Raining in Hui Sing

It was last Sunday. No cooking at home that evening as we planned to go out and eat. 

But luck wasn't on our side that evening as it was raining like crazy when we drove out. By the time we reached Hui Sing Hawker centre slightly after 5pm, the rain was still pouring. We found a nice parking spot which was exactly in front of the hawker centre. A short walk to the centre and irregardless of the pouring rain,  we spent time looking around and buying our takeaway. 

Rain or not, there were customers waiting and queuing patiently for their food. Mostly were takeaway as seats were limited. 

The only satay stall in the centre and we grabbed 30 sticks of pork satay (RM1.2 per stick) home. They sell lamb, pork and chicken satay but only pork and chicken satays were available that day. 

While I went to buy kolo mee from another stall, Jan and her grandma queueing up at the stall next to the satay stall to buy fried noodles. Business was good for this stall as it took a long time for the order to be ready. 

It was still raining in Hui Sing after we were done with our loots. And a slow drive home as jam and visibility was poor. By the time we reached home, the rain has slowed down. 

Kolo Mee (RM5 each) for the boys. Looked and smell good. 

My tomato kway teow (RM7) and Jan's fried mihun (RM7) from Stall 9 were quite big in portion. 

Plus the 30 sticks of satay, we had a good and enjoyable dinner at home. 

Today is 31 August, so wishing all Malaysians, Happy National Day!! 

Friday night @ Little Sushi

It was Jay's 14th birthday on Friday, so it was his call for a family dinner on Friday night. And he wanted Japanese food, so we went to the nearest Japanese eatery which is this Little Sushi situated in Pine Square.

We had visited it twice being the last time was back in May 2023. We pretty enjoyed the food there. The sushi wasn't little but in generous portion. And their creative presentation was there to impress you on any occasion. 

The birthday boy wasn't feeling 100% well that day, down with flu and sore throat. He skipped his school that day and rest at home. Actually I also wasn't well but after took antibiotic and a good nap that afternoon, I was much better. 

We were ushered to a private box as it was 6 of us and no available seats at the main area. They given us menu and paper chit to write down the code so it was much better than browsing the menu through phones. After looking through the menu, everyone decided what they wanted for dinner. 

Unagi sushi

2 sets of unagi sushi came first to our table. Jay and Jan's favourite. 

Ebikko

Next was ebikko sushi which the youngest requested for 5 sets. Enough for everyone to take a bite while waiting for our main course. 

Half shelled scallop mentai

We ordered 2 flavours of the scallops to enjoy. Half shelled scallop mentai (above) and half shelled scallop cheese (below) which I personally felt the former one tasted better and suited my palate. 

Half shelled scallop cheese

The birthday boy went for cha soba, which he loved and tasted once in another eatery. How he ate it?? Pour the quail egg in the soup, mix it and then dip the soba in the soup and eat it. 

Cha Soba

The other boy opted for udon so he had chicken udon. 

Chicken udon

Yours truly was thinking of red meat that evening, so went for yakiniku bento. 

Yakiniku bento 

Jan and mil both had unagi don.  And my man went for this salmon zukushi for his dinner. 

Salmon zukushi bento

Very satisfying and filling dinner for us at Little Sushi. Our dinner billed to over RM300! 

Secret Recipe

It was Tuesday. Together with Jan, we went to Secret Recipe in MJC for lunch before heading home. My girl wanted Western for lunch and the weather was so hot that afternoon, so I decided to have our lunch in an air-conditioned place.

Never been to this branch in MJC although we stay in the vicinity. It was a quiet Tuesday as we were the few diners there but we didn't mind as it was quieter and cozier. 

Luckily we shared this watermelon juice as by the time we finished our food, we could hardly finish the juice.  

The food portion was quite big for us, who are small eaters. My tummy no longer could hold on to too much food space unlike when I was younger.

I had this chicken parmigiana which was good and tasty. Thick juicy chicken chop with crispy outer skin. RM22.84 per plate. 

My girl decided to have something other than the usual fish n chip and she went for the Carribbean style fish fillet. RM21.72 for her serving and she also had tough time clearing her plate. 

And since it is my birthday today (yours truly is turning 46), just for the occasion, I was having this slice of Hokkaido chocolate cheese cake (RM8.59 after 31% discount). Of course I shared this dessert with Jan who is a cake lover.

Maybe I will come back to try its rice dish like nasi kerabu. More localised menu now, not like what it used to be in the past. Used to enjoy its lamb shank but unfortunately it was not available that day. 

Side order

Come 17th this month, we are 2 months old!! I mean, my coffee shop. Time flies when one is busy. I can't even keep track of the times.

As I mentioned before, I rented out the food stalls to few tenants. For my part, I am in charge of the drink, baos and breakfast. Soon, my menu will be listed in Grab food app, so hopefully the business will pick up from there. 

For now we are serving walk-in customers but sometimes we do have takeaway for our drinks and baos. 

Kopi O Peng & Kopi C Peng 

Our coffee is well received; customers commented that the taste has improved. We had experimented with few coffee powders but glad we found the right one with the right mix, ended up with the right taste and consistency that customers enjoy and like. 

Other than coffee, our signature teh tarik peng special also receive praises. Those who love sweetened tea will agree and love this extra large glass of milk tea with overflowing foam. 

Besides coffee and tea, we serve local drinks and canned drinks as well. And some side order such as toast while customers waiting for their food from other stalls to be served. 

A coffee shop without roti kahwin is not a complete coffee shop. We called it roti kiap over here, because basically it is two slices of toast with one slice of spread butter and one slice of kaya, kiap (stick) together.  

Usually we have our roti kiap with soft-boiled egg seasoned with soy sauce and pepper. And that is a nostalgic breakfast that our older generation had when they patronised the traditional coffee shops back then!! 

Move on, we also serve French toast. My mil's recipe. Super tasty and addictive, the youngsters in particular, love this. If you are looking for more value, then our French Toast Special is for you. Sandwiched with fried egg and cheese in between the toast, a great protein based breakfast to have. 

We also have this roti cowboy, which is not the same as French toast where you dip the bread in a mixed custard and pan fry it. Roti cowboy is where you make a hole in the middle of the bread slice and pour the egg in it. Savoury taste, unlike our French toast which is sweeter and buttery. 

Our baos are outsourced, we have a fixed bao supplier now. 5 types of baos sold but the most sellable is char siew bao. 

Besides baos, we also serve sio bee (siu mai). Since starting, we buy sio bee from Sin Kwang Heng in Open Air Market. So once or twice a month, we will go to Open Air Market to collect our sio bee supply.

If you happen to come to Kuching and just around MJC, do drop by my coffee shop. And have a taste of our coffee or tea and some toast or baos to go with your drink. 

Google map:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/s1x6zqgcXC1eC1Sf7

Big Mouth

A friend recommended this chu char stall in Big Mouth Food Centre in Jalan Dogan. A former Tsui Hua Lau cook is operating the stall. Well, Kuchingites (the older generation including myself) would remember this well known Chinese restaurant in Ban Hock road in the 80s. Back then only very few famous Chinese restaurants around, one being this. Been there few times for family and wedding dinners.

The restaurant underwent renovation and upgrading in late 90s (or probably later, sorry, can't remember well the exact time), but unfortunately due to unknown reason (maybe financial or business crisis), it closed down not long after that. The building since then have been left empty. 

So how surprised we were when a friend told us that one of the cook is now at this coffee shop. That was what we looked forward to last Sunday. 

Open early in the late afternoon, we reached there around 5pm, after we picked the two older kids from their Barbie movie outing. Of course we were the first customers there!! But soon, customers came pouring in.

We seated at the back of the shop where we can see the cook and staff at work in the kitchen. Hubby and I did the ordering and we requested for medium size for our dishes.

Not long after we took our seat, our first dish arrived. 

Roasted chicken is highly recommended and we agreed that it was so good!!! Crispy glazed skin and tender, moist meat, really finger licking good!! The crackers on top were equally tempting, the kids fought for that! Lol.

Next on our table was seaweed soup. They were really generous with the seaweed which at the bottom with the chicken and pork slices and green. Tasted comfortable, not overly seasoned.

Hubby wanted omelette so he ordered this stir fried onion, black fungus and carrot omelette. Thick texture. 

Four heavenly kings as they called this stir fried sambal vegetables. The kids hardly took it so we had a lot of leftover. Overall it was appetizing; not too spicy, the same was just nice. 

Soon the salted fish and minced pork soft beancurd was served on our table. I love soft tofu, and this dish didn't disappointed me. I ate most of the soft tofu so you know how tasty was it. 

We were full by then so we requested for our last dish to be packed. Pork leg!! One whole pork leg with gravy and pack of mantao.

It was huge so we divided it into two portion. One kept in freezer while another part we took the following day. 

Used air fryer to heat up the leg. And steamed the mantao and heat up the gravy, the pork leg was ready for our consumption!! I didn't pour the gravy onto the leg as the kids may not enjoy it, so whoever wanted the gravy, can scoop it for themselves. 

Our dinner cost RM214!! And that was cheap considering we ordered medium size for all dishes. A bit too much for us as we packed most of the leftover home; we didn't expect the medium portion to be that huge. Next time we must order small size.