The Glutton Queen

It so happened that I was in Penang for a holiday when I came across my blog post in The Star Metro page M5. Entitled “Jewel of Sibu”, my article and photos were copied and edited without my permission. (The online version here)

I was, and still is, not happy with that. Yes, you don’t get to be featured in the newspaper everyday unless you are a politician who makes stupid remarks, but this is not something that I’m proud of. Please at least have the courtesy to send an e-mail to inform me or have my permission to publish my blog post. I am sure I’d be glad let you publish it if you asked.

I’m not sure if you are even allowed to do that - publishing people’s articles without the author’s permission? Can someone please enlighten me on this?

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Ah Tor’s char kueh teow is not your ordinary char kueh teow which you can find in any Tom, Dick or Harry corner coffeeshop.

A guy named Ah Tor started to fry his kueh teow the unusual way, i.e. kueh teow wrapped in egg, not exactly wrapped like nasi pattaya per se, only the top part and the kueh teow is stuck to the egg. Therefore, the egg on top of the kueh teow is the highlight of the dish

I had this for the first time when I was 11, cooked by the creator, Ah Tor, at the original, formerly known as Kok Cheng, coffeshop opposite Star Cineplex (then Cathay Cinema).

Years after that the son(s) took over and now they are cooking the same style of kueh teow all over the town. I still prefer the original by Ah Tor because the taste now varies from one place to another. The ones in the pictures are from Choon Seng coffeshop in Sg. Merah.

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After attending sunset mass at St. Mary’s Church just now, we went to Ruby Restaurant for dinner. Since the weather was so hot and stuffy, Ruby seemed to be the nearest choice as the restaurant is air-conditioned. So 9 of us had…

Foochow Fried Noodle (Wet version)

Claypot Tofu

Oatmeal Fried Fish Fillet (I personally love this the most as compared to the other dishes that we ordered just now)

Cangkuk Manis with egg (Yummy!)

Kao Bak (Pork Stew or something)

Honey Chicken

Damage done: approximately RM120 (inclusive of drinks and rice)

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Kompia is a simple salted dough, baked in traditional open oven [Suituapui, 2008] and is available all over Sibu. The famous place for kompia in Sibu is the Tiong Hua Road stall but my mom said there’s nothing special, really, about the kompia there and I have no comment on that because I haven’t been there. Well, maybe they are over-rated.

Some people even sang praises of that place by saying that it sells the most authentic and best kompia in the world *rolls eyes* How can you tell that other place in Sibu are not selling the authentic kompia? They stick the same salted dough into the same traditional oven as well. And they taste like kompia. *shrug*

I am not a big fan of kompia even though this is one of Sibu’s signature food besides kampua. They taste really good fresh from the oven. I don’t like a few hours old kompia because I don’t like wrestling the kompia with my teeth. Oh, and there are kompia available at Taman Selera Muhibbah, the coffee shop below Teknik tuition school, etc. I don’t know about you but I don’t have any preference when it comes to kompia.

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That’s what the signboard in front of the shop says

This coffeeshop is located at Jalan Sanyan, Sibu (opposite Wisma Sanyan). It serves a variety of halal food and as the name of the shop indicates, the specialties of the house are mee sapi (or beef noodles) and nasi ayam (chicken rice).

It was about 8.30am on a weekday (I forgot when) and I brought my uncle to Gribbles (right across the road) for his blood test before we came here for breakfast. I never liked rice for breakfast so I ordered the specialty of the house.

Mee sapi or beef noodles (dried version) which comes together with a small bowl of soup

Beef soup

I like the beef noodle here because instead of using the usual yellow noodles (for fried mee) this shop uses kampua version of noodle. It tastes nothing like kampua at all. I love the beef taste in the noodle as well as in the soup. Really tasty!

My uncle had roti canai but it looked miserable so I didn’t take a picture of it. He said it is not recommended! But one thing he likes in this coffeeshop is the teh tarik.

Thick teh tarik and not too sweet. I love it as well!

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TGI Friday’s have been around for ages but believe it or not, I’ve never set foot in one until Valentine’s Day this year. Every time I passed by the eatery, I saw the 3-course meal for RM39.90 promotional banner outside the shop and was really tempted to try because it’s so cheap! I mean, for such eateries.

However, on Valentine’s Day, everything is overpriced, this 3-course meal didn’t lose out when it comes to pricing. On that over-commercialized-day, the price of that meal increased to RM69.90 for 1 Appetizer, 1 Entree and 1 Dessert. My Valentine and I went on that throat-cutting day for dinner. This place was fully booked from 7pm onwards. Luckily we made reservations

Being a die-hard fan of chicken, he ordered

Chicken Fajitas Nachos as an appetizer

Crisp tortilla chips piled high with marinated charbroiled chicken breast, grilled onions and green peppers, then topped with melted Monterey Jack cheese and sliced jalapenos. Served with pico de gallo, guacamole and sour cream. I kind of like it

I had

Shrimp Martini (I love this! So heavenly!)

I don’t normally order chicken when eating at places like this because chicken taste the same everywhere. I prefer to be a little bit more adventurous. I’ve always been a die-hard fan of pasta, so I ordered

Tossed Tomato-Basil Chicken Pasta with shrimp

Sliced, chargrilled chicken breast with plump shrimp sautéed with garlic, chili, fried capers, wine and diced tomato served over linguine pasta tossed in a fresh tomato-basil salsa. Garnished with a zesty balsamic glaze. It has too much garlic for my likings. I don’t mind having garlic and all that but too much of it kind of spoil my tastebuds. Other than that, this pasta is good.

Alvin had, as usual, chicken (again!)

Jack Daniel’s® Chicken

Two juicy chicken breasts basted in a sweet, savory glaze. Served with seasonal vegetables, cheddar cheese mashed potatoes and our original Jack Daniel’s® sauce. It was really delicious!

When it comes to dessert, I was kinda full already but it was all in the set so I still gotta eat. Alvin had (no, not chicken!)

Cheesecake

The cheesecake here is creamy but nothing to shout about because I have tasted better ones elsewhere. We almost didn’t finish it

And being a fan of chocolate, I ordered

Mocha Mud Pie

Rich, chocolate-almond mousse and coffee ice cream frozen in a chocolate crumb crust. Topped with hot fudge and toasted almond slices. It was really nice! I love it!

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What is so special about teh see/teh see peng? Oh, very! Even our Rejang River looks like one!

You can practically scoop a glassful of water from the Rejang River, add some ice and pass it off as a glass of Teh See Peng.

Jokes aside, Teh See Special is claimed to be originated from a coffeeshop in 7th Mile, Kuching which they took pride in. But I have tasted better Teh See Special in Kuching City.

The so-called ORIGINAL Teh See Special from 7th Mile, Kuching

Teh See Special is actually your normal Teh See Peng with a little bit of twist in it. With some skills and knowledge of liquid density, you can even make your own Teh See Special! The bottom layer consists of gula melaka (the local call it gula atap), the middle layer is basically condensed milk and the top layer - the tea, is the most important because it gave the drink its surname “TEH”

5-Layer Teh See Special from Expert Food Court, BDC Kuching

Like I said, with a little bit of knowledge and skill, and a dash of creativity, the 5-layer Teh See Special was born!

5-layer from the bottom: Gula Melaka, condensed milk, green tea, tea, cincau

Don’t wince yet! It actually tastes nice! After all these layering of Teh See Peng was born, most coffeeshop in Kuching (anywhere in Sarawak, for that matter) have already mastered the art of making the drink (usually 3-layer) which makes it not that special anymore.

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It was a last minute thing, so my plan of spending my last few hours of my birthday with some wine and potato chips was scrapped. My date brought me to Garden Hotel (not what you are thinking!) for a romantic birthday dinner.

The ambience here is nice and, of course, romantic. But when I stepped into the restaurant, it seemed like someone has been smoking in there when there are obvious signs on each table that say

Okay, don’t want to spoil the romantic mood with my rant here. LOL!

The friendly waitress gave us the menu once we sat down

These were what we ordered for drinks

I had Iced Green Tea (left) and my date had Iced Kopi-O (right)

Two miserable pieces (read as small) of garlic bread. It was nothing to shout about because I’ve eaten better ones.

My date had oriental cuisine

Tom Yam Spaghetti

He wanted it special special. LOL! It certainly looked appetizing. He said it was good and he likes it. Hmm, I’ll try that next time!

I had Western cuisine

Lamb chop

With mushroom sauce

It was nice! A lot of places failed miserably when they prepare lamb dishes. Most of the times, the lamb dishes would give weird taste. But not this one. This was prepared nicely without the certain weird smell of the lamb. I couldn’t finish the huge portion and I gave two huge pieces to my date.

My date ordered this Ice Cream Pancake for dessert. I took a bite and it was really yummy! Salty and sweet, hot and cold at the same time. Salty and hot from the pancake and sweet and cold from the ice cream and chocolate syrup. A great combination! I was full then so I only took a bite, now I’m craving for it! *salivate*

I had a great time celebrating my birthday with a tall, smart, matured man with a sense of humour

It was so romantic, just the two of us, until someone crashed the romantic dinner, be the brightest lamp post at our table and spoilt the mood *sulk* (he didn’t even bring present!) Right or not, Arthur? *wink wink*

Thank you Master Suituapui for the wonderful dinner! *hugs*

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Having lunch at Ruby Restaurant in Sibu is both pleasurable and pressure-able. Pleasurable as in food can never taste wrong at Ruby’s. Everything here is nice! Pressure-able here means you are tempted to taste all the food on their menu but your stomach space is limited! It is even more so when you dine with the right people.

I had the opportunity to have lunch with Suituapui and gang at Ruby’s yesterday. I left with a happy stomach!

Let’s have a look at what we ordered.

The greens:

Butter Cheese Baby Kailan

This is simply delicious! You got to taste it to believe it!

Cangkuk Manis with Egg

This dish needs no introduction. How you cook it depends on your preference but the timing of cooking this vegetable is very important. Half a second too late in retrieving the vege from the wok will determine whether or not it is going to be delicious.

Sea Cucumber Soup

This sea cucumber soup is common everywhere but the one served at Ruby’s, I shall say, is the best in town! There were generous amount of sea cucumber swimming in the soup.

Salad Sotong (Squid)

It is actually deep fried squid in bread crumbs. You can dip it into the mayonnaise that comes together with the dish for a more dramatic effect. LOL! They are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

Mayonnaise Lamb

A lot of people dislike lamb because they claim there is weird taste of the meat. However, Ruby’s is THE place for perfect lamb dish if ‘weird taste’ is your main concern. There is no ‘weird taste’ in this Mayo Lamb. In fact, it is lips-smacking good!

Butter Scotch Prawns

Move aside, Buttered Prawn from Kuching Sarawak Club! Here comes the best buttered prawn dish ever! The Kuching Sarawak Club’s buttered prawns is mild as compared to what I had yesterday. The taste is strong and the prawns are huge and fresh! Yummy!

Before you burp, wash everything down with

Guinness Stout for lunch?

Suituapui’s Special - Ice Blended Kopi-O

Lunch anyone?

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