At The Dine In

Malaya Corner, Sunnybank

2010-06-28T23:39:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, we had dinner at Malaya Corner in Sunnybank. It is a no frills cafe-style Malaysian eatery and probably the closest thing to Malaysian hawker fare i've found in the whole of Queensland.

The no frills deco & adam

Spring roll appetizers and a freakishly red dipping sauce

Adam's oat prawns (that taste like the smell of the dogs after their wash)

The best char kueh teow i've ever tasted in Oz

I forgot to take photos of our drinks but they have standard soft drinks, alcohol, and Asian style ice blended drinks. I didn't note down the prices of the dishes but they were relatively reasonably priced and cheap. Would definitely return to the cafe a lot if only it wasn't so far away from the CBD.

Malaya Corner
Shop 38, 341 Mains Rd, Sunnybank, ph: 3344 3838.
Lunch & dinner daily. Licensed & BYO. Cash only. Off-street parking.

Elements (Damai Puri)

2008-07-29T11:41:00.000-07:00

So, about two weeks ago i paid a visit to Damai Puri. Minor visible changes and great view, sadly the same cant be said for the food.

My dad's decision to dine at the downstairs cafe, Elements, was definitely a bad one. The place was almost completely empty, probably due to the high price and "plain" food.

The Beef Stragonoff (mind my spelling), was surprising, and not in a good way. Never expected something with a fancy name to turn out so plain. It turned out to be curry beef with rice. On the bright side, the beef was soft and tasted good. But still, for that kind of price.... not worth it.

The Salmon-Steak however, was pleasant. Served with potato balls and spinach. The potato balls were though but the salmon itself was soft and tender. And the spinach works well with the salmon, topped off with oregano (i think).

Another one of the better dishes is the Lamb Shank. Served with mashed potato, the lamb is as soft as lamb can ever be. The potato is flavourful and accompanies the lamb really well.

The spaghetti was dissapointing. Served with 5 meat balls (yes, 5) and shredded cheese, the chef could have been a little more generous on the sauce. Even i could have prepared a better looking, more delicious spaghetti than the one done by the chef in Elements (with all due respect).

The dish that made our night (again, not in a good way), was the Steam Chicken Rice. Well, it is steam chicken rice, where do you go from there. The chicken was tough and dry. The rice was undercooked. A joke of a dish. A joke for us.

The next morning, we went down for our complimentary buffet. What was supposedly a wide array of food and beverages, i found myself NOT spoilt for choice.

The pastry leaves much to be desired and there's not much choice of cereal. The nasi lemak however was delicious. But all in all, i expected something a little bit better. well, one of the stove did catch on fire. And thats as far as the fun goes.

Elements serve a wide variety of dishes from oriental to continental, from starters to desserts. Elements is located at Damai Puri. The price ranges from RM6.00 - RM62.00 and above (not exact number, i cant really remember).... but the chicken rice is RM30.00 .... cool... NOT!

Top Point (Miri)

2008-05-25T18:57:00.000-07:00

So, this is the 1st place in miri that i am going to review!!!.... this is a landmark moment...
or not...

So, i had the "Special Pork Rice". Yea.. my first impression was its too little.. i could have use more pork.. the pork is crispy and sweet.... nice.. hmmm... pork... its always nice....and the rice.. well.... rice is rice....they serve other things as well like prawn mee, chicken rice... the usual stuff.

Prices

Special Pork Rice - RM 5.00

Top Point is located around desa senadin (Miri) ... its pretty secluded so it will kind of hard to find... unless you have a guide... till my next culinary experience, eat! :)

Lian June Cafe

2008-04-21T20:29:00.000-07:00

Hmmm.... Lian June Cafe. One of the local favourites. And a family favourite of mine. Have been going there since i can remember. It's not 5-star but it gets the job done (feeding you).

The kang kong belacan is a firm favourite of my grandfather. Mostly because of the belacan (which my grandmother is allergic to). Its a definite order for vegetable. Taste good, but probably a tad too oily... but it's good.

The Salad chicken is also a definite order. Nice small crispy chicken with mayo. Tasty! If you see my sister, you'll see this dish... (no offence...haha)

I love fish. And i love sweet and sour fish even more. The sweet and sour fish here at Lian June is nice because it is only fish meat (no bones) which makes eating easier.

All these dishes go well with rice.

Lian June Cafe is located around BDC somewhere behind H n L.

Expert RH

2008-04-20T01:13:00.000-07:00

Usually the place for people to "lepak" and just have a drink, you can still have your breakfast, lunch, dinner and even supper at Expert.

The kolo mee is one of my favourites. Sweetness and saltiness well-balanced and the mee itself is soft. Definitely a good place to try good kolo mee if you're looking for one.

The lychee-susu (milk lychee) is one of their specialties and also one of my favourites. Sweet.. but not too sweet. With crushed ice, and lychee at the bottom. One for cooling you down. It just taste really good.

Price:

kolo mee - Rm 3.00
lychee susu - Rm 2.50

Expert Food Court is located around RH Plaza.
Opens around 8am - 3am. Time of operation varies.

HIJAU (BDC)

2008-03-28T22:41:00.000-07:00

So, if you havent already know, theres a "new" food shop along lorong D in BDC. It is where that botanical garden thing was before, where people jog. It has turned into an eatery... yay! for you joggers out there....

They have a variety of food to choose from, malay and chinese cooking. but if i'm not mistaken it has turned Halal now.( according to the kolo mee guy)

So i went there like... a month ago....when it was still non-halal or semi-halal.
I decided to have the "Mee Belacan", which to my taste-buds tasted more like mee rojak... or maybe thats just poor quality belacan. you go and be the judge, i'll be the jury. it was'nt all that bad, i was just disappointed that it didnt really taste like belacan... (LIES!)

Then my lil bro had the fish and chips(surprise surprise). it was pretty decent, i mean its fish and chips, what did i expect... yea the fish was larger compared to other "western" stalls or shops. fries was normal. still, the good thing was the size of the fish... and it didnt taste too bad either.

My mum had Kolo Mee Soup. Again, i cant really stress on how kolo is different from one another, but some taste good and some suck. this one taste ok, fortunately.... soft, and sweet.. and with pork. ahhh pork, makes every dish better, but not dessert. and the highlight of this dish? when the guy sent the kolo mee, and my mum paid him... he said "thank you, Aunty." ... and the guy was probably in his 40s.... 0_0' ...

Prices:

Mee Belacan - RM 3.50
Kolo Mee Soup - RM 2.70
Fish n Chips - RM 11.90

*at that time...

So if you want to go to a place to chill, or have a light dinner.. head over to Hijau!!!.... they serve softdrinks, hot and cold drinks, and have roti canai,murtabak,beef noodle,mee jawa, satay,nasi goreng kampung and curry rice, just to name a few.... Hijau... :)

J & J Cafeteria

2008-02-20T07:45:00.000-08:00

Most people probably dont really know where J & J Cafeteria is.(mainly people who are not from tabuan or any nearby areas that is ). J & J Cafeteria serves a wide variety of Malay Food. So that means it is Halal. From nasi goreng kampung, nasi briyani,roti canai, to burgers and such.

The Nasi Goreng Kampung with Chicken is served with chicken,a few cucumbers and some kang kong. The rice is abit hard but there is the flavour. The worst thing is the chicken that they use is the chicken that they prepare in the afternoon, so it's not fresh and taste cold.

And for the Nasi Goreng Chinese Style, it looks exactly like the nasi goreng kampung, only with an egg on top of the rice. But dont be fooled. The difference is in the rice itself. The spices or "rempah" used to cook the rice is different. The Nasi Goreng Chinese Style has a more "ikan bilis"-ish flavour. But the hardness of the rice and the bad taste of the chicken remains the same.
The kang kong though, is decent.

As for the Nasi Briyani, the rice itself leaves much to be desired. It is hard and thoroughly lacks in taste. But the chicken curry that comes with it taste really good, surprisingly. And the size of the chicken is not too bad as well. So i guess it balances the dish. with the rice being bad but the curry being good.

The Roti Canai here aint so bad. Take for instance the Roti Chesse. Take fairly good. Above average but not by any means the best i've tasted. It is soft and you can taste the cheese.

For drinks, they provide a wide choice, from softdrinks to hot beverages, from teh c peng to bali. I'm not sure if they serve juice though. :)

The prices:

Nasi Goreng Kampung + Ayam - RM 5.00
Nasi Briyani - RM 5.00
Nasi Goreng Chinese Style - RM 3.80
Roti Cheese - RM2.50
Teh C Peng Special - RM 2.10
Hot Horlick - RM 1.70
Bali - RM 1.70

So if you have a craving for Malay Food or just roti canai, head down over to J & J Corner located near Tabuan Laru. ( i think). ?

Old El Paso Jumbo Taco Kit

2008-02-15T08:32:00.000-08:00

Fancy a taste of mexico? If you just said yes, then the Old El Paso Jumbo Taco Kit is what you're looking for, or not.(depends on how you prepare it). Inside the 'kit', there are 10 supposedly jumbo-sized tacos, and some taco sauce.

The rest of the stuff, you have to ready yourself. You can get beef,pork,chicken, or whatever meat you like. Mix it with cucumber,tomatoes, potatoes,peas,cheese,pepper,chili and so much more.

It is really up to you. Go crazy.

Old El Paso Jumbo Taco kit is available at Ta Kiong Supermarket in tHe Spring.

Rock Road Seafood Restaurant

2008-02-13T08:48:00.000-08:00

So, yesterday we had a fare-well dinner for my bro and sis at Rock Road Restaurant. We do come here quite often to have a small dinner for certain occasions. And we pretty much always order the same things. If it taste good, then why not? :)

First off, we had Crab Shells. No, we did not eat crab shells, thats just the name of the dish. Its crab meat mixed with some chicken meat and covered in cheese. It used to be served in crab shells, but not anymore. There goes the name. Well, it taste nice, and its soft. It's a good starter to set you off for the other dishes.

Next, we had some sort of Sea Cucumber soup thing. I didnt get the name. It was ...um... sweet? well, i dont really know how to describe it. its okay.

Then came the Onion Chicken. I always liked onion rings, and this was no different. I like how the flavours of the chicken and the onion rings taste together. Sweet and onion-ish. It just taste good. And the chicken is also very very soft.

Then, we had Sayur Sabah, which i'm not too fond of. It taste a little bitter and it doesnt have the same texture as other vegetable. It's a bit rougher. I didnt really like it.

The Fried Oyster taste fresh. They use a little too much flour, which sometimes overpowers the taste of the oyster. But it is very soft and as i said taste fresh. It is served with a bowl of mayo and a bowl of vinegar and pepper, to enhance the flavours.

Lastly, we had Satay Prawn, which is a must-order dish when we have dinner in Rock Road Restaurant. It's basically prawns dipped in satay sauce and sereved with buns. The sauce is very nice and works well with the buns. The buns are very soft as well. One of the top dishes in Rock Road, even if i'm not a big fan of prawns.

My lil bro had Tomato Mee.(i'm sure you all know what that is). It taste sweet rather than sour, which is a good thing. And it is quite a lot too. Its enough for 2 people.

We also had wine, and by we i mean my dad,my uncle and my bro.
Since i'm not to keep on wine. The wine is called Majestic Sauvgnon. So french. but it's from perth.

They also serve softdrinks,sundrop,chinese tea,beer,juice, whisky, vodka and malta.

The prices:

Crab Shells - RM 31.20 (for 8 ) = RM3.90 each.
Sea Cucumber - RM 19.00
Onion Chicken - RM 28.00
Sayur Sabah - RM 24.00
Fried Oyster - RM34.00
Satay Prawn - 55.00 + buns - RM 8.75
Tomato Mee- RM8.00
white rice- RM 1.20 per bowl.
softdrinks- RM 2.50 each
chinese tea- RM1.60 per head.
Majestic Sauvgnon - RM 56.00

Want a taste of some fresh seafood? Head on over to Rock Road Seafood Restaurant along Jalan Rock / Rock Road.( near IMH) (prices are subjected to 10% service tax and 5% gov tax).

Hong Kong Noodle House (Wisma Saberkas)

2008-02-11T06:39:00.000-08:00

Today i went to The Hong Kong Noodle House at Wisma Saberkas. How funny is it that people order rice instead of noodles in a noodle house? not so funny indeed. but it's true. most people order rice rather than noodles in this noodle house.

And i decided to follow that trend by ordering myself a plate of Fried Pork Ribs Rice. The fried pork ribs is accompanied by some green peas and covered in gravy. The peas is quite soft so it was okay. The pork rib was nice, sweet and salty. I like how the the fat really brought out the taste of the pork rib.(even if it didnt really looked like fried pork ribs).

(Fried Pork Rib Rice)

My sis had Salted Fish Fried Rice. The rice was pretty hard to begin with. And there seem to be no taste of salted fish. Hmmm........Theres a possibility they gave the wrong order. But this rice had no taste of salted fish at all.

(Salted Fish Fried Rice)

Roy(he prefers me to call him by name here), had Yong Chew(or something close) Fried Rice,which basically looks almost exactly like the Salted Fish Fried Rice. And it taste almost the same, just without the salted fish taste like the Salted Fish Fried Rice supposed to have.

(Yong Chew Fried Rice)

We also had Twin Roast Plate Meat Mix (well.... i forgot the exact name, but its close) as a "side-dish". It's basically a dish with chicken and 2 kinds of pork. And accompanied by some kind of sauce(maybe oyster sauce or kicap, not exactly sure). The chicken is average, but the pork, the one in the middle, is very very tasty. And the other pork is also nice. Good to eat with plain rice because you can really taste the flavour and it will balance the taste. -.-'

For drinks, we had softdrinks, which was a little disappointing that they gave it in a medium sized glass with lots of ice in it. so you all know what that means. Sad.

The Prices:

Fried Pork Ribs Rice -RM5.00
Yong Chew Fried Rice - RM4.00
Salted Fish Fried Rice - RM4.00
Twin Roast Plate Meat Mix - RM12.00
Softdrinks - RM1.60 (each)

They have a wide choice of noodle and rice dishes, from spicy,sweet and sour,fried, soup,... almost anything you can think of. And they serve softdrinks as well as hot and cold drinks.(the usual) .

So if you feel like "hong kong" style food, head over to the Hong Kong Noodle House located in Saberkas and also along Padungan.

Singapore Chicken Rice (jalan Song)

2008-02-10T04:18:00.000-08:00

So, today saw me having lunch with my family at Singapore Chicken Rice along jalan Song, kuching. It was'nt my first time dining there so i pretty much know the food they serve.

I didnt really know what to order(surprise surprise), but i decided to settle with mee jawa. My mum was having Chicken Curry Rice while my brother(the guy in the manhattan review) had Black Pepper Chicken Rice. My younger bro and my sis had steam Chicken Rice.

For my mee jawa,accompanied by half an egg,some chillis and some nuts and fried onion as well as some pieces of chicken, i thought i was fairly okay. Definitely not one of the best i've had but still okay.My brother thought the gravy tasted a little too much like egg... hmmm.. ???The noodles itself was soft and nice. The pieces of chicken was a tad too salty. And the potato was rather hard, maybe not fully cooked.(who knows- they do).

The Chicken Curry Rice left much to be desired. Comes with a bowl of curry, chicken, potatoes, an egg, and rice(pyramid-shaped, mind you). To start off, the chicken taste.... well.. like chicken, no surprise there. The egg is average but i just cant get pass the hard potato. And my mum said the rice is hard. She also said the curry was spicy but i just think it tastes a little too "potato-ish".

For the steam chicken rice, it is nothing special but nothing horrid. It's just your typical Steam Chicken Rice. The rice again, is hard and pyramid-shaped. The chicken is soft and is well steamed. It was nice.

(Steam Chicken rice)

(black pepper Chicken Rice)

My brother had the Black Pepper Chicken Rice. And he said it was good, so i'd have to take his word for it. Coz i dont eat everything i review (you must be thinking, WTF!). But my reviews are based not only on my thoughts but also the thoughts of others.

Oh yeah, we also had a large plate of tau geh. Um... it was't that bad. Could have done with a little bit more salted fish for more flavour.

As for drinks, my brother and I had 3-layer Tea C peng Special. My mum and younger brother had nescafe milo peng and my sis had cola...also peng. The teaC and nescafe milo lacks a little taste. Just a little, not alot. (sorry i forgot to take photos)

So if you fancy Chicken Rice, be it black pepper, steamed, roasted, fried, head down to the Singapore Chicken Rice. They serve noodles and ramen as well as vegetables and other side orders. They also have cold and hot drinks,softdrinks, coffee,tea,juices and such.

The prices:

Steam Chicken - RM3.60 + Rice- RM1.20
Chicken Curry Rice - RM5.50
Mee Jawa - RM4.00
Black Pepper Chicken Rice- RM5.50
BeanSprout (taugeh) (large)- RM5.50
Soft Drink - RM 1.90
Tea C Special - RM 2.50
Nescafe Milo - RM 2.20

Singapore Chicken Rice is located in several places. Jalan Song, MJC Batu kawa, Satok, Tabuan Laru, just to name a few.

(SCR at Jalan Song)

The Manhattan Fish Market.

2008-02-09T10:21:00.000-08:00

I'm not too keen on eating at expensive places, unless somebody's treating me. And today, i found myself eating in The Manhattan Fish Market in Boulevard, Kuching with the tab on my sis.

So, as my sis, my bro, my cousin and I sat wondering what to order, my sis suggested the Manhattan Seafood platter for 2 (since my sis is the only one who have been there). So we ordered two of those.(to which the waiter gave a little giggle-for reasons unknown).

I must admit i had my doubts at first but the Seafood platter is actually
quite alot. Obviously enough for 2 persons. The dish consist of
Deep fried fist fillet, calamari rings, fries,oysters,praws served
with garlic rice. The calamari rings and the oyster is sure to please
your tastebuds as it's so soft it literally melts in your mouth.
The fish fillet itself is cooked to perfection.

The prawns on the other hand, is nothing to cry out for. Not to
say that it's not nice. It's just not something special. It lacks the
wow factor that the oysters and calamari rings possess.
The dish is perfectly accompanied by garlic rice and fries to make
sure you leave with your stomachs full.

There is also a wide variety of drinks. Hot or cold. Coffee and tea, softdrinks just to name a few.
The softdrinks are free flow, which mean you can drink your bladder full.

All in all, i would say that it was a great first impression of the place. The price may be high for some but i would say it is worth it.
The Seafood Platter is a definite favourite and i give it a 4/5. And the drinks are free flow so you wont go thirsty. I think it wont be long until my next visit to the Manhattan Fish Market.

The manhattan fish market is located in Boulevard and tHe spring in Kuching. The seafood Platter for two is rm42.90 and the softdrinks come at rm5.90 each. (not including 5% gov tax and 10%
service charge.)

www.manhattanfishmarket.com