Yes, he is here! The authentic North Indian chef has come back from his month-long break. I did mention in my blogpost the other day when we dropped by the café last month that he had gone back to India and would resume his duties here in Sibu by the middle of May.
We actually thought of going some place else last Sunday but there were massive jams all over town, probably because the Gawai Dayak Festival was around a week or so away so I used an alternative route (without passing through the main roads and going through the town centre) to get here. Well, my girl sure was delighted that the chef has come back and it was business as usual that day.
Not too long ago, I was watching this show on TV where they were talking about those banana leaf meals at the Indian restaurants. We do not have that here but yes, we did go for it in KL and also in Kuching. Well, at one of those places featured, they were singing praises for their chicken vindaloo and I could remember they have that on their menu here so of course, I wanted to give it a try (RM24.00)…
I had the kambing (lamb/mutton) vindaloo…
…with the biryani rice…
…and yes, it was VERY nice! It was a bit sourish, not like the mutton masala (which is simply Indian curry, more or less), a welcome change from the usual. I let my girl try a bit and yes, she too liked it a lot. She probably will want to order this the next time we drop by here.
This time around, she stuck faithfully to her butter tandoori chicken biryani (RM20.00)…
…which did not look as red as before…
…from what was used to marinate the chicken before cooking it in the traditional tandoori oven and using it to cook this curry. As a matter of fact, I thought the taste of the tandoori chicken was not as strong but my girl said it was all right and yes, she did enjoy it very much.
For one thing, we were seated inside the dim and dark and gloomy restaurant – they removed all the tables and chairs on the very much brighter pavement outside during the pandemic as they did not want to block up the whole place to ensure physical distancing and what not. Hopefully, they will put them back again soon so I will be able to take more flattering photographs of the very nice food here.
Another thing that I’ve noticed is how the Indonesian chef would serve what she dishes out – in a bowl, with the rice by the side. My missus had the seafood curry rice (RM19.00)…
…and yes, it was, as always, very very nice and they were very generous with the serving too. I guess it is neater this way and some people are not that fond of their rice being drowned by the gravy but I actually like the way they used to serve their dishes, everything by the side of the rice in the plate…
The total for everything we had, inclusive of drinks, came up to RM78.00 but the nice boss collected RM75.00 only from me – not only was this cheaper than what we had at the Japanese franchise the other day but it was more filling and we sure enjoyed it a whole lot more too!
The CAFE IND (2.290813, 111.829294) is located along Laichee Lane, right behind one block of shops facing the main road (Jalan Kampung Nyabor) where the Bank Simpanan Nasional, Sibu branch (2.290561, 111.829071), is.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Yes, I prefer the curry to be served separately in a bowl than the rice being drowned by the gravy. Most of the Indian curry gravy looks thick and creamy unlike others so diluted and watery. The boss is always so kind to give you discount.
Just like my dad before – he would never go for chap fan and when he did, he would insist on all the items served in separate plates and bowls, not all dumped on the rice.
Yes, the curry is like mine – when I was in Plymouth in the UK, my Malay friend commented that my curry was so pekat, should not be like that and when they cooked, they asked me to see, their Malay curry the way it should be – so watery and there was always that layer of oil on top, not the way I would like it.
Sometimes I use evaporated milk instead of santan – nice too and the curry does not spoil easily. Never tried yogurt – maybe can try one of these days.
A very mouth watering post. I miss the briyani, curries and tandoori chicken.
My girl’s favourite. We can have this all the time and she will not complain! She will only go for the one here though – she says the Malay ones are not the same, nothing more than nasi minyak or nasi kuning, one of those – nothing to get excited about.
I would enjoy all those dishes especially the lamb. I reckon this restaurant is another one to visit besides Payung.
Yes, it is definitely worth a visit but I never insist when there are friends coming over as there are nice Indian and Indonesian restaurants in the peninsula too. Payung is special as the dishes are their own, all extra special so worth checking out.
I miss a good biryani rice!! Glad the chef is back from a long break. And you get to enjoy his cooking.
We only have this one place here that we will go to, not like in Kuching – so many to pick and choose. More Indians there. LOL!!!
I do love Indian food. Just need to keep it in moderation as it’s so calorie dense.
We only have one good place and we can’t keep going there all the time – in the end, I’ll have nothing to blog about! LOL!!!