During the Fathers’ Day, 21st June 09, brother brought us to Spice Market Cafe at the 6-stars graded resort beach hotel, Rasa Sayang to had our Fathers’ Day Celebration Dinner. He made the reservation a week ago so that there’s table for four of us, me, brother, mommy and daddy.

It’s my first time step foot into the Rasa Sayang Spa and Resort after its renovation a year ago. I heard good feedback from friends about the Spice Market Cafe, both look and food and finally I got a chance to try out.

That day was Sunday night and it’s an International Buffet. There’s some sort of promotion and so we got buy 1 free one which means we paid the price of 2 person for 4.

One thing, we went into the wrong entrance and we had a long walk from up to down to upper level again to the other side of the hotel where the Spice Market Cafe is.

The cafe has a good interior looking. The lights, the ambience and the way the present the food are fascinating and good.

It’s a n International Cuisine Buffet and there’s a lot a huge a variety of food to choose from. There’s Indian food, Japanese’ sushi and sashimi, cooked and cooled seafood, Italian pasta, Chinese food, western food, grilled sirloin and salmon, lots of cakes and desserts and the list goes on.

I did manage to try all the not-local food but not all the local food and too not all the cakes. There’s too many and my I didn’t really have much space in my tummy.

Unfortunately, there’s no raw oyster which I like. I did enjoy my meal though.

Frankly speaking, I am not a fan of buffet yet I still go for it. The reason is there’s too many choice at a buffet and it’s eat-all-you-can, it’s eating and taking all the time and you will be bloated after all and one thing, self-service. I prefer to be served and slowly enjoying the food instead of keep on taking and taking.

Yet, if you would like to bring me to a buffet, I will never reject your offer for it. Hehe. I love trying out for new food.

View Shiok Or Not : Food Map in a larger map

Found a logo that looks like Starbucks Coffee in Guangzhou. It’s at I-forgot-which-mall-it-was, it’s one of the mall in Tian He District, I just can’t remember the name.

So, it is a copycat or a person who is running the business is a hardcore Starbucks fan? Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to try on the coffee.

Manila Place is not in Philiphines but in Gurney Plaza Penang. It’s also not a restaurant that serves Filipino’s food but a combination of local of western cuisine. So, it’s more likely a beautiful restaurant/cafe with a variety of food in the menu.

A few weekends ago, my friend invited for a dinner at Manila Place. In fact, it’s my first time having a meal there. The previous was just buying a beverage takeaway and another visit was an afternoon tea without eating, but looking at what my friend ate. Which means, this was my official first time eating out at Manila Place.

After looking through the menu, it didn’t give me a “reasonable price” feeling. There’s a set dinner menu and I picked the chicken set, which then I got to choose from a list of chicken meal in the menu but not Chicken Gordon Blue. My friend who had worked there as a part-timer before introduced me to this Grilled Bombay Chicken, I ordered it.

The set came with a starter of mushroom soup, bread and butter, and 2 pieces or fried wan tan.

The main course is the Grilled Bombay Chicken. Looked pretty in photo. After putting it in my mouth, the gravy tasted like the dalcha sauce which is use in some Malay/Indian food, it’s just it’s not spicy but sweet. No wonder it’s called the Bombay Chicken.

In my 2 cents, it’s me, myself that don’t really like this dish, it’s a good one, but it’s just not my favourite.

After main course, a very small cup of ice cream will be served and that’s the set dinner consisted of.

Manila Place is located at the alfresco area of Gurney Plaza.

You love Ikea, I love Ikea and I think everyone loves Ikea, not only for their cool minimalist design furniture and accersories but also the food at their restaurant. I first came to know about their restaurant and food two years ago with a recommendation from my brother who is a frequent visitor of their Singapore store. I didn’t have many chance to visit Ikea because it’s a 4 hours ride from my place which is 400km far away from my home, so which means it’s not in Penang, not anywhere near to me in town or out of town. It’s in another city, it’s in Kuala Lumpur which is the only Ikea in Malaysia. If Ikea will to open one in Penang, I’ll be really very happy.

The restaurant is always full of people and the queue at the food counter is long though fast moving. This is the efficient of self service and many workers working at the counter.

Here’s our all time favourite which is the Ikea Swedish Meatballs. I asked for extra gravy when ordering the food. You can have a choice of french fries or mashed potato but I like fries more.

Another nice food is their fried chicken wings ala Ikea style. Why I said it’s Ikea style because it’s taste different from my grandma’s cook. Hehe. Nevertheless, both are still delicious.

Here come our little dessert with a little Swedish flag on top. This is called the Daim Cake. Well, it’s sweet! =) Thin and cruncy and cold.