Silverspoon, Publika

I was surprised that my sister brought me to Silverspoon for lunch at Publika. It has the same name as the one in Miri.

At first I thought they are own by the same boss who operates two Citrus restaurants and one Silverspoon restaurant in Miri but later I found out I was wrong. (Just met and chatted with the boss today. ) There is no trademark for the name so this coincidence can happen.

Citrus was my favourite restaurant 3 years ago but due to the changed of locality and staff/chef, the food and service quality have dropped drastically.

The last visit of mine to Citrus restaurant was very unpleasant.  I have found a strain of hair in my food. It was extremely disgusting as I only saw it after finishing half portion. The waiter didn't apologise after I showed him the hair. He just quickly took my plate into the kitchen.  When he returned, he asked whether I want to have a new lunch set. I had turned down as my appetite was gone. They did waive on that order but I felt that they were not sorry about it. Anyway, I did SMS the boss as I felt that this hygienic matter is serious especially he is operating food and beverage buisiness.  The boss did reply that he is sorry and will be more careful in future.

I have banned this restaurant in my list, at least for the time being.  I can't accept my food has hair or other insects in it. I hope they can improve so that I can visit them again in near future?!

There's one Silverspoon restaurant in Miri too. I have tried and doesn't like their food either.  The toilet was dirty and the food quality was bad. I understand it's never easy to manage the staff if they are not motivated.  So overall, I don't have much interest to try again.

However, since we were already in the restaurant at Publika, we decided to sit down and have a try. Hoping KL and Miri's standard can be different.

We had ordered:
1) caesar salad- too much mayonnaise;
2) beef steak - too dry and hard, overcook though we ordered medium well;
3) duck pizza - turned up to be super salty.

The pricing are not cheap.  We were quite disappointed with the food. This has proven that not all expensive food equals to delicious food.

We will not step in this restaurant again in near future. Gonna give other restaurants a chance. 

Surprised in Meritz Hotel, Miri

Yesterday (17th Jan) was my birthday and my hubby gave me a surprised lunch at M Signature restaurant, Meritz Hotel.

This is our first time trying the food there.  Before that we had already being 'warned' by many friends who had been there. All of them have bad comments, such as lousy food and expensive prices.

Well, there are not many choices of fine dining restaurants in Miri so we decided to give it a try. The meals turned up to be wonderful! (I believe they have changed their chef and improved after getting too many complaints? !)

I ordered surf and turf (beef steak + cod fish with mashed potatoes and green salad) whereas my hubby who is a vegetarian had a special set meal prepared by the chef off the menu - gnocchi and fresh salad.

Surf & Turf

Gnocchi

The beef steak taste nice and tender with the mushroom sauce. The cod fish is fresh and scrumptious too. My hubby loves his gnocchi pasta. It's quite rich with the sauce which I believe is the mixture of butter and milk. (Good for him as he needs to gain some weight.) ^^

The captain and the waitresses are very friendly and helpful. They are polite and always give us warm and sweet smile. I was given a glass of fresh orange juice by the captain too. Haha! It was my Big Day. Lol.

When I was finishing my main course, out of a sudden I heard there were some people singing birthday song from far. And the sound was coming towards me. To my surprised, it was my hubby's arrangement with the staff.  My cheek felt like burning when the staff left. 

The cheesecake looks yummy but I was too full to try it.

For the whole lunch session, we were the only customers there. I bet they are still having trouble gaining back some confidence from customers though they had improved?! I am sure they deserve a second chance if you had bad experience there before when they just opened for business. ^^

Sitting at the revolving seats was a bit dizzy for me at the beginning when I was reading the menu. It was a bit jerky at certain places too. I have to admit that the revolving thing is not as good as the one in KL. The captain told us that it's due to the wheels of the motor but it can't be fixed. Hmmm...

Well, I had a great meal and experience there. If you haven't tried, give yourself and this new fine dining place a chance!

p/s: I had brought my dad to visit the restaurant again when he visited us in Miri. We were the only customers during lunch hour and the food turned out to be lousy. I was quite disappointed. Maybe we have to make a reservation before going so that the 'real chef' can be there when we arrive. Lol.

Lo hon zai (vegetarian - mixed vegetable) 罗汉斋

Since my fridge has the ingredients of this vegetarian dish, I decided to use Thermomix to cook it according to the recipe given.

Check out the picture. Left side is the dish I have cooked for my hubby, right side is the picture of the recipe. Look similar?

Muara Restoran, Miri

First time trying the Lalapan Tenggiri (RM11) in this restaurant at the riverside. Heard that this Muara Restoran is famous. Looks yummy huh!

Is this consider a king's breakfast?! ^^

This is my 2nd time eating this Indonesian meal. Have to say that I prefer my first experience near Boulevard Shopping Mall.

Well, if you like spicy sambal, maybe you can try here. They do give generous amount of spicy sambal. The thick slices of cucumber and sweet milky teh Tarik helps to relief the numbness of the tongue.

Disappointed with the vegetable. Taste lousy. Under cook and tasteless. Like chewing raw leaves. I love vegetable but definitely not this type. Luckily there are cucumber, long beans and cabbage. (1st experience with lalapan was nice fish but lousy vegetable too. That was under cook long beans and cabbage. I wonder why both places are not good in boiling the vegetable. Or they all love raw leaves and long beans?! Or they are only for decoration?!)

The sambal is spicy and yet tempting. I ate lots of rice due to this sambal. Hmm...maybe I can understand the tasteless vegetable now but not under cook style.

Will I come back again? Hmm....not so keen for the same dish. There are other choices in the menu, maybe I will give them a try next time.

Nestlé Low Fat Milk

How many types of fresh milk have you tried before? Well, I believe there are many brands of fresh milk in the market you can think of. Do you notice that some of them have to be kept in the fridge (normally expired within 1-2 weeks time) while some can be kept in the normal shelves (can keep for 1-2 years time) in the supermarket?

Some people told me that when we drink fresh milk, we have to make sure it's really 'fresh' without preservative. So it's better to choose those in the fridge. I thought the same too till I got pregnant.

Due to hormone changes, my taste bud has changed totally during my pregnancy. Whatever is sweet had turned to extremely bitter; Sour became sweet; Bitter became normal; Spicy remained spicy.

That was a torturing changed for me. And till then, I just realized that many food and beverage we are eating everyday contains sugar,  including fresh milk!!

We are always been told that it's important to drink enough milk during pregnancy so that our baby can be healthy, strong and smart, oh, fair too! So I learn to make it as a daily habit but before I can make it as a routine, I have problem getting a non-sugar fresh milk for a while. I had tasted all the fresh milk in the supermarket till I found this Nestle Low Fat Milk (which is always selling at the shelves). I was like thank goodness, finally I have found you!!

Well, my girl is now 31 months already. My hubby and I still continue to consume this fresh milk everyday. I have to say that, I'm glad that I had such hormone changes during pregnancy which helps me to find out the "true color" of the food and drinks that we have daily.

So, if you are having the same problem like me, try out this fresh milk. It taste good! ^^

MILO

Since young, I have never quit drinking Milo. I actually quit drinking powder milk and replace with milo drink by using my milk bottle when I was 4 years old. Somehow I just love the chocolaty taste.

When I was in primary school, I will scoop up the Milo powder into a bowl and eat it with a spoon while watching cartoon. I'm glad that I don't have any diabetes problem now. Hmm...really missing the old days. No worries on gaining weight at all.

Milo (tin). I believe 90% of the Malaysia and Singapore family will have min 1 tin at home. 

My princess is now 26-month-old. She refuses to lie down and drink milk using her milk bottle whenever we go out. So I have introduced my favorite Milo drink in packet for her. She just get addicted straightaway. Every time I will make sure her nursery bag has 2 packets of Milo drink so that she can drink in the car seat or restaurant whenever she is hungry.

Yes. This is the one that my princess is addicted like her mother.

I remember during my 2 weeks business trip, when I have to get my parents to babysit her while I went to settle my work in the office, my princess refused to drink a single drop of milk when I wasn't around. She rather starved and acted very stubbornly. That makes my parents very worry. So I told them about Milo. My father brought her out to buy Milo packet drink and finally she was happy to finish them without any delay. (I think she can be called as Milo Princess!)

Whenever my princess saw chocolate milk drink, she will said it's Milo. Too bad Milo packet drink is not available in Australia and we are not allow to bring any dairy milk product there. She took a few days to accept other brands of chocolate milk. From that day on wards, she realized that not all chocolate milk drink is called Milo.

Milo Cereals. Cute chocolate biscuit ball. Can eat it with or without milk.

                                      3-in-1 Milo Fuze. The daily drinks for my whole family.

Milo ice-cream. Try it and get addicted. 

Not available in Malaysia. My sis introduced this to us in Australia and totally loving it.
Wonderful Milo yogurt, taste like creamy ice-cream.
Very different from normal sourish yogurt. 

Love chocolate? Love Milo chocolate bar!

Different packaging for Milo wafer. 

Milo has many products, such as chocolate bar, wafer, cereals, yogurt (Australia), ice-cream, etc. Anything related to Milo will be our priority choice first.

The way we buy Milo drink and 3-in-1 packet drink is also quite scary. We bought in cartons and stacked in our store. The price has increased lately and we felt that it's getting more pricey. Last year we can get 6-packets for RM5.80, but now the cheapest we can get is RM6.99. Most of the places are selling for RM8.40 now. It's a big jump in pricing. (I thought Malaysia has lot of Koko plantation and cheap labors?)

I wonder whether Milo company needs my princess for their advertisement. Hopefully can get FREE milo supply for years after that. Hahaha!

p/s: My sister just teased me the other day that I was so into Milo that I called myself Milo in my ICQ chat last time. (blushed). Ya! And my new Skype ID is related to Milo again. Hahaha!

Basmati Rice

Recently I'm addicted to Basmati Rice. Have you heard or tried any Basmati Rice before?

Basmati rice is a variety of long grain rice grown in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, notable for its fragrance and delicate, nuanced flavour. Its name means "the fragrant one" in Sanskrit, but it can also mean "the soft rice".India is the largest cultivator, consumer and exporter of this rice; it is primarily grown through paddy field farming in the Punjab region.

The grains of basmati rice are longer than most other types of rice. Cooked grains of Basmati rice are characteristically free flowing rather than sticky, as with most long-grain rice. Cooked basmati rice can be uniquely identified by its fragrance. In addition to normal (white) Basmati rice, brown basmati is available, although uncommon. (copied from Wikipedia)

Well, whenever I dine in the Northern Indian restaurant, I will definitely go for their Basmati rice. Then lately my hubby and I decided to buy 5kg of Basmati rice and eat it for 2 meals a day. 

I love to eat rice, and this Basmati rice makes me crave even more. I feel happy to eat it everyday and I realized that the portion of rice I'm eating is getting more and more. 

Too bad my "happiness" didn't last long. Today one of my friend's sister saw me and asked whether I'm expecting. (swallowing my tears) Of course not! @#$%^&* Blame the Basmati rice! 


Basmati rice, listen up, I will eat you later for revenge! 

Japanese Restaurant, Sydney

The name of the shop. ^^ 

Sashimi, sushi, tempura etc

Are you drooling now?

Best wagyu beef, which worth for the long wait.

Smile. Hmm....my princess, what is she doing....

My dear sister who brought us there for this wonderful feast.
Arigato gozaimasu. ^^

Simple Ham and Cheese Sandwich Recipe

Step 1: Toasted the bread. Apply Strawberry jam on one side, and Cottage Cheese spread on the other side for sweet  and salty taste. 

(The ingredients: Ham x 1 or 2, Sliced red onion, Rocket vege, cheese and avocado.)

Step 2: Place avocado above the ham.

Step 3: Red onion on top of avocado.

Step 4: Follow by cheese.

Step 5: Then lots of Rocket vegetable.

Step 6: Don't forget to add some pepper and Japanese mayonnaise.

Done!

Remember to toast the bread first for crunchy  bites.
You can add in Alfalfa sprout and slices of tomato too.
Enjoy! ^^ (Thanks to my sis Gladys who had taught me this in Sydney.)

Instant Miso Soup

Have you tried the instant Miso soup from Japan? Check this out!

Step 1: Take out this little yellow square biscuit-like pouch and place it in a bowl.

Step 2: Squeeze out the miso paste from the sachet and also take out the dried seaweed.

Step 3: Add hot water into the bowl and see the miracle happen.

Step 4: Poke a hole on the yellow square pouch.

Step 5: The spring onion etc ingredients from the pouch will float out and expand slowly.

Step 6: Done. Time to drink your yummy Miso soup!

Remember to grab this portable Miso soup sachet in Japan then you can have hot and nice soup wherever you go. 

Siamese Secret, Miri ~ Salad

El Paso Sapicon at Siamese Secret. RM15 (excluding service charge). Very filing. A bit different from usual salad. The crispy pita is nice. Very big piece though.

The grilled sirloin is juicy and the rest of the vegetable are onion rings, lettuce, tomato and avocado. I know you couldn't find avocado in the picture as they had ran out of stock that day so they replaced it with red and green capsicum.

Sushi King in Miri

Salmon sushi roll

Deep-fried beef roll

Egg mayo with shredded crabsticks 

Teriyaki beef rice.

Japanese tofu

Cold soba (vegetarian friendly)

Mixed vegetable tempura (vegetarian friendly)

Deep-fried potato with coke (vegetarian friendly)

Cheesy sushi roll

Teriyaki beef sushi

Salad (lettuce, corn, carrot, egg, onion + lemon +special salad sauce)

Teriyaki Beef Tofu

Love this. It's juicy and yummy. Careful with the heat though.

Teriyaki Beef Rice Burger (reminds me of the rice burgers at Mos Burger in Singapore)

Do you feel hungry after looking at these pictures I have posted up? I do, sometimes. 

Well, no high expectation please. 

If you want to enjoy more varieties, better quality sushi and fresher Sashimi, please visit the one in Brunei. 

If you are craving for Japanese food but want something affordable and can fill up your tummy, try Sushi King then. The only Sushi King branch is at Bintang Mall (New wing), opposite Pizza Hut. 

During weekday, the 20% promotion hour is from 2pm to 6pm. Cheers!