Stone cold…

Back to my Kuching posts, another of my maternal cousins invited us to dinner that 2nd night there and after our brunch earlier that morning, we did not want a heavy lunch as we were saving tummy space for the scrumptious feast that awaited us. That was why we just went to check out this place…

…on the lower ground floor of the mall adjoining the hotel where we were staying.

Initially, I was wondering why it was thus named – Stone Ice but later, it dawned on me that it was actually the direct translation of the Malay term for ice, air batu.

We tried the ABC or air batu campur special (RM6.00)…

…that I ordered to share. It had cendol, red beans, cincau (black jelly)…

…and whatever else inside but no, it did not get us jumping with delight. I think if that is what one wants, the best place to go to in Kuching would be here. Word has it though that their branch at Satok has been taken over by someone else and the quality has gone down.

My girl and the mum had their Sarawak laksa (RM8.00)…

…and according to them, at best, it was edible – not anything they would want to have again and if it is authentic and truly great Sarawak laksa, maybe you would want to go for the one here.

I do believe that generally, the rule of thumb is you will need to know where to go for the best of anything and all you can get at shopping malls and food courts…and for that matter, upscale cafes like the one here and at the hotels as well, will be some more expensive, half-baked versions of the real thing that may be nice but not quite there, not really like the real thing!

I also ordered this sotong kangkong RM10.00)…

…and yes, that was all right and I had the belacan bihun (RM8.00)…

…which I swore I would never want to eat again after the first time here.

Now, why on earth did I go and order that again, you may ask? That was simply because I seemed to notice that this is the favourite of many in Kuching and many would be dying to come home to appease their craving for it…and I wanted the two ladies to try.

Well, my fears were confirmed – they did not like it at all and since I had ordered it already, I might as well eat it myself. I squeezed the juice of the calamansi lime over it and mixed the prawn paste and chili with everything in the bowl and ate…and I actually thought it was quite nice after all! I sure wouldn’t mind going for it again sometimes.

This STONE ICE outlet is located on the lower ground floor of the award-winning Plaza Merdeka (1.558279, 110.344049) at No. 88, Jalan Pearl in Kuching.