My missus did drop by earlier this month but my girl had not been back here since my grand high school reunion bash in early April.
We were out and about that morning, things to do, errands to run and come lunchtime, we stopped by there…
…to pass to Peter, the boss, a small tub of the buah emplam sambal that we made and of course, to have a bite there.
There was some decoration up for Hari Raya and I don’t know if that was it or they would still be working on it but when I posted the above photo on Facebook, somebody commented, “Where’s Gawai?” and started ranting about how a certain minister in his televised message wished everybody Happy Holidays and Selamat Hari Raya but neglected to say a word about the Gawai nor the Kaamatan Festivals celebrated in Sarawak and Sabah respectively.
I quietly replied that they could just hang a Dayak shield or their Iban pua kumbu tablecloth on the bamboo frame…and the problem would be solved. Gee!!! Some people can be so sensitive about these things. Actually, this bit of effort on their part should be appreciated as I have not seen any decoration at all at the other cafes and restaurants here, unlike Christmas or Chinese New Year.
That hot afternoon, I asked for their durian belanda/soursop juice (RM7.00 a glass)…
…that I enjoyed so much the last time we were here, just slightly diluted and no sugar added. The ladies followed suit and yes, they loved it too! Definitely a whole lot nicer than any at the coffee shops or some restaurants.
I had my favourite, their lamb curry (RM19.00 with rice)…
…and yes, I did mention before that my missus now has a new-found love here and yes, she asked for it again this time around, their butter chicken (RM18.00 with rice)…
…while my girl picked her favourites here as well, from their western selections. She went for their mashed potatoes (RM8.00)…
…and their beef spaghetti (RM17.00)…
Of course, as always, we enjoyed the food to the max and this time around, the bill was a bit more than usual, probably because we had fresh fruit juice for our drinks and the total came up to RM83.00, but that is not even half of what I had to fork out at that place the other day – with that kind of money, we can easily come here twice and enjoy the food a whole lot more…and still have change!
PAYUNG CAFÉ (2.284049, 111.833014) is located at No.20F, Lanang Road, Sibu, Malaysia, back to back with the multi-storey car park of the Kingwood Hotel which faces the majestic Rejang River.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
As always, food looks great and worth it. Good to have this refreshing soursop juice specially during hot days and this fruit is not cheap these days.
No, not cheap. Next time, anything that is good for health, just keep quiet, keep to ourselves. The price zooming up is not so bad, quite impossible to buy here!
HAPPY GAWAI TO YOU! 😀
Thank you, even though I am not celebrating – I’m Chinese Malaysian with Melanau connections, not Dayak.
Love soursop but you can keep the durian 😉
That’s the name for soursop in Malay, Dutch durian (durian belanda) – I wonder how the name came about.
true hor, so many of us in the peninsula are oblivious about when gawai is. i only found out last week that it was coming up, while chatting with someone with connections to folks in sarawak 🙂
Especially when these festivals are not public hoildays there, like Deepavali and Thaipusam here.
Maybe both festivals are too near to each other, I don’t feel the festivity. There are decoration of both festivals in most malls here.
The beef spaghetti looked good and appealing.
I am not a fan of spaghetti bolognese but I love the one here, their own freshly-made bolognese sauce – anytime better than those pasta sauces from the bottle, like eating tomato sauce.