One of them

Few coffee shops opened in my area in recent year and this was one of them. Yang Guan Cafe, next to Cosway MJC, exact across the road from this coffee shop. I have never gone to check on its food stall till few weejs ago. 

Few food stalls opened such as laksa, Muslim food, kolo mee and so forth. There was even a stall selling pork meat noodle, something similar to Sabah sang nyuk mee. We only noticed that after we ordered and seated. 

They were having drink promotion, free one iced tea when you ordered any food from the food stalls. Subsequent order of iced tea only cost you RM1. 

No guessing of what I had that morning on my first visit here. 

Sarawak laksa!! Didn't look that appetizing but taste-wise, it was alright. Just nice. RM6 for my normal portion of laksa. 

Hubby ordered Mee Jawa from the Muslim stall. They did not served beef that morning so hubby had fried chicken to go with his Mee Jawa. RM6 for his plate. 

The Malay couple was nice and apologetic as they did not have beef that morning. They even explained that they usually had leftover meat as not many ordered Mee Jawa daging in the past. They even told us to come back next time and give us special if they have beef then. Hubby liked their Mee Jawa so I guess we would be visiting soon.  At least we found a nice Mee Jawa near our place.

Over the moon

Mid-autumn festival falls on 1 October this year. Will we be able to see a clear, round and bright moon that night? It would be us to see. Weather hasn't been favourable lately as we occasionally experiencing rain in the late afternoon and night. 

If the weather is good on 1 October, I bet the kids would like to enjoy lighting some lanterns and hang them under the clear night sky. Fingers cross. 

So far this year we only got 2 boxes of mooncakes to enjoy; one was from hubby's customer and another was from his niece. 

Our first box of mooncakes was white lotus with double yolk of 4, made by The Baker's Cottage. They were sweet, in my own opinion. I don't fancy yolk in my mooncake, so I only took few bites of it. 

Hubby's niece gave us these contemporary and dainty mooncakes from Sibu. 6 individual boxes of 2 flavours in a rectangular box. 

One was the sesame chicken floss mooncake while the smaller mooncake was something like buttermilk bun. Very fragrant and nice, I liked the latter one more. 

Pinoy taste

Since this Filipino restaurant moved to its current location at Jalan Chan Chin Ann, it was our first visit to its restaurant. 

We went to the restaurant after picked up hubby's niece from her hostel. It was after 1pm when we reached the shop.  The place wasn't packed and we able to sit in front of the shop.

Beside Pinoy dishes that handled by the kitchen at the back, they also had 2 stalls in the shop; one selling Sarawak laksa while another one is doing claypot dishes such as ginger chicken, kacangma etc. But we were more interested in the Pinoy cuisine, so we placed our order with the waitress once we were seated.

We ordered its crispy pata (small portion), which I remembered it was nice when I had it in its old place in Padungan. However I felt this round, the pork was tougher and less flavourful.  Everyone didn't mind the crispy skin but I thought the meat was bland and dry. 

Pininyahang manok (pineapple chicken) on the other hand, was pretty appetizing and robust with flavour. White cream with chunks of pineapples and chilli slices gave this dish a delightful sweetness.  

We had this stir fried mani cai with egg, which was good although slightly salty. 

We ordered their set meal without drink (which was few cents less than RM10 each) to enjoy as well. 

That was our hearty Malaysia's Day lunch.

Bought back lunch

One Sunday last month, while my hubby was off to his fishing trip, we went to visit my parents. 

We spent more than 2 hours their in the morning. And my dad went out and bought back lunch from this cafe to add to mum's cooking. She cooked a rib soup and stir fried midin. 

As for the takeaway, dad ordered these 3 dishes. Mouth-watering to me, especially its fried chicken.  Tasted it before, I liked its salty and crispy skin, yet juicy and moist flesh.

Its salt and pepper pork was equally good as well.  It was flavourful and not so tough; just nice to go with rice.

This was an unique vegetable dish for me; first time tasting it out.  Spinach with 3 types of eggs. As you could see, a combination of egg, salted egg and century egg in top of the vegetable.  Not something I would order and eat myself on normal day.

So after a nice lunch and catching up at my parents' house, we went home and took a rest in the afternoon.

First visit

There were many small coffee shops in our area, that we hardly gone to. Usually we went to few coffee shops that we liked.

But on a Sunday we decided to try out a new coffee shop that we have not visited. Tian Gia Cafe, opposite from Cosway MJC. It has been there for few years but we never stepped our feet in it till few Sundays ago. 

Their teh o peng only RM1.50 per glass.  Very nice with the foam on top. 

There were few stalls, such as kolo mee, nee jawa/ayam penyet stall, chicken rice, toast, and Malay kuih stall to name a few. That day, only the Malay stall and kolo mee stall opened. Others not open so early. On my first visit,  I went for kolo lau shu fen as I spotted the photo on the kolo mee stall.

Hubby had nasi lemak (RM2) from the Malay kuih stall (sorry, I did not take photo of it). Hubby asked for extra egg and sambal, the Malay lady was so kind not to charge us. However hubby gave her RM1 for the extra which the latter eventually accepted after a while. And in return, she came back with a extra bowl of nasi lemak, treat from her!! Wow!! She said it was extra, after wrapping up her nasi lemak in wrapper. Such a kind lady. 

I also bought this pulut panggang with sambal filling from the stall. RM1 each. I had it after my lunch.

 

Dam and lunch

It was 31 August. A very cloudy day to start with.  Hubby suggested for a short drive to the countryside since the weather was nice for a drive.  The kids started schooling on 1 September after taking a very long leave from schools, so a little family outing that Monday before they went back to schools.

Our destination was Bengoh.  A village which started to gain attention recently for its greenery and waterfalls. But we were not going for both that morning. Instead, we were checking out on its Bengoh Dam.

Less than an hour drive, we reached the entrance of the dam.  We did not go in as permission needed for a tour.  So, we just parked and looked at the dam from far away.  Gushing water could be heard, and it was rather loud.  First time for all of us to see a real dam. 

One of the rivers we passed through along the way. Rains started to pour while we drove back to the city.

We made a stop at Koufu Food Court in Penrissen for lunch.  It was not yet 12 noon but the crowds were rather big, fortunately we were still able to find a long table for 5 of us. 

 

Pork leg rice for hubby as he was craving for it that day.  Its taste reminded me of my mum's cooking.  The Hakka style of braised pork leg.

The kids had roasted chicken rice each.  They tasted alright.

I had this Mixed Curry Rice from the stall next to the Pork Leg Rice stall. The portion was huge but the curry gravy wasn't to my liking. I've tasted better curry from other places. 

From the same stall, hubby ordered this platter. I liked the roasted pork, as the skin was crispy.

We went home after done with our lunch.  

179 ramen bar

Apparently this ramen place is pretty famous among the locals. It has been in operation for few years in Padungan but not few weeks ago, hubby and I dropped by to taste its ramen. Actually I noticed this shop last year when we had lunch in one of the old Chinese coffee shop last year. 

Himawari Ramen Bar is located at number 179 Padungan, across from Abee Traditional Buns shop. 

If you are looking for Himawari Ramen sign on the shop, please don't be despair as you wouldn't find it. The only name I could spot was this Japanese name on the wood blind in front of the shop. 

A very long queue when we were here on a Saturday morning. So we abandon our plan to have a taste, but instead we walked to the other side of the road and went to Noodle Descendants. Luckily they had one empty table, so we took that and our noodle came within 30 minutes.  By then, my tummy was rumbling and luckily it did not take such long time for our breakfast here.

The following day, we were still persistent to try the ramen so we went back here around 11.30am. Only both of us, since the kids were not interested to join us.  So after settling their lunch, both of us headed to Padungan for Himawari Ramen Bar.

Queue was longer than the day before but since we did not have anything to do, we did not mind the queue (and heat!), and joined in the crowd. Eventually it took us 1.5hours in the queue to get a seat!

Hubby wanted to try its Gyuniku Shoyu Ramen (beef ramen) RM14.90. 

How his bowl of  Gyuniko Shoyu Ramen turned out! Big chunks of beef; the broth was alright, not too strong yet not so mild.  Just nice for me, but hubby prefer much robust flavour.

One thing was the ramen was freshly made by the owner of this shop.  The ramen was very nice, I liked the texture.

I went for Tori Kankitsurui Aruba Soba Hikari RM10.90.  Basically ramen with boneless pulled chicken with that vinegar and citrus taste. Quite appetizing and unusual flavour to me.

After waited so long, we treated ourselves to these chilled and refreshing drinks. Nam Manglak RM3.90 (left) and Organic Apple Cider Lime Mojito (RM4.90). I preferred the Nam Manglak as it consisted of orange squash, barley, chia seed and jelly. The mojito was piquant or rather sour to my liking.

Overall, our lunch cost around RM70 plus 2 takeaway for the kids. Well, we gave it a try. People sang praises for its Aruba Soba and beef broth, but we thought they were alright; nothing to shout about.  Plus the long queue, it was not that enticing to us. Don't think we would be crazy to go back for its ramen, at least not anytime soon.

First time

It was our first time in Seng Kwong coffee shop since MCO implemented in March. Used to go here for brunch with my dad when I helped out at the shop in Green road but since then, I came here once or twice with my family on Saturday.

I enjoyed the kolo mee and kueh chap here so on my recent visit with hubby, I ordered both for our breakfast. 

The kolo mee (RM5) still tasted as good and old school. Surprisingly it was fast that Monday morning although quite a crowd. Usually we had to wait quite some time for the noodle to be served. 

I ordered kueh chap cheng (without kueh) for RM5. Small portion for both of us to share. The broth was mild, so not too strong for me which I enjoyed. 

After our breakfast, we dropped some fishes at my dad's shop. Then we went home to pass breakfast for the kids and took our car to car wash. Then hubby went for his deserved hair cut. A fruitful morning, I said. 

Handmade

After our first visit to  this coffee shop last month, we had since have breakfast few times here.

On my latest patronage, I had this handmade noodle. Hubby tried it before and he enjoyed it very much. I rarely take handmade noodle; somehow it had a peculiar taste that I didn't acquire to in the past.

However, it has been ages since I last have it so my curiosity got into me. I just wanted to taste it again, and since hubby recommended it, I guess his judgement would not be that bad. 

True to his word, it turned out good. Noodle was cooked well, not mushy and dry. I quite enjoyed it. 

Hubby went for the Mee Jawa from the Malay stall where he had Mee Sapi in previous visit. RM7 for this plate. No complaint from the man, so I guess the taste fit him well. 

Savoury taste

 Not everyone would enjoy such food as it is an acquired taste and everyone has their own preferred taste. When it comes to Kuchingites, who doesn't know what is belacan mee hoon and sotong kangkong?

On one Sunday afternoon, hubby brought me to ABC Food Centre (behind Kingwood Hotel) for a late lunch.

I used to eat here when they had a nice curry noodle but that was ages ago. This was my first visit after so many years have passed.

Hubby recommended the belacan mee hoon here, so I went for the normal portion (RM5) which hubby had it with a century egg (RM7) . 

From the same stall, we also ordered a small plate of rojak (RM4) and sotong kangkong (RM6). I wish I could had more rojak paste in my rojak. 

The sotong kangkong was pretty generous with the chunky sotong slices, and I mostly went for them than the blanched kangkong. 

Except rojak, all was added with chilli paste so the dishes were savoury. The belacan was flavourful but not overwhelmingly salty, and the chilli paste was spicy, made my nose runny after finished the belacan mee hoon and sotong kangkong.

Was I happy with this savoury lunch?? Yes, I enjoy them pretty much. And while we were there, we bumped into our friends. We shared a table and had a short chat before we headed home with the kids' lunch.