The Food Site

I never did get around to asking the coffee shop owner about the restaurant name, whether they meant it to mean small or something else..although mini only has one meaning. Perhaps it is someone’s name (you know, translated from Chinese or something) or perhaps they just like the sound of it. I don’t know.

For one thing though, this restaurant is definitely not mini and neither are their portions!

Mini Restaurant over at Bagan Ajam

Mini Restaurant is more like the typical old-fashioned coffee shop where decor is minimal and the focus is mainly on the food. It is one of those ‘no frills’ eating places.

Taking a look behind the scene

I like the ‘drinks station’ with the rows of old-fashioned cups as the person in charge of preparing drinks go about mixing up the drinks for customers. Over in the kitchen, there is only one chef, the restaurant owner. As you can see, there are plenty of sauces that he used for his culinary creations.

As with any Chinese meal, we must have our chili paddy in soy sauce and chilli sauce!

Fried belacan chicken and pineapple prawns

On the left is the fried belacan chicken with the pineapple prawns in the background and on the right is a close-up of the pineapple prawns.

The fried belacan chicken is crunchy and has the salty full flavour of belacan. Great as a starter while waiting for the rest of the dishes to arrive.

As for the pineapple prawns…it is their signature dish and rightly so because it is the best I’ve ever had.  Cooked in a sweet, sour and spicy curry, the prawns are fresh and sweet. And yes, it was not only served in the pineapple but some of the pineapple was used to cook the curry. Thus it gave the curry a tart-y fresh flavour and yet, not too sweet or sour. The wonderful thing about it is that you can drink it as a soup (well, I did!) or as accompaniment to white rice.

A look at the food we ate in Mini Restaurant

From top left (clockwise): A close-up of the fried belacan chicken, pineapple prawns, a general picture of the dishes we ordered and the two different types of green vegetables we ordered.

We ordered two different types of green vegetables to go with the meal, naturally. No Chinese dinner is complete without the almost-compulsory stir-fried green veg! Since we all love green vegetables, we ordered two different types.

Just look at the spicy curry crabs!

On the right! These are sea crabs, not freshwater ones and it is cooked in a curry paste. Spicy and succulent.

Here’s a closer look…

Spicy Crabs

Although it is really, really messy to eat these, I don’t mind one single bit! It has the spiciness of the curry paste with the flavour of turmeric and chillies all mixed in. It is flavourful with a tinge of sweetness and a taste of the sea thanks to these fresh crabs.

Two other specialties

They also specialise in Guinness Stout Chicken and Char Tua Pan (fried flat rice noodles).

Now, let’s take a closer look at the Guinness Stout Chicken

Guinness Stout Chicken

It is as delicious as it looked. Obviously, they use Guinness Stout as part of the recipe for this dish, thus the dark colour. Although you may think it taste bitter because of the ingredient, it is most definitely not. Instead, it is sweet with a taste of malt to it. Sorta bittersweet. What I can gather is that they either add honey or sugar or syrup to it other than just the Guinness Stout. Also, the chicken pieces are darn tender.

A closer look at the Char Tua Pan

I am not one who goes for Hor Fan fried in a Char Koay Teow style but I made an exception this time and boy am I glad I did! This is really good as it is full flavoured with just the right amount of sauces and yes, it is so tasty, I ate more than I should.

The last one to arrive is the steamed fish

Probably because they had to defrost the fish before cooking it. There is nothing all that remarkable about this fish although I can say the fish is still quite fresh. They could not have kept it frozen for more than two days. Otherwise, I’d not touch it at all. I can’t stand eating any fish that is not fresh, especially if they steamed it.

In conclusion, this restaurant / coffee shop is a great place for a taste bud tingling experience from the spicy crabs to the sweet and sour prawns to the bittersweet chicken. I’d definitely want to go back there for more.

Rating: 7/10

Price: $$ (It costs us around RM115 for the whole meal for seven of us)

Here are the restaurant details:

Mini Seafood Restaurant / Coffee Shop

6691, Bagan Ajam

13000 Butterworth

Tel: 016-4704361 / 016-4037779

Open from 6pm - midnight. Closed on Thursdays.

Click here for a map to this place.

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Just only recently, I did a review of an Indian restaurant and now I am doing another one, this time, it’s an Indian vegetarian restaurant.

It is not always that I go to a vegetarian restaurant for a meal, not because I have anything against vegetarian food but mainly because of the quality of the food and the tendency for the foods to be swimming in oil. So, I was pleasantly surprised by the exceptionally great food over at Annalakshmi Restaurant in the Temple of Fine Arts. It’s no wonder the restaurant is called the ‘culinary arts centre’.

Annalakshmi Restaurant at the Temple of Fine Arts

As you can see, they don’t have much parking space so you will have to park outside the compound along the roadside.

Annalakshmi Restaurant

The restaurant have this relaxed open air feel to it and though the decor is quite simple, it is warm and cozy enough for a nice, quiet and relaxing meal. It also has a nice garden so you feel as if you are dining surrounded by greenery.

We went on a Wednesday which is buffet day

The buffet line may seem like there’s limited choices but trust me, it is MORE than enough food! Since it is vegetarian, you can’t expect much except for different vegetables and vegetable curries.

As you can see, I took a plateful...a little bit of everything

Instead of rice, I took the chapati. I have this thing for Indian breads so when I saw that they have chapati, I must give it a try. Here are close-ups of the foods:

I like that each table has a tiny centrepiece of fresh flowers

(Top right) The stir-fried cauliflower and potatoes are probably the best I’ve ever tried. The potatoes and cauliflower are probably boiled first then stir-fried with spices. Amazingly, it is not in the least oily too.

(Bottom right) This is the vegetarian version of cucur udang (prawn fritters dish with peanut sauce) so instead of prawn fritters, it is blanched beansprouts, fresh cucumbers, carrots and cubed deepfried beancurd. This combination is mixed with a sweet peanut sauce.

(Left) I absolutely love the chapati I took and it goes very well with the tiny bowl of curry too!

Clockwise from top left: Greenpeas rice mixed with some curry, spice fried long beans,dhall and sour curry

The rice is so exceptionally fragrant and though a tad sticky, I like it. It is probably cooked with ghee and green peas. Of course, when it comes to Indian food, we must mix the rice with loads of curry!

The long beans are stir fried, yes again with spices. It is slightly spicy but not much so and as with most Indian-style stir fried vegetables, it is soft and a bit soggy. Still, I guess it is supposed to be that way as it is sorta like a mix of a stir fried dish and a vegetable curry. I don’t really like long beans but this, I like.

The curry consist mainly of tomatoes and potatoes. It probably has some lime too as it has a sourish tint to it which I think is all good because it takes away the richness of the curry and gives it a fresh taste.

Ah, then we have the dhall. The essential accompaniment to any Indian meal! It is chickpeas curry and my, theirs really is good. One thing, they sure don’t stinge on the amount of chickpeas they used in this curry and it is so thick, I suspect they also added some potatoes to it. Just the way I like it.

Clockwise from top left: Pappadum, more decor in the restaurant, savoury milk rice and shredded carrots

The pappadum is also another common feature in any Indian restaurant and it is usually eaten in accompaniment with the rice and dipped in curry of your choice or as it is. Theirs are prepared fresh and yes, it is not salty and it is so crunchy, it’s almost like potato chips, except better.

The shredded carrots is also another surprise dish for me as it didn’t look all that remarkable but the taste brought a burst of flavours, sweet, sour, salty and definitely delicious!

Ahh..then we have the Indian milk rice. Now, not anyone could stomach this ultra rich rice which I understand is cooked with spices, ghee and milk. Thus, it is sticky and has this fragrant, slightly salty taste to it. It is popularly eaten as a breakfast food but who cares? I’ve not eaten this before and eventhough it is lunch, I simply must give it a try. Luckily I only took one tiny scoop, it is much too rich to be eaten in huge portions.

Their version of Sambhar, mixed vegetables curry with chapati

Their vegetables curry is a bit watery but I guess that’s because it has melons in it. It is mainly turmeric and some spices.

Now, on to dessert…

The Indian dessert

I don’t know what these are called but these tiny squares are very sweet and if you don’t like sweet stuffs, it is advisable to give these a miss. My guess is that these are made with condensed milk, sugar, flour and more sugar…heheheh…I guess it is pretty normal as most Indian desserts are very sweet.

Despite taking so much food, I finished the curries and food I took

Not because I am greedy or anything ;-) I took a lot of food for pictures to show you and I simply can’t waste all those wonderful food…

Anyway, I LOVE that the food is served on stainless steel plates and cups. It is a pretty traditional way of eating Indian food so it really gives you the feeling that you are eating a homecooked meal at an Indian household and not at a restaurant.

I would have to say that the food do have that homecooked feel to it and probably that’s why I simply love the food here. Oh, and the reason I finished everything I took is because there is no price fixed to the foods at this restaurant.

Yep. It is a pay-what-you-want restaurant. I’d say it is free but any diner with any modicum of self respect would make some contribution before leaving. You see, they don’t charge diners for the food served here. Their menus (for ala carte days) contain lists of food and drinks BUT no prices. So, essentially, the food is free and the service they give you is exceptionally good too because they are friendly, warm and pretty fast in serving the food or drinks. Of course, if it is a buffet day, it is all self-service.

Most diners (except for the few scum who’d eat and leave without making any contributions) would go up to the counter and donate whatever amount they feel like giving. So, the cost of a meal at this restaurant is entirely up to you. I guess they have this concept because they do quite a lot of charity and this restaurant is probably meant for the poor. However, the crowds we see here are mostly office workers who could well afford to pay for their meals. Fortunately, most of those who eat here do donate some money before leaving.

They have different specialty dishes on different days. They have buffet for lunchtime everyday and for dinnertime, their buffet is on Wednesday and Saturday. Also, the Temple of Fine Arts is known to have performances and shows, outside in the front garden where there’s a stage, regularly so if you happen to go on a day with a performance on, you’d get to experience a wonderful cultural experience.

Rating: 8/10

Price: Free (But do be responsible and DONATE whatever you feel the meal is worth!)

Here are the restaurant details:

Annalakshmi

The Culinary Arts Centre of The Temple of Fine Arts

Opening hours: Lunch (11.30am - 2.30pm), Dinner (6pm - 9.30pm)

1, Babington Avenue

Tel: 04-2288575 / 2274155

Email: contactsavi@hotmail.com / gravy_ravi@yahoo.com

It is closed on Mondays.

They also offer catering services.

Here is the direction to the place.

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