Kim Gary Station 18: a better HK style delicacies

There use to be a time when HongKong style cha-chan-teng style food is the "in" thing. Kim Gary probably is one of the first to pioneer, promoting cheese bake rice as the main dish. I can still remember those days when cheese baked rice can only be found in HK style restaurant. Nowadays, it is a norm in any kopitiam or fusion-western joints. So, the question remains, is Kim Gary still relevant?

Cheese baked beef curry (RM 14.90)

Well, yes, to a certain extent. It is still a solid restaurant, unlike some other similar HK style restaurant. Some of them are still famous enough, but some resorted to inviting famous HK stars as spoke person (and probably the money are spent in hiring the spoke-persons rather than hiring real cooks and chefs). After disappointing outings in another similar joint, I was bit skeptical about Kim Gary.

Kim Gary Station 18,  however, really did not disappoint. The busy line waiting to be seated is a prove while the few restaurant across was rather quiet comparatively. Far from being spacious, this is a typical restaurant in a shopping complex. Still do not know where it is? 1st floor of Aeon Station 18, somewhere near the centre court. Although it is really really busy, the staffs are still friendly and obliging. They really make us feel welcome.

black pepper pork (RM 10.50)

Ah, the menu. As expected, the usual Hong Kong inspired food, probably with a bit of fusion locally. The usual rice, cheese dominated dishes, soup noodle and lots lots of bread varieties. Also think about the Macau style pork chop bun. The verdict? I had "super" beef curry with rice (RM14.90). The curry is hot enough, leaning towards Indian type of spicy rather than the Chinese style of mild curry or the Malay variant of "lemak" curry. It is rather nice to eat with rice. The bake potato is superb, mixing well with the curry. The beef itself is  not that chewy (it is not easy) but not marinated well. Good, but not memorable. Baked with cheese, but the cheese is totally sunk by the curry. Colleen had spaghetti with fish fillet with twin sauce (RM 16.50). The fish is one of the better one though. Yes, you can still taste the generic fish fillet from the fridge but somehow, it is rather nice. The sauce although mixed with the red and white sauce, is neither here nor there. Not tasty enough for the red sauce and neither creamy enough for the white sauce. The best of the lot is mother-in-law's pork chop in black pepper sauce with rice (RM10.50). The pork is the usual pork slice. The sauce is really good. I am not  a black pepper lover but this sauce blended nicely, just enough of the taste of the black pepper but not too much as to overflow the whole dish. Nice.

fish fillet in twin sauce (RM 16.50)

Now, despite my critical comment, I actually enjoyed the dinner here. Probably the setting, the welcoming staff or the not so bad food. Compare it to similar restaurants, this definitely stand out as one of the better HK style eateries. But would I drive all the way here to Station 18 for a taste of it? Probably not that crazy, but if I am hungry while watching a movie here, definitely this will be on my mind.

ratings: 3 half poink!
comments: extra for the really obliging staffs. They really made the wait bearable.

Kim Gary Station 18
Lot 573, Aeon Station 18,
2, Susuran Station 18,
Ipoh.
 05-3219408

Sakai Cafe: nice food beyond the gimmick

Thanks to Groupon, we manage to get a good deal for our dinner. Since we like to give new place a try, we were more than happy to come visit this new place: Sakai Cafe.

The location is not easy to find, even with Google map, it took us a while until we were able to locate the place. It is behind Tesco Ipoh Garden, among the new shop lots. Look for Redcom computer shop and the cafe is the row behind it. The same row behind Taste Of Penang which I reviewed earlier. This is the corner shop.

Service is really good. The young chaps who manned the cafe appeared friendly and helpful. Deco, well, is rather gimmicky for me. Inside the shop, a big portion is filled with sand, probably to simulate eating among the wild. Probably not simulating beach (Bali anyone?) since Sakai (Red Indians) do not live near sea. Then again, they live in plain, not dessert. But worry not, there is a choice to eat in a corner with normal floor.

There was not much choice in our Groupon coupon. The cafe is pork free which to me, is rather a disadvantage given my affinity for anything that goes oink. Basically we paid RM18 for 2 sets of Mexican chicken chop. The original price for the whole sets is RM 60.50 including tax so it seems to be worth every cents. The cream soup is rather generic though I really appreciate the slice of mushroom added in. The garlic bread, though simple is done rather well. Then we come to main dish. Mexican chicken chop. I am still not sure what is so Mexican about it except that it is served with a piece of tortilla. Look beyond the gimmick and the chicken chop is actually nice. Tender, juicy, and certainly marinated well. There are few choices of sauce. Colleen picked the mushroom cream which turn out to be one of the better mushroom sauce around. Rather a safe choice, but it goes quite well with the chicken. I picked the BBQ sauce with was cooked with lots of onion. Either I am hungry or it actually taste really nice. Still BBQ sauce but at least it carries the sweetness of onion in it. Yup, both of us enjoyed our chicken chop.

It had been a good dinner experience. Food is nice, though I still do not appreciate the gimmicks that the cafe try to sell. Beyond the Groupon discount, would the food justify the price? You be the judge.

Ratings: 3 half poink!
comments: extra ratings for the Groupon discount. Still one of the better food around, just that would anyone pay a la carte for the price or not.

Sakai Cafe
No 31 Jalan Medan Ipoh
Bandar Baru Medan, 31400, Ipoh
05-5457246
https://www.facebook.com/SaKaICaFe31