Saturday, December 20, 2008

Sarawak part3

I am not a fussy traveller. Seriously I am not.
I do not demand exceptional service and never have I asked for a complimentary upgrade in any hotel that I have stayed. Basically I am a fuss free nice traveller.
But when a restaurant/service/product really disappoint you - you just have to blog about it so others who have tried/used it can agree or disagree and others about to try can have the choice to attempt it or otherwise - do I make sense?
Anyway, since my travel in Sarawak consisted of only the city of Kuching - it will be helpful for you if you happen to have a map in which case I do have a link for it - its in pdf and accurate by the time of this blog write up.
Now, the thing I am upset is in regards to a restaurant in Kuching(City Centre) Sarawak called Moly's Place. It is located behind Harbour View Hotel which you can find on the above map. Why am I telling you the location of the restaurant if I am upset with it? - The answer is simple - you may or may not agree with my opinions so you have to judge it for yourself. Let us maintain this harmonious interactions despite our disagreement. Feel free to comments if you have been to the restaurant before.
The reason I visited this open air restaurant is because it was noted as very good by Sarawak standard by a site I Googled. The restaurant is halal.

They have a nice concept of having different tables with different flowers thus instead of table numbers the waiter can simply say - "Two Chicken rice for Bunga Seri Pagi"

After ordering, the wait is super duper long(Will require 20 to 30 minutes to wait). Whats worse, there is only one other person beside my orders.

This is their Chicken Rice. Taste wise - just okay.

This is Pattaya Rice (its origin is actually Thais). Taste wise - just okay.

This is their Ayam Penyet (literally translated as Pounded Chicken). Taste wise - Very good!


This is their fried rice. Taste wise - Okay but what makes it worse is the absence of (or super duper little) meat.

The food above that I have shown is not the delicacies of Sarawak so the restaurant was not to be blame for its sub-standard taste but I expect the restaurant to whip up a rather delicious local delicacies. Unfortunately this was not the case.

A local delicacy - Laksa Sarawak. The gravy was not thick - tasted watery and the flavours were super diluted. (Maybe this was how it was supposed to taste - but after trying from other sources, that was not the case) Horrible horrible horrible.

You cannot say you have been to Sarawak without tasting their Mee Kolok. Again as a local delicacy I expect better but unfortunately I was wrong. The mee tasted like Maggi instant noodles and again there was an absence of meat. Even with the sauce and soup, there was no denying this is comparable(or even worse) to instant noodles stuff.

So my final verdict on Moly's restaurant is this :- only go if you really want to have a good Ayam Penyet meal, otherwise skip it.

Thankfully, I manage to find better food located within an open air cafe. This shope is located at Jalan Gartak - also walking distance from Hilton Kuching. It is actually near the Jalan India area right after the Main Bazaar. You can find it better if you come via Jalan P.Ramlee (the museums are located along this road) and head North.


Then I saw the sign!!!
MEE KOLOK - and after a disappointing taste the day before - I hope this stall can give me a better conclusion to Sarawak food delicacies - if it tasted the same then I have to admit that my tongue just ain't suited to the food and MEE Kolok is an acquired taste.

I always say the Laksa Sarawak stall and without further ado, I ordered both.


This is what the stall MEE KOLOK looks like - different from Moly's Place don't you think so? Taste wise - DELICIOUS!!! The soup and noodles are just fantastic - this is how local delicacy should taste like.

I totally forget to take a picture of Laksa Sarawak because when it arrived, I was still eating the delicious Mee Kolok and totally forget about it. The gravy for Laksa Sarawak in this stall is just superb. It is thick and full of flavours. Those on a healthy diet beware though - the gravy is made from squeezed coconut pulp. But the taste is just SUPERB.

Of course, it is not complete without tasting Sarawak infamous fast food restaurant namely Sugar Bun(Halal). It is located just about everywhere where there are malls. If you are from Hilton all you need to do is visit the neighbouring hotel Crowne Plaza which is joined to Parkson and you can find one outlet over there.


This is Sugar Bun beef stew - the tapioca is of the wild variety so its really an acquired taste. Not too bad though. Rather nice.

This is Sugar bun latest menu - Freshwater Fish Head Assam Pedas (you can ask for the fish tail if you do not eat the head). Verdict - simply mouth watering! Must try if you come to Sarawak and have a chance to sample. Not too spicy unlike the West Malaysia & Singapore version so very good for those who cannot sample spicy food.

Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy!

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