Brewhouse, Imperial Mall

Brew house has always been a personal fave for my coffee fix since they opened last year. They were one of the first using the brand Morin or something for their flavoured coffee. Despite only having a type of cake each day, we were quite the regulars until more cafes popped up over the months. 

I love their Irish coffee and if you like liquor with your coffee, this is one of the better ones I've tasted. For the usual coffee, I like their salted caramel latte and the hazelnut. The latter could be a little sweet but I like it! Haha

Their red velvet and lemon curd cakes are really good but during my last visit they were not available. Instead, we had their chicken pie (pictured above) and their cottage pie. The chicken pie was good with short, crispy pie crust and delicious filling although it was quite heavy on the potato and not the chicken meat.

The cottage pie on the other hand was quite disappointing. The top was a little too hard and felt not too fresh if you get what I mean. The beef was alright but it was not as good as I remembered.

Free wifi is available but the line could be a little bad considering the new wing of Imperial Mall has pretty bad reception for most providers, that could be understood. They have a second outlet coming up nearby Boulevard so maybe wifi will be better there!

Brew house

1st floor new wing Permaisuri Mall

Miri

Vegan House, Miri

For something seemingly healthier, we decided on vegetarian for lunch today. Especially after my huge platter of meat yesterday at Senda Shabu Shabu Miri. The place was air-conditioned and it used to be called Vegeking or something along that line. The place was relatively empty for lunch and I soon found out why.

The service leaves a lot to desire. From the grumpy waiter who told us mostly everything we wanted to order from the drinks menu was unavailable. After that, when we ended up ordering just the plain water, he brusquely remarked about just one drink for the two of us. Dishes took a while to come out despite no new customers. I ordered the sesame oil fish, as depicted below. The taste was alright but not exceptional. 

My sister ordered the sweet and sour mushrooms and this is one dish we would not be ordering anymore. The deep fried mushrooms were soggy and the batter it was dipped into felt too thick. It was unappetizing to say the least.

The deep fried duck dish did NOT look anything like the photo in the menu or the usual Vegetarian Duck we were accustomed to. Gamely trying it, I found that it was not too bad; and the sauce they drizzled on top was actually the same sauce from the sweet and sour dish. 

Would I come back? I would probably head to my usual Vegetarian shop at Faradale Park, Miri but if you have never come here, maybe give them a try and judge for yourself.

Location:

Vegan House,

Lot 1399,

Ground Floor, Centre Point Phase 2, Jalan Kubu,

Miri.

Ipoh Town Kopitiam, Miri - A Review

A spin-off from Old Town Kopitiam, this place is supposingly famous for its toast n coffee amongst other things. I find the toast alright only because I do not like my butter to be melted down in my hainanese style toast. The Kaya was quite good actually and the half boiled eggs were always perfect!

The Indonesian noodles however was quite disappointing. It was instant noodles cooked with extra sausages, ham and a sunny side up at the side but the noodles were incredibly spicy from excessive pepper added.

I do not like the coffee here mainly because it was too thick and sweetly cloying. Service was always polite and conveniently situated in town made it always our go-to toast place even though  the food was mediocre.

Location:
Ipoh Town Kopitiam,
Lot 1395, Ground Floor, Centre Point Phase 2, Jalan Kubu,
Miri

Senda Shabu Shabu, Miri

This is possibly a landmark in Miri in my opinion. It has been here since my school days. The previous location was at Faradale Commercial Centre Miri and now it was shifted to Boulevard Commercial Centre above Hong Kong Duck Coffeeshop. Despite the stairs one have to climb to reach this shop now, the crowd has not lessened. Most tables were occupied when I came.

They have three variety of soup now: Seaweed (Free), Tomyam, Miso and Spicy soup all cost an additional RM3. The seaweed soup has always been bland but my main attraction for coming back over n over was probably due to its sauce. However, the sauce has already been successfully replicated by a Korean Hotpot along Jalan Permaisuri and I actually preferred the soup there. Thus, lessening my visit to this shop since it was moved.

The price is cheaper compared to other Hotpot shops though. For meat lover, a set like mine would be your best bet. At only RM28++, you get mutton, beef chuck, turkey ham and chicken. 

If you want something cheaper with the vegetable set, go ahead with this beef chuck vegetable set which cost just about RM18++ as compared to just vegetables set for RM12.90++.

Free dessert once you finished everything!

Thien Sin Prawn Mee, Miri - A Review

We love the "moon mee" and "hoon gan dan" here. It opens early daily so it's a good choice for breakfast. In case you don't know, "hoon gan dan" is a type of noodles dish in sour-ish, savoury broth cooked using dried vegetables and tomatoes with egg drops. It is also usually garnished with minced pork and slices of liver or pork. Black fungus and prawns are also usually added. My favourite "hoon gan dan" is still the one opposite 5050 Cafe in Pelita Commercial Centre but this is a close second. The "moon mee" is my favourite though.

Sadly, the "gong pia" was not up to par and I dislike the soggy skin. This is usual in most "gong pia" stall. What is more annoying is that they only sell it in a set of five.

Look out for it on your way down from Airport Miri area towards town (at the shop houses before the Traffic Police Head Quartees).

K City Seafood Centre, Miri - A Review

This shop has been here for a few years already; since my secondary school years I think. The food here was nice I remembered but somehow for some reason or others we stopped coming. Hmm. Anyway, my sister and I were going to try the shop opposite but upon sitting down and examining their menu we decided not to get our lunch there. Instead, we walked across and the lunch crowd were all there; a vast difference from the other shop. Lol. I think the main reason would be the difference of price here as I couldn't vouch for the taste of the food across from it as I did not order anything. 

Here, we had the mango fish fillet rice and Thai style pork chop rice respectively with extra sunny side up. 

Verdict: Cheap and delicious! The only grip I have is that the shop was really warm and on a sunny afternoon, it probably wouldn't be on top of the places I want to have my lunch at. If you couldn't be bothered, do go here for a economical but delicious lunch option.

K City Seafood Centre

Lot 782, Bintang Jaya Commercial Centre,

Miri.

Ruffles Cafe, Miri - A Review

It has been quite a while since I last came. Today I finally revisited Ruffles with my family. Their Mille crepe cakes definitely has improved. I previously disliked their Mille crepes because of the strong eggy taste and the rather thick layers as opposed to the usual thin layer. I think they have made some changes and now the eggy taste has gone away!

We had their latte and cappuccino as depicted below and they were satisfactory. 

The more noteworthy desert/drink here would be their new salted caramel affogato which came with a caramelised cookie of sorts which was pretty nyum, with coffee ice cream laced with strong espresso. The side of the glass was lined with fine salt for a nice contrast between sweet, bitter and saltiness. Genius!

The peppermint Mille crepe cake was what changed my negative perception of the Mille crepe cakes here to a positive one. The refreshing minty taste from the cream lightly slathered over each layer of chocolate crepe was just right. I enjoyed every bite!

The double cheese tart was slightly tarty with lemon zest thrown in for the top layer and rich creamy cheese layer below. It was decorated with some pistachio pieces for contrast of texture. I like it. But it was something I've had a few times since my Dad is a fan, so forgive me if the novelty of it has worn off. LOL

The passion fruit lime mousse cake was something like the tart filling for the top layer; separated with a sponge cake before a thicker layer of passion fruit mousse. I did not enjoy this cake much. I felt the sponge cake used in the middle was slightly stale and had a weird smell to it. @@ this was the only thing we did not finish. 

Oh and now they have a new promo going on. For every RM15 spent, you get a chop and after 10 chops, you get a free hot drink: hot latte, cappuccino or hot cocoa!

The Ruffles Sdn Bhd

Lot 1034, 

Piasau Industrial Estate,

Miri

Bali Itinerary Day 2 Part 2: Tanah Lot - Kuta - Hotel

By the time we were done with Ulun Danu Beratan (as I posted in my Bali Itinerary Day 2 Part 1), we made our way to Tanah Lot, a must-visit attraction when we are in Bali. It was still early afternoon when we went, and there were so many people around. However, we are already starving because we did not go to one of the shop the guide brought us to for late lunch and opted to wait. By the time we reached I was famished! There were a lot of shops in the area and I was kind of interested but we had not much time and had to go in for our meal and to watch the sunset etc. We had our meal at The Ocean Bar and Restaurant which had amazing view. We were famished so we gobbled up everything anyway even though food was not that good.

The place looked amazing! I finally know where all those photos with green mini lakes come from! Hahaha

National Geographic moments!

National Geographic moments 2!

National Geographic moments 3!

Magazine worthy?

There was a small enclave off to the side of the beach called Snake Cave. Out of curiosity, we went nearby and the two men guarding the entrance told us we have to pay a mere IDR5,000 each to go in and touch the snakes. LOL.

So many things to see!

Once we were done poking around the little ponds on the beach, we walked around the area taking random photos. People were all milling around waiting for sunset.

We managed to hog the front seats facing the sea sat down anticipating the sun going down soon.

Check out the huge amount of BATS going out from the caves below the cliffs! I initially thought they were birds until Hubby told me otherwise!

When we were done with all the photos, we headed back to the car.

We asked our driver to drop us at Hard Rock Cafe and took a slow walk back to the hotel.

It was a long day and we had a short break for some munchies at FlapJacks Pancakes like I reviewed before HERE before moving on.

They had a mini Eiffel here, so no need to go to Paris, eh? :P

We even managed to take a quick walk in Discovery Mall~ LOL. It was not that late yet and most shops were still open.

Nearing our hotel, we had a late supper at Bebek Tepi Sawah before calling it a night! What a day!

A Summary of our Day:
Early breakfast at hotel
Taman Ayun
Jatiluwih
Candi Kuning Market
Ulu Bratan
Late Lunch/Early Dinner at Tanah Lot
Tanah Lot
Kuta (free and easy) - Snack at Flapjacks and late supper at Bebek Tepi Sawah
Hotel