Mention ST3 in Kuchingnites will point you to the building's unofficial ambassador....Rusty Bean & Batter. 

This shop is a must visit if you happen to drop by ST3 which is not known just as 'neh...the building opposite the Spring' but also a haven for foodies.

This Chinese new year, my husband and I brought our little 2 year old monster....I mean toddler for tea at Rusty Bean & Batter. We ordered their signature Rusty Fairy, orange juice and Momento Pancake. 

Rusty Fairy review
Everytime we visit the shop, my husband will order this dish without fail. This dish comes with a very sweet and innocent looking cotton candy on a stick. Basically you dip the cotton candy in your coffee (in this case it was an originally very bitter espresso), let the candy gradually dissolve in the coffee to sweeten it and finally pour some caramel sauce in your cup to add some zest to the flavor. The result? A perfectly blended espresso with a hint of sugary sweet caramel! This is one heavenly drink I must say.

Orange juice review 
Normally, one cannot go wrong with orange juice. But on that particular day, the juice guy (not sure what you call them) accidentally added carrots to the orange juice (not exactly a carrot fan here) and add the fact that the juicer was probably not cleaned properly prior to juicing the orange - carrot juice..the end result was an orange carrot juice that tasted weird ( probably bits of pulp from the previous juicing made it into our juice). But no matter...my ever hungry toddler finished the whole glass at one go. No complaints from him so I guess it's OK after all. 

Momento Pancake 
Ahhhhh.....throw in warm fluffy pancakes and drizzle then with melting chocolate sauce and chunks of strawberries and blueberries. A dish worthy for the king! Gets my vote as best dish of the day. Even Gordon Ramsey would have loved it. 

So all in all, Rusty Bean & Batter didn't disappoint. We'll definitely be back again! Just remember to wash your juicer guys!

For my aunt's birthday, I decided to treat her for a round of coffee and cakes. So off we went to Earthlings...a bustling café right at the heart of the City One shopping mall. 

While Earthlings is famous for their coffee, we decided to order something different instead....tea. We had chamomile and earl grey tea with tiramisu cake.

The Tiramisu 
Tiramisu which means 'pick me up' is a famous coffee flavored Italian dessert. And this Tiramisu did not disappoint. It was flavored with cocoa powder (very light and aromatic), and the cake itself was spongy and sandwiched between layers of whipped cream and cheese. The cost of the cake was slightly on the pricey side but hey...the taste definitely made it worth the money.

The chamomile and earl grey
I can't think of anything that can go wrong with tea...they smelt great (they have off a very relaxing aroma) and tasted wonderful (definitely perked me up). The only downside was that it wasn't hot enough. There was no gentle steam rising from the tea cup (which by the way was a very fancy looking measuring cup made from glass) but other than that both teas get a thumbs up from aunty and I. 

The cafe was also very cosy to be in, with displays of the coffee beans and roasting tools; pretty led lights dangling from the bare ceiling slabs, soothing music and attentive crew. Oh, they even provide workshops for aspiring baristas too! Talk about a professional café! 

Munch...that's a very catchy name for a coffee shop. At Munch, you literally get to munch on Asian and Western food. In that particular day, my dad, uncle and I visited the shop and ordered Chinese/Taiwanese food. 

Chicken Mee Sua
Dad loved it. He said the soup was rich in flavor (the wine was thick) and the chicken thigh was soft and tender. The mee sua was boiled to just the right texture (it can be a little tricky with mee sua, some people tend to overcook the mee sua making it very mushy and gooey but at Munch, this was not the case. The texture was just nice and right)

The handmade noodle with minced meat & handmade noodle with wontan 
Unfortunately I didn't quite like the noodle. My uncle who ordered a similar dish had the same comment. The noodle dish was a wee bit too salty for our liking. And the noodle felt alot like a mee jawa wannabe. The minced meat and wontan were the only saving grace. I wouldn't recommend this dish for those who do not like salty food.

Bubur Chacha 
Ahhhhh....the all Malaysian favourite....the great baba nyonya dish. This dish gets my approval. It was served chilled with a generous amount of yam and sweet potatoes with extremely thick coconut cream....mmm...mmm. Not too sweet and very refreshing and filling. Definitely a must try. 

Munch also serves a variety of finger food like bagels, croissants, sandwiches which I have yet to try. But friends who have tried them all said that they tasted great so I guess I'll be coming back again to see how good their sandwiches are. 

Elementary Coffee Roasters is owned by a group of aspiring young entrepreneurs (hot looking young men to be precise) who aspire to market their coffee shop and make it a well known brand throughout the whole of Sarawak. 

The coffee beans that they use to make coffee drinks are especially imported from Australia and are personally roasted by hot looking baristas.

Since it had just opened up at Viva City, hubby and I decided to pop in for a try. Upon entering the shop, we were greeted by the smell of freshly grounded coffee. The coffee shop itself has a simple and spacey feel allowing you to easily maneuver around. 

We ordered a chamomile tea and a caffe latte with an orange poppy seed cake. 

On to the reviews :
Chamomile tea ( they had a fancy name for it; teardrop pyramid chamomile blossom). While I didn't shed any teardrops drinking the tea, I did enjoy the taste of the tea which was heavily infused with chamomile flowers (me likely!)

The caffe latte. The owner was very generous and provided the latte as a complimentary drink free of charge ( me likely freebies!) The owner actually came by to our table to explain how they roast the coffee to give it a distinct taste. While I'm no coffee lover, I was impressed by the details given and the passion displayed by the owner. Hubby drank the coffee and had some opinion...apparently he would have preferred of they had served a little biscuit to accompany the coffee (minus off one star) and it would probably look better if they had served the coffee in a ceramic cup instead of a paper cup (minus off another star) for the price that they are selling. Other than that, the coffee itself tasted great and flavorful. Definitely a master coffee roaster at hand. 

The orange poppy seed cake however has some room for improvement. The cream cheese was a little to hard and dense and the cake itself  was a little bland. Not bad but didn't really make an impression. Upon being told of the quality of the cake, the owner promised to look into the issue and promised that the next time we come back they will definitely improve. Nothing better than a passionate owner

So folks, if you are shopping at Viva, do drop by Elementary Coffee Roasters and give their coffee a try. They might just be your next favourite cafe. 

Ahhhhh.....mention Foody Goody and kuchingnites will insist that you visit the famous laksa stall there (Passionately called Ah Mui's Laksa by regular patrons). 

One has to have great patience waiting for the laksa....if you place your orders between 8am - 10am, you might have to wait for around 20 minutes before you are served. So come really early if your not the patient type, else just enjoy the wait and chat with your friends while waiting for the famous laksa dish.

The laksa....they come in 3 sizes, S priced at RM6, M priced at RM7, and L priced at RM8. A The difference is the size of the prawns which by the way are succulent and juicy! Make sure you specify the size you want otherwise they will automatically serve you the medium sized laksa. 

The laksa gravy is a wonder....it's prawn paste is thick and the coconut milk serves to enhance the flavor of the gravy. My dad once said if you want to check the quality of a laksa gravy, what you have to do is take a spoonful of the gravy, pour it back onto the side of the laksa bowl. If you see alot of black dots ( they're the prawn paste and pepper powder mind you), then that means its a good laksa gravy. In short, the murkier it looks the better.

Add that with the bouncy springy bee hoon (vermicelli) and freshly cut pieces of boiled chicken bits, strips of golden fried Omelette, crunchy bean sprouts and a dash of lime and the hot and spicy Sambal.....this is a dish worthy of kings. Mmm Mmm. 

Definitely a must try!