: : Pau : :

Got pau downstairs! Still hot! Better eat now! Granny shouting from downstairs. One of her friends just passed it to her. Ah! Another photo opportunity!

The pau is a steam, soft, fluffy, white bun filled with chicken marinated in the sweet sauce used for char siew (roasted porkmeat). There was more pau than white meat but it still tasted good. Other types of pau filling are char siew (local favourite), tau sa (very sweet red bean paste) and kaya (local jam made from eggs, pandan and sugar. A cholerosterol bomb : ten eggs for one small bottle of kaya).

Pau is served hot in many coffeeshops and also with dimsum (Chinese breakfast comprising of many small, different types of food. Similar to hors d’oeuvre).

Along Jalan Pandungan in Kuching, there are at least 2 coffeeshops selling tua pau (big pau). The filling is chicken minus the sweet sauce but a quarter of a hard boiled egg is included. This serving is enough for one meal. Usually, the pau size is small.

: : Cheer up LG! : :

This message is for LG who was feeling a bit down as she just turned 30 years old.

I am older than you by 45 years

Yet we share the same namesake

I am of simple taste

Yet appreciated by young and old

I have a steady stream of admirers

However, my looks have not changed much for the past years

Although I am very Asian

The British loved me

I was around during the British Empire

And was known to be seen at fine dining locations in Asia

Today, I’m still here

So hang in there babe!

Lingham’s Chilli Sauce has been around for a really long time. It is spicy and sweet at the same time. Unfortunately, most people prefer Maggi’s Chilli Sauce these days so not many people are familiar with this particular chilli sauce. However, the old folks will remember it from bygone days.

Well, hope that cheers you up, LG. Took me awhile to find it. Finally found the chilli sauce at Big Fresh Supermarket.

[Postnote : Took another look at the bottle and realised there is a little ‘h’ there. Sorry LG!]

: : Tea Ceremony : :

Was telling KSL about yesterday’s dinner at Life Cafe. Found out that he was also into tea-drinking. So, sometime next week, will be taking more pictures of tea-making and a step-by-step description of the meaning of each step.

: : Life Cafe : :

Since LG was still in town, we decided to go to this quaint little shop we saw while driving through Carpenter Street. The name of the place is Life Cafe. Met AL and NT having some snacks there.

It’s a little tea shop but with really good Chinese cuisine, just like the way it’s made at grandparents’ home. We ordered quite a fair bit, including a pot of Chinese Tea :

-Traditional Claypot Rice

-SzeChuan Noodle Soup

-Celery Omellete Pancake

-Fried Dumplings with Spicy Soy Sauce

-A pot of Oolong Tea

Traditional Claypot Rice

This was great. The rice was served with chopped chicken, sliced black mushrooms, shallots, spring onions and chopped dried prawns. It’s supposed to be mixed together before eating it out of little bowls. Why the little bowls? Claypot is hot and you will accidently get burned. Having said that, the rice didn’t looked like it was cook in the claypot but who cares? As long as it tasted good, I’m not bothered.

SzeChuan Noodle Soup

Marvelous! Couldn’t quite make out all the ingredients but there definitely was chopped chicken, spring onions, spicy salted vegetables (kiam chai). Not spicy for those who can eat chilli. In fact, my granny makes it more spicy but it still tasted good.

Celery Omelette Pancake

As its namesake, definitely a pancake that was eaten with chilli sauce. However, we kept eating it with the spicy soy sauce that came with the fried dumplings.

Fried Dumplings with Spicy Soy Sauce

It looks like the Japanese dumplings guoza and the sauce as well. AS told us that it was definitely spicy but maybe because we did not order it correctly. Still, it was the sauce that was a big hit but we could only finish half of it. Too full from the noodles and rice.

A pot of Oolong Tea

Now, for the star of the night : the Oolong Tea. Have to check with LG what’s the name of the tea later on. The waitress was kind enough to show two ignorant Chinese gals the art of making tea. A small burner was used to ensure that there was always a kettle of freshly boiled water available. The amazing thing thing was we felt less full after drinking tea!!

We also had some tools available for use : a spatula, tweezers and scoop. The spatula is for removing the tea leaves from the teapot. The sharp end is to unblocked the spout which might be blocked by the tea leaves. The tweezers are for handling the hot cups after washing them with hot water. The scoop is for measuring the tea.

Step 1 : Put all the cups onto the plate. The taller cup is for inhaling the tea fumes for appreciation. The smaller cup is for drinking it (ahem… I know it’s corny but it’s my blog. So there! :p)

Step 2 : Pour hot water into the white jug. Make sure that the water is freshly boiled!

Step 3 : From white jug, pour hot water into the teapot. Then, water from the teapot is poured over the cups. Using the tweezers, pour the water into each cup one after the other. From the cup, pour it into a bowl so as not to fill up the plate.

Step 4 : Pour in approximately 2 scoops of tea into the teapot.

Step 5 : Pour freshly boiled hot water into the teapot. Close the lid. Then, pour a little bit of hot water over the lid. I think the last bit was to ensure the teapot is heated up to create a slight vacuum seal. The seal will prevent the lid from falling open.

Step 6 : After a minute has passed, pour the tea into the taller cup first. Then, put the smaller cup over the taller one and quickly turn it around! Tricky but takes practice. Then, inhale the tea-smell coming out of the tall cup to appreciate the fragrance. Lastly, drink the tea!

It was an adventure for the night but as usual, I forgot to take some pictures. This time it was the tea in the cups AND the facade with the tanglong (red lanterns)! I’m pretty sure the staff must have thought I was weird taking so many photos and asking for help on tea-making i.e. a tourist. Still, it was a popular place with many locals and tourists popping by to try the food and tea. It was a cosy place but not that many tables were available. They also had 2 seating placing for customers who want to sit cross-legged or Japanese style. There are seating areas inside the shop (air-conditioned) and outside (2 tables only, open air).

The address :

Life Cafe

No.108, Ewe Hai Street,

93100 Kuching,

Sarawak,

Malaysia.

Tel : 082-411754

Mon-Sun : 11 am – 11 pm

Close on Sunday

The place is located in the old Chinese shops near the Waterfront, along a Carpenter Street. Parking is a bit of a trial since the streets are very narrow with cars and big vehicles parked everywhere. Still, worth the drive down!

: : Carvery : :

LG was in town so we went and had dinner at a quaint restaurant called Carvery. The concept is based on Argentinian/Brazilian serving. As usual, I did not take much photos as we were busy eating. Also, the photos aren’t that great with my little camera.

The chef, Mr. Walter Frostl, has been working in Sarawak for many years before opening up this restaurant with other partners.

Homemade Bread eaten with the Mushroom Soup

oohhh… very very tasty. The soup was very thick with a lot of mushroom blended inside. Went well with the bread. All the bread is homemade and is very tasty. One of the few restaurants in Kuching that makes it fluffy and not too salty.

Salad from the Cold and Hot Sald Bar

There are two salad bars in this restaurant : cold and hot. Fresh mushrooms. Baby carrots. Alfafa sprouts. Sometimes, you can find corgettes (my fav!!). The pic isn’t the greatest but trust me when I say that the food was excellent done. Other than veggies, they have pasta (both hot and cold), Thai beef salad, and others.

The Carvery

Right, onto the main dish. About more than 10 dishes of different kind of meat was available. The meat are all cooked in-house so here is a quick rundown on what we had tonight :

•Chicken Sausage

•Beef Sausage

•Mussels

•Breaded Fish

•Lamb Chop

•Rack of Lamb

•Beef Ribs

•Chicken cocktail sausage wrapped in Beef Bacon

•Beef Ham

•Chicken Ham

Sauces

It was simply delicious especially the mint sauce! All the sauce are made in-house so definitely authentic all the way. And the flavours that comes out are simply ummmmmmmmmmmmm!

Dessert

There is a dessert menu available but of course, yours truly settled for a delicious bowl of Haagen Daaz Rum Raisin Ice-Cream. Probably the only restaurant that serves this ice-cream. Forgot to take a picture, as usual.

All compliments are more than due to the chef, Walter Frostl. He has been in Sarawak for many years, cooking in various hotels and giving customers full and satisfying meals.

Address :

Carvery

Lot 2069, Jalan Utama,

Bintawa Industrial Estate,

93450 Kuching,

Sarawak.

Tel : 082-345428, 345429

Enough said. My stomach is full and it was full paying the money for it. The restaurant is also open during lunchtime serving very reasonable priced meals as well as Set Lunches. Try it out! Definitely worth the money.

: : The Venue : :

Went for dinner at this Chinese Restaurant with JW, BJ, UJ, then later joined by RC and EL. Cool place with both outdoor and air-con settings. Had the following food for dinner :

Dry tauhu with seaweed served with Thousand Island Sauce

Sorry. No pic because we ate it all before I remembered to take a picture.

Cangkuk Manis stir-fried with egg and garlic.

Local green vegetable that is good for people with ‘thin’ blood. However, not good for people with gout because of high ureaic acid content.

Deep Fried Soft Shell Crab

Oohhh!! My favourite. It was done beautifully with cut chillies.

Oyster Omelette

Not that I like this but it was okay. It was done in the same way as in Singapore i.e. the oyster was ‘wet’. Usually, restaurants in Kuching will fry it till everything is dry or dry-crunchy. The others loved it but could only eat so much.

The Venue is located in the new shoplots in BDC, next to the Roman Catholic Church. It’s tuck away in the middle of the shoplots and entrance is not facing the main roads but rather ‘behind’. Can’t really describe it and too lazy to draw the map.

The address :

The Venue

RH Plaza Commercial Center

Lorong Lapangan Terbang No. 1

Off Jalan Airport

93250 Kuching

Tel : 082-452186, 012 808 1186

Great place to eat seafood and I heard that the fish head curry and duck in sea cucumber. Of course, JW had her portion of Stout and Tiger! 3 cans for RM10 (US$2.63)!!

Stay tuned for more updates!