Expand…

Well, they are expanding all right. First, there was this place, still going strong and doing really well and then, they opened this one, a gelato place basically and that too was doing so well that they extended upwards to the first floor and now, before Chinese New Year, they opened this new outlet…

Nica+

…but unlike the other one, there are more food choices here and that was why I wanted to drop by…

Nica+ entrance

…and see what they had on their menu.

My girl wanted the dumplings but they were out of chicken so we had to go for the beef (RM14.50)…

Nica+ beef dumplings

…and even though they turned out completely different from the usual, she said they were all right. I did taste one and yes, they had their own recipe for the filling – I spotted some teeny weeny bits of carrot or whatever, quite different from the usual very-strong-on-the-ginger xiao lung pao kind of filling, be it pork or chicken. Ah well, I am never a fan of these dumplings, anyway.

She also had the smoked Borneo satay (RM10.90)…

Nica+ satay

…which came with a bit of pulut panggang by the side. I did not get to sample these but she said they were nice.

Knowing how much she loves sotong (squid), I asked for their crispy squid ring (RM13.50)…

Nica+ sotong

…which we all enjoyed even though the batter was quite different from the usual, hence its pale colour.

I had the nasi biryani with chicken curry and rendang beef (RM16.90)…

Nica+ biryani + curry + rendang

…and while both the curry and the rendang were fine by me, I particularly liked their rice because unlike those that I had at their sister restaurant, this one had a clear hint of the Indian spices that went into the cooking, not as strong as the nice Hyderabadi vegetable biryani from the airline but I could detect a hint of it (and see some seeds, probably cumin, in the rice) and I loved it. If you go for the ones from the Malay stalls and shops, it will be more or less the same as their nasi kuning or nasi minyak or whatever you call it, nothing more than just the colour and they call it nasi biryani.

My missus had their spicy zao cai chicken ramen (RM14.50)…

Nica+ spicy zao cai chicken ramen

…and she did enjoy that. I did not get to try it but I could catch the whiff of the zao cai as it was served and it did smell really good.

Once we were done, I proceeded to the counter to settle the bill and the sweet and friendly girl told me that it had been paid for…by the boss. The boss? But I did not see him anywhere and I did not know that he knew I was there. Probably he was there in his office watching me on CCTV! LOL!!! Never mind! Thank you so much, Anthony, for the treat, so kind and generous of you – we certainly enjoyed the lunch and sorry, we had to turn down to invitation to free gelatos – we were way too full to do them justice. Another time, perhaps!

NICA+ or NICA PLUS (2.296883,111.825859) as it is called, is located on the ground floor of the block of shops to the right of the Old Sing Kwong Supermarket (Kin Orient Plaza) along Jalan Tun Abang Hj Openg, directly below the KIMCHEE KOREAN BAR.BQ restaurant on the first floor.

Author: suituapui

Ancient relic but very young at heart. Enjoys food and cooking...and travelling and being with friends.

14 thoughts on “Expand…”

  1. Since your missus didn’t comment about the zai cai ramen chicken I guess it is up to her standard, i.e. spicy enough. The broth does look fiery red to me.

    I don’t know if it is anything like those spicy Korean instant noodles that have flooded the supermarkets. Not for me, thank you very much!

  2. The food look very good especially your missus’ ramen. How nice that the boss gave you a treat!

    Yes, I did not see him around so I was kind of shocked when told by the girl that he had settled the bill.

  3. ooo, i wonder what’s the difference between borneo satay and regular ‘peninsular’ satay 🙂

    I haven’t the slightest idea. The skewers looked like those Japanese ones and there was pulut panggang by the side. I did not try the sauce so I wouldn’t know if it was the regular peanut sauce or not.

  4. The boss is your ex-student? What a pleasant surprise that he settled the bill. I would go for the nasi briyani without the rendang beef.

    Today i learned something that there is so called borne satay.

    Nope, not my ex-student.

    I suppose one has the prerogative to name one’s dishes by any name one likes. They have what they call Sarawak noodles everywhere in the peninsula and chances are they are not like Kuching kolo mee nor Sibu kampua. Up to the customers whether they want to eat or now, whatever name they give.

All opinions expressed in my blog are solely my own, that is my prerogative - you may or may not agree, that is yours. To each his/her own. For food and other reviews, you may email me at sibutuapui@yahoo.com