Lombok foods - Day 4

Gosh, how long has this one been hibernating as a draft..??

Yes, still on Lombok foods, believe it or not.

Rice Krispies

I decide to try out a new breakfast set from the resort's Quali restaurant.

The Sunrise set. Ermm... I hope I got that name right.

Pineapple & Banana pancake

Quite delightful, this one. I didn't know pineapples go well with pancakes. Maybe the tangy taste complement the coyingly sweet maple syrup.

Mie Goreng (fried noodles)

Hubby's order. The portion came out to be quite small. Maybe they ran out of noodles....?
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Anyway, after swimming non-stop till noon, we finally decide to ask the hotel to get us a cab. We thought of getting more souvenirs and get some shopping done.

And of course get some lunch.

Here's our lunch and the one and only mall in the WHOLE of Lombok, the Mataram Mall.

The taxi driver had recommended that we head to Dua Em, a restaurant that's almost similar to Taliwang Irama, both in popularity as well as the type of food served.

But hubby wasn't too keen on the fact that it's a bit far from anywhere (just his imagination!)

So we head straight for the lone mall.

I was wondering as to where the heck can I get local food at the mall, amongst the McD and KFC... Until I remembered the restaurant that we chanced upon when wandering around the mall's new wing a couple of days back.

However, when I asked the salesgirl and the surfshop, as to where can I get nice, local food at the mall; she mentioned Mirasa.

We went ahead and found out that Mirasa is actually a confectionery shop. Queer, wasn't it? When I peeked in however, I noticed that they have this small eatery at the back, like it's some kinda' underground business.

But it seemed popular with the locals, though. So popular that it's packed. My hubby naturally, walked away... Le Sigh.

I kept my hopes up, knowing that there's still the restaurant that I spotted previously. And true enough, it is there alright. Phew!


Jus Alpukat (avocado juice)

My fave! High in (good) cholesterol and definitely good for the skin. And great on the tastebuds, too.

Nasi Goreng Jawa

I asked the waiter, what's so Javanese about this fried rice? He simple mentioned that its spicy.

And how is that, 'Javanese'?

Spicy.... I like the sound of that.

Nasi Goreng Spesial (special)

I don't see what's special about this fried rice here. The egg, perhaps? Wow, the fried rice at Jakarta must be really something, then.

errr... what's this? sayur pecel...?

I checked the receipt and it said there: 'Karedok'. Goodness, all of these veggie dishes are similar to the 'Sambal pecel' yet they are called differently.

Reminds me a lot like the famed 'gado-gado'.

Ayam bakar (grilled chicken)

A Javanese myself, I naturally have an affinity for sweet-tasting foods. This chicken grilled in sweet soy sauce marinade was no exception.

We ordered a portion of the fried chicken and a portion of this grilled chicken and yet both portions came similarly. The waiter hurriedly came over with a sheepish look, remarking that the kitchen had made a blunder, but we aren't the type to kick up a fuss so I guess we don't have luck with the fried chicken, I guess.

Chili 1

This one here came with the chicken. Slightly sweet and belachan-less, yet good enough.

'Gurame' bakar

We were up for a fish dish and I suddenly thought of my family's favourite. To keep up with the tradition, I opted for freshwater fish.

There's a choice between the 'Nila' (similar to the Tilapia) or the 'Gurame'.

The Gurame is not only more spicy, but tastier too.

This kinda' dish, is not 100% grilled, actually. I learn from working at an Indonesian restaurant during my school days.

They fry the fish till in very hot oil to crisp the outer layer, then dipped in sauce before actually grilling it. Otherwise, it'll be really difficult to get such a crisp fish.

Sambal Belachan

The sauce that comes with the fish. So spicy that it left me working out a sweat, all teary. But I like!

The food's kinda good actually. Although I know that this one here is a tad pricier than the recommended Mirasa, at least the food is not something regrettable..

Rumah Makan Ikan Cianjur
Level 1 Mataram Mall

Honeymoon dinner

Our honeymoon package with the resort also include a romantic candlelight dinner. I arranged to have it on the 2nd night. That afternoon, before going out, I had made arrangements with the staff as to my preference for the dinner location.

The beach of course.

Both of us assumed that they knew of our intention to be seated on the floor of the deck by the beach. Those seats directly faced the sea, seemed private enough and was indeed cosy-looking.

How was I to know that they had planned something else (apparently they did these dinners quite often)?? Ehm... refer to the pics later to see what I mean.

They had wanted to open a bottle of wine/champange specially for us but we quickly refused, saying that we don't drink. They seemed taken aback, considering that the expensive wine was on the house and yet we REFUSED it. Oh the folly!

I didn't figure out that they didn't know that we're Muslims. We later found out that they had thought us to be JAPANESE. Must be my hubby, la!

So they scrambled to pass us the mocktail/beverages menu.


Hubby's Lime Soda

He disliked it. Pfft!


Shirley Temple

My favourite mocktail of all time.

Appetizer

Dinner started with a plate of tempe chips with green chili and tomato salsa dips. It was dark there and seeing the sauces, I had assumed the chips to be the regular nachos.

I was surprised when I found them to be the humble tempe. It had tasted so good! There was a hint of the taste of kaffir lime leaves. Nicely spiced, actually.

Starter

It was later followed by a starter -a couple of baked tomatoes stuffed with cheese and shrimp.

This was a nightmare for someone who dislike tomatoes and even shrimps (my hubby). Thankfully, the taste of the baked cheese somewhat drove him to eat at least 1 of these.

Me...? I love it!

I spotted a large shrimp and sweetcorn kernels topped with cheese, olive oil and dill. And garnished with basil.

Eating the soup (check out the setting!)

Next is the Hungarian beef goulash soup. By this time, hubby was freaking out because he's not used to a full-blown fine-dining meal. Last experience he had, he hated it (in France, I think).

But I assured him that we should enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime moment.

recognise these tools?

And the best part...?

I saw some tools that alarmed me. They look like one might use to eat crabs.

... And hubby is ALLERGIC to crustaceans. -_-

So we asked the server, what the main course was. Hearing the reply, I could almost hear the groan from hubby.

I started freaking out. I thought of asking the server to change the item for him but my hubby actually refused. Geez!

Main course ~ Lobster Thermidor

I was worrying about how hubby was going to finish that.

Turns out, I shouldn't have worried. He gingerly took a bite and was hooked. Must be all that cheese.

Well, who the heck can resist a lobster dish - allergy or not?

And that dish was superb! I used the given tools eventually to pick out pieces of lobster meat from every nook and cranny.

And the roasted potatoes on the side was really, really deliciousss! I mean it!

Man, I'm drooling as I'm typing this....

Dessert

Honestly, I can't recall what this dessert is. Some pudding... Melba pudding..? Yeah, something to that extent.

Pretty nice and not too heavy for a dessert. Especially after all that food...

The pattern on the side was raspberry sauce outlined with chocolate.

Full, contented and (very) happy

Man, we're so stuffed!

That setting that's specially meant for honeymoooning couples was really attention-grabbing, man!

So much so that a Caucasian couple came by to congratulate us. *blush*

We were given much attention that night, especially since we decide to converse in Bahasa Indonesia with the staff. They were so relieved to not have to struggle to mentally translate every single word into English (I know that's how they do it).

So we engaged in a light-hearted conversation and one by one, each of them came by to interact with us. They hardly receive foreign guests who can converse in their language, you see. So their curiousity was very much piqued.

That was such a pleasant experience. Qunci Villas really accomodate to honeymooners. And I'm so so glad I chose this place.

Lombok foods - Day 3

Since we were to go out early for our tour, I managed to convince hubby to have our breakfast at the resort's Quali Restaurant instead of having yet another room service.

Hubby had what I had the day before - American Breakfast w/ scrambled egg and beef bacon.

Here's what I had. Something from the Archipelago Breakfast set.

Bubor Ayam (Chicken Porridge)

Unlike the more diluted version that we're often exposed to, here the rice porridge was thick and lumpy, akin to oats porridge. But enjoyable, nonetheless. And makes for faster consumption.

Topped with shredded fried chicken, hard-boiled egg and belinjo crackers, this easily became my fave breakfast item. Must be the cili padi (cabe rawet) on the side...
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The tour this time, we ventured to areas to the south of Mataram.

After the trip to the traditional Sasak village and especially the hiking around the mountainous terrain during the trip to the waterfalls, we got pretty hungry.

Our driver brought us to a typical restaurant that seemed pretty popular with the locals. It was just after the lunchtime hour and the soiled dishes were stacked all over the tables. The staff must have been taking a breather after the hustle-and-bustle previously.

The driver told us that the owner is from Madura and he married a local here (of Javanese descent), thus the food served here is a mix from all these areas.

I ordered the Es Teler

I was yearning for something cold and sweet to refresh myself on that hot day.

Of course 'sweet' is such and underrated word here, seeing Indonesian's penchant for being pretty generous with their sugar and syrup.

Thankfully, this one here ain't that sweet. THANKFULLY.

The contents

It's somewhat similar to our Ice Kachang, except that they have fruits in here. There's jackfruit, coconut, kolang-kaling/atap chee/kabong that's coloured dark green and jelly.

Gule Kambing

I was still reminiscing the Gule/Gulai Kikil (goat's tendon soup) from the day before and was looking for it on the menu. Unfortunately, there ain't any so I went for the closest alternative.

Gule kambing is simply mutton (goat) soup. I expected simple chunks of meat but I got the ribs portion which were such a delight to nibble on. Even hubby relished on eating these dainty rib pieces.

Note that I keep emphasising on the 'goat' part. In Singapore, when we say 'mutton', it's usually meat from the sheep (or 'domba' as it's known in Indonesia), which can be pretty fatty. Maybe that's why some can't tolerate the smell and the fat content, thus the dizziness.

But here, they use those cute little goats usually seen in our tropical region. The one with the little horns and beards (goatee). And they have minimal fats on their meats. And their meat is reddish and really tender.

I-can't-remember-the-name-of-this-dish

Saw a man on the next table savouring his plate of Pecel (spicy peanut sauce with vegatables) and it was really tempting.

I saw it on the menu. And I also saw another name which piqued my curiosity. I asked the driver and he looked at it quizzically. He then asked the staff.

He hemmed and hawed, before saying that it's similar to Pecel. -_-

So I took it.

It looks and taste similar to Pecel, actually. I dunno what's the difference that granted it a different name (and price). They asked if I want lontong or noodles with it. I asked for lontong. I thought it will be it's own meal, seeing that the longtong should be pretty filling.

They still served rice with it. Oh goodness me. The locals and rice, they can't be apart, can't they?

**update:
I found the receipt. I stated that this dish is called, 'Rojak Cingur'. Whatever that means...

(Very) Simple Sup Asam

This comes with hubby's rice set. He avoided it like a plague. Said that it's 'something to feed a sick person'. The driver laughed, saying that the locals call it 'lazy person's dish', seeing how it's so simple to make.

I love it. Naturally.

Sate Kambing

I know that in Jakarta, there are eateries that serve Sate Kambing (skewered meat) alongside the Gule Kambing and both tasted fantastic.

And man, were they one of the best sate/satays ever! I can taste the sweet soy sauce, the savoury peanut sauce, the crunchy fried shallots... The well marinated meat, slight charred on the sides.... And a squeeze of the lime over these, dipping in that dollop of chili on the side before taking a bite....

....Power!!!!!!!!!

I need to look for the receipt from this restaurant to check out the name of this place. Will update once I find it. It's somewhere near the Kuta beach area.

**Update:
Here's the details on the place

Rumah Makan Maduratna
Komplek Pegadaian Prayatel: (0370) 654494