I like going to places where people are very nice and friendly, where one would feel at ease while enjoying the very nice food served – that’s what I like but no, unfortunately, not all are like that – there are some who obviously know who I am but they choose to pretend that they don’t and at most places, they do not bother about all the social graces and will not even try to talk a little bit more nicely, never mind whether they are the proprietors/bosses or just the employees. You order what you want, you eat, you pay and you leave and worse of all, there are some rather mean and very unpleasant characters who may snap at you at any time like for instance, if you happen to ask why your order is taking a little too long.
No, I do not expect anything, no special treats nor will I ask for discounts but there are some who will go out of their way to see to that. One, of course, is Peter, the boss of Payung Cafe and the extra large servings of what I order and he will even cook something, usually something new, for me to try. He says that he enjoys cooking for me (Incidentally, if you have not heard of it, Payung is now closed the whole day on Sundays – it used to be closed for lunch only before but now, they have decided to make the whole day their rest day.) and of course, there is Mary of Flavours Thai Kitchen and her wonderful authentic Thai chef, Jos – there would always be that something extra special for me each time I drop by.
Another one is Guna of Sri Pelita. For one thing, he would always give me some discount on my bill without being asked and it so happened that my missus and I were there for lunch last week on Thursday. We really enjoyed our picks that day and as I was leaving, he asked me if I could go back the following day, Friday, for lunch as he wanted to cook me his special Indian-style fish curry…
…with some really fresh ikan merah or red snapper that he had. Unfortunately, we had to drive to my girl’s school in the jungle that day so we would not be able to make it but he insisted and asked us to drop by on Saturday instead – he would not accept no for an answer so I accepted his invitation.
I did ask him if it would be for me to take home or to eat there and he said he would prefer that I ate it there so he could enjoy seeing me savouring every bit of the fish…
We were served the very instant we got there and yes, we loved it! This one was a little spicy, not like the one we had two days earlier, and of course, that made us like it even more.
According to Guna, this would only be available upon special order and if anyone is interested, he or she can drop by his shop to discuss. He says he would need to know all of one’s needs and wants so he would be able to make sure everything is to one’s satisfaction.
No, we had more than just the fish and the vegetables in the dish. Guna also served us this combo of bitter gourd and cabbage…
…and this tofu in prawn sambal…
The sambal here is undoubtedly the best, a whole lot nicer than any elsewhere – so very delicious and spicy too and you may get to enjoy it with their sambal brinjal…or the sambal egg but this was the first time we saw it with tofu and there were prawns in the sambal too. It was so very nice that my girl wanted some to take back to her school to enjoy in the course of the week…and when I wanted to pay for it, the nice guy simply refused to accept any payment for it.
It certainly was a most delightful lunch – we ate till we were almost bursting at the seams, thank you so so much, Guna.
SRI PELITA CAFE (2.293579, 111.820700) is located along Lorong Kampung Datu 11, off Jalan Kampung Datu, the first shop in the block to the right of Paramount Hotel.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 