Food reviews: May 2008 Archives

The Manhattan Fish Market (MFM) is a high end fast food eating establishment in the vein of T.G.I. Friday's and Chili's Grill & Bar. The Spring has one of the franchise outlets and Irene brought us there for lunch coz we didn't eat on the flight to Kuching.

The Manhattan Fish Market traces its history back to the Fulton Fish Market in Manhattan, New York. The 180 year linage of the Manhattan Fish Market under the Brooklyn Bridge is the basis of this seafood restaurant franchise. MFM specializes in seafood of all sorts - fish, oysters, mussels, lobsters, crab etc. If it has fins or a shell, it's probably on the menu at The Manhattan Fish Market.

The MFM outlet at The Spring shopping mall has a wood based interior with solid timber dominating the features, a rather environmentally unfriendly but warm design implementation. The localization attempt has a huge plasma TV showing a video from Ikan Terhandal Malaysia (Expert Fishing Malaysia), a monthly magazine for fishing enthusiasts with a VCD showing recreational fishing amateur footage.

The Manhattan Fish Market also has a consistent theme - the focus is on seafood and there are old framed posters of fish, lobster and crab on the walls, presumably the very same ads from the Fulton Fish Market nearly two centuries ago.

The table has the signature MFM chopping board in place of the usual plate setting in other restaurants. This trademark is from the Fulton Fish Market days when fresh tuna (and other catch) were brought in and chopped up before being sold.

Captain's Quencher (RM 6.90)

This is a carbonated orange twist that I ordered. Very refreshing and thirst quenching. No misleading naming conventions here. :)

Espresso (RM 12)

A much needed shot of caffeine to jolt myself awake...

Garlic Butter Mussels (RM 13.90)

Delicious poached mussels in creamy Manhattan garlic butter sauce. Comes with slices of baguettes.

The mussels in garlic sauce tastes absolutely divine! There weren't enough to go around.

Grilled Catch of the Day (RM 17.90)

Grilled catch of the day complete with Manhattan garlic butter sauce - a healthier choice (presumably compared to their famous Manhattan Fish & Chips)

Irene had the grilled catch of the day (think it was halibut for that Saturday)

Manhattan Seafood Platter For Two (RM 42.90)

Deep fried fish fillet, calamari, oysters, and prawns served with chips and garlic rice.

I shared the Manhattan Seafood Platter For Two with Phoenix. The waiter had a can of combustible material and flamed the platter in front of us. This flaming treatment chars the top of the platter and ensures the carbon goodness is transmitted properly. ;)

The Manhattan Seafood Platter is meant for two (2) people but even the three of us couldn't finish it. The serving portions at The Manhattan Fish Market is generous, meant for larger appetites than ours. I think the flaming treatment got too close to Phoenix coz her face seems a bit charred from it.

It was really good to meet up with you again on this trip, Irene! :)

The Manhattan Fish Market - now available in Sarawak.

Mitsu Shabu-Shabu Restaurant is one of the oldest and most successful Japanese eating establishments in Sibu. Shabu-shabu roughly translates to "swish-swish" and is a Japanese variant of the hot pot. This makes it well suited to local taste buds since the steamboat is already a popular communal dining option over here.

Mitsu Shabu-Shabu is unique in a sense that all the seating arrangements have individual hot pots recessed into the tabletop. The bar dining area and tables all have personal hot pots. A table for four would have four individual hot pots and a table of two would have, well, you know, two hot pots. This must have made it a very popular destination during the Avian flu scare a couple of years back when people jumped two feet back if you even looked like you were about to sneeze.

The proper method of eating shabu-shabu is to take a piece of the thinly sliced meat and swish it around several times in the boiling soup (broth). However, I noticed that it's more common for the fine citizens of Sibu to just dump the entire stash of ingredients lock, stock and barrel into the hot pot. This method is more suited to the coarsely chopped ingredients of a steamboat instead of the thinly sliced meats of shabu-shabu.

This is the Mitsu Mixed Beef Meat Set (RM 25) which contains a selection of thinly sliced cuts - tenderloin, rib eye, sirloin and even bacon (of the beef variety).

The main orders come with a dish of nori (edible seaweed) which is something of a mandatory component of shabu-shabu (or any other Japanese cuisine for that matter).

There are also a wide range of side orders from the mundane to the obscure. This is Taiwanese pork sausage (RM 3).

This is hand made chicken balls (stop snickering) which is priced at RM 2 for six balls.

Crab sticks (RM 2) goes very well with hot pots. It's actually made of fish meat and flavored with crab (no idea how they do that) and I love this stuff.

The more exotic options include premium grade A1 Taiwan Abalone which is priced at RM 13.

Faye is a big fan of shortcuts so she dumped the entire plate into the broth instead of swishing individual slices of meat around. It should be noted that she was born and bred in Sibu. ;)

The poor meat and vegetables (and even the abalone) was practically being boiled alive in the hot pot.

I quickly saved a couple of them by scooping it up into a bowl. Shabu-shabu is eaten with goma (sesame seed) sauce and steamed rice.

The Seafood Dry Dumpling (RM 3.90) in Mitsu Shabu-Shabu is amazing. The gyoza is filled with succulent prawns, squid, and fish before being deep fried.

The flavor and moisture of the ingredients are somehow preserved during the deep frying process, resulting in a burst of flavor when you bite into one of these. Highly recommended!

"What kind of restaurant makes you cook your own food?"

Mitsu Shabu-Shabu Restaurant is open till late and adequately air-conditioned. It's a good destination for hot pots without being subjected to the hyperhidrosis associated with steamboats eaten al fresco.

RH Hotel is having a special Mother's Day buffet dinner promotion at Oriental Bistro with a door gift and a free ticket for every five tickets purchased.



It is priced at RM 44 ++ per person and there's a 50% discount for children below 12 and senior citizens above 55 years old.



I went there with Faye and KJ since my parents had a church function they had to go to.



The highlight of the Mother's Day buffet dinner is a kebab/steak stand where the chefs cook the cuts of meat you want.



There are also various types of sausages...



...and they even slice it up nicely for you at your request.



There is also an ABC (a kind of shaved ice dessert) stand for something sweet to finish your dinner with.



You can customize the ingredients and toppings you want inside. I had mine with chocolate sprinkles, which is a decidedly unorthodox topping. :)



This is what I ended up eating...and this is just for starters coz I was REALLY hungry last night.



My plate overfloweth. It contains:



Beef tripe and scallops



Deep fried prawn dumplings, beef rendang, calamari



Prime portions of chicken



Deep fried squid and braised duck



Chicken curry and shrimp with mayonnaise



Steamed fish



There's even a side dish of various cuts of beef and veal!



I was still feeling a little hungry after all that excess so I attacked the pastries counter for dessert.



I noticed one of the chefs bringing out a new batch of cream tarts so I got some as well. =D



This is the dessert plate that I finished the meal with - I even got four (4) scoops of ice cream to go with it.



I am a rather fast eater, as Faye has been telling KJ. Faye took a video of me eating the entire plate. This is really the usual speed at which I eat, unless I'm with polite company. :)



Speed eating!

Tanahmas Hotel is having a Wine & Dine promotion this month with steak air flown in from New Zealand paired with their Seifried wine from Nelson, NZ. Faye was in a generous mood, so she bought me dinner last night. Perhaps me helping her out tutoring had something to do with it as well. ;)



I had the Grilled Ribeye Steak (RM 44.00 ++) which came with broccoli, carrot, cauliflower, young corn and mashed potato. It comes with your choice of black pepper sauce or mushroom sauce. I'm a big fan of garlic sauce, which I guess is a little unrefined, and can be hazardous to your breath, but it's really good. Unfortunately, they don't have that, so I went with the black pepper sauce.



I had it medium rare and the steak came out tender and juicy. The portion is very generous too, well worth the RM 44 price tag.



Faye had the Grilled Sizzling Lamb Chop (RM 26.50 ++) which is also part of the Western Food Promotion (also known as the Wine & Dine promotion). It comes with the same trimmings and sauce options. She went for the mushroom sauce.



We also ordered fried mee mamak (RM 13.00 ++) to share. I like Tanahmas Hotel's (the place is really called Peppers Cafe, I don't know why everyone calls it Tanahmas Hotel) fried mee mamak - it's very spicy.



This is the Chimpanzee Shake (RM 10.00 ++). It's a peanut butter milk shake and I've been having cravings for the stuff ever since I had it a couple of weeks ago. It's a thick and sinful concoction of peanut butter and ice cream and if you think you'll like something like this, you probably would. Honestly, everyone I recommended this to came back with rave reviews.



Faye also presented me with a crudely wrapped DVD sized package as a token of appreciation for my tutoring efforts.



It's an 8 GB USB flash drive. I've been wanting to get another one since the one I got earlier this month filled up. It's the perfect gift for a blogger (or photographer). Thanks Faye! :)



Hey, what's with the feeding each other routine? :p

Min Kong Cafe is well known in Sibu for its RM 20 prawn noodles. Their flagship dish actually reached an all time high of RM 25 per bowl before dropping to its current RM 20 rate. There are other places offering the same dish for RM 12 but for the original Min Kong prawn noodles, there is but one place to eat it.



Min Kong Cafe is air conditioned and also offers traditional fare as well as rice dishes but most people go there for their flagship RM 20 prawn noodles. There are actually three (3) RM 20 offerings - big prawn cooked noodles, big prawn fried noodles, and fish noodles.



I couldn't try all three in one sitting so I had the famed big prawn cooked noodles first with Amy and some other people from work. I also took the liberty of ordering Tiger Beer (RM 8) since I saw someone eating big prawn cooked noodles on the office Intranet (a supplier) and drinking Tiger Beer and had felt the craving for the same ever since. I guess it's alright since both times I went there were Saturday afternoons. :)



The cooked big prawn noodles (RM 20) is known as "ta sia chau chu mien" and is the flagship dish of Min Kong Cafe. It's very well known for its unapologetic pricing and generous portions of prawns. There are four big prawns in every bowl (it's actually two, sliced horizontally) and the broth is very prawny.



Min Kong certainly doesn't skimp on the good stuff and the portions of noodles are reasonable so it doesn't fill you up too much. The prawns are also pre-shelled so there's no hassle involved in shelling the prawns in a bowl of soup (which can be pretty unwieldy, and can cause no small amount of splash damage).



I like!



I also went there earlier this afternoon with Faye and she opted for the fish noodles (RM 20) since she's not a very big fan of prawns (being allergic to most shellfish as it were). The fish noodles is topped with generous slices (slabs?) of prime fish meat on the top.



I just love the beautiful mosaic swirls on the fish meat. It's wonderfully tender too, well worth the RM 20 price tag. This is a good option if you don't like prawn, the fish noodles is also chock full of prime ingredients (with an appropriate prime price tag to boot).



I went for the fried big prawn noodles (RM 20) this afternoon. It's the lesser known contender to the RM 20 cooked big prawn noodles throne but I certainly wasn't disappointed by its performance. The same neatly shelled prawns are heaped on top of the fried noodles and I even found the feelers nicely shelled and ready to eat! The gravy is very prawny and concentrated, and the noodles fried just right. I would recommend this lesser known dish to real lovers of prawn instead.



Bon appetit!


Word of the day:

splash damage
(verb)
Otherwise known as the mee soup incident, it is the inadvertent soiling of work clothes due to uncooperative ingredients mishandled during lunch hour.