Back to the Grind

Idlan had taken a liking to the burger at the Daily Grind. He asked me to get some for him for dinner when he arrives at the apartment a bit later.

I decided to have some of my own while the take-out was being prepared. And the burger wasn't half bad at all.

The mocha was a lot better than I expectedThe burger portion was too big for a light snack but just right for dinner. Eating it by hand was a bit messy as the burger and the trimmings were quite thick and full of sauces. Not pretty.

But they were fresh and the drinks were nice. I had a mocha whole it was drizzling outside. It was perfect. Definitely recommended.

Muara Sungai Duyung

The original plan was to go to Alai for dinner. They have the more famous ikan bakar restaurants in Melaka up there.

We booked transport for 6 in the evening and just before we set off, we asked the driver where he reckon we should go. He gave us a few choices and by the end of the discussion, we decided for Muara Sungai Duyung.

The queue built up the moment we were done with our orders. Lucky!Proper fresh fish on offer. You just pick the ones you wanted, they would weigh it and you then tell them how you wanted it cooked. Easy!And the otak-otak? That was something else!I thought I had been here once before, many moons back. The place had changed although there were still only one restaurant there. We arrived just after 6.30 but the place was already getting full. It was Saturday night after all.

The fish and crabs there were certainly fresh. The otak-otak was exquisite. We ordered a lot, finished them all. It was that good.

Anita had terubuk all to herself. I had siakap and stingray. No complains. The only drawback was the rice was overcooked of all things.

These tasted so sweet ....We took home some coconut jelly of course ....And it won't be complete without cencalok!Muara Sungai Duyung was located about 8km from City Center. But getting there might be tricky if you were not used to the route. We had a van taking us there, arranged by the hotel.

More stories from this trip here.

It's Hover Time Again

Our trip to Kota Bharu wouldn't be complete without visits to a couple of restaurant. And these were restaurants we wanted to visit a specific reasons.

The first was called Restoran Hover. A couple of attractions here. The main waiter who does the cheque at the end of the meal and the fact that they have fresh turtle eggs here.

You must understand how the system works here at Hover. The waiters would bring all the available items onto the table with rice as soon as you parked yourselves at the table.

You then picked the items you wanted to eat, and leave the rest. When you asked for the cheque, this elderly Malay chap will then come around and mumbled while counting up your bill. I put the video of how it was done at the bottom of the page.

When Anita was carrying Idlan, she craved for the turtle eggs. She didn't know that she was pregnant and we happened to be at Kota Bharu at the time. She kept on asking me to drive her to Hover, and while there, she gulped down ten eggs in one go! The calorie count must have caused her trainer to have a heart attack now!

When we told Idlan about this, he said that this was the reason that he did things slowly. Like a turtle! Cheeky boy!

The second restaurant was Sun Two - or affectionately pronounced "soon-too" by the locals. The attraction? Boiled cow tongue. I wasn't joking. I never developed a taste for it. But Anita can go banana on this. Even today, she wanted to go to Sun Two this evening. But it looked like we would be having dinner at one of her aunt's. Sun Two and the tongue would have to wait .....

More thoughts on this trip here.

TWG Revisited

After almost a year, we returned for a spot of tea at Twining TWG at Pavilion. The place has certainly became more popular compared to the last time we were there, and there was actually a queue to get in - for sure as it was Saturday evening then. luckily we didn't have to wait for too long.

So, off we went onto a table of four. And we waited for almost ten minutes before we were attended to, despite indicating that we wanted to know a bit more about the tea on the menu. Unfortunately, the staff that came around later was a foreign worker who spoke bad English and basic Malay. I couldn't believe it that a restaurant of such caliber had staff who struggled to communicate. And sure enough, he got the order mixed up …..

We were not in the mood to argue and just took up what was offered - and he forgotten that we ordered for two pots as he brought only the one. We were quite surprised that we had enough teacups. Then came the tricky part when the tea was finished in the pot. Apparently the tea was brewed off the pot, so refilling with hot water would not do. So, just remember that there would be no refilling when your pots were done. You need to order another pot.

The food was not bad, as we just ordered light dinner. I had wagyu burger, which was well cooked - with a tea infused sauce of some sort. I had some cocktail - lychee with tea - which was a big mistake. It tasted …. disgusting!

So, even though the quality of the food and beverages were still up there, TWG would need to pay more attention to their service. Because after all, not everyone went there solely for the food. They would like to enjoy the ambiance as well ….. suffice to say that the visit did not go as I hoped for.

Cousin's Wedding at Istana Bambu

The weather was unforgiving tonight. This to a certain extend put a dampener to my cousin's wedding reception. A lot of guests turned up late, due to the combination of poor driving condition, and difficulty of finding the venue.

The reception was held at Restoran Istana Bambu, a Malay restaurant with a twist. The whole place was build up from bamboo, from the structures to the decor. Even the pelamin was made of bamboo. An open area, with small little eating areas in huts, where the patron would sit on the floor to enjoy their meal. A novel concept.

My sister had been there before, during daytime and better weather and attested to how good the place was. But for this evening's event, the food lacked selection, and being a buffet format, the spread was limited.

Anyhow, the ceremony pressed on on time despite the heavy downpour. Nice ambiance, but I didn't know that many guests as the majority were my cousin's work colleague. I went there with my sister and Dad. Anita was feeling under the weather. I didn't mingle for too long, and had to return to the hospital as a couple of patients came to Casualty that evening. The rain slowed down by the time we left.

I may visit the place again at some point. The restaurant was located by MRR2, but getting there was a bit tricky. One has to take the Keramat roundabout off MRR2, take the 5 o'clock exit if you were coming from Ampang. Unfortunately the place was not blessed with signposts however.