Exotic Food in Machap Baru

Last month my friends and me went to Machap Baru for dinner. We took a leisure drive enjoying the scenery. Eh we city folks rarely see so much greens, ok. The reason we drove to Machap Baru was to taste its various dishes - all things wild.

Before reaching Machap Baru, we had no idea which restaurant to go but heard there were a few to choose from. Following directions from a friend, we took a left turn when we saw a sign leading to the town's police station. Surprisingly, the turn took us into what looks like a housing area. There were restaurants at the front portion and if you followed the road up the slope, you'd find the police station at the top of the slope. Left us wondering why the police is nestled within the housing area. Villagers supposed to protect police?

We took our chance at the first restaurant on the right (ai forgot the name of the shop). The waitress recited a list of dishes amongst which included turtle, squirrel and bat. We decided to go for turtle soup, ko pao squirrel, garlic tian qi (edible frog; not sure of it English name) and fish.

Frankly, the only wild meat I had eaten before were venison and once, a few small pieces of crocodile meat. Can't recall the exact taste of the croc meat but as I recalled it didn't taste bad. Just try not to think what the croc had for meals before it was served on our table.

Anyway, the squirrel was surprisingly tender and sweet. Taste a bit like chicken/turkey. We had no problem cleaning that plate. The turtle meat didn't look appetizing but that's probably because it was a soup and thus was not coated with dark gravy. Anyhow, the meat tasted good, too. A cross between fish and chicken. I can't describe it any better. You just got to taste them to know.

So, that's a notch on my adventure list. Lets see if I am adventurous enough to try snake meat....probably not! And before you suggest, dog meat is definitely not even considered. NOT.

Kampung Asia ....oh

This is my first time dining there after several months. The food tasted better. Musta changed the chef. Loved the stewed ee fun with bamboo shoots. The Sar Tin Roasted Chicken was good too especially when dipped in the green chili sauce. Initially, I declined the coconut pudding for my dessert. But after much persuasion from a friend, I tried it and loved that too. So much that I bought one home with me. It would be lovely for a hot afternoon.
I know I should cut down on dining out due to the economy downturn (and continuing economy doubts....) but I wanted to treat myself tonight. As I was exiting the restaurant, I could smell the delicious aroma from the marmite crabs (at least that's what I think it is) served on table 13. Although I had just feasted, I was so tempted. Oh....oh, I must come back again.
And as usual, I like to comment on the interior of cafe, restaurants and what not. Its simplistic but tasteful interior left me restful. I also noticed many structures on its grounds. Wonder what those are about? If not mistaken, I saw a dragon-shaped structure that was like more than 20 ft in lenght. Hmmm.....Interesting.

BZ

Argh... I forgot to update about another restaurant I tried last weekend. Totally slipped my mind. This is an established restaurant which had recently moved to a new venue.

When I drove past last week, I noted the long queue at its entrance and as such I was excited at the prospect of finally trying its cuisines in its new setting. Heard they have a swimming pool but didn't see it.

The exterior is totally white. The name of the restaurant is not very obvious, too because it too was white. Don't know why a chinese restaurant is white. I always thought they'd go for auspicious colour like red, gold or bright colours.

I didn't managed to observe much of its interior on the ground floor. Was rushing because once again yours truly was late for the lunch appointment : ) Was seated on the 1st floor. Was impressed that it had elevator but as I was rushing, I took the stairs. Funny, but I took 2 flights of stairs to reach the 1st floor. Go figure. Anyway, the 1st floor has these glass walls that provide excellent view of Straits of Melaka.

Anyway, turned out my friends had ordered a banquet. Omigosh. Another $$ spend on food in recent days. Sadly at the end of the feast I did not feel the food was worth all the excitement. It fell below my expectations. I don't know whether it's because they had changed chefs or because they are unable to meet the quality because of the crowd but I liked the food better at the old place. Hope it improves.

Oh and as I was leaving the restaurant I noticed the whole block was decorated with decorative lamps. Nice. There's a steamboat restaurant in that block too. But don't plan to try that in near future. The warm weather is just wilting me. I don't need steamboat to wilt me further.