Disappointing…

Last Saturday, I asked my girl if she would like to go out for lunch and she said that the last time we were here, she saw some noodle dishes on the menu that she would love to try.

I thought they had some special unique ethnic/Dayak-style noodle dishes but in the end, it turned out that my girl had this tomato kway teow (RM10.00)…

…while the mum had the mee goreng basah, fried noodles with sauce (RM9.00)…

…both quintessentially Chinese dishes. Thankfully, they were very nice but of course, there are others that are just as nice or even nicer at around half the prices elsewhere!

We liked this babi tunu, barbecued pork (RM16.00)…

…a lot the last time we were here so we ordered that again to share and yes, it was good. I loved the pickled carrot and cucumber slices by the side a lot – one of these days, I shall try to make my own!

I ordered their tempoyak (fermented durian) goreng ikan bilis (fried with dried anchovies) rice (RM9.00)…

…and as it was served, I caught a whiff of the tempoyak and the fragrance swept me off my feet. Gee! This is going to be good, I thought.

However, the excitement was short-lived because the tempoyak was sour! If I am not wrong, according to the old folks, there are a lot of pantangs (taboos) involved in the making of tempoyak or tuak (the ethnic rice wine) and even our traditional Foochow red wine like when a girl is menstruating, she is not supposed to be making the wine as it will turn sour.

I just ate as much of it…

…with the rice but in all honesty, I did not really enjoy it. It was a far cry from the one here…

– I could eat two plates of rice with that and still ask for more, believe you me!!!

I also ordered a vegetable dish, this kasam ensabi buah kepayang (RM18.00)…

…their preserved salted mustard green with what is also called buah keluak (pangium edule). I did not take note of the price in the menu, otherwise I would not have ordered that and the worse thing was it turned out to be EXTREMELY sour, everything in that plate. I just tried a bit and left the rest behind, untouched.

I enjoyed the one at this coffee shop…

…a lot – theirs was so very nice and for RM5.00, I would get enough for two meals, lunch and dinner! In fact, I would say that their vegetable dishes would win hands down…anytime!

Only my girl had a drink, their honey lemongrass (RM4.50) and the total came up to a whooping RM66.20). With that kind of money, we can go for something a lot more delightful, scrumptious and substantial, not just some noodles dishes mostly, elsewhere. Truth be told, after that disappointing experience, you can be sure that it is not at all likely that we shall be back here again, not for a long while.

MAK BORNEO (2.301301, 111.843548) is located at No, 21, Ground Floor in the block of shops behind Nam Heong Ipoh/Kim Hock Premier Food Court, Lorong 4D, off Jalan Dr Wong Soon Kai (formerly Jalan Pedada).