Category Archives: Food and Drinks

Paramount Coffee House – Conezion

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Upon returning from my course at UPM, I indulged myself in a hot shower. It has been an exhausting day and all I wanted was a nice meal and dessert! I’ve already set my eyes on Paramount Coffee House, located just 2 minutes walk from my hotel. It is a restaurant owned by Ebit Liew, the Muslim philanthropist who got caught up in a few controversies lately. I have heard raving reviews about it a lot!

However, since I was alone, I knew I couldn’t eat too much. Plus, my sister was saying that they serve really big portions. I am not a fan of eateries that serve huge portions because subconsciously, this is linked to me being the NCD champion of my clinic. Patients eat too much and it is challenging trying to advise them to eat less.

Anyway, I finally decided on a menu – Laksa Pahang. It was my first time eating it and I thought it was like Laksam’s cousin. They taste similar. Only Laksam has those little rolls and this one is served with noodles instead. I ordered apple peach tea as well. I was contemplating having their famous waffles as well but it looked too much for someone my size. I am, after all, watching my calories. They also have Western options but that is for another time. In the end, I still had dessert but I bought it at a different store – The Harry’s.

My verdict on the laksa is a SO-SO. I will need to taste the other food on the menu with my family later.

Kay’s Steak and Lobster – Conezion

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I am always on the lookout for a great steak dinner. My personal choice of doneness – medium rare.

To be safe, I made my dinner reservation on the website. It would be disheartening if I couldn’t get a table after the enthusiastic online ‘research’ I did online for reviews of the place. This eatery serves not only steak but also huge lobsters and their best seller – the Wellington dish. Turns out you need to pre-order it one day before but I was pretty clear on what I wanted.

A steak.

My reservation was confirmed almost immediately and they even sent me a WhatsApp message an hour before the chosen time to remind me of it. The restaurant is within walking distance from Sovotel and is certified as HALAL. Took me less than 3 minutes to walk there.

I chose the Stanbroke Black Angus Ribeye (250g) with the Au Poivre sauce, a creme brulee and a COKE to wash it all down. The waitress needed to speak louder cause I honestly don’t know why these girls (including the Sovotel lady) were so soft while taking the order. Is it a Gen Z thing? I don’t think so.

I really enjoyed my meal because not only it was aesthetically pleasing but the taste was just luscious and delectable. The meat was prepared well and timely. It was a dinner with mindfulness as I savoured every single bite and chewed on my meal properly.

The whole dinner cost me RM233.15. They even put my receipt in a nice sleeve. I would definitely come here again if I am in this part of town in the future. Perhaps the lobster on my next visit.

Umai Ikan Tenggiri Papan

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South Koreans have kimchi as a side dish in almost every meal they have. It’s a cultural thing that brings the family and community together. Every family has their own recipe and we often see it as food that represents some sort of love language between conservative family members who don’t display public affection that much. Nowadays, kimchi has become so commercialized thanks to the Hallyu wave making it so readily available at stores in other countries.

In Sarawak, we have umai. It’s a fermented food made from fish, prawns or jellyfish.

My late mother used to make them in large batches to be given to us as a parting gift whenever we come to visit her. Umai is simple to make but can be a tedious process. The ingredients are easily available. You just have to strive for balance.

I tried making umai recently since my siblings came over for Eid. I used ikan tenggiri papan because my brother-in-law said that it is easy to clean and prepare. He learned the recipe from my mother. True enough, two big fish could only harvest a bowl of umai.

After cutting the fish into smaller fillets, I soaked them in water with a splash of vinegar and salt. The fish meat will turn slowly from its raw state to a whitish hue. In the meantime, I prepared its marinating juice. It consists of red chilli, garlic, holland onion, lots of calamansi juice and its skin, sugar and salt to taste. Once they are all mixed together, I store them in the fridge. Ready for consumption anytime. For this first attempt, I noted that my umai needed more salt. I will do better next time.

In fact, I will try to do it more often so that it’ll become my love language to my family members and most importantly, myself.

Coffee ‘O’ Clock – Burghkin Coffee & Tea

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It’s been a while since I saw this cafe on the Grab app. I thought I’d try it after a hectic morning assembling my shoe rack. Plus, it’s some sort of reward for my son who helped to screw all the problematic parts of the frame. Thank goodness for sons!

I ordered a coffee latte for myself, a mocha for my husband and chocolate drinks for my kids. Then I ordered salted egg croissants that my husband seems to like and a few croffles for the kids. Initially, I wanted it to be our tea time spread but it looked too good that we had it as dessert after lunch. The combination of cold beverages with warm pastries is a chef’s kiss.

At the same time, I was watching I Chang’s Youtube videos. I really liked those ‘heart to heart’ videos. They are very insightful. A few weeks ago, they commented on their observations of our multicultural countries and what they’ve learned about it. I like the part when they say Malaysians have an advantage to excel on the international platform because we know how to ‘fit in’ easily given our diverse culture. If only more Malaysians could hear this and take their word for assimilating more with people of other races instead of clinging to people of the same ethnicity. We used to be able to do this in school. I know I did but the picture is very different nowadays. We are somewhat divided.

Perhaps we could only see this interracial interaction in international schools or private education facilities. But then, that is another bubble that we need to address too. The bubble of T20s and the elite.

Recently, I Chang made another video where she and her husband shared how they were burnt out from making all the videos. They are after all making an income from Youtube hence I understand the pressure to create content that people want to watch. One of the gems I got from that video was when a vendor by the name of Danial told the couple that they have good followers because they make good content.

This resonated with me quite a bit.

Indeed, the type of content attracts a certain group of people. So if you want good followers, create good content too. I am a bit behind on my Youtube videos as I am swamped with my tutorials and assignments. There is a lot on my plate at the moment but I am still grounded and motivated.

I should be motivated as I just purchased a new computer. Ha ha ha.

Coffee’O’Clock – CroissxCoffee Melaka

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I had a Tabung Haji errand to run one day. Before Mother died, she named me the person who should help sort out her financial matters at Tabung Haji. My sister was the second person in charge. Now after nearly two years have passed, I have managed to settle this matter. Finally. Why two years? Long story. All I needed to bring with me was her death certificate and my own MYKAD with photostat copies of each. I had to fill in one particular form, signed a few papers, thumbprint some sections and just like, the paperwork part is done. Now I have to wait for at least 2 weeks for the money to be transferred into my account. From there, I will divide them with my siblings.

The Tabung Haji branch I went to was situated at Banda Kaba. Knowing that it would take a while to get it sorted, I thought I’d go to this cafe at Melaka Raya. It’s one of those places I discovered via Instagram. I loved that the cafe is easily spotted with its bright orange colour and is located at a place where parking is readily available. Come to think of it, I did go there quite early – somewhat around 9am.

It opens at 830AM and is a Muslim-friendly cafe.

Upon walking in, I was greeted by the smell of fresh coffee and sweet pastry. That is when I knew I would enjoy this experience. Cause if the cafe does not smell coffee, it’s not gonna taste nice. I placed my order at the counter, took a seat upstairs and waited for the servers to send it to me.

There is a variety of beautiful-looking pastries to choose from. The croissants were huge too and you could smell the butter on them. The setup of the place is also very Instagrammable and aesthetic. Only I don’t really know how to pose for a good picture to upload on Instagram.

I look forward to having more cafe adventures in Melaka.