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What Are the Rules of Dining at a Buffet?
#1 You Don’t Have To Always Eat All
#2 Keep It Clean
#3 Take Care of Your Server
- Richie Frieman, Modern Manners Guy
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We were here for an advance Mother's Day dinner so as to reserve the actual day for my mother & mother-in-law.
It was slightly 15 minutes later than our reserved timing when we arrived at the restaurant. I was worried that our reserved table would had been given away. we might have to wait for awhile with our extremely stomachs.
To my astonishment, the charmingly friendly host escorted us to an exclusive dining corner reserved especially for us!
"This is going to be a very enjoyable evening..."
"Hmm...Nice..."
"Wow! So special ahh..."
"Felt like VIP already..."


All of us settled down, chatted a little with sips of the icy cold water (served diligently by the servers). Then, I volunteered to remain at the table while my family went on a recce tour of the restaurants.
This encave corner is very decorative, it looked like a table set by the window that oversee a tranquil town besides the mountain. There were also bottles of wine, olive oil, beautiful plates set on the walls. Even the glassware looked imported...
I was still absorbing the zen vibes of this little exclusive corner when my family members began to trickle back...each with a plate of their favorite starter, in small portions.
The men started with the fresh seafood while we ladies prefered sashimi, salads & cold cuts.
The freshly shuckled oysters...were plump, briny & all you have to do is slurp up everything!
Although mignonette was available, I had mine with Tobasco, Green Pepper Tobasco or just plain.
"How did you like your oysters?"Daughters & I went for the Sashimi, next.
There was not many varieties but the slices were fresh, thick & juicy. Oishi! The crayfish tasted firm, springy & full of its natural flavor...m m m . . .
They have plenty of the delicious big prawns, succulent mussels & springy scallops.
We would simply have just eaten these throughout the evening...although the baskets were emptied as soon as they were filled, the servers were dilligently replenishing them...
Nice!The crunchy asparagus mixed with flaky cooked salmon made a surprisingly pleasing salad...
I especially liked the Dory Fish in sweet & sour sauce, it just opened up my palate...
The mushroom salad was full of different types of mushrooms like the shiitake, the drumstick, the portabelo, the straw, the inoki & the abalone...
Yummy!An unlikely choice for most but a delightful find for me! The crispiness of the papadum, the tanginess of the mint sauce (from the Roasted Lamb station), the soothing yogurt & the spiciness of the red chutney (yes, i wondered what it was made of, too)...all came to unlock the saliavary gland so as to be prepared for more exciting flavours!I discovered a DIY Gado-Gado station! Although the ingredients were slightly cold, the warm, tangy & slightly sweet peanut sauce was a delight! I liked the way they double-boiled the peanut sauce. A small claypot of the peanut sauce was kept warm in the constantly heated water of a slightly bigger claypot. Very thoughtful, right?!
The fried crispy taukwa might looked dry but it was really soft & moist inside; the cabbages, long beans & bean sprouts were scaldded perfectly - retaining the crunchiness; the chewy & flavorful tempeh was a surprise, very difficult to find it in this dish elsewhere now...
Overall satisfaction!This station was not manned throughout. A courteous young man came to my rescue as soon as he saw me stopped there. So nice...
The lamb was tenderly roasted, tomatoes were lightly grilled & was delightfully sweet, the potato & veggies complimented the dish very well.This was a pleasant surprise among the western lot of cuisine served here. It had a distinct Nonya flavour. Delightfully additive for a partial-Nonya like me...Desserts!
No lady would politely refuse a serving of desserts without blinking an eye...
The must-haves are aplenty but I could only devour (err...taste) these...
Heavenly Divine!!!Being a "Health Concious" person, I also had some of these to assist my digestion.


Verdict:

#1 - checked: we ate in moderation, having small quantity per plate per trip
#2 - checked: our table is free from shells & spillage, used plates were stacked up nicely
#3 - checked: we showed appreciation with smiles, please & thank you to all servers

Yes. It was an Enjoyable Evening!
It's a promise that "We Will Be Back!"

** Did you know **
The oyster world seems overwhelming, but there are only five species of oysters in the world, and it’s easy to tell one from another.
Don’t say “oyster juice,” say “liquor.” - Oyster liquor is the natural juice inside the oyster that keeps it alive once it’s out of the water. It is unacceptable to rinse or dump that juice out of the oyster before consuming it raw. That juice is precious and should taste amazing, and that’s why it’s referred to as liquor. It should be clear not cloudy.
- The Only 7 Things You Need To Know About Oyster, Buzzfeed.

Came to this district to visit a hobby shop. It was lunchtime, so we just hopped into Ubi 33 Food House.

## First Impression ##
A very well-ventilated place with big ceiling fans. Bright-colored settings with neat & clean tables. No sight of any pests (birds, cockroaches & flies) in the dining area. The walkways were very spacious even though the tables & benches were fastened onto the floor (same as every other eatery in the country).

## Stall-front ##
We decided to order from the "Claypot Delight" stall, as many customers seemed to be enjoying their clay-pot dishes very much.
There were 20 photos of their food dishes displayed overhead. Each photo was tagged with a number, price & their names in both Chinese & English. That was very thoughtful.
I ordered #12 & #15 and was requested politely to take a seat. That was a pleasant surprise!

## The Food ##
The food were served pretty fast...another positive point!
Two claypot dishes, two heaped bowl of rice only cost $9.50…add points again!

The Claypot Chicken Cube 砂煲宫保鸡 ～
It might look oily when served but it certainly was not. This dish was piping hot & flavorful. The meat was tender & well-marinated. The lightly scalded spring onions complimented nicely. We wanted to find fault for it not being spicy enough but chili sauce was served alongside, albeit watery. Anyway, we scooped the claypot clean. So, it was actually a good dish.
Mmm…
I'm still tantalized by the fragrance…

The Pig Trotters Vinegar 砂煲猪脚醋 ～
Chinese ladies could only sampled this tonic dish during their confinement after giving birth.
The claypot was sizzling!
It's content piping hot!
This black vinegar soup was sweet, a little gingery but soothing like jello down the throat.
This was the feeling I had years ago during my confinement!
The whole piece of old ginger was crushed & cooked till tender. It was effortlessly chewed & swallowed!
Must had been painstakingly boiled for a very long time… 👍
I had tasted a few versions of this dish around. Then I chose to only eat the lean meat as the fatty part (of most stalls) was too oily for my palate. 
This was bouncy on every bite but tender enough for the very old, too!
Yummy!

I will be back!
I will definitely be back for this gingerly heaven.

~ via mobile

Googled & further confirmed that the promotion, circulating in FB, is true & the same here, as it is ongoing in Malaysia. Coincidentally, it was the day of the promotion. So I persuaded Hubby to bring us here.

The nearest outlet that I could recall was in East Coast. When we reached here, It was already 9 plus at night. The car park was rather packed but we didn't need to wait very long…
Lucky for us!

I liked the old town screen at the entrance. It was made up of a signage 舊街場 咖啡馆 (meaning Old Street Square Cafe) and tiers of nicely framed old handcrafted glass panels. A nostalgic touch, no doubt.

We were ushered to our seats as soon as we walked into the Cafe. The old-style wooden chairs were in tables of fours while some boxed-seats could accommodate up to six people and were mostly occupied. The service staff wore a "Selamat Datang" batch were friendly.

It took us a while to realize that we had to fill up the order chit on our own. We were told that two of the five promotional dishes had sold out. So we ordered three different dishes with one in double servings.

We were served their signature White Coffee in no time. The cold coffee was concluded as an acquired taste. But Hubby & I agreed that the hot coffee was thick, aromatic and sweet. It was thick but not bitter; aromatic but not overpowering and the light sweetness was from the creamy condensed milk. That was so old-schooled.
We liked it.

The Steam Minced Chicken Rice looked decent but was not convincingly palatable to us. Perhaps we were more used to the normal sized chicken pieces instead of the minced type.

Their Soup BBQ Chicken Wanton Noodles tasted great! Especially with the intended dribble of the good-old prawn oil just before serving…
The crunchy-skin, big, deep-fried wantons were soaking up the tasty soup as if it's timed to start as soon as the bowl hit our table!
The BBQ Chicken tasted juicy & sweet, you can see that the marinate was well absorbed into the meat. Yummy!
The noodles were cooked to al-dente but continued to absorb the tasty soup as we were slurping them up non-stop.

The noodle of the Dry Springy Noodles with Chicken Chop tasted like the dry Indomee with soya sauce; the chicken pieces reminded me of a certain fried street food named "小霸王" (one of my favorite fried chicken, which is no longer available). Every item in this dish complimented each other well. This dish tasted even better with the extra Balachan Chilli & the cut Green Chilli. We practically emptied the entire dish, not a drop of sauce left!

Our total bill was less than $25. That was really a Good Deal for 3 people!

This eatery has made it's way into My Good Book.
We would definitely go back to try the other dishes on the same day, next month!
Hope you will enjoy as much as we did.
Cheers!



~ via mobile…

These carrot cake sticks are my childhood fav!!!

The stall is manned by 2 people today, usually only the senior is around. Perhaps it's the weekends or simply because of the super huge crowd…


Anyway, it's the commendable passion of the young man that had captured my attention (while queuing)… It is a hot & tedious process frying these yummy morsels. 

The sticks were spaced & arranged meticulously onto the tray. He uses a hook to lower the tray slowly (without tilting) into the hot oil. Let it stayed in the hot oil for a few minutes while he prepares another tray.
Next, he has to steep-dunk the hot tray up & down a few times in the oil hot (I presumed so doing will retain the crispiness)…
Then the tray is taken out & let to cool aside before pouring all the sizzling Carrot Sticks onto the serving counter.

The Senior will pick 4 pieces at a time with a small tong & put them neatly into the paper bag, (awesomely) ignoring the hot oil seeping thru the paper bag & onto his palm. He then placed the paper bags into a plastic bag for takeaways...

There's a container of bamboo skewers placed in front of the glass case, at the service counter. Feel free to take if you really need them.

These morsels has a crunchily crispy skin with a soft center. You can taste the carrot bits if you'd chewed (enjoyingly) like me… 

Be careful…it's piping hot…but it's so delicious that I finished the whole pack of 12 pieces in a jiffy!


It's addictive!
Once you've started eating, you simply can't stop.

Yes. They're closing…
Business is terminating…
All the goodness will be gone forever…

The pieces of fleshy, tender & juicy Chicken…
The fragrant & fluffy Chicken Rice…
The crunchy mount-full of Bean Sprouts…
The fresh green & leafy Veggies…
The crispy-outside-tender-and-juicy-inside Toufu…

Yes.
Even the humble thick black Dark Soy Sauce…
The tangy Ginger Purée & the spicy Chilli Sauce…

All will be gone forever in the coming months…

Go now… & taste heaven if you've not done so… or forever hold your peace…

Bon Appetite!