Story from Multiple Eyes

 

No fancy, frilly presentation

Ketupat dan lepat

Rendang Landak (No kidding!)

Masak Merah Kijang (No kidding too!)

Ayam Ungkep

Sambal Kacang

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last but not least~

Sate!

...tapi, belum masak lagi. Heheh...

P/s: Konfem PETA semelih family aku~ hahaha

I was with wifey when she was in Dungun for her job interview that we encountered a classic case how Malay owned shop just plainly throwing rudeness to our face.

It was dinner time and by God, we was hungry. We stopped by at a seafood/tomyam/masakan panas restaurant which you could find aloooottt in east coast. The restaurant that we choose was a good appearance restaurant, a clean one at that. That does score few point with me. We take a seat and we wait for the waitress. And the tragedy enfold:-

1) The waitress couldn't speak properly. She mumble and fumble along the conversation.

2) No air buah! But in the menu was stated all sort of air buah including air kelapa. When I asking what other air buah not available, she just asked me to order any air buah and she will then tell me if the air buah available or not. And she said it rudely.

3) After placing our order, the waiting time just killing us. We have to wait up to 15 minutes for our drinks.

4) The food finally arrived after 45 minutes. But my sotong goreng tepung wasn't there. The sotong was done for the day. It's a seafood restaurant but not even 9.30 p.m. and your seafood already done? WTF!

5) I try to place order for kerang bakar. But the waitress not even bother to look at our table. I finally called the guy who deliver the food to our table but he was too busy with delivering order and ask me to place my order to the guy at the bakar-bakar station.

6) The restaurant not even half full of customers and almost half of the customers didn't get their drinks even after 30 minutes.

7) The price is not the most expensive in town but it did make me feel cheated for the service.

8) The food quality is so-so. I asked for sup perut but there were only like 6-7 thinly sliced perut.

As what I observed, classic seafood/tomyam/masakan panas restaurant owned by Malay could have any of below things to happen:

1) Dirty floor

2) Kucing kurap is around

3) Tight face waiter/waitress

4) "Ada duit kecik tak?"

5) No greetings or smile thrown

6) Painfully slowly prepared food

7) Waiter/waitress that busy with handphone/chit chat/watching TV

8) Waiter/waitress that give you nasty look when you enter the restaurant

Please...add more in comment section.

I hugely disappointed by the same group of people who give you nasty racist remarks when we preferred Chinese or Indian restaurant when the same group of people couldn't deliver good service. These people moaning that Malays should help Malays but it wasn't right to help Malays if they didn't even want to help themselves.

Otherwise, I will keep looking for good eatery..I don't care about who owned it or operated it. I just want to enjoy my food. When will these people start picking up instead of moaning around?

First of all, I am not very well prepared for this trip. No confirmed itinerary , but I have like 1000 places that I wanted to cramp into this 1 week holiday. Heheh.. Most of the day, we only decide where to go on the morning itself and Santa Monica was our first destinations.

We went to Santa Monica early on Saturday morning, 12th June 2010.

Why? I read the review about the beach and the Third Street Boulevard shopping... While we were driving along the street, I saw one of the street was closed for Farmer's Market. Eh, macam best jeee...

(Later when we were back at our rented apartment, I googled about the Farmer's Market. Rupanye it was one of the main attraction at Santa Monica. Heheh... Tengok, betapa tak ready nye aku nak berholiday?)

The Farmer's Market was great with its vibrant colours of organically grown produce from the local farm. There was flowers, fruits, vegetables, mushrooms, eggs, pets.. Everything was fresh and tempting. I was told that chefs from top restaurants flocked themselves to this market early in the morning to get the best crop for their kitchen. Huhuh...

The pictures are not in timely order and there was not much picture to begin with. I was too busy sightseeing and "enjoying" the chilly breeze... hehehe :P

View of Santa Monica's beach from the rooftop of  the 7-story parking building. 

What a gloomy morning... Huhu...

This was taken in the morning. I was only clad with a tee and capri jeans when the first breeze hit me. 

Brrrrrr.... sejukkkkkkkkkk!! No, the shawl did not help at all and I was trying my best to smile while shivering in cold air... and it was a freaking summer weather.

The crowd at Farmer's Market

Random pictures

Rows of fresh strawberries. There was another stall selling berries. Blueberries, blackberries and etc.. and cherries too but I can't find the photo. Isk..

A closer look. Slurppppp........ We buy 3 boxes of this strawberries for 8 dollars and it was worth it.

Fresh mushrooms. If this mushroom was sold in our normal Pasar Tani, I will be their faithful customer.

Then... we stumbled into this stall. Aquafarm, what the heck was that?

Then, we went nearer...

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Tadaaaa...

They sell oysters!

Clean, fresh and very tasty looking oyster. It was priced at 2 dollars each. Quite pricey if it was converted to RM but we just didn't care about the exchange rate at that time. 

We buy about a dozen oysters and the stall owner cracked it open for us. Seriously, it was the best oyster I ever taste. Sampai harini boleh meleleh air liur kalau teringat. Damnnn....

The owner was preparing our oysters.

Do you see the difference between these oysters and the one that was served here? 

I was told by them that there was a sweet kind kind of oyster, which I really loved and the salty oyster that tasted like seawater.

(I am an oyster fanatic. I can wallop at least 5 oysters every time I saw them served in any buffet. Heheh...)

Artichoke. I never thought they were this big.

Fresh herbs for the garden.

It there was no 23 hours flight barrier between LAX and KLIA, I will buy them for my kitchen. I was always dreaming to have a kitchen like Jamie Oliver's. The fresh herbs are always available by the window sill.

Organically dried fruit. Free tasting, so you know how kiasu us Asians can be right? 

That was the kind stall owner who just let us taste every sun dried fruit that he sell. Haiihhh, again.. there is no pictured of the sun dried fruit. Maybe I was not my usual click-click self there :P

My mom with the juiciest strawberry. Heheh... seriously sangat sedap.

Me with the half eaten strawberries. 

This was the last pictures taken that day before we went *ehem* shopping *ehem* at Third Street Boulevard.

It was a touristy street with almost all major stores along the street offering discounted items and there was always street performance everywhere. 

They was showing the World Cup, USA vs England match that day so it was funny watching English lads camping outside their English themed pubs and at the other side the Americans cheering their team.

Random pictures: A can of coke with World Cup themed I bought when we transit at Bangkok. 4 fingers on every hand to grab the ball. Heheh

P/s: I was traveling with my mother. So, please do not expect a travel log full with  fast-paced adventures. This holiday was tailored for my mother's comfort :)

Looked like this, taste like feet. I'm sorry. Usually people went gushing how wonderful some food are, so I want to list some horrible one. People said, tak baik, menolak makanan. True that, which is why it is fair we try a fair amount and try to finish it as decently as possible and then make a note to ourselves and others to not waste our money on that again.

Mangosteen juice sold by the same people who sold Peel Fresh. Don't buy it. It is an abomination to mangosteen. I have my suspicion that they throw the whole part of a mangosteen and some other vile stuffs in there. I gulped it once and couldn't bring myself to gulp it more. 

This stuff on sushi. I don't know the name of it, but I type green stuffs in google and out came the picture of my horrible experience with sushi. Some type of seaweed obvs. Wow, Google, you rock.

Ok... those are the one that I shunned. As for eateries that I think are terrible, it really depends on taste and I guess cleanliness. Like there is one stall of nasi lemak that I refused to go again because the owner is too stingy in their sambal, even after we asked for more. I am sorry ye makcik, if you are selling nasi lemak, I think you need to be a little bit generous in the sambal department. My husband does not mind, even though he did grumbled that the sambal is too puny, but I refused to step foot in there again.

There is also one eatery that my friend love to goes to during uni times, but once I went there with my then boyfriend, my fried rice was served with a side of cockroach. I refused to touch food for 3 days afterwards due to that memory. I told my friends, but they nonchalantly shrug it off because they said the food is too good. And since my friends like to go there, I (the non-car owners) follow je la). Ermmm, so when I went there, I just ordered drinks, even then I slightly lose my appetite when I dined there. (Oh, and the  reason that makes me hate that shop is not so much the uncleanliness. It was when I complained, they flicked off the cockroach and set the food back to my table again. And they refused to replace another food. God damn shop owners).

So it really depends on which dealbreaker a food or the place is going to be, it differs from one person to another.

What turn you off?

I woke up today cold and in a sudden need of a donut. I got low taste in donuts really, I never really care much about Big Apple or J.Co donuts. I do like Duren Duren from Big Apple though. However give me the donuts made by makcik yang sells their kueh mueh at the stalls by the side of the road any time. I can gobbled them up 3 or 4 (with guilt) at one go.

I think most of my family and my friends know my love for donuts. Seri now knows I love her mom fried home made donuts. Seriiii.... buat lah lagi untuk ku. Whenever I got back to JB my mom would buy donuts when she goes to the pasar tani, because she knows if I saw kueh mueh dalam plastik, the first think I will search is the donuts.

And my favorite stalls at Bukit Antarabangsa had now added kuih koci to their morning kueh. I am ecstatic. That is my second favorite kueh ever. I am also going to be diabetic if I am not going to limit myself to these morning snacks delights.

Back to the topic of donuts. I do love Dunkin Donuts though. I love picking out the many jelly donuts they have, cranberries, apple, vanilla and making it a game if what I picked up would match the taste I had set in my head. Sometimes I am dissapointed, but most of them contented. Its not the most delish donuts, but its not fluffy or soft like these new donuts. Those make me feel like spitting them back. I like my donuts a bit hard, and am not opposed to eat stale donuts. Like I said, I got lousy taste in donuts. But the one donut from Dunkin that never fail me, is Double Choc.

 I like that it is messy, chocalatey and the texture is something like a slightly burnt cake. So yes, I think I am just fine with Dunkin Donuts. I am even thinking to get downstairs in a while and eat that Double Choc. Awesome.

Limau Limau Cafe at Jalan Hang Lekiu... google it!

This quaint little cafe was decorated with colourful chandelier at the front bar and once we stepped into it.. we were overwhelmed with the array of little antiques, painting and artsy trinkets everywhere. Their mismatch and eclectic arrangement of decoration was very eye catching. Dils, since you love mismatch items.. you will surely love this cafe :D

The food choice was quite good with fruit drinks and a few type of bread for their sandwiches. Everything was home made! *yums*

Mushroom soup with croutons. No, that is not a coffee, that was the soup :P

Our healthy sandwich. I can't exactly remember the price, but the price was pretty reasonable.

We did not had much chances to try all their dishes because it was early in the morning and our stomach were not open for any adventures yet. Next time, I am sure to try all their famous fruit juices, lassi and also pasta.

Enough about the food, let's see this cafe decor...

The background music played in the cafe remind me of Yellow Cab pizza outlet. Oldies, jazz, nothing modern and it swayed us back to the past.

This is a good place with good service that definitely deserve a second  visit. Those who are visiting Jonker Street, be sure to check this place out :)


Limau-limau Cafe
No.9, Jalan Hang Lekiu,
75200 Melaka.

Okay, I need to confess something here. This is the first time since we started Multiple Eyes that I can't wait for my turn on Thursday to post something on this blog. Heh.. guess why?

Because I want all of you to salivate with me when you see this pictures :D~~~

Pavlova

My comment? Out of this world. Delicious. The meringue is not too sweet, it is just nice and completely melts in your mouth. The chocolate and fresh fruit jams between the creamy layer perfectly compliments the sweetness of the meringue. The topping of  fresh blackberry (no, not the smartphone) and strawberry, yummy! Strictly for sharing, unless you have a giant sweet tooth. My rate: 4.5/5.0

My mocktail, Pussyfoot (!!!) and clam chowder.

The mocktail is so-so. Not sweet, not sour and not that fruity even though it is a mixture of orange, lime and pineapple. Tawaq hebeh. I will stick to the usual Shirley Temple after this.

The clam chowder is a different story altogether. It is thick and creamy without being queasy, and the clams are delicious. But, we can't finish the whole bowl.. the portion is too much for our appetite. My Rate: 3.5/5.0

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... and the best dish of the night, Spaghetti Carbonara.

Oooppsss.... Forgot to take the "before" pictures. Heheh :P

Spaghetti carbonara is a common dish served in almost every pasta-serving restaurant. Normally, I will not order any pasta with carbonara as too much cheese and cream will make me loya. But, this carbonara totally changed my perception on the white sauce.The bits of slightly salty beef ham really makes the cheesy and creamy taste bearable.

I know I can't make a career out of food blogging because whenever I see delicious food... I can't stop and take my time to admire it. When I see good food, I will sayyy... seranngggggg!!!!

That explains why I can only show you the "after" picture of this delicious spaghetti carbonara~ How did the professional food blogger did it eh? They are capable of taking ingredients notes and took artsy pictures of the food too... huhu... Meanwhile, I stop thinking about anything when I see good food. Hahah... diet, calorie counts, what???

Ikura Chawanmushi

Closer look of the salmon roe... Sedap!

My compulsory dish in every Japanese restaurant. I love ikura so much that I  can't resist ordering this dish again and again on my every visit. The chawanmushi is kinda good and full with mushroom, chicken and prawn bits.

Hotate Mentayaki

Tuna Sashimi

Sashimi = raw fresh seafood. Not for the faint hearted as its taste was slightly off compared with salmon or cod sashimi. The fishy taste remained on our tongue after we finished eating it and no, it was not a good sign.  I would stick to my usual salmon sashimi that day if not because they already ran out of salmon that evening. Reminder for my next visit: come early!

Ika Sugatayaki

... or better known as Grill Squids. When they first served it, we asked... Ni je??? It look so plain and boring without any fancy garnishing and grill charred marks. But once it met our taste buds, I know this is a good dish. The succulent squid is not spicy, but it is sweet, salty and slightly sour from the lemon zest. My rate: 3.0/5.0.

Macha Monaka

Pavlova... again.

My shared birthday cake from a surprise party by my old old friends. But, I am too full from the  previous dinner to enjoy the cheese cakes. Huhu...

I love to eat good food and I am not afraid to spend my moolah for it. I am not a conventional eater either. The more exotic and rare the food is, the more interested I am to try it.

More food review next month, after I received my next salary to be exact :P