Coffee Master Somerset

For all those juice lovers, wake up and pay attention! Coffee Master Somerset is the place to head to for a juice rush and for small snacks if you are ever in the mood or just feeling tired after a day's shopping. A quaint place that serves drinks, light food and meals for the hungry.

My favourite orders are definitely the Watermelon Juice, Honeydew Juice, any of the Lattes, as well as the Longan Sprite. Another must order is the Chicken Curry. Usually served with rice, you can request for bread as a substitute (both taste great by the way!) as well as the Potato Salad. However, the salad is a bit on the small side, so be warned. The Hawaiian Pizza Toast is F.A.N.T.A.S.T.I.C... Mouthwateringly so.. The Club Sandwiches are not bad as well, nice for a small snack whilst waiting for your friends.

One major word of advice though, NEVER EVER order the Lemon Chicken Rice. It's seriously not that great. I don't know why but there was seriously something lacking in that dish. I even had to drown my chicken in chilli sauce, it was that bad. Another thing that I should warn you all about is that the portions are a little on the small side. Not recommended for those of you who are used to eating like three bowls of rice a meal. But the thing that I like about the C.M.S is the juices. They use freshly cut fruits, not some concentrate as they do in some places which makes the juice taste sooo much better. They do it sugar free as well on your request.

This is probably one of the best places to hang out on a weekend if you don't have anywhere else to go or anything else to do. Coffee Master in Somerset provides you with good food, great juices and excellent coffees topped with a great ambiance. They also provide you with UNO and normal cards so that you can have a game or two while enjoying your meals. The view from the top is also fantastic, and is especially pretty at dusk.

Hazelnut Latte

Watermelon Juice

The greatest dish there.. Chicken Curry

Potato and Egg Salad

A close-up of the salad..

Hawaiian Chicken Pizza Toast

The scrumptious filling...

Coffee Master Somerset,

4th Floor,
Somerset Gateway Kuching,

No 9 , Jalan Bukit Mata,

93100 Kuching.

Korean Da Om B.B.Q House

Anyone who fancies Korean food should definitely pay a visit to Da Om. It's situated at the newly opened shopping areas of Jalan Song, at the corner directly opposite the gift shop and another food court. It's decor is more modern, and they have got nice little rooms inside as well where you can, presumably, have a more private meal. The tables and chairs inside were remarkably alike a Korean family restaurant I frequented while I was studying in Uni.. brings back such wonderful memories..

The thing that I really liked about the whole package is the menu! It was a really nice looking menu, hard cover bound and the pictures were splendid! I was already imagining the food in my mind and salivating at the thought. We sat outside because we didn't want to smell of smoke, and we wanted to enjoy the cool breeze outside. The lighting and atmosphere was relaxing, and quaint. A good choice for a family restaurant really.

Da Om serves typical Korean style meals, with the chiges, baps and bulgogis. They had other interesting additions to the menu that I have never seen in Kuching, such as the Egg Roll, Tuna Kimbap (Tuna Sushi Korean style) and the Korean Style Pancake. We had all the food mentioned above plus a Soondubu Chige (Tofu Squid), Spicy Squid and the B.B.Q Chicken.

The Soondubu Chige was massive! It came in this really really big steaming hotbowl, and the chefs were really generous with the ingredients. However, I thought that the chige wasn't spicy enough.. maybe they toned it down a little for those who cannot take authentic spicy Korean. The Egg Roll was also HUGE.. I can't believe that it was that big! It had things like sausage (or ham) some veges and other things and was rolled to look kinda like a sushi only bigger. It also had cheese on top (you can opt for the non cheesy egg roll, but the cheese just adds on to the taste, trust me.)

It was probably the best dish of the night alongside the Tuna Kimbap. The kimbap was nicely presented and the fillings were, again, generous. Fantastic kimbap, I really miss good kimbap. The B.B.Q Chicken was a bit of a disappointment though, it was rather small in size (as compared to the massive dishes listed above). I also felt that it was lacking something, maybe marination or something. It just didn't taste right.. The same goes with the squid. It was lacking a certain kick that should have been there, but just wasn't. The fact that I don't really think much of squid probably played a part in my not really liking the dish. The size of this dish was rather big though, so for all you squid lovers, this could be the dish for you!

One word of advice though, don't order the Juices. We all ordered juices and when it came out, our jaws dropped. The size of the cup is miserable! I could have finished the whole thing in three gulps! Hai... But not all is lost! The aloevera drink is FANTASTIC! Get the pandan flavoured one if you don't really like sweet stuff. Nice and cheap! RM 2 per cup!

The whole meal costed us something like RM 130++, which is rather good considering that we had such a HUGE feast. Ideal for family gatherings and easy dinners with friends, or for a spot of pigging out!

Korean Da Om B.B.Q House,

Ground Floor, Lot 15,

Tabuan Heights Commercial Centre,

Jalan Song,

93350, Kuching,

Sarawak.

016- 858 2534 (Mr. Oh Se Ho)

Hours: Monday (5.00 p.m. to 10.30 p.m.)

Tuesday to Sunday & Public Holidays (10.00 a.m to 10.30 p.m)

Country Grilled Chicken Burger- McDonalds

This was a Ramadhan special that was introduced into the McDonald menus this year. I remember eating so many of these burgers and then one day, I went to McDonalds at the Golden Triangle and it was already taken off the menu! Words cannot describe the sorrow I felt that day...

The Country Grilled Chicken Burger comprises of two chicken patties which are similar (if not exactly the same) as the patties used for the Grilled Chicken Foldover (which is pretty great too I've heard!) set on a leafy bed of lettuce and tomato and cheese topped with a delightful country sauce dressing and held together with muffins. The effect.. mouthwateringly delicious..

The size of the burger is impressive as well, no puny Fillet-o-Fish or Junior burger here! One burger meal was enough to last me for 8 hours.. except the tiny little fact that even after eating one whole burger by myself, I was dreaming of having another one seconds after my last bite

Not too long after they introduced the burger, they brought in the Junior sized burger as well. Probably for the benefit of small eaters (unlike moi) and the young ones who loved their parents burgers but the greedy parents wouldn't spare them a bite! I know I would do that! Can't blame me, it's just too good!

I pray and hope that the burger will make its appearance again next year. If only I had taken pictures of the burger myself!! And next year, I will definitely try the Junior version of this burger!

There is a picture of the Junior burger at this page, just go have a look!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jazmyn/266670171/

I'm still searching for a picture of the real thing!! Help, anyone?

Shanghai Woh Teah

If ever in the mood for a snack or for supper, I would suggest that you head out to Tabuan Jaya's Siang Siang Corner and order yourself a plate of Shanghai Woh Teah (SWT).

SWT is basically pan fried dumplings, with a filling of minced pork, carrots, turnip and some other ingredients and served with a garlic-vinegar dip. This snack is really addictive, and you will honestly want to keep going back for more!

There are several places that offer Woh Teah's but the best that I have tried so far is the one at Tabuan Jaya. The lady pan fries the dumplings till it's a perfect golden brown colour and the dip that comes with it just increases the flavours of the filing by tenfolds.. Just thinking about it makes me salivate.. You'll also be able to see them making the dumpling skins from scratch and folding it into the perfect shape before pan frying it.

The price is EXTREMELY reasonable, 10 dumplings for only RM4. A steal for such lovely dumplings!

Shanghai Woh Teah,
Tabuan Jaya's Siang Siang Corner,
Kuching.

Life Cafe

Penchant for Taiwanese dishes? Then Life Cafe's the place for you! Located at the end of Carpenter Street, right behind the temple, this cafe is a nice, cozy place to hang out with your friends over a meal of little Taiwanese delights.

Our all time favourite is the Ma La Mian (Spicy Noodles)! Spiciness levels for this bowl of noodles ranges from mild, medium, hot and super hot! The super hot version is surely the one that will set your stomach alight, and your bowels on fire, if you know what I mean..

Personally, I settle for the medium to the hot (on the days that I feel really adventurous).. Other dishes to try is the Taiwan Sausage (garlic is my personal favourite!), the Chives Pancake, Tea Eggs, Guo Tie (pan fried dumplings), the Peanut Butter Toast as well as the Pudding Cake.

They have a whole variety of noodles and rice meals as well as soups and a vegetarian section. They even offer Crocodile meat.. which is something I definitely will not be ordering.. but, whatever suits your tastebuds, aye?

They also have a rather good menu for drinks, such as the famous Taiwan Bubble Tea range, Shaked Milk Green Tea, Jasmine Green Tea, Papaya Milk, normal coffees and teas as well as their own concoctions. Go for them if you feel like trying something totally different!

The one thing that I really like about this place is the decor. Tastefully decorated with paintings and lanterns, the wooden bamboo look goes very well with the type of cafe atmospehere they try to create. There are tables for you to sit at (both inside and outside), as well as an area where you can sit on cushions on the floor and relax. This area is good for a group of friends as you have your privacy to be able to just chill. They also provide some magazines (although mostly Chinese) for their patrons to read.

Another thing that I appreciate is the reasonable prices that they offer for a higher-end coffee shop. A bowl of Ma La Mian is RM3.80, and a drink can go for as cheap as RM 2.50. Very reasonable for the type of atmosphere you get, as well as for quality food.

Bento A- Watashiwa a.k.a Hanami

If you ever feel like having a huge Japanese value for money meal, you should stop by Watashiwa. This restaurant (once known as Hanami, I still refer to it as that, can't get used to the new name) is located in Central Park, next to Informatics and the discount store.

Nicely air-conditioned with tables in the main hall as well as private rooms. The decor is done up to sort of resemble a Japanese family restaurant and the staff are all dressed in little Japanesey aprons as well. Rather cute actually! They also have a little open kitchen where you can see the chefs cooking up your meal.

Decor aside, the menu is the most important thing. This restaurant carries most of the usual Japanese food; sushis and dons and ramens. However, the best thing to order here is the Bento A which comprises of California Maki, Tempura, Chicken in some yummy sauce, Miso Soup and a Fruit Plate. Portions are good as well, and I am usually really full halfway through my meal.

Their sushis are pretty good as well, and I've tried their fried rice. Pretty normal chinese stir-fried kind of fried rice, so nothing much to shout about. The drinks are pretty alright, the usual canned drinks. Their Japanese green tea is a tad bitter, so avoid it if you don't appreciate the taste of real green tea. They also have other bentos that you may want to try out, as well as other dishes that did not really catch my fancy.

Their Bento As are a steal at RM25 a meal. Fantastic stuff if you ask me!

Char Kueh

Yun Nan Yuan Salty Char Kueh

There are three places that I like to go for good char kueh. Number one is at Yun Nan Yuan, a coffee shop situated opposite the old Upwell. It's a corner coffee shop, and the char kueh stall is right at the side. I have only had this once, but the taste is really good. Tried the plain salty one with no chilli, and it was extremely good!! Usually the plain salty version's rather blah without the chilli, but this was just fine by itself. Definitely one of the better char kueh's available in Kuching.


Number two is at Jalan Song, right at the end of the stretch of food courts. I forget what it's called (Plum Garden, I think?), but the name of the stall is Hong Kong Style Char Kueh. This stall only has the salty version, but this char kueh is fried with taugeh (bean sprouts). The taugeh adds on to the crunchiness of the chai por and gives it an interesting flavour. Can also be fried spicy, both versions are good for the stomach.

Number three on my list is in Tabuan Jaya market area. This stall is usually open in the evening till pretty late at night. I have been eating char kueh at this stall for years, and the best combination is pua kiam ti, char hiam (half sweet and salty, fried up spicy). The saltiness of the preserved raddish (chai por) is toned down with the sweetness of the atap t'ng (gula melaka?) and the spiciness of the chilli adds the kick to the dish. Fantastic as it's not too dry or too oily (you can request for them to use less oil). One word of advice though, this char kueh can be rather flat in taste if you omit the chilli. And the man fries it better than the woman! This dish goes extremely well with iced lemon tea. Yum...

Do go and try one of these days, all three spots are my favourite for char kueh!!

Kaya and Toast (KnT)

Having been to the Kaya and Toast (KnT) outlet in Petanak with my sis and her other half, I wanted to try the first KnT outlet in Central Park. I have passed by that place several times, but just never got round to eating there. Anyways, we decided to have brunch there one day and went early in anticipation of a good meal.

I remember the curry and toast at the Petanak KnT was rather good, and although it was not served with slices of baguette (french loaf as it is known here), the bread was lightly toasted. The ham and cheese toast was also rather good, although small in portion. The Iced Milo Dinosaur was the best part of the meal, the drink was flavourful, not too sweet and absolutely oomphhed the tastebuds for Milo lovers like me. Btw, Iced Milo Dinosaur is your thick iced milo and huge spoonfuls of milo piled on top. Fantastic drink if you ask me!

However, the KnT at Central Park was a huge disappointment. The curry and toast was really bad. The curry was alright, but the bread was just small slices of white bread that was not even toasted. I mean, why advertise it as curry and toast if you're not going to toast the bread?? Seems really silly to me. We also tried the ham and cheese toast, the sausage french toast and a bowl of the noodles (a new addition to the menu). Everything was a big huge disappointment, the noodles were like instant noodles, only with a slice of ham on top and an egg. The sausage french toast was weird tasting, to me at least. My friends thought that it was alright, but I didn't like it. I only like Danpo or Rose, so this is a rather biased review on the sausage.. But even then, the whole meal was a disaster.

The only good thing about the meal was the Iced Milo Dinosaur, which has about the same taste as the one in Petanak. But even that wasn't good enough to save the day. The bill came up to over RM20, which is really steep for bread..

I should have taken pics of that meal but it just didn't cross my mind to do so. The ambiance wasn't too bad, a tad bit warm (well, we DID go at noon time, so it's no fault of the coffee shop at all). Oh well, if I ever do go again, I will post some pictures up. Or if I find any pictures of the items that I mentioned above, I'll try get them to post up here.

Java Juices

There's this one place situated slightly further up from Hock Lee Center called Java Juices. My friends and I discovered this place maybe 2 years ago? We tried their filo chicken and got hooked from then on.



Filo chicken is 2 slices of chicken breast meat stuffed with cheese, and served with a side of salad and chunky crinkle cut fries. It also comes with this really yummy mayonaise sauce which is excellent to dip your meat and fries in!

Filo Chicken

However, nothing always lasts forever. The size of the serving has been downsized by quite a bit, probably due to the fact that the prices of everything has increased since then. But the good thing about Java Juices is that they don't increase their prices as they shrink their sizes. The filo is still a good choice, and their mayo is still as good as before!

Another good thing to eat there is the spaghetti. The chicken spaghetti is delicious, but their seafood version is a tad blah. Their nachos, albeit pricey, are good as well. I wouldn't recommend their cheese baked pasta as I found it a little burnt and hard. Their burgers are good though! Although I must say that you can definitely fly away their wings, there's this strange taste that I think shouldn't be there. But my sister loves their wings, so I suppose the taste does go rather well with some people!

The atmosphere is rather orangey, due to the lighting. But it's a nice orangey, very warm. They have added a projector too and Chinese cable, so you can watch some programmes while having your meal. There are also magazines available to read, although they are mostly manly kind of mags, more about body building and cars. Clean toilets as well, which is a must for eateries!

Overall, this is a good place to sit and chat with your friends while having a meal. Rather airy as well, as it's an open concept so you don't get musty oil smells that tend to linger in some enclosed restaurants. Although, be careful of the karaoke that just opened next to Java Juices, you may have to endure some very painful screeching.

Java Juices,

Ground Floor, Section 64,

Jalan Datuk Abang Abdul Rahim,

93450, Kuching.

Room 205 Cafe

My friends and I stumbled on this eatery one fine Saturday when we were feeling undecided as to where to have lunch. Sick of all the usual spots, we decided to try out one of the new cafes that opened in Padungan. We were attracted to the signpost of Room 205 Cafe and decided that this was as good a place as any to be adventurous! And boy was it a good bet!


The ambiance of the place was nice, a little quiet and dim, but the cushions were nice and plush. Plus the overall effect of the cafe was cosy, which was good as we wanted a place that was quiet enough for us to be able to carry a conversation as well as allow us to sit back and slowly savour our food.


The service was good, the waiters and waitresses were nicely polite, which is a good change from the usual sullen workers who act like your coming to the restaurant disturbs their time to just laze around. We looked at their menu and was surprised that they served Chinese cuisine as well as Western. We decided to go Western as we were kinda tired of Chinese.


We had the chicken lasagne, lamb chop, chicken chop, sesame fish and chips, garlic bread and wedges (we eat a lot!!). I was immensely pleased that they served chicken lasagne, one of the few places that do. We placed our orders and just sat back, hoping against hope that the food would be good..


The fish and chips arrived first, and the portion was massive! The display was good as well, very appetizing! Our eyes widened at the serving, and we were all nodding appreciatively already. The lamb chop followed suit, and it was equally as impressive. The lamb was browned to perfection and the aroma.. almost sinful.. It had a side of salad and wedges as well which was good! We were rather happy with the first two dishes and eagerly anticipated the others.




Out came the chicken chop, and it was .. well a bit of a disappointmet. The portion was rather small and well.. sad.. However, the gravy saved the day as it was absolutely delish!! It had the same sides as the lamb chop too. But the dish that stole the day was definitely the lasagne. It was nice and tender, succulent, and the tomato sauce was not too strong and you could smell the herbs the moment the dish was set on the table. It was nice and cheesy as well, but not too cheesy as to make one feel ill after the first few bites. Although it took almost forever to arrive, it was really worth the wait.


The side dishes of wedges and garlic bread that we ordered separately are nothing to shout about. The garlic bread was rather hard and burnt.. But we had such good mains that we didn't really mind the pathetic sides!


One thing about Room 205 Cafe is that the drinks are a little pricey. The food is reasonable and if u order ala carte, you get a 10% discount as well. Although I am not too sure if the discount is a promotion thing or not.. Gotta check with the staff before you order!


Check out the pics and be your own judge! I personally love Room 205 Cafe, and would definitely go back there again!

Room 205 Cafe,
No:205, Jalan Padungan,
93100, Kuching,
Sarawak.
082-252 205
Hours: 11.00 a.m.- 11.00 p.m.

The star of the day: Chicken Lasagne

Nicely browned Lamb Chop

The slightly sorry Chicken Chop











Sesame Fish and Chips

Our humble spread!