It has been unbearably hot here lately and the cold and refreshing pomelo salad (RM8.00)…that we had was definitely a welcome relief.
For something a little stronger and spicier, I had their lamb curry (RM19.00, with rice)…
Tried the green curry chicken (RM16.00 with rice)…and instantly declared that it was very nice
Sarawak Laksa has its advantage aesthetically compared to its Peninsular counterpart though. A traditional bowl of Sarawak Laksa usually served with rice vermicelli, then topped with omelette strip, prawns, shredded chicken, beansprouts, coriander and lime. Poh Lam Sarawak Laksa (RM 7) has everything on the essential list of a decent Sarawak Laksa, and comply perfectly to both taste and aesthetic factor.
Here's the location.
I visit this cafe mainly for the Laksa Sarawak of course, and waiting for a table is worth it. (Although you can also opt to share tables with strangers if you don't mind). RM8 for a big one and RM6 for a normal size one. Go for the big, recommended, because the difference is only a shrimp or two.
On the other hand, Basque Burnt Cheese Cake (RM 14) has an overall nice taste, retaining a nice custardy and creamy texture in the centre, though the crisp and burnt sensation was lacking at the exterior.
I went for the fish & chips, sea bass (RM38.00)…the instant I saw in the menu that it wasn’t dory and yes, it was really good.
Salted Egg Crab RM48.00 (800g) – Can’t go wrong since they’re still swimming happily in the water tank minutes ago, taste sweet and salty while crab texture is at its finest, best dish to have if you have the leisure time to savor em thoroughly.
We saw majority of tables seated ordered this gigantic and quirky looking fried thingy, which is Oyster Omelette in Topspot way. It is interesting aesthetically but nothing wonderful in terms of taste. If we were to describe the taste, it is like a greasy flour cracker with some dried oysters stuffed within which needs the sauce to rescue the flavour. However it is worth ordering for the sake of trying.
Midin! RM 14. This is a must eat in Sarawak. It’s a toothsome jungle fern usually cooked with belacan. This one is cooked with Shaoxing wine. We both liked it but it was served last and we were so full then we couldn’t enjoy the midin.
I went to Sarikei (about 1 hour from Sibu) just to eat this Asam Tom Yam Big Prawn Noodles in a Coconut. I always try to go when I’m back.
The coconut pudding is very popular – almost every table ordered it, and we wanted to check it out too. It’s made in-house with coconut milk and coconut juice and it’s not the same thing as the coconut jelly that we have in KL and Thailand. It’s sweet and the perfect counter-balance for the tom yam big prawn noodles.
If you were expecting the sweet and sour spiciness of the famous tom yam soup of Thailand, you would be disappointed because this was a home made version. Nevertheless, the thick broth was fragrant, the local big prawn was fresh and the thick noodles were tangy.
The mum ordered the garlic naan (RM5.00)…to share and the chicken masala (RM13.50)…for the gravy to dip the roti in and the meat.
Ordered the mutton biryani (RM21.00)…The curry was absolutely perfect, exactly like how the Indian guy would cook it. I heard that he had got ready the paste and herbs and everything before he left and all the Indonesian lady had to do was to cook.
She wanted their authentic Indian mutton masala biryani rice (RM21.00)…She sure enjoyed that and she managed to finish all the rice! She could not finish all the meat in the curry though so I had to help her with a chunk or two.
Their braised beef short ribs (RM26.00)…which was very nice, very tasty with the delightful mushroom gravy but though it wasn’t tough, quite tender, in fact, it was not fall-off-the-bone. I certainly would love it a lot more if it had been so. Probably it was because we were early, soon after they opened for the day, and I had to wait a VERY long time for the dish to be served. It probably would have been nicer if they had cooked it a little bit longer.
She had the fish and chips with tartar sauce…and got two huge slabs and we had to tapao one as she could only manage one. No, it was not because it wasn’t nice – as a matter of fact, we thought the crusty tasty batter was so very good that it made up for the kind of bland taste of the fish, dory! They did it pretty well here and the texture was like fish, not jelly like at some places and that will put me off instantly.
This…stole the show. We could not figure out what it was – it looked like sausage cut into bite-size bits, pierced through with a skewer and grilled. I did ask one of the waiting staff members but she said she did not know and I did not bother to pursue the matter after that. It tasted something like ham or bacon and we all loved it!
I also ordered their seafood pasta aglio olio (RM28.00)…and yes, this was very good, very generous with the herbs used and that gave it a really nice fragrance and flavour. They use their own-made pasta here – I always see them sharing the photographs on their Facebook page and it looked like there were two types in what we had – yellow and green…
We ordered the Ceasar salad (RM18.00)…to share and the moment it was served, my girl remarked that the egg would surely get my nod of approval. Indeed, I was delighted to see the soft, runny yolk. Perfegg!!!
My girl wanted their pizza mascarpone but they were out of the vegetable for the topping, the aragula so in the end we settled for their Pizza Prosciutto e Funghi (RM32.00)…that we had here before and yes, the one here was all right as well.
The Air Batu Campur (RM 3.00) is the standard Ais Kacang with shaved ice and not particularly sweet. White Lady (RM 3.80) on the other hand, is more refreshing with a lemon taste and has some fruits in the drinks.
Sarawak Kolomee (second famous food in the shop) RM5.00 – dried thin noodles serves with red pork slices and prawn. The noodle itself is springy while covered with fragrant oily shallot and onion flavor, has a very smooth texture which makes you keep slurping for more similar like having a bowl of Indomee (but premium ones in this case), while the generous amount of pork slices and prawn toppings just made the overall kolomee even more enjoyable. 😉
I remember having the kolo mee here before and it was good and that morning, I asked for the special (RM6.00)…and even though I would not say it was the best in town, it was definitely kolo mee, not kampua mee in disguise.
The black pepper lamb (RM22.00)…was certainly an improvement from how I remembered it to be. My late father used to buy home from here for everyone in the house to eat, those years when my late mum was bedridden. This time around, the meat was very nice and tender and unlike before, the sauce did not taste like what came out of the bottle like what one would get when eating that once-a-year burger in the hope that one would strike it rich and be very prosperous!
My girl also wanted their salad prawn balls (RM13.00)…and I would say that this dish was my favourite of the three.
We wanted fish and settled upon snow fish…also known among the people here as Alaska fish or 鱈魚 in Mandarin which is, in fact, cod. My missus said it would be very expensive as one slice at the frozen foods stores would cost over RM20.00 each and we got two slices but as far as I was concerned, I thought it was perfectly all right as we would not be eating it all that often and besides, my girl enjoys it very much, just like how she loves the just-as-expensive salmon.
I ordered this bowl of fish balls, stuffed tofu and tang hoon (glass noodles) soup…from the stall next to the pork satay one and YES!!! At least there is something that I wouldn’t mind going back there for – it was really very nice! I loved the dip and I really enjoyed it. Ah well! I always have this soft spot for clear soups so you may beg to differ, if thus inclined.
Went out for a late lunch at Lao Ya Keng. She wanted to eat Sarawak laksa (we just call it laksa here) and this is one of the few places still open so late in the afternoon.
I also asked for his pian sip (RM3.00)…and this, I would say, was good, as good as any of the good ones I have had around town.
Ordered their famous sweet and sour fish. This is o chio (ikan bawal hitam) for RM 26. It’s a pretty good sized fish and it’s been deep fried so all the bones and fins are edible. I love their sweet and sour sauce too
The long beans fried with egg…was so very fragrant – how come we do not get that when we fry our own at home, I wonder. I would prefer slicing the vegetable more thinly though so it would be much easier to chew.
Oriental Park kolo mee It is a lot more expensive now though – the price had gone up from RM2.80 in 2011 to RM4.00 for a small bowl and RM5.00…for the large one. The char siew was kind of dry and hard and though on the whole, it was quite all right with a very strong garlicky taste, it did not sweep me off my feet, unlike the first time we were here.
Personally, red sauce will attribute an unique aromatic scent to the springy noodles. Coupled with minced meat and cha siew (barbecue pork), the Oriental Park Kolo Mee makes an excellent choice as breakfast or brunch. The cha siew served over here has a more crisp texture and nicer in taste as well, comparing to other places relatively.
Reasons to visit Zinc Restaurant & Bar: excellent happy hours ideally timed for a late night out; craft cocktails; quality Spanish dishes – must try the chorizo and tuak, esclavida, pork paella and the crema Catalana.
Food was good and acceptable.
It has been 2 years since the last time I visited Miri. I see a lot of new buildings, new malls and new beaches that are opened. I am truly happy to see the Oil Town Miri is back to its glory. At Tanjong Lobang Beach, there is a new chained Japanese restaurant which is originated at Brunei. It is called Excapade Sushi Japanese Restaurant. Now they have expanded to Miri. I used to dine in this restaurant at Brunei which you can check out the post here.
Way satisfied than Sushi King! Even though it's on the pricier side, but the foods are definitely worth it. The tastes are better, the meats are juicier... hahah. I would suggest you to book a spot so you don't need to rush and not enjoy the food! Now I know why people from Miri would drive out to Brunei just for a taste of these :D
I loved this fried tofu topped with seaweed and garnished with enoki…and whatever else – I certainly would want to order this again the next time I drop by here.
We had one of their signature dishes, the kampua mee…which was very nice but I think it had been cooked for a while already before it was served so the strands of noodles all stuck together and it was quite a task to toss and shake them loose.
their sweet and sour giant udang galah (freshwater prawns)… New Capitol sweet & sour udang galah …certainly were like no other sweet and sour dishes that we had had elsewhere and this one was truly a winner!
The rice was not lemak, only very slightly and the salted fish was like it had been fried a long time ago… The sambal was all right, thankfully as it did help make the rice more palatable to some extent and the fried chicken was…like fried chicken.
I also ordered the pian sip, dry (RM3.00)…and that I would say was its saving grace and I quite enjoyed it.
I also asked for a large plate of fried kway teow (RM10.00)…to share and this too was very good and I liked how they went through the trouble of removing the tails of the taugeh (bean sprouts) – they do not bother doing that elsewhere.
I had the Shiro ramen (RM12.80)…Everything was drowned in the soup, completely submerged, so I had to meticulously bring the onsen egg, the fried chicken cutlets and the noodles to the surface to take a photograph of it and no, I did not enjoy it much. The broth was way too thick and rich, rather strong on the taste of garlic AND sesame oil
I had the salmon teriyaki don (RM15.20)…and of course, I did give a bit of the salmon to my girl – she likes the fish very much too, alongside the unagi and yes, I did get the miso soup too!
That was why for our individual orders that day, I asked for the shiro ramen (RM12.80)…and the instant it was served, I felt kind of disappointed at the sight of the hard-boiled egg. I always saw those onsen eggs in friends’ blogs, hard boiled on the outside, the yolk still runny…or soft and moist. Maybe they should invite me over to teach them how to cook eggs like that. Tsk! Tsk! I was also put off by how it reeked of sesame oil but thankfully, when I ate it, I could not detect the taste and much to my delight, I found the soup really nice…but I still could not get over that egg!
We also ordered the lamb with lime sauce…and I only found out that night that they had mayonnaise in it with the lime. It was nice but I think it was nicer when we had it before – the meat was not grilled that well enough.
This very nice claypot fish dish…which was very nice though I wouldn’t mind a little bit more fish and yam and tofu puffs – the next time I order that, I will certainly ask for more of those and maybe, pay a little bit more.
We had the sizzling venison on a hot plate…something we had not had for quite sometime and the general consensus was that it was very nice.
