Sio Bao & Curry Puff

There are two prominent bakeries hidden inside a small lane called Lorong Khai Joo (some called it 'coffin' street in the old days) in Kuching. One is called Chong Chon (長春餅店) and the other Tong Kee (棠記). I always buy from Chong Chon since the sio bao there is considered the best in Kuching. I have never tried the food staff from Tong Kee but some say the pastries there are better than Chong Chon.

Yesterday, I went to buy food stuff from this small lane again but all the pastries in Chong Chon were sold out. So, I walked across to Tong Kee to buy some sio bao and curry puffs.

To my surprise, the sio bao has very fluffy pastry skin which is very nice. However, the filling is drier than the one from Chong Chon.

For the curry puffs, the pastry skin is also very nice. The multi-layer texture can be savoured quite nicely in the mouth.

The filling is for those who like it hot. If you are not a spicy food person, this may be too spicy for you. For me, I like it hot!

Getting Carnivorous in Český Krumlov

Krčma v Šatlavské is a very prominent restaurant in Český Krumlov for meat eater. Some may call it a meat heaven.

The inside of the restaurant is a cellar which is dimly-lit by candles and the overhead floodlights. The flickering flame of the open fire pit also contributes to part of the lighting inside. All these really set a medieval mood for dinners.

When I visited the restaurant, I walked straight in and the waitress told me that all the tables were fully booked by a tour group. Before I walked away with disappointment, she friendlily told me that I could wait for a table at the patio which were also fully filled up. I saw a table which was almost done with their food and since I was the first in the queue, I decided to wait.

I was given a table within 15 minutes and I should considered myself lucky because when I just sat down, there were quite a number of disappointed diners walking away after asking for a table but to no avail. The queue was also starting to get longer for those who were willing to wait. A German couple joined my table since I was alone.

Without any hesitation, I scrolled through the menu and decided on my food for my dinner. The rest of the waiting time was just spent on sipping on my drink and smelling the fragrance of the charcoal grill.

Another 30 minutes later, my food was ready and served on a nice porcelain plate.

The portion was big. There were 18 fingers all together. The meat was stilled quite tender even it was grilled to well done. This was the second best grilled pork ribs that I have ever had. The best that I had was in South Africa.