Pt. 2 continuing from C.R.M.: Cendol, Rojak & Muruku… http://leatherpotato.com/2024/02/20/c-r-m-cendol-rojak-muruku/
From Mydin, we headed to Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall which was about 15 minutes away. Though it is quite close, the traffic is usually heavy at any time of the day.
We had a couple of activities and errands to do there. Of course, dinner time crept up sneakingly fast that we had to figure out what to eat. Decisions, decisions. We both wanted comfortable, yet something fast. Not fast food as we have been having that quite often. So, we both agreed fairly easily, on going to Oriental Kopi restaurant.
We got a table pretty quickly as there wasn’t much of the usual queue. The restaurant was full with patrons. Just as much as people leaving after their meal; there were new customers waiting to be seated.
One of the reasons we both like Oriental Kopi, at least the outlet, here in Sunway Pyramid, is that it is brightly lit. Another reason is that it is clean. The tables are cleared immediately after customers have finished with their meal, cleaned with what looks like a disinfectant detergent and is ready for new diners within minutes.
Food ordering time. We went through the big, glossy menu. Jeannie got one of the menu checklists and pencil to write the numbers that was listed against each of the food, drink and dessert items listed in the menu. She wrote the corresponding numbers of the food and drinks that we decided on, in the menu checklist.
Jeannie ordered a rice dish that seemed to have everything in it. I went for the “Pulut Hitam” (Black glutinous rice) and two sets of kaya & butter on toast – simple food. We waved to one of the “Order Takers” to come take our orders, which was a small piece of paper with our orders placed on it.
Within minutes, though I would like to say, “near instantly” buy not quite; my pulut hitam arrived. It looked good. I was hungry and was willing to start with this first. However, this is a sweet dish. It is usually best to have it after the savory dish.
Jeannie’s order was the next to arrive. It looked interesting enough. It was a sort of fried rice, cooked in soy sauce, with various vegetables including chili padi. Chili padi (1) is a vegetable, no? Two large prawns were included in this meal. Large sliced, dark green skin cucumbers was placed all around the fringes of this dish. It was more than just part of this meal decoration; it tasted really good as wel.
To top it (literally) all, there was a sort of semi-boiled egg, with its soft yolk still in tact, bobbily sitting, on top of the rice. The presentation of this dish deserved top marks for decor. The food tasted just as good as it looked, according to Jeannie.
Mine was a simple dish: 2 sets of toast with kaya and butter. The toast was browned just right for me. It came with a generous spread of kaya. The kaya was nice, not too sweet. Jeannie, Laura and I do get worried about the sweetness of foods served in many places. We are careful and are conscious about very sweet food. Folks, there were nice, thick slices of butter that came in this toast. Not the ultra-thin and microscopic slices that we read about in social media where people complain that there is not enough butter served in a butter dish. So, ya; this toast with kaya and butter was good. I would recommend you try it for yourselves if you visit Oriental Cafe.
The Pulut Hitam that came with the santan pre-added in, was generally nice. I would have preferred if it was served with the santan not added in, but come together with it. I would have preferred that I had the choice of adding the santan in, which would have meant that I would have added just a dash or sprinkle of santan to give the pulut hitam some flavour; without over-powering the pulut hitam itself.
We left shortly after we finished our dinner to get done the main reason we came to Sunway Pyramid for in the first place.
NOTES:
1. “Chili Padi” is used to describe someone who is small but feisty. Chili padi is tiny chili that is extremely spicy. It puts fear even for most locals when a food dish includes this “vegetable” as one of its main ingredients. Most of the time, it is the culprit for all the spicy dishes in our Asian Cuisine.