Sushi Momo: addition to affordable japanese selections

Another long Friday break means opportunity to try new shops. Where else to try new things other than Ipoh Garden East area, especially the Bandar Baru Medan area. There seems to be new restaurant every time we came to the area.

Sushi Momo is situated opposite Festival Walk, nearer to the new condominium which is currently being built. Impressively housing 2 shoplots, with Japanese deco and yukata in front, the signage is adequate to attract passerby. For lunch, fear not for the parking lots are abundant in the area.

Being fairly new, the lunch crowds may not discover this place yet. The seating is spacious and the staff manage to give adequate attention to all our request. The interior is very clean; I really like how homely the counter was decorated but it is rather inconsistent where the other end felt bare. That did not matter as the sole reason to visit is for the food.

The menu is mainly japanese, with bentos, and sushi rolls being the main selections. Expect to spend a basic of less than RM15 for the lunch bento set, which is rather basic chicken served with fish, cawan mushi, soup and slices of fruits. The taste felt rudimentary, but rather pleasant to the palate. The portion, however, is slightly less than what we expected. Given the affordable price, the bento set is definitely worth every ringgit. The sushi rolls, which averagely cost approximately RM2-3 per set of 2 (or 4-6 for maki) may appear affordable, but rather forgettable in the taste aspect. I totally forgot what sushi did I took. Being new, the conveyor belt is still empty so the sushi need to be ordered instead.

Of course we could not expect perfect result with such a price. There are some hit and miss, but for a comfortable lunch and cheaper Japanese selections ( which could burn a hole in the pocket if ordered wrecklessly), Sushi Momo is one of the clear choice.

ratings: 2 half poink~!
comments: one of the most affordable bento sets/ sushi but average taste.

Sushi Momo
27-29, Jalan Medan Ipoh 1
Bandar Baru Medan
Ipoh

Pasta Zanmai: good for a stop in a busy day

There were many people who told me there is nothing to eat in Nu Sentral. Really? That busy place which are packed with people everyday? After a long day of driving (and Lyn shopping), we decided to just hang around in Nu Sentral and try our luck here. 

On the top floors, there are many shops with different offerings. Local cuisine, japanese, koreans, and you just need to name it. We decided to try something more filling: pasta. Pasta Zanmai (not sure whether it is related to another Sushi Zanmai one floor up) offers fusion Japanese, focussing more on pasta choices. 

The shop looks simple and clean. The staff is very nice, but the service is really slow, considering there are only a few tables full. Or maybe a minute seems to last forever when you are hungry. Surprisingly the price are not too expensive, one could get a decent dish for less than RM20. Do not expect budget offering either; this is a shopping complex after all. 

I ordered the black pepper cheese baked rice (black pepper doria) (RM18) which was fairly good. Lyn loved the taste more than me though. We loved that the black pepper did not overshadow the chicken (which a lot of shop did just that on any black pepper dishes), but it is still too heavy for my liking. Lyn ordered tori kino pasta (RM17 for small), which appeared as a diluted  cabonara. It is not too creamy, which is an advantage to lots of health conscious people out there, but bursting with taste. For Lyn to praise cabonara (which is not her favourite way of cooking pasta by the way), it has to be really tasty. So far, the pasta dishes had exceeded our expectations (which are not high initially), but the rolls were bit of let down. The unagi avocado roll (RM 12 for half a roll of 3, RM20 for a full roll of 6) initially taste good. However, the taste of BBQ and mayonaise over powered the unagi so much that I can hardly taste any unagi at all until I isolate a few piece and eat it on its own away from the roll. Believe me, after tasting unagi in sukiji, it changes my perception on eel and how they should be cooked. 

The whole dining experience here did not define any new standard to shopping mall eating. But it did debunk the myth that there are nothing to eat in Nu Sentral. Would I come again? Yes, especially when I am hungry and lazy to move away from the central location. 

ratings: 3 poink~!

comments: extra poink for the convenient location.

Ouija Origin of Evil: Predictably Mediocre

It was a Friday, and there was not many choices among the list of movies to choose from. And from Rotten Tomatoes, Ouija Origin of Evil seems to received fairly good reviews. On hindsight, we should have learn by now that the review there may appeal more to western audience rather than the local ones by now.

One word summarize the whole movie. Average. The usual story about a family trying hard to cope with circumstances (in this movie, dad passing away and financial difficulties). Family meet with evil spirit (usually comes in haunted house, object in attic, and here, ouija board). Family disturb by the spirit. And attempts to defeat the evil entities. Only the ending may differ between horror movies. Either they manage to end up victorious (conjuring anyone?) or the succumbed, giving ways to numerous sequels.


I have not watch the first Ouija, but after this, I may not want to. Do not get me wrong, the movie is not half bad. The cast tried their best. The chemistry between them is engaging. The scares are fairly OK, but too few in between. And the little girl do look creepy in a Ju-On way. But it depends too much on lightings. cheap scare with a boom, and became too predictable in the end. And when the evil spirit made his first appearance, we had a good laugh since it resembles our orang minyak. (no kidding!)


It was an entertaining affair, but probably would not among my list of best horror movies at all. For a relaxing Friday evening, there are many worse choices.


ratings: 2 poink~!
comments: it did not help that we were watching with a whole cinema filled with university students. There were so much laughter (basically at every scare) that it ended up more like a comedy. By the way, seriously, any sane people would know not to mess with spirits by now.

Gopeng Antique Kopitiam: it is the dining experience more than food

Another get together for a old childhood friend brought me to Gopeng. When anyone talks about Gopeng, I would think of lai-fun (noodle) or perphaps the exotic wild selection in Lawan Kuda. Lately for the past few years, Gopeng had done an excellent job to emerge as a perserved old town with lots of sentimental museums and art scenes. A bit of a mini Old Town of Ipoh. So, dining at Gopeng Antique Kopitiam is indeed a special experience.

First, to locate the restaurant may not be that easy. However, since Gopeng town is a very small place, I can take my own sweet time and try numerous roads. Just locate the round-about in the town and head towards the bus station. The kopitiam is just located in between the round-about and bus station, behind a Chinese coffee shop. (For those Pogo players, just locate the shop with Pokegym next to the round about, and the kopitiam is behind this shop). Look out for a small sign board.

The coffee shop or kopitiam, is a small museum by itself. Maintained well, it felt like dining within a different era. It felt so unrealistically serene with lots of old objects to feast the eyes upon. Any elderly would start to tell stories of the yester-years just by looking at all these memoirs. Posters, old iron, fan, and different items hold years of stories in their aged appearance. For those shutter-bugs, this served as a sea of photo opportunity.

The menu during lunch is basically Chinese dishes with selection of stall style noodles. Not as extensive as the sea food restaurant; there are plenty of basic dishes found in any simple Chinese shops. Think of basic chicken, egg and vegetable dishes. Think of the usual
"wat-dan-ho" or chinese fried rice. We ordered a mix mash of selections. To summarize, the dishes were okay. Fairly good but only with few things to remember them by. For picky eaters in Perak, the food here did not stand out. But it is not bad at all. Just that after spoilt by so many good diners everywhere, the food here have some catching up to do. The noodles are tasty, as expected, with any stalls. We ordered fried sotong as finger food. Crispy but not spciy enough; is as expected as any frozen beer joints. Came the ginger steamed fish, which surprisingly taste good with generous amount of ginger but the fish is not fresh enough, leaving a tinge of muddy smell. The vegetable dish is as expected, nice but not outstanding. The 3 yolk egg is steamed smoothly though lack of the taste of century egg.

As much as I think the food here is not excellent, I would still like to dine here for the experience. Sometimes, the food may not leave a mark, but the place itself is the main attraction. The price would not burn a hole in the pocket, although may not be as cheap as the road side stall. According to my friend, there are more western selection at night, which I hope to try again in the near future.

ratings: 2 half poink~!
comments: I am bit picky on noodles dishes since there are so many excellent options both in Ipoh and Kampar. In the end, a lot of people will call me bias. A few of my friends who tried the food here seems to be more impress than me. Well, it could be only me....

Gopeng Antique Kopitiam
3, Jalan Pasar
Gopeng
05-3593559

Sato Kitchen: decent lunch for a decent price

We were planning to have a long Friday lunch catching up with an old fren in another restaurant but fate has it that the initial cafe was closed, and while going around in Ipoh Garden East, somewhere near the Old Town area, we chanced upon this new Japanese fusion eatery, Sato Kitchen.

The place looks comfortable and not over crowded. The service, I must say, is one of the best we had. The staff are very attentive without being intimidating. The green tea (with the set lunch) always flow non stop without the staff having to stand beside the table.

Fear not; although the expected menu list may be Japanese selection, the actual fact it felt more fusion. There are lots of basic and sophisticated fusion sushi and rolls, and even foie gras available. How it ended up in a Japanese menu really beats me. For those "kedekut" people like me who always thought Japanese cuisine is always expensive, this small restaurant has something to offer. Since I had a heavy breakfast, I did not intend to try the more expensive offering, so we went ahead with the chicken bento set (lunch set price: RM12.90). Yup, the price itself is amazing. Served with rice, soup, cawan mushi, mash potato (hmmm.. how did that get here) and some other sides. Did I mention the price was amazing? And they did not skimp on the portion either. At first I thought given the economical price, the set would come with a smaller portion but instead, the meal is enough even for a big eater like me. However, for those who are very particular about taste, the Japanese influence here is diluted with local taste. In fact, I though the chicken tasted more oriental than japanese. My teriyaki chicken came across of a mash up between teriyaki and honey chicken. The teppanyaki chiken tasted like a cross between teppanyaki and a Hainan chicken chop (plus lots of onions). Do not get me wrong, I really like the taste, but it may not appeal to some.



I really favour this place for the economical lunch choices, although it may be less Japanese, more fusion in taste. However, for those who favour higher end selection, there are plenty of sophisticated fusion sushi and platter available. Definitely a good place to spend lunch.

ratings: 2 half poink~!
comments: yet to try their sushi but they do
looks good.

Sato Kitchen
22, Jalan Medan Ipoh 4
Bandar Baru Medan Ipoh
05-5450085