Something about a Sunday…

There’s something about a Sunday, a day when some folks would like to do something different for a change. There are those who would grab the chance to cook something nice for the family to enjoy and those like me who would bring the family out for a good meal at some place special for a welcome break from the daily routine week in and week out.

However, like what we did the day before, we had our lunch at my sister’s house again but that did not stop me from making sure that at least, it was something worth looking forward to.

Well, to do that, I dropped by here…

– we haven’t been there for a long while since I am off red meat (lamb and beef) and I’m also staying away from prawns but that morning, I decided that I would go there for the kacang ma chicken…

…which all of us enjoy so much. My sister loves it and as far as my missus is concerned, she is quite happy to get to enjoy this with rice, no need for anything else.

The thing is this is the only place in town where one can get to eat this and thankfully, Andy can cook it so very well, with enough of the “hiam” of the fresh ginger used and he is also very generous with the pek chiew thow (Chinese white wine). I remember I bought one serving for my sister to enjoy once (when I went and bought some to take home) and that probably was the last time she had any.

Well, it was quite obvious that the two ladies loved it a lot – my girl, however, is not really a fan and I am refraining from eating it because of the alcoholic content, the wine. Nonetheless, my girl was very happy as well, actually, because I bought some of the delightful Payung fish (ikan keli) for her. The photo did not come out well so I’m using an old one here…

This is how those of us in the family would cook it everytime and yes, we all love it this way. My girl is no exception and seeing how she was enjoying it, I just had a piece myself and let her finish all the rest.

She also loved the butter chicken…

…which is completely different from the tandoori butter chicken curry here. They had an Indian chef here once, Varun, who cooked his own version of the dish and it was very well-received by all and sundry and this is actually the adaptation. I am supposed to stay away from dairy products so I should not be eating that. However, I don’t think there was a lot of butter used in the cooking and I would not be eating it that often so I did sample it a bit.

Andy was so kind and generous – he gave me a double serving of the pomelo salad…

…that I ordered and I also asked for their Payung rojak…

…both of which we all enjoyed to the max. The total for everything that I ordered that day came up to RM85.00 and Andy insisted on collecting RM80.00 from me only – isn’t that so very sweet of him?

We sure are looking forward to enjoying more of what they have on their menu (and what I can eat) and needless to say, that should be pretty soon, of that I’m sure!

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.

We’re home…

We had lunch at my sister’s house again last Saturday and this time around, I dropped by here to tapao a few dishes. I don’t think my girl had anything to do with it but my sister asked us to buy two of her favourite dishes for our lunch.

She wanted their sweet and sour fish fillet…

…which, in my personal opinion, is the best in town.

Yes, we did try this dish at a number of other restaurants in town but to us, theirs would all pale in comparison…

Another dish here that is my girl’s favourite – none here is, in her opinion, half as nice, is their lemon chicken…

…and indeed, I would agree with her 100%!

Of course, it is best eaten there because when you take it home, the crispy layers of batter coating the slices of meat would not as nice anymore. They will pack the dish…

…minus the sauce and pack the sauce separately for you to pour all over the chicken when you sit down to eat….

This way, it will not be too bad and you can still get to enjoy it a lot, ALMOST like eating it there.

For our vegetable dish, I asked for the midin (wild jungle fern), ching chao (fried plain)…

…and yes, they do it very well too.

I may have said it before but I’ll say it again here. This place certainly has some really great dishes that we enjoy a lot and will keep coming back for more but it is not known to be cheap. I think I did mention not too long ago that with the rising prices here, there and everywhere, they seemed to have fixed a standard as far as their charges in general were concerned – RM20.00 for their meat dishes and RM15.00 for vegetables. Based on that assumption, we can calculate the total for our delightful lunch that day, RM55.00 altogether for the four of us.

Y2K CAFE 千禧餐馆  (2.294220, 111.825753)…

…is located at No. 16, Jalan Tunku Osman, round the corner from that block of shops where the branches of AmBank & RHB Bank are located with its back entrance facing the side (right, not the main one) entrance/exit of Methodist Secondary School.

All of it all…

My doctor said I should increase my intake of protein, something about all of it leaking into the blood stream or the urine or whatever but unfortunately, I have to stay away from red meat and dairy products. I was eating a lot of fish until the mere smell of it would make me feel sick instantly!

Eat eggs, he said, but eat the white only. WHAT? But I love the yolks…especially if they are soft and runny. Besides, if I eat just the white, what is going to happen to the yolks? Do we just throw them away? Isn’t that such a waste? Well, since I am not ready to do that, I would just limit my intake of eggs to say, around two a week…

According to this website, “…the problem with the yolk is its high phosphorus …but if you don’t have a phosphorous issue, you can use the yolk and this is for people who want to include some type of animal protein in their diet. The good thing about eggs is it doesn’t raise the blood sugar at all so it could be a good substitute for people that have or good food for people that have diabetic kidney disease.”

Actually, my phosphorous and potassium levels are all right, no problem with them but of course, that does not mean that I can go ahead and eat all the egg yolks I want. Everything in moderation, that’s what’s best.

I like eggs in any form but these days, I will usually have them half boiled/half-cooked. I will bring some water to a boil in a saucepan and turn off the heat before putting in the eggs, straight from the fridge and leave them in the water for around 7-8 minutes. That way, the white will be cooked and the yolk is still soft and runny…

…both of them…

I don’t mind leaving them in the hot water a little bit longer so both the yolk and the white are a bit harder but the former must still be soft though a little less runny. The white would be a bit like the texture in hard boiled eggs by then.

I try to cut down on the soy sauce these days but I think I am o.k. with the amount of pepper that I add…

Once I’ve mixed everything together…

…I would just slurp it all down. I do enjoy eating eggs like this.

Then, there is this piece of information from another website, “However, in this context, even the earlier beliefs that the egg yolks are bad for kidney patients has been refuted to a great extent which means that the food item happens to be safe for the one and all…” and this website seems to contradict what all the rest are saying. “Eat your egg yolks,” the heading says, “it’s the egg whites that can kill you!“ Heads you win, tails I lose.

I guess whatever it is, we should eat everything sparingly, not too much of anything, never mind what the people say and how good they are for you…and PRAY very very hard every day!

What about today…

I stopped by the roadside stall again the other morning to see what they had that day.

They had three packs of the cucur pusu‘ (what we call ikan bilis in Sarawak Malay)…

…so I grabbed all three, at RM2.00 each. There was only one pack left that previous time I was there and when I took that home, my girl feasted on the popcorn-size cucur (fritters) till they were all gone. Seeing how she enjoyed them that time around, I simply had to buy some more for her.

There was a lot of nasi lemak, the RM5 packs with chicken rendang looked really good and there were others as well, some selling for only RM1.00 each. I think they were all from different people cooking theirs at home and sending them there for sale. I was really tempted to buy and try but like what I said in my previous post, lately, I seem to have developed an allergy for seafood such as prawns. That is why I have stopped buying the crustaceans (and squids and crabs) for a very long time now – I wouldn’t want to spend the whole night scratching all over, unable to sleep. I suppose there is udang kering (dried prawns) in the sambal so I guess it is best that I cut down on nasi lemak (and Sarawak laksa) to once in a very long while for the time being.

There were some curry puffs available, RM4.00 for a pack of 5…

…from the lady herself but I did not like the skin very much even though the potato filling…

…tasted great. The ones that I used to buy from this young girl at Bandong, along with her very nice mini-donuts, were a lot nicer but I have not seen her around for a very long time.

Anyway, I should not be eating potatoes as well owing to their high potassium content, the same thing with sweet potatoes and bananas, so I don’t think I will buy any more curry puffs from now on, unless they have meat (chicken, no red meat) and maybe not so much potatoes or none at all in their filling.

That same morning, I dropped by my sister’s house and she gave me these ang ku kuih…

…to try. A friend gave them to her and the pandan fragrance that instantly filled the whole car, was indeed overwhelming, to say the least. I’m not sure whether it came from the skin or the filling…

These ang ku kuih were different from the ones I would buy to enjoy frequently as they had peanut filling instead of the usual mung bean filling. Yes, they were very very nice but unfortunately, the filling was very sweet. I am currently on a no/low sugar diet so even if I could buy these from outside, I don’t think I will. My blood sugar readings have been very stable for over a month now, 5 something everytime and the other day, it was 5.0! That was very encouraging indeed!

There wasn’t any roti jala at the roadside stall that morning, otherwise I would want to buy some home to eat with the chicken curry provided. I can just leave the chunk of potato in the curry behind even though I love that…a lot! Sighhh!!!

This Malay food stall (2.308672, 111.822740)…

…is located at 20, Jalan Ria at its t-junction with Jalan Kampung Datu Baru.

Seventy…

My sister-in-law was seventy on Thursday and she invited all of us to a simple dinner at our usual get-together restaurant in town. Her daughter, my niece working in Singapore, was not able to come home so we just had to carry on without her.

My brother-in-law went and ordered a cake from Marcus and asked for it to be coated with crushed peanut – they love it this way…

I prefer his regular butter cream icing but this was good too. If it’s a cake from Marcus, you can be sure that it is second to none.

Of course, we had the traditional longevity noodles, the mee sua, with the lightly-fried golden eggs…

…a must when somebody celebrates his or her birthday.

I asked for the Thai -style mango chicken…

…even though I should not be eating the sweet fruit but I guess once in a long while would be fine. I did refrain from eating too much of the mango though and enjoyed more of the meat instead.

My brother-in-law insisted on ordering one of their signature dishes for as long as I can remember, their pandan chicken…

…and yes, as usual, it was great. The chunk of meat wrapped inside the leaves is much bigger and not so dry compared to the regular ones served elsewhere plus they marinate theirs in their own way, as a result of which, theirs never fail to stand out a head above all the rest.

He also wanted two more of their signature dishes, the most delightful butter scotch prawn balls…

…and their own-made tofu served with mayonnaise…

I did not tell anybody but I seem to have developed an allergy so I have not been eating prawns for quite sometime now. I never bothered to ask to confirm but I am pretty sure I could detect a very light hint of hay bee (dried prawns/udang kering) in the tofu and that makes theirs much nicer than the rest that we have around here.

For the vegetable dish, we had the midin (wild jungle fern), ching chao (fried plain)…

…and everyone liked how the ferns were extra “fat” that evening and so very crunchy. I sure liked it a lot more than the last time when we had it with belacan (dried prawn paste) as I was not that fond of the quality of their current stock…and anyway, I shouldn’t be eating that as well these days.

The sea cucumber soup…

…that we had to wash everything down was so very good that my girl couldn’t resist going for a second helping.

All in all, everything was very much to our liking – that certainly was a delightful dinner. Business was brisk with a whole lot of customers coming and going. I did not see any lingering around after they had finished eating so the place was not overly crowed at any one time. Why? The guy and his family from this VERY popular, forever crowded restaurant in Rejang Park dropped by there too for dinner! I guess this is an obvious testament as to how good the food served here really is.

RUBY RESTAURANT 红宝石餐厅 …

…is located at No. 71, Jalan Kampung Nyabor, right next to HOME COOK CORNER  (2.292756, 111.825335), with the AmBank Tunku Osman branch in the very next block.

Gather here…

We were here when they first opened for business and we did drop by once to buy the roast duck to try when we heard people saying that theirs was the best in town. We thought the duck was good…

Eyewww!!! The duck heads dangling from the rail above! LOL!!!

…but nothing exceptional, just like that first time we went there and most everything was sold out. No doubt we had a pretty good lunch that day but no, we did not think there was anything that swept us off our feet.

Eventually, I heard that they have started selling kampua mee…

…and Sarawak laksa and much to my surprise, considering that this was not one of the “more popular” places in town, renowned Youtubers, the Jet Lag Warriors, dropped by here when they were in town for those…

They loved the kampua mee (3:45) very much and enjoyed the Sarawak laksa too (0:35). They were also impressed by the kolo mee (24:00) they had at another place even though they felt it was kind of super oily and they loved the mee sua making experience in Sibu and eating it as well.

Well, ever since I saw the video clip, I had been wanting to stop by here to give it a try but it took me quite a while to get down to it. I was quite reluctant as that place is always super crowded because the chu-char place at the back is also very popular and I am still not that keen on places with a lot of people. It wasn’t too bad that morning so I quickly parked my car and went in.

I had the kampua mee (RM4.00)…

…which was served with their very nice char siew (barbecued pork), not those miserable paper thin slices of boiled pork, dyed red to make it look like char siew, but I was taken aback when I tossed the noodles that they used…

They were VERY thin, the texture and taste were nothing like kampua mee as we know it to be, never mind traditionally handmade or machine-made, almost translucent and not quite QQ (firm). Luckily, they did not overcook them so they were not over-soft and soggy but still, they were nothing like the kampua mee that we love so well, more like what we would get in our packets in instant noodles!

On the other hand, the pian sip or meat dumplings (RM4.00)…

…that I also ordered were simply the best that I’ve had for a very long time. The skin was so thin and silky smooth and the meat inside tasted really good. I’ve had a lot of these elsewhere all over town – most were all right, some were a cut above the rest but these here take the cake, that’s for sure. I sure wouldn’t mind going back for more when I get the chance to do so.

It seems that one can place an order for some special combinations where one will get the kampua mee with one’s choice of roast meat…

…but I did not see any suggestions listed anywhere in the shop and the people did not seem all that keen to promote their best of the best. Perhaps if I could speak their language and talk VERY loudly like everybody else, they would pay me a bit more attention. Maybe I can try that next time!

Gather Pavilion 欢聚阁is located to the right of  23 FOOD COURT (2.297349, 111.824644), among the shops along Lorong Tun Abg Hj Openg 1, opposite Kin Orient Plaza (where the “old’ Sing Kwong Supermarket is).

The only way is up…

We were here in January, 2021 and the all-in yong tofu special…

…was RM9.50 a bowl at the time, up by 50 sen from RM9.00 before that. Now it is RM11.00 a bowl but let’s count our blessings! At least, we can still get to enjoy it, along with the very nice roast meat and chicken rice from the stall at this coffee shop – the chu char (cook & fry) section that seemed mighty popular before especially for the chap fan (mixed rice) come lunchtime every day has called it quits and there is a new guy, a very young man, running the kampua mee stall in front.

Well, for one thing, we do not have much of a choice here – as far as I know, this is the only place in town where we can get to enjoy this so take it or leave it. I have a soft spot for clear soups so of course, I enjoy this a lot and despite the high price tag, I do not mind dropping by for it once in a long while and if it is any consolation, there are a few cheaper combinations that one can choose from. I think the cheapest would be one where you will get just the fish balls and the tang hoon (glass noodles).

For this all-in super special…

…you get a few fish balls, one tofu stuffed with fish paste cut into two, ladies fingers stuffed with the same and cut into shorter lengths as well, one stuffed green chili, one stuffed slice of bitter gourd and one stuffed piece of brinjal. Personally, I am not into the chili nor the bitter gourd and I wouldn’t say that I’m crazy about the brinjal so the next time around, I think I shall go for the cheaper combinations or ask for more of those that I enjoy more.

I remember there used to be some seaweed in the soup but not anymore. Yes, the Chinese cabbage is still there and I am fine with that and yes, there is the tang hoon (glass noodles)…

…as well but what never fails to steal the show would be the special sambal…

…with a hint of belacan (dried prawn paste). Everything tasted so nice when dipped in it!

Yes, it is still as good – I enjoyed it to the max that morning and you can be sure that I shall be back here for more – for one of the cheaper options, of course – never mind that as far as the price is concerned, the only way is UP!

The yong tofu stall…

…is located at SING LONG CAFE (2.292595, 111.835979) in the Fortune Commercial area (behind Rejang Medical Centre), Lorong Chew Siik Hiong, directly opposite the nursing college (KOLEJ ITA).

Not like mine…

Ever since I dropped by there and had the Sarawak laksa that turned out to be so very good, my current favourite at this point in time, I had been waiting for the opportunity to go back there again and give this…

…a try.

While sitting there, that previous occasion, waiting to be served, I spotted this…

…in their menu on display at the kampua mee stall…

…and I couldn’t wait to see if theirs was any good and whether it would be in any way as nice as mine…

So there I was, the first opportunity I got and finally, my order (RM6.00)…

…came.

Now what on earth was that? I could not detect any taste of Bovril in the noodles. If I did not see the guy taking out the bottle of Bovril from the cabinet, I would most probably suspect that he did not add any at all. Perhaps he only added a bit – after all, Bovril is VERY expensive so any hint of it was overpowered by the sweet sauce from the minced meat. To say that I was disappointed would be an understatement but to be fair, I would say it was quite nice, just that it could have been any other kind of noodles, not Bovril.

The one here…

…that I went to try once was pretty good but they had discontinued this item on their menu to focus on a lot of other dishes now available there…and this one here made use of spaghetti…

…and I did enjoy it as well even though it was a bit expensive. I have not gone back there since so I don’t know if they are still serving it.

Anyway, back to that morning in question, I saw somebody’s order about to be served – the bowl of pian sip (wantons/meat dumplings), dry, looked very good so I quickly ordered that for myself (RM4.00)…

I guess this means that the kampua mee here, like at many other places all over town, is RM4.00 a plate as well. It turned out that the pian sip was rather bland for want of a bit more seasoning to toss the dumplings in. The skin was nicely done, very smooth and very thin and there was just enough meat in each of them, not too much. I would have liked them more if they had a bit more taste.

One thing that impressed me about this stall was how they use ceramic plates and bowls, including the small ones for the complimentary soup. They do deserve a pat on the back for doing that. Others have made the switch too and are no longer using those hideously colourful plastic plates and bowls but unfortunately, they still use those to serve the soup. I also liked how they keep the stall spick and span unlike some of the others – the mere sight of the mess on the counter top would instantly change your mind about eating their noodles.

7七夜cafe (2.307862, 111.848497)…

…is located off Jalan Sena in the blocks of shops opposite Jalan Deshon on the right, the same side as Wikitea.

Savoury…

Not everything is sweet here – they do have some very nice savoury pastries as well. My sister is a regular customer here – she likes the sio pao (baked buns) and curry puffs…

…and she likes how theirs are a lot cheaper than what one can find at the other bakeries in town, not that theirs are necessarily nicer. I’ve been here a couple of times but no, I am not a regular. There are many very popular eateries in the two blocks of shops and at times, parking may be a problem.

Well, it so happened that somebody gave my sister a box of these savoury delights including the sio pao…

I suppose these would be something like the celebrated Seremban sio pao…

…which I am not particularly fond of – I prefer the ones from Kai Joo Lane in Kuching…

…a lot more!

My girl did try the mini ones…

…or perhaps, these were the chicken ones. The shape may be different but the pastry and the filling taste and look the same.

I tried one of the curry puffs…

…and I loved the tasty curried potato filling. The pastry was kind of hard though – they would need to work on it to improve but as it was, I did enjoy it a lot more than some of the so-called curry puffs that they sell at some bakeries around town.

I guess with all the favourable reviews I’ve heard and what I tried was, on the whole, quite nice, I shall be dropping by there a lot more often now

SWEET FACTORY… 

…is located at Wisma Liberty, Lot 4047, Block 3, Jalan Pedada (now Jalan Dr. Wong Soon Kai).

In the house…

We did not go out for lunch last Saturday. Instead, we had a simple lunch at my sister’s house and for that, I took my tiffin carrier out of the boot of my car to go and buy a few dishes at Ruby.

I was early, around 10 something in the morning and they were not quite ready to roll yet but they were willing to get down to it as long as I did not mind a slightly longer than usual wait.

My girl wanted the deep fried breaded fish fillet, served with mayonnaise…

…and their cangkok manis fried with egg…

I wanted another dish and decided to go with their bitter gourd with salted egg…

…instead of another meat or fish dish. Right now, we are staying off prawns owing to some allergy issues.

That sure was a delightful lunch – we thought it was nice to have it at home for a change but for the four of us, the three dishes, one fish and two veg came up to exactly RM50.00. Ouch!!!

RUBY RESTAURANT…

…is located at No. 71, Jalan Kampung Nyabor right next to HOME COOK CORNER  (2.292756, 111.825335) with the AmBank Tunku Osman branch in the very next block. (They have a new sign now, replacing that one with the neon lights above the door.)