Monday, March 21, 2011

Sri Buntal Seafood

What an amazing evening we had as our dear friend Pat who drove us around to show us the sights of Kuching with her son Eddie who has interesting hobbies to say the least, I don't think he would like me to tell the world, so Eddie your secret is safe with me. After crossing the river and heading north we arrived at the seaside of Santudong.


This little understated place seemed to be made up of unwanted wooden planks, nailed together, and painted with everyones discarded paint. There were holes in the floor and cats seemed to roam at their leisure, taking opportune moments to jump on empty tables looking for leftovers. Several seemed to have half their tails missing, no one seemed to know why: maybe it was used for cat tail soup! My friend Pat was determined for me to try Sea Cucumber soup, I was reluctant but her desire for me to try it overcame my desire not to. See it below.


Well, I must say it was quite delightful, I can't really explain the taste but it was good, with lots of different vegetables floating in the the very tasteful stock. Next came the buttered prawns which were very good, I have become quite good with chopsticks as you can see!


Chines people love steamed fish, when they see a plater coming in their direction they shine with great glee. The steamed whole fish was so sweet and tender, it just melted in my mouth. I don't know how they do it but the nationals are able to serve you fish without one single bone, I'm so amazed it's almost like an art form.


The owner of the restaurant was 64 years old, he came from mainland China with his father when he was only 14. His business is doing so well that he has lost weight from being overworked. He was very chatty, and poor Pat had to do her best to interpret as she was not so fluent in his dialect. He was very happy to pose for this photo.





The buttered prawns above were so good, all you seafood lovers would have died for them


This beef and chinese vegetables was amazing, in fact I enjoyed it so much I could have licked my plate and saved the cats the effort. All of this was washed down with typical Chinese tea which I have now become accustomed to after so many trips. So Sunday finished on yet another high!

Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Santudong East Malaysia

96 Cafe Kuching

This morning on our way to church we stopped off for breakfast at 96 Cafe. The place was crowded, but that didn't stop us finding a table in our Sunday best. Everyone was casually dress except us, suit, tie and high heels, I wonder what they were all thinking....stupid westerners no doubt because it was very hot and no air con. Malaysians have something called Kaya toast, it sliced bread with a mixture of coconut, butter and egg sandwiched between the bread. I love it so that's what I had plus yellow watermelon fresh squeezed juice. The Kaya toast is on the right and on the left is plain old Leang butter and honey, Kaya toast is a real treat. You can also see carrot cake which is more savory and tastes nothing like western carrot cake, and there is the Chinese favorite bowl of beef and noodles.






Location:Lorong D14,Kuching,Malaysia

Sunday, March 20, 2011

3 Points Restaurant

I have just eaten at 3 Points Restaurant in Kuching. We are with our wonderful new Kuching friends and they are extremely delighted for us to taste their favorite food. Our friend Nelson never stops laughing and I wonder what he has ordered to make him so jolly. I still can't get used of being stared at when we first sit down, is it my blonde hair or what? Shark fin soup is first up, its not so bad but there were a couple of large floaties that I chose not to eat. Next we had muscles in a fried batter, ok but very chewy, cuttlefish followed in what looked to be a chilli sauce, since I neither like chilli or cuttlefish I was happy to pass it by. Next was one of my favorites: beef and vegetables, it was rather yummy. Now, that's not so bad you are thinking, well... Next came the jellyfish, it looked more like sliced onions than jellyfish, it was flavored with Thai sweet and sour sauce. I've had jellyfish once before and felt I should at least have one chopstick full, now the jellyfish was not alone on the plate. Bright red octopus garnished the edges of the plate. My eyes almost popped out at the sight of them. Bright red, can you imagine my horror, there was just no way, so I boldly told my hosts that I could not possibly eat them, but they are so nice and crunchy they said, just pop the whole thing into your month and chew. Do they still have their insides still intact I asked? No, they have been cleaned but it was not enough to make me just want to pop one in. The ostrich was quite nice, much like beef in taste, one would never know if you were not told what it was. Overall it was a fun night, oh I forgot to mention the peanuts roasted in honey and sesame seeds, I could have eaten them all night long.

Location:Kuching East Malaysia