Nandos recently opened an outlet in Kuching, Sarawak. Yay for Sarawakians! We are greatly deprived of good food from the west ( cue to sarcastic grin)

Anyways, when the outlet first opened, the queue was very very long as people old and young queued up to dine in Nandos to taste their savory and spicy grilled chicken.Fast forward to 3 months later, the queue and craze has died down so my family and I decided it was finally time to give it a try ( FYI we hate queueing up)

So we ordered their promo dish at RM 39.42 per pax (pre GST) which included the following :

1. Quarter chicken with 2 sides
For the quarter chicken we had it with lemon and herbs (the mildest of the hierarchy of spiciness) and aromatic rice and potato wedges. The chicken was good, tender and juicy. As should be expected from a Nandos outlet. I liked how the lemony taste was infused in the chicken thigh and even though it was grilled to a slightly brownish charcoal color, the meat still retained it's moisture and fresh and zesty taste. The rice was ok, similar to what Kenny Rogers offers with the typical corn, green peas and carrot bits. The wedges were light and crunchy..nothing to shout about though.

2. Orange juice
The good thing about this was that the juice was refillable. The bad thing was that its not the freshly squeezed orange juice. Still it tasted nice.

3. PERI soup
My husband liked it but it was top spicy for me. Taste wise it was great, thick and creamy but being a Mexican food outlet they of course had to put chili flakes in the soup which made the soup more and more spicy with each mouthful.

4. Strawberry cheese brownie
Those with a sweet tooth will definitely like this. The top is filled with a thick layer of cream cheese layers with lines of strawberry jam. The bottom is a very dense and sweet brownie with a generous amount of chopped nuts. Very sweet and savory this dish is.

All in all, it is worth giving the promotional package a try. Not the best food outlet but definitely ranks as one of the better ones in town.

The Boulevard Chinese Restaurant in kuching is famous for its variety of delicious dim sums. And here's a quick peek at how their emperor char siaw noodle and wonton soup ranked.

Char Siew Noodle (dry)
A delightful dish this was. The noodle was fine and tangy, layered with aromatic sesame oil and shallot flakes. The char siaw was thick and juicy and most importantly it didn't reek of the weird pork smell that some char siews have. Actually the noodles could have been served without the char siews and I would have still finished off the whole plate. It was that good. And as of that wasn't enough, the chef added boiled Siew pak chois as the side dish. Not crazy about vegetables but I found them to be very crunchy and juicy.

Wonton noodle (soup)
Now for those of you who prefer noodles with soup, why not give the wonton noodle a try? It might not be a flavorful as the dry char siew noodle and also slightly more oily but the wonton itself is worthy to be praised. The filing is rich with marinated minced meat and chopped veggies. The size of the wontons is surprisingly big so if you have a small appetite, you might want to share this dish with a friend or family member.

Overall this place is a must visit. They serve maybe other dim sum dishes besides the tangy noodles and tasty wontons.

A visit to ST3 would not be complete without a visit to the DOT cafe, famous for their waffles and pizzas.

So off we went, hubbs, baby and I one night after dinner. There was a promotion that night (actually they seem to have a promotion every day) which included a combination of a waffe+ice cream + bananas and fresh watermelon juice. So we ordered that as well as a cafe latte.

Waffle :
The waffle wins hands down. It was light, fluffy and crispy. Just perfect for a toddler's supper. There was a generous amount of sliced bananas on top of the waffle with drizzled of chocolate sauce. And sitting on to of all the goodies was a soft serve vanilla ice cream. While the waffle, bananas and chocolate sauce were great, the ice cream was just ok. Don't get me wrong, it was nice and sweet but it just wasn't creamy enough.

Cafe latte:
I'll be honest here. I'm not a coffee fan but my husband is and he has extremely high standards when it comes to coffee so when he complained that the cafe latte was a tad bit too weak, well, I'll just have to take his word for it.

All in all, if you go to DOT, do give the waffle a try. That's something you won't regret.

The Maker has made headlines in Miri, noticeably for their relaxing ambience and delicious cakes.

Recently I bought two cakes...one was the chocolate indulgence and the other a simple New York cheese cake.

Chocolate Indulgence
This cake was rich and moist with a very thick and bittersweet chocolate cream. It had a hint of alcohol in it and when swallowed, the cake left a very warm feeling in my throat and stomach. Some might find it slightly too rich but the richness was just right imo.

New York Cheese Cake
The cheese cake on the other hand was just normal. It wasn't bad but not too memorable. Taste was nice and sweet and creamy but maybe there are too many cheese cakes around for comparison, so much so that this one failed to stand out.

Overall, the chocolate indulgence is a must try while the new York cheese cake is not a must. Do visit the shop though as they have many inspirational quotes from the Bible and impressive interior design.

A true kuchingnite would know that THE BEST noodle shop in town belongs to the undisputed Noodle Descendants. With a long and rich history of how the late coffee shop owner (lovingly called toh pui soho by patrons) who slaved away to make ends meet for her children when her husband passed away and to eventually become a reputed noodle seller.

These days, one has to wait at least an hour just to get a taste of their noodles. It is so good that even tourists who are pressed for time are willing to wait in queue.

Anyways, my dad and I patiently waited for 50 minutes for our noodles. And it was awesome with a capital A.

The noodles were tossed with sesame oil, black vinegar and crunchy fried shallots giving it an aromatic smell and taste.

The side dish is a combination of bouncy fish balls, minced meat, three layer pork, 'spare parts', zesty salted veggy and my personal favorite, the black seaweed. The serving is quite big so if you're not a heavy water you can just order one side dish and 2 bowls of noodles and still walk away full and satisfied.

I'd like to add that the current operator ( descendants of toh pui soh) were kind enough to take my dad's request into consideration to reduce the saltiness and to make the noodles more cooked (my dad's tastebuds have changed since undergoing chemo). Kudos to their attentiveness.

A must visit!