Nasi Tumpeng from Indonesia at Pullman Hotel Kuching

This photo shows Nasi Tumpeng, originated from Indonesia.It is a very popular dish for all occasions. It looks presentable and from the photo it looks delicious if you are a nyonya food,indon food or spicy food fan like me. THe yellow cone shaped rice looks very mouth watering, accompanied by side dishes to complement it, ie. fried chicken with spices, fried egg with shrimp paste, pickled vegetables and more.

I will be checking it out in the next few days and let you know of my verdict.

If 14 chefs made you an offer…. can you resist the temptation?

It is that season of the year again, the muslims fast for 1 month during this Ramadan and this is the time where you can find dozens of variety of food of your choice available all at one place. from hawker stalls in Satok to 5 star hotels. This is also the time where we must watch our weight and watch what we eat.

I was at Pullman hotel recently and saw their 14 stations all lined up outside their Puzzle restaurant at the balcony area. Go check it out and break your fasts there if you are a muslim. If you are a non-muslim, just check out the variety of food there to satisfy your food desire.

Bon Appetite and if you are a muslim, Selamat Berbuka Puasa!

Pullman Hotel Kuching August Promotion

The Little Hainan Chicken Rice in Kuching

Recently, my mother introduced me to The Little Hainan. Whenever anyone mention Little Hainan, what comes to one’s mind? The Hainanese Chicken Rice or the charcoal toasted bread splattered with kaya and butter.

So we arrive there and I surveyed the surrounding environment. Pretty cozy. The place is well decorated too. I like the place. I ordered their reknowned Hainese Chicken rice. It came in 3 mini balls of rice complete with chicken and pickles.

Now, those balls of rice looked familiar. I remember eating similar concept of balls of rice being served in a coffee shop in Ipoh town and Melaka too I believe.

Well, the dish looked tantalizing and I suddenly enjoyed the food. I have also tried their “Kou-Bak” ( stew pork) previously and it was good but when I ate there the second time, I find the meat a bit tough though. Having said that, I still think the place is worth a visit if you happen to be around third mile or Jalan Keretapi. It is located at a corner of a shoplot and just opposite KTS block of Apartments, near 3^rd mile Mc Donald restaurant, Kuching.

Famous Kuching Layer Tea Gaining Popularity?

Did you know that chicken rice is the most popular dish among Malaysians in general? It’s a complete meal and cheap, complete with meat and vegetables and a small bowl of soup. The meal costs merely rm4 or more depending on where you go, from coffee shop to a nicer air-conditioned restaurant .
Well, today I was eating at the franchise Chicken Rice Shop in Kuala Lumpur when suddenly something on the table caught my attention. Right there, I saw a drink menu with the drink title, Famous Kuching Three Layer Tea.

Being a Sarawakian, I was impressed and no doubt PROUD. Hey! There is a drink here called after our little cat city. I drank the drink for the first time last 2 months. It has a mix of coffee, tea and milk. The restaurant is charging rm4.50 for the drink here in Kuala Lumpur.
If you have never tried the drink, I recommend that you try it and you may just like the drink. You may even try making such concoction at home.
Now, who will be the next millionaire to create an instant Kuching Special Ice Tea in a packet ? By the way, remember to trade-mark it or else someone may just become the next millionaire at your expense. May I charge you for my 5 cents worth of advice?

Delicious Home Cook food with Homestay in a Secret Garden

Recently I was cruising around Kampung Siol Kandis looking for an Orchid Café that everyone has been talking about. I heard that their Nasi Goreng Kerabu (originated from Kelantan) is a “to die for” and a must try.

Upon reaching the lush garden café, I was greeted by the owner, Kak Rom, a personable and affable lady. She led me through a small path that goes through a garden that is filled with orchids and lush green shrubs. Her little café is surrounded by flower garden and the landscaping being done by Kak Rom herself.

I glanced through the menu and saw that they serve some of my favourite dishes here, nasi lemak, penang assam laksa and the much talked about Nasi Goreng Kerabu Kelantan. I had ice lemon tea and nasi goring kerabu Kelantan. This is the first time I tried nasi goring keraqbu Kelantan though I have tried nasi kerabu in Kuala Lumpur before. I must say, this dish is really delicious. After you have eaten this nasi goring kerabu, all other type of fried rice, be it yong-chow fried rice, nasi goring kampong or nasi goring ikan bilis or even nasi goring special will all pale in comparison to this nasi goring kerabu. It is the taste of the herbs that has been stir fried together with the rice that makes the taste so special. According to Kak Rom, the herbs are planted in her garden. She planted several type of herbs in her garden. I call it the secret garden because it seemed so hidden away in Kampung Siol Kandis.

After tucking in to a luscious meal, I ventured around her secret garden. She has several chalets and cottages built around her garden for homestay. Her house is just beside the garden.

Imagine waking up in the morning to the melody of birds singing and be surrounded by a garden instead of the sound of traffic in the city. You walk a few steps down towards the café and be served with her hot homemade breakfasts. Then off you go venturing into the cat city.

Come back in the evening and be greeted by the smell of good food cooking. Have a scrumptious dinner and then relax away in the evening with a karaoke session or get a lift to the Food Centre just a few minutes drive from her place. The food centre is located just beside the Sarawak River, right opposite The Waterfront in the city. That is where Grand Margherita Hotel is located. You need to take a sampan to get to the waterfront from this side of the village. Enjoy a giant glass of teh tarik while taking in the surrounding scenery.

I like this homestay because Kak Rom is an easy going person and also because the homestay is located away from city. It is great for a quiet relaxing time. Kak Rom has different rates for her homestay cottage according to their size.

Go check them out. I am sure you wont be disappointed and remember to order Kak Rom’s famous Nasi Goreng Kerabu!

Sour Brinjal or Terung Dayak

Sour Brinjal, or better known as Terung Dayak, is a kind of plant that is edible. It is yellow colour and is round . it is popular amoung the locals for cooking sour dishes like assam sour fish, sour soup and etc.When the locals cook it, they like to put chilli into the boiling soup, you get a sour and spicy taste at the same time.

You cannot find it anywhere else except in Sarawak or perhaps Sabah too. I did not think much of it until I had dinner with a West Malaysian friend the other night. She commented that she has never tried the sour brinjal and was rather intrigued with it. As we grew up eating those vegetables, we do not think much of it. So when she brought up the issue, I decided to share with the world the unique vegetables that can be found in our backyard.

so when you visit Sarawak on your next trip, do remember to buy some home or just try the vegetables in a restaurant. I will try to find a recipe for you SOON!

This is indeed a unique Sarawak vegetables found only in Borneo!

The Must Try Ikan Terubok Dish

One of Sarawak’s most popular must buy is Terubok Fish. The Malays call it ikan terubok. The Chinese call it chi kat because the fish has many bones. this fish is VERY POPULAR with the Malays from West malaysia but not as popular with the Malaysian chinese in Malaysia as both races have their own cooking style. for me, i am not exactly fond of this fish because it has many small bones.

Last week, I was at this restaurant called, See Good and for a table of 6, we ordered one ikan terubok  and had it deep fried. It was a huge one. Deep fried , and then had soya sauce sprinkled over it generously. It think it was almost 2.5 kgs.

Its scale is still on it . we had to squeeze droplets of lemon on it before we eat it for that soury taste of the lemon on the juicy taste of the fish. We ate it with its scale on it. and Guess What? i liked it so much because the bones and scales were crunchy that I ate quite a fair bit of it , its scale and its bones all in.

The fish cost us rm60. Expensive huh? I thought the fish was expensive. Well, I was at the market today and I saw that the fish can be bought for only rm18 per kg.

I seldom eat this type of fish. I once choked on a double edged fish bone. Someone even brought me to a temple to get myself prayed over and given some water to drink which supposedly had the power to dissolve the bone. I waited and waited and nothing happened. So after 4 hours of waiting and still nothing happened, I went to a clinic and had an experienced doctor to pull out the bone from my throat.

Boy! Was I careful when I eat fish after that. This fish is very popular all right with the Malays especially from west Malaysia. They deep fried it and the bones become crispy and you just bite on the fish bone and eat it. If you steam it, you will be spending your time picking and pulling out the bones from the flesh.

Go check it out! Go to a restaurant that serves this fish and have it deep fried! You will love it after a while. Of course, again, it depends on the expertise of the chef,. If he is good at cooking, the fish would taste delicious.

Mum’s Favorite Chinese New Year snack

Chinese New Year is the time where you get to see small food vendors or home made cookies or snacks seller coming out and sell their home made specialties to make some extra cash 2 weeks before the Chinese new year. The place that I frequented before the Chinese New Year is the many stalls at Kenyalang Park corner. The stalls are located haphazardly in between the 2 rows of shophouses. The stall owner sells from cookies to flowers, house decoration, clothes and many other things.

We usually say that we must buy only from our regular cookie sellers because they are the best but one would be surprised to find that there are equally delicious and tasty snacks/cakes/cookies being sold at these stalls. Food that you would see being sold only during the weeks before the Chinese new year as the maker will not be selling them at other months. I even copied the contact number of the cookie seller so that I can buy from them again next year.

It is actually quite fun to check out the food products there and sample them. It is ok even if you do not buy them. (I can’t help but buy them after tasting and would end up with several hundred rm worth of cookies which I would eat them but can never finish all of it. Wasteful as you call it? Not to mention gaining many pounds in the aftermath of consumption

Sarawak Pickled Cucumber or Acar in Malay is made of thinly sliced cucumber and carrots, dried shrimps, chilli, ginger and other ingredients. Some acar do not have dried shrimps. The taste is tangy, spicy, a little sweet and sour. During Chinese new year, people like to eat the Acar with prawn crackers or keropok in Malay. So as you bite the keropok, you can taste the crispiness of the keropok, and at same time taste the sweet sour cucumber as you eat them. SEDAP!!! (delicious in Malay) My mum loves it very much. You can even eat it with rice if you have no other dish prepared for your meals.

You can find them being sold SOMETIMES at bakery or supermarket. It is best to buy the home made ones BECAUSE they are made with TENDER LOVING CARE. Did you know that if food is made with tender care and love, it somehow TASTES better and more delicious instead of the rough mass production. By the way, before I forget, make sure you refrigerate your Acar at all times because it tastes better being served chill.

I am yearning for some prawn keropok with acar now. Got to go find them. Enjoy!

Kam Pua Noodles at Top Ten Coffee Shop, Jalan Song, Kuching

Have you ever heard of Kam pua mee? (Kam pua noodles) (mee means noodles) It is quite similar with Kolok mee but the blanched noodle comes with char-siew meat and a small bowl of soup.  You can request for the noodle to be served plain or have chilli and soya sauce mixed into it which was how I liked it . (see photo)

Kolok mee comes with minched pork and sometimes char siew meat too but the noodle is more curly. Kam pua mee is straight. If you ask me, I like Kam Pua mee better.

I had Kam Pua mee for breakfast this morning at Top Ten Coffee shop, Jalan Song.

The stall owner’s name is Ah Lin. Mind you, she is not a chinese and yet her noodles are delicious.  Most of these noodles are prepared by chinese folks around Kuching city especially foochow as kampua mee  originated from the foochow community.

Look at her smile. When your food is prepared with so much joy and smile,  it will somehow tastes better.

Thumbs up for her!

Cheers!

Zest for Food & Fine Dining

Today, I had lunch at Zest Restaurant. They call it a new Dining Experience. The restaurant’s decoration is modern yet informal. The place is not air conditioned and the staff are very attentive.  The chef  owner is Beckham, someone with over 10 years experience as a Chef in Singapore and Bangkok but decided to head home and brighten up the food scene in Kuching.

I looked at the food menu and found that they had Thai food, Japanese Food, Indian Food, Hong Kong/chinese food, Singapore and even European food like pastas and burgers. They decided to be creative and created Obama Coffee which is mocha coffee and Kawai-i, which is Nescafe coffee mixed with chocolate .

I ordered Ebiko Fried Rice with prawns (rm7.90) and my friend Barbie had pineapple fried rice (rm6.90) . I thought the plate is far too big for the food but the test is in the tasting, esp. me with the acid taste bud. The moment i sank my teeth into the food, i knew that i will come back again and again. The food is simply delicious.

My Ebi fried rice with prawn roe was good. The taste was just nice and Barb’s fried rice was simply breathtakingly delicious. We then tried the dessert of creme brulee with vanilla ice cream. The sweetness was not too much and just nice.

Having passed my acid gastronomical taste bud, i decided to have a chat with the owner, Beckham but unfortunately he was not around. I was then introduced to his cousin, Byron, an engineer turned entrepreneur. All 3 cousins had put their heads and savings together to open up Zest! Byron went on to tell me how they had opened up Zest just last year and each cousins had their own role to play in managing the kitchen and the dining area. Beckham is the chef, another is the mocktail specialist and Byron takes care of customers.  After a good chat with Byron, he promised me a meal on the house on my next trip there. He sure takes care of the customers well.

Well, Kudos to them for a job well done. Keep it up fellas!

Kuching  needs more such eateries around town.

Location of Zest: 43, Grd Floor, Block C, Wisma Nation Horizon,
Petanak Road, Kuching.
Opening Hrs: 11am-11pm

Next Page »