facing the main road (Jalan Kampung Nyabor) where the Bank Simpanan Nasional, Sibu branch (2.290561, 111.829071), is located. It opens from 12 noon to 2.00 p.m. (though it may open a little bit earlier than the time stated) for lunch and from 6.00 p.m. onwards for dinner, every day EXCEPT MONDAYS.