Yes, it was Christmas Eve and no, we did not have anything planned. Things kind of simmered down after my cousins and family left town. My niece, the one working in Singapore, who flew in that night on the direct flight here, was still in town and she asked us out for dinner but we said we would be going to church that evening so we all met for lunch here instead.
We went there once and we did check them out at their former location as well but we were not impressed with the food nor the prices, both times! My niece went there a few times with her friends when she was back home and she obviously liked the place a lot.
We had this lychee pork…
…which was very nice and we loved their salted fish pork belly in a claypot…
…a lot! Oopsss!!! Sorry for the blurry pic!
The lemon chicken…
…was nice but came nowhere near our favourite in town here.
This brinjal dish…
…was really good but one is probably not enough – we’d definitely order two at least the next time we drop by here. After all, my girl loves the vegetable a lot. For one thing, I noticed that it was done differently from what we had the previous time we were here – they probably had a new chef at the helm and that was why everything did seem a lot nicer than before.
The mixed vegetable dish…
…was all right. I really liked the blue & white ceramic crockery that they used here and none was chipped unlike at some places around here, those no class at all ones around town…or worse, the ones still using those horrendous gaudily coloured plastic plates that even some cheap coffee shops and chu char restaurants have the good sense to abandon for good!!!
These must be the Hakka yam balls…
…that my regular reader and commentor, Irene, in Kuching was telling me about that day. They tasted like the skin of the or nee (yam puffs) but they did not have any filling inside. I wonder if the Hakka abacus are anything like these – we can’t get those here so I can’t get to try them.
The pineapple fried rice…
…was good even though there were only two prawns in the dish. Well, that was supposed to be an individual serving – they should make it more flexible and allow diners to order bigger servings depending on the number of people there are in the group.
This pork lard crusts & egg rice…
…however, stole the show! It did not look like much but you pour in their special sauce and break the egg yolks and mix everything together thoroughly before you start eating. I did not expect it and was pleasantly surprised that it was so good, nicer than the pineapple fried rice.
Well, the food certainly was a whole lot nicer than what we had here before and the bill for all that we had for the 6 of us came up to around RM229.00 which I guess was pretty reasonable. We would love to come back again, that’s for sure.
In the meantime, another cousin of mine from Kuching came to town and she dropped by my place to see me – that certainly was so sweet and thoughtful of her. She gave me this awesome fruit cake, so very soft and moist and super intoxicating…
…thank you so much, Liz!
That evening, we went to the church that we would frequent every week…
…for the evening service, just like what we did all this while every year…
*Ronnie Morris’ 2013 photograph*
…without fail and yes, we sat at more or less at that same place too! Old habits die hard!
THE BLUE DOOR DINE & WINE (2.291959, 111.819462)…
…is now located at No. 83, Jalan Lau King Howe, right below The Win Hotel, across the road from the Waterfront Residences or the Sibu Twin Towers.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Wow, all the dishes looks so enticing. Looks like the yam balls have been deep fried and is totally different from the Hakka abacus. The Hakka abacus is made of yam, round, soft with a chewy texture. It is pressed down leaving a deep hole in the middle and looks exactly like abacus, thus the name. Usually stir fried with minced meat and hay bee. A must have Hakka dish for Hakka people during CNY… 😋😊
I see. So it is sticky and chewy then, like tang yuan balls? Doesn’t sound like something that will sweep me off my feet but still I would love to try. Tak kenal maka tak cinta.
Yes, the food here should be very much to your liking, Chinese food, definitely down your alley. You remind me of my late father – when we went to New Zealand, he had nothing to eat as he was not into all those western or whatever dishes. Not as many choices there at the time – much better now. He lost a lot of weight there and could not wait to come home. He was happiest when he came across a Chinese (Hong Kong) takeaway and he would chat happily with the chef in Cantonese…and buy his fried rice to enjoy!
Nothing special on Christmas eve for us. I like the dishes you guys have especially the Claypot salted fish pork. Yum yum.
Yes, that was good. In fact, everything was good except that the lemon chicken wasn’t as nice as our favourite at another place in town.
Another wonderful dinner and the brinjal is quite unique, I have not seen anything like it. Ah, caught a glimpse of you in the second last photo!
That was 9 years ago when I was nice and cuddly…and healthy and strong!!! Not so thin and frail like today. Sobsss!!!
All the dishes look delicious. I like how they serve the brinjal. I have a few brinjals in my fridge. Yes, same for us too, old habits die hard. We will always sit at the same old place.
The Malays and the Indonesians do it very well too! They grill the brinjal, cut a slit lengthwise and stuff chili sambal in it. When you order it, they cut it with scissors!
I enjoy a little fruit with my savouries. Think I’d like the flavours of lychee pork.
First time we had that – it was good! A lovely change from the usual sweet and sour.