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.

Buffet at Sibaraku

Sibaraku is located on the first floor in Mahkota Parade, Melaka Raya.

On the right is entrance to the japanese restaurant. The left entrance is for the buffet. I had expected an all-japanese buffet but it wasn't totally japanese. It was more of an Asian buffet with japanese, taiwanese and a little malaysian thai spreads.

The customers are seated in front of the teppanyaki chef. From a small menu, we could order our teppanyaki dishes directly to the teppanyaki chefs. Due to the fact that each and every teppanyaki chefs wore a mask covering their respective lower face, hearing them were a bit difficult for me. From the menu, we could order a variety of dishes - fish, chicken, beef, lamb, prawns, vegetables and even japanese "pizza". I liked the lamb with red capsicum. The black pepper chicken was good too. Don't try the "pizza" if you're not a fan of japanese mayo and sweet bbq sauce because it's topped liberally with them both.

From the Taiwanese corner, I recommend the shark fin and seafood soup (had two bowls). My friend liked the oyster noodle. The japanese corner has the usual fare of shushi though limited in variety. The dessert corner offers pudding, jelly, cakes etc. I liked the meringue. Because I was stuffed by then, I had to limit my meringue intake to a measly three. Wish I could pack those. There's free flow of drinks - soft drinks, cordial drinks and hot tea. All self service.

The cost is RM25.90 plus per pax. Discount for students. The cost per pax is lower after 9.00 pm. It's totally halal (pork-free). This is not an endless buffet. Customers are limited to two hours dining experience.

Went on a Friday evening. Not a big crowd but customers kept walking in. So. I'd suggest reach there before seven for a good seat. Make prior reservation if you are in a big group. The waiters and waitress are polite and friendly which is always a plus for me. When conversation is stilled, watching the chefs is a good way to pass the time.

Cendol and all

Ok, when my sis came home for a visit with my nieces she brought along a newspaper clipping in which the writer recommended a few eateries in Melaka. One of the writer's recommendation was durian cendol in Melaka Raya.

Went to shop around two thirty in the afternoon last weekend. The place was clean and although it was an extremely warm afternoon, the interior was cool even without air-conditioning. Sadly most of the food were already finished except for fried mees and the desserts. I ordered Mamak Rojak. It was ok but the cucumber slices were a wee bit bitter. Also, instead of hard boiled egg, the Mamak Rojak was served with a small triangular piece of omelette. Was disappointed with the durian cendol though. The durian was not fresh, it was obviously frozen : (

The next day we went to Jonker Street. Stopped by a shop in Jonker Street. It's a narrow shop (all shops are narrow and long in Jonker street) and near Georgrapic Cafe. Although the waiter gave us menus, it was self service when it came to ordering. My niece ordered apple juice and came back to the table with a half-filled plastic cup. We gathered that the shop serves only the fruit juice without further additions. I ordered the 8 ingredients ice kacang. That was lovely as the gula melaka was really "kau" ("kau" means "thick" in hokkien). It also sells varieties of mee curry, asam laksa, cendol and ice kacang.

Restaurant - Nonya Cuisines

This place was recommended by a friend. It serves Nonya cuisines and is located on those shoplots opposite Mahkota Medical Centre.

There's only a few tables and it's spacious. As we had durian in the afternoon, our group weren't too hungry. Thus we ordered sparingly. The Pie Tee looks good but unfortunately was not crispy. My favourite was the Pongteh Chicken. Although a little too sweet but the meat was so tender. Yummy. The curry prawn with pineapple was so-s0.

Good ambiance. The walls had shelves with potteries. Wonder if those all all nonya heritage.

This place is pricier than other Nonya restaurant in town but good for another try. Ho...I sure am spending on food this week.

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.

Soup with leftovers

Here's an easy recipe for a cold day.

After a 2-hour drive in the rain, I arrived home yesterday tired and cold and hungry. So I cooked a simple soup with leftovers. I was simply too tired to spent more than 15min in the kitchen.

1/2 can mushroom soup
1/2 can of water
1/2 stick of carrot, sliced (I used a mandolin and sliced it right over the pot of boiling soup)
1/2 cup of mashed potato

Pour the mushroom soup into a pot. Add water and heat to boil. Add carrot and potato. Stir frequently.
When it's boiled, it's ready to serve. If you like your carrot tender, let it simmer for awhile.
Serve and eat with toast or plain bread.

Cafe Food

My girlfriend and I actually wanted to stop by McDonald, Ayer Keroh but could not find any parking space. So, we decided to try the nearby cafe. It was our first time to this cafe.

The ambiance was all right although I think the decor for the ceiling was a big minus point because they had stringed these lengths of pastel coloured cloths and dangled red heart-shaped cushions. I think different coloured cloths would had been better and frankly, the lengths weren't adequate because the scallops didn't looks like scallops.

After perusing the menu, I decided to go for a bowl of Asam Laksa. Note this: wherever I go, I'll try to sample this dish because I have not encountered any, thus far in the southern region, that could compete with those I had in Penang. The Asam Laksa came in a white square porceline bowl. That was nice and it gave me high hope although I was a bit worried as the gravy looks too reddish. It must be the reddish asam laksa I've ever seen.

As I dug in, I could not believe the contents. There was the laksa noodle and its reddish gravy and nothing else!! Where were the slices of cucumber, pineapple, onion and mint leaves?? And the gravy was a big letdown too. The only word I could describe it was that it tasted like sardines.

I paid RM6++ for that dismall dish of asam laksa. My friend did not enjoy her fried rice either.
That will be the last time I'll go to this cafe.

Forewarned is Forearmed

Eeewww....had received emails of disgusting things found in choc bars before but never thought they were real. Thought they were hoax.

But a fren really found worm in a choc bar she recently bought in a nearby store. When she tore the gold cover, she saw whitish stuffs on my bar. Suspecting fibres from the paper cover, she tore the cover bigger and urgh... saw the dead worm. The whitish stuffs were actually cobweb. Was it a silkworm? It's anybody guess.

Upon closer inspection, saw a tiny hole on the gold cover. The worm must had drilled in through the cover. Source of worm is anyone's guess - manufacturer, packaging source, ship or store? Expiry date on the choc state May 2009.

So be careful when you want to bite into the next bar of choc. It may not had expired but "foreign being" could live or had lived in that bar.