~ Curious Charlie ~

Straits of Malacca & Meet Fresh @ Saturday, April 20, 2013

Last Thursday - Out of chronological order as we were waiting for jas's review which we would never have gotten if we didn't call him at 1am on a Saturday morning, before I went to work.

Afterwards the play we wandered around to pick a place for dinner, story of why jas does not get to choose where we go. Though he'll get another shot at it, perhaps next next time we go out. When I say we're going to dinner I look up the place, confirm they're open, check out the menu and know exactly what I'm getting. Jas's approach is much like Emily's way of shopping, no plan, just browse. Story of why I took the midnight train.

A new requirement I have for a place we're eating at is that they have to have decent lighting. Candle light-esque is not cool, I like taking pictures of food. And my photo editing skills don't extend to near night lighting shots.

For dinner we went to Straits of Malacca on Swanston. A new one of these has opened in Freud's town and everytime we go by its always got long lines going out the door. In the city on a Thursday night there was fortunately no line, but they were half full which was a good sign.

What's with the all the church stuff? It was also on the front door. Doesn't it deter some people from dinning there? I've googled it and found out that Christ Church (pictured above) is a Protestant church in the city of Malacca, Malaysia. It is the oldest functioning Protestant church in Malaysia. Interesting choice of deco...

Milo Tarik 3.00

Drinks. As when you go to cafes you are offered water in lovely clear glass bottles, when you go to asian places you're offered tea. I didn't drink it, as I don't like tea, but jas seemed to like it. In 2011 we both went to Malaysia (he toured with the theatre company while I had a shopping expedition) , and so we had both tried Malaysian food before. And for me that included a lot of Milo (asian likes milo, they have it as a flavour just like strawberry). While I don't normally order something I could make at home I ordered the milo tarik. I've seen real tarik made during our trip though didn't try it at the time (the place didn't look too hygienic and risks of food poisoning).

Spring Rolls 4.80

Jas likes to order spring rolls, and being the laid back one he didn't ask for a list of ingredients listed from most prevalent to least XD. I've only ever ordered spring rolls once, while I love them I don't order them because my mother makes them better. Jas does not like doing reviews and decided the only thing he'll say about this dish is that it was vegetarian.

Malacca Special Prawns Noodles Soup 10.50

Jas says it was nice, though a bit hot (note - he put in chilli sauce) while he would order it again he wouldn't recommend it with some many other things to try on the menu. He likes to try new/different things while I often get the same thing.

Malacca Most Popular Char Kaw Teow 9.80

I ordered the above, a dish I've tried a few times (at other places) and liked. It's one of Malaysia's signiture dishes. It was huge! Hence two pictures. :P And I insisted jas check that there was no small print saying it's meant to be a shared dish. The dish was quite spicy, and nice. Instead of pork I asked for chicken, and no chinese sausage (which was pork). The dish contains some sort of flat noodle, lots of bean sprouts, fish cake, greens and chicken/pork. I'd recommend it as a dish for two people, and it was huge.

Service was adequate, though they did forget jas's spring rolls completely as the girl who took our order didn't write it down. While the picture was at the start it actually arrived at the end when jas re-ordered it. There were language difficulties when I asked what was in the char kaw teow, and ordered it with chicken instead of pork and no chinese sausage.

A causal place to go for a quick meal with friends, but not a date or long dinner.
They're open late and have great prices and a big menu.

Water Paintings on Swanston

Afterwards we went for a walk and found dessert, as we're not into shaved ice & jelly (Malay desserts), or asian desserts. Choices were limited as it was 10.30pm on a Thursday night.

With a name like 'Meet Fresh' you'd think it was a butchery with a pun wouldn't you? But it turned out to be a Taiwanese place, it's a new trend I think, that started last year, since then there have been asian dessert places poping up everywhere, the most well known being 'Dessert House'. This place was open till midnight on Thursday.

Not being fans of asian desserts, we went with the most normal looking thing and ordered waffles. Thick crunchy ones with ice cream. They were nice, but not something I'd order again for a few months. Something I've noticed is that a lot of asian dessert places have dishes with beans, what's with that? While I know that beans come from plants I can't but help picture a can of beans when I think of them. So as an ingredient they don't appeal to me at all.

Chocolate Waffles 6.00

We both agreed that it should be served with three scoops of ice cream rather than one, as it would more asthmatically pleasing, that and who doesn't want more ice cream? :P Jas who had had waffles at Cacao Green said these were better. Though he did say there was an inconsistency as mine was cooked a bit more and more/less sweeter.

At first I was going to order the mango and ice dish, but went against it as ice hurts my teeth, that and when I asked what it was composed of the waitress said mango and ice... Just mango and ice it seems. So you're paying $8 for a dish of canned mango and frozen water...

I'd recommend the waffles if you like them thick & crunchy, but personally would prefer something more delicate like crepes or churros dusted with icing sugar.

The Deco - Taken by Me

Taken by Jas. Unedited.

Steffi said... on April 21, 2013 at 11:30 AM

I never loved teh tarik as much as everyone think I should even though I lived in Malaysia for a few years.

My brother is a fan of Meet Fresh, but we never order waffles. Usually we go for their main desserts: grass jelly or barley base with toppings like pearls, taro and yes red bean, served either hot and cold. Those are pretty good. I don't think the red bean comes in cans if that helps :p At least when I was a child, beans used for desserts are bought in kilo quantities.

Charlie said... on April 22, 2013 at 12:32 AM

A little googling tells me they also come in the dry un-canned variety. :P Though I don't think I'll be trying it soon.