Fish Culture Cafe II 鱼玩食家, Sibu

The other day, I had lunch with my mum at Fish Culture Cafe II. Their first shop around Medan Mall has operated for some years now and it seems that they enjoy brisk business most of the time so they decided to expand their business to this new place here in the vicinity of Wonderful Supermarket.

Their signature Foo Chow Fish ball (Rm 4.45)

Well, one fish ball had been eaten by my mum before I could even take a photo so the price stated here is actually for 5 fish balls. Traditional authentic Fuzhou fish ball is made by beating the fish paste repeatedly until it completely turns into a nice mush. Then, the mush is used to make a wrapping for a variety of fillings.

Typically, the fish ball is stuffed with minced pork filling. Unlike machine-made fish ball, handmade one has more smooth and springier texture.

Salty Pan Pau (Rm 4.30) is actually pan-fried bun with salted fish and minced pork fillings. It is a famous Cantonese food you can easily find at most Dim Sum places.

It was not bad though I would still prefer it if it had a crispier skin.

Look at the filling...

They had really nice Lor Mai Kai (Rm4.45).

I was quite surprised to find out that it tasted so very nice to the extent that it could simply beat out some renowned international Dim Sum restaurant chains in the country. They used fish meat which I found it interesting because normally Chicken meat (as the name suggested; kai means chicken in Cantonese) is used instead.


Wakame Salad (Rm 4.45)

Well, obviously this is a Japanese appetizer. I wonder why but you can actually find this at this Dim Sum eatery. On a side note, you can get a whole tub of this from some supermarkets like Cold Storage for how much I have forgotten but definitely for a better price. Anyway, I did enjoy it (Very pleasant sesame oil aroma).


Seasoned Rice Pot (Rm 6.20)

Not too bad but not so good either. The pork was tender but not very well marinated.


Mushroom Mee (Rm 5.30)

They used Kampua Mee if I am not mistaken. It was not bad but just one thing; the fish balls (made from West Saury 西刀鱼 as mentioned on their menu) were a tad too fishy for my liking.

CHEERS!

The Famous Mushroom Roll @ Payung Cafe, Sibu

Located at the back of Kingwood Hotel (Facing Lanang Road), Payung Cafe is one of my favourite eateries in Sibu. It has a really cozy atmosphere with lots of pleasant, meticulous ornaments.

Front view of the restaurant

One must never miss out their most prominent dish, Mushroom Roll (Rm 8), should he or she dine in here. It is basically stewed mushroom wrapped in Popiah skin, and baked to perfection with sprinkles of Parmesan cheese powder on the skin's surface as a flavourful garnish. You got to believe me, this is the BOOM!

Payung's signature Mushroom Roll

As a durian mania, of course I did not forget to order their Durian Milkshake (Rm 8)

Durian Milkshake

which was kinda disappointing because the durian taste was rather mild for my liking.

Green Chicken Curry with Rice

However, I did enjoy their Green Chicken Curry with Rice (Rm16).

Chicken Spaghetti Carbonara

Wennie the Pooh ordered  their Chicken Spaghetti Carbonara (Rm 16) which I had no idea how nice it was since I did not have any chance to taste it (well, this is an implication).

Belimbing Prawn with Rice (I forgot to snap the bowl of rice!)

Andy ordered himself a plate of Belimbing Prawn with Rice (Rm16). Belimbing means starfruit which render the gravy its sourish taste.

Tom Yam Prawn with Spaghetti 

This dish (Rm16) was an interesting fusion of Eastern Thai Tom Yam and Western Spaghetti. It was surprisingly delicious!

Jelly Pisang

Well, Jelly Pisang (Rm8) *Pisang means Banana* is literally an interesting concoction of banana slices, red jelly, shaved ice with evaporated milk as well as a generous topping of Vanilla ice-cream. It has been said that this particular dessert is the specialty of Sibu.

*Life as a selfie stick*

 

KIT's first time in Sibu!

The other day, Kit from Penang flew to Sibu for a one-night business trip. I decided to drive him to one of the most established restaurants (New Capitol Restaurant) in town for lunch. Well, mind you, finding a vacant car park there was a real pain!

Here we were!

 Of course, we did not miss out the pride of Sibu, Kampua (dry noodle originated from the local foochow community).

The noodle served here was somewhat garlicky, which was a nice twist from the usual taste you would find in any traditional coffee shops elsewhere. 

I ordered a plate of stir-fried Cangkuk Manis (you can only find this in Sarawak!) with eggs as well.

They added ginger shreds in the dish which I found it unique because as far as I was concerned, no place else would do it the same way. 

And the last dish...

 

Hainanese Chicken and roasted pork belly platter! I heard it through the grapevine that this particular restaurant serves the best Hainanese Chicken in town but soon after the acid test, I would say that I did not really like it; It was rather bland. On the other hand, the roasted pork belly was not too bad.

The bill came up for RM 30.20 plus a glass of drinking water all together, and Kit insisted on picking up the tab for me. Thanks for the treat Kit! 

Cheers to more free lunch with you, Kit!