Much more…

Well, looking at the crowd here…

…either they enjoy having BBQ steamboat, which I do think would be a lot of fun if in a big group, cooking and eating and chatting away, or they do think that more, much more, is better.

We got there quite early but they would not let us sit at the tables by the side where there was a lovely breeze and it did feel quite cool and no, I would not want to sit in this area…

…thank you very much! I can imagine myself perched precariously on the high stool desperately trying to keep my balance lest I would fall to the ground like Humpty Dumpty. LOL!!!

In the end, we sat inside which was quite hot despite the big fans but what put us off the most was the very irritating extremely loud techno music blaring from the speakers above our heads. They do not seem to realise that this is an eating place, not a club or a discotheque.

The charges were as displayed…

…and they sure were stricter here so I had to produce our MyKads, my missus’ and mine to prove that we were indeed senior citizens. No, they do not allow doggie bags either; you can’t take home anything, not even the bones and if you cannot finish what you’ve helped yourself to, you will be charged…

…accordingly and the digital weighing scale on the counter sure showed that they really meant business, so don’t play-play!

You can have all the drinks you want…

…but we just stuck to the cooling herbal tea and honey chrysanthemum by the side and no, we did not request for any of the fruit juices…

…available either. There were fresh cut fruits as well…

…and these cooling dessert drinks…

…and puddings.

There was ice cream…

…too for anyone thus inclined. I did try the soft ice cream from the machine at the side, the strawberry, but no, I did not like it. For a start, I was put off by the colour and it was very strong on whatever essence used in the making.

This is the cake counter…

…and no, I have no idea why they had the herbal eggs here in this section. I did take one to try though; I always saw them outside some Chinese medical stores at the malls and I liked the medicinal fragrance but I never got down to buying one. Well, I would not say that I liked it a lot – I would very much prefer our regular lor nui (stewed eggs), minus the herbal taste.

There was sushi…

…too but none of us had any but I did try the sandwich from this section…

…and no, there was too much mayo in it for my liking.

The Sarawak laksa…

…was all right, nothing to get excited about and I think this was supposed to be either some not-very-well-wrapped bak chang (meat dumpling) or lor mai kai…

…which was all right, a little on the sweet side which is what I would say about their chicken curry…

…that was, in my opinion, too sweet and not quite like curry…or maybe it wasn’t curry, I wouldn’t know. They should pay more attention to their labels as you may see something outside and when you open the lid, it was something else.

I did enjoy their honey chicken wings…

…which were a lot nicer than their fried ones – I also took one of those to try.

Yes, they sure had a lot for one to pick and choose – I did not take photographs of everything as I got bored halfway. Hehehehe!!!! For one thing, if one were to eat everything in their buffet spread, I don’t think he or she would have much tummy space left for what they had for their BBQ steamboat.

We did enjoy the chicken…

…but not the beef as the black pepper sauce they used to marinade it was way too overpowering.

We’re not all that fond of the sea crabs…

…but we were ok with the prawns…

…and the slipper lobsters…

There were so many things and I was wishing they had more quality instead of quantity. They had cockles and mussels too but they were so so small that there was hardly anything to eat inside. I saw a lot of people helping themselves to the crustaceans, the slipper lobsters especially but I hardly saw anyone taking the yong tofu…

…for instance. We did not take any either as they were stuffed with meat, not fish paste.

I loved the soup…

…towards the end when it had become really very sweet from all that had been cooked in it.

I wouldn’t know if I would ever go back again but I do know that if I do, I would not want to sit inside anymore, not with the horrendous techno music, of that I’m sure. I went to pay the bill and yes, I did show our identity cards, and the total for the three of us came up to RM98.90.

Just as we were about the leave, the ladies manning the counter called me over and refunded my money – they said that my ex-student who was there with his friends that night, Daniel,  had picked up the tab. I think I saw him in Penang in 20i1, and another time in 2012 when he was back in Sibu but I had not seen him since he started working – now he’s a full-fledged doctor at the Sibu General Hospital. That certainly was most thoughtful and generous of you, Daniel, thank you so very much for the treat!

THE PALLET BBQ STEAMBOAT & BUFFET (2.279919, 111.840359) is located at some new blocks of shops along Jalan Aman, on your right if you are coming from Jalan Lanag and your left if you are coming from Jalan Wong King Huo.