I first met Roy in 2010, around 12 years ago and if I am not mistaken, the last time I saw him was in the middle of 2011. He used to work in Singapore before he came back to Sibu. He was here for around a year only, I think before he moved to Kota Kinabalu…and the last I heard of them, they had moved to Ipoh – if I’m not mistaken, his wife came from Ipoh.
Imagine my surprise when he saw me at this sparkling new place in town and he greeted me!!! I would not expect him (or anyone for that matter) to recognise me as I am now so thin, half of what I used to be…and as a matter of fact, I could not recognise him as he had grown bigger/hunkier and more a man now, better looking than before but of course, I still remember so very vividly how much I loved his Spanish chicken croquettas! According to him, he was running this place and also the eateries at the outlets of this bakery in town.
This café/restaurant is actually part of the hotel where my cousins and everybody who came that day stayed when they were here but it was not open for business at the time. Well, it is now…and when I saw it on Facebook, I couldn’t wait to go and check the place out.
To start off, we had these arancini mushroom rice balls (RM10.90)…
I googled and saw that these were Italian or Sicilian in origin. Yes, they were as good as they looked and we all enjoyed them very much. It certainly looked like we were off to a good start!
The chicken creamy pie (RM18.90)…
…was very good too. I loved the filling…
– it reminded me of Roy’s Spanish chicken croquettas that I enjoyed so much! My girl, however, was of the opinion that the puff pastry could be a bit puffier/fluffier or more flaky.
The dry Sarawak laksa pasta (RM24.90)…
…was all right but we felt it paled in comparison with the one here which had more added ingredients but was more expensive. It tasted great but I was put off by those tiny bits from the sambal – normally, when we cook Sarawak laksa at home, we would sieve the broth/soup to get rid of those. It did not have any santan in it so one would not feel jelak after eating it for a while but somehow, on the other hand. that took away the richness in the taste.
Of course we had to order one of the crepes on their menu and my girl wanted the banana fritters crepe (RM16.90)…
…which was good but my girl felt that they could improve on the crepe. It was a bit chewy/rubbery, not quite like those layers of crepe in a mille crepe…or for that matter, the well-made skin of the kuih lenggang/ketayap.
Other than that, my girl was suggesting that perhaps they could caramelise the bananas…
…instead of coating them with bread crumbs and deep frying them like what they did with the aforementioned rice balls.
On the whole, we thought that the lunch was delightful enough. Together with the drinks that the ladies had (longan tea, iced RM7.90 & cucumber with salted plum, RM6.90)…
…and my lemon drinking water (RM1.20), the total came up to RM87.60, cheaper and a lot more reasonable that what we had to fork out at some of those new places in town over the past few days.
Service was excellent – very efficient and pleasant and cordial and they all were proficient in the English language unlike those at some places around here. The place was empty when we arrived but by the time we were leaving, it was already quite full (despite the heavy downpour that day). We certainly hope to go back there again soon.
CREPES N CHOPS…
…is located on the ground floor of the Starlink Hotel at Lot 8427, Block 10, Seduan Land District 13, Lorong Tunku Abdul Rahman 2C (among the shops beside Star MegaMall).
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
All looks good especially the arancini mushroom rice balls and chicken creamy and so are the two refreshing drinks. Love them.
Yes, nice and not expensive like those places I reviewed over the last few days. Will definitely go back for more of what is in their menu.
I am glad this visit was very positive with some room for improvements. I tried arancini once and it was surprisingly good. I thought I might not like it.
We had no idea what those were but we were willing to give them a try. Sure am glad we did as they were very nice.
It is good to try out new food. Who knows, we may like and enjoy it very much. Better than not trying at all.
As they say in Malay, “Tak kenal make tak cinta!” Even better when the price is right!
Never try Sarawak laksa pasta, haven’t seen it around here. Food looked good in this place.
I’ve tried Sarawak laksa kampua once, just so so. The cafes do it better because of the seafood ingredients, I suppose . Nicer.
I quite like arancini, too. I don’t often see them with that much sauce on top though.
Never saw them before, first time trying and yes, we enjoyed them very much.