piasau boat club

a family regular place, if anything for our munchkins place to release energy at the playground and the beach. the dolphin swing being the all time favourite and everything else second. the club was setup by the company to help provide some recreation facilities for the staff, mainly for the expats to not worry about what to cook. its located within the piasau camp area, a members club but was told that you can walk in and pay cash too if you want to eat at the restaurant, else it works by a chit system. the makan is ok overall, it has a range of locals and western favourites, and even catering to some part of our demographics, it even feature bitterballens (dutch deep fried meat stuffed doughballs). its not the same as the haram version in nl, but those were the jahiliah days...a good thing about this place is they dont use msg in their recipes so you dont get that thirsty feeling after you had your meal even after downing a few glasses of drinks. so whats good? the laksa sarawak is quite alright, chicken chop is pretty and burgers. they do a kuching style noodle, which is tomato based, pretty good too. if you have a big group go for the beef black pepper honey, or if your on company lunch, go for the pre-ordered fried cod fish, it is simply deelish. the fish is slightly crispy outside but oh so tender fish meat inside, its so juicy. overall a good place to have a makan and relax during the weekends. oh and i have actually gone sailing with one of the lasers there...but havent got the helms tix yet, that to come.

imperial hotel restaurant

this is one of our regular places whenever it rains or just want to go somewhere simple and air conditioned. its got a chinese and mixed menu. the restaurant is fairly large and mostly unoccupied so we tend to get our usual table by the windows and the little toddler gets to roam around whenever she doesnt want to sit down. we've only gone for the simple goreng, sup stuff from the chinese menu, so never really ventured into the lauks. the gorengs and suppy stuff is done well, though not superb. the mixed menu has the western and local range, and bistro stuff like sandwiches and italian menu, wide enough but not super extensive. the club sandwich is ok, and worth trying the fish (salmon). we stayed at the hotel for a good 5 weeks when we first arrived, so this place has a place in our stomach. prices are reasonable and parking is free when you eat here so all in all a worthy proposition to give it a go. located on the ground floor of the hotel next to the reception counter.

secret recipe

those from west my will be familiar with this chain. we had to give it a go, though it was a while after it opened that we tried it. we did have a peek just when they opened, but they had a simops thing going with final construction work going on and people ordering and eating food at the same time, which was a no no for us considering we have an interpid traveler with us. when we got round to it, its pretty much consistent set of menu with a bit of miri oil town boosted price, or brunei market factor, or whatever you want to call it. we had a go at the vietnamese beefball noodles, the tom yam noodle and little one had one of the fish...ok lah, i think they could tweak it a bit to give a bit more oomph to the flavours. anyway we tried it again and tapau'd the shepherds pie which went down well with our daughter and me too. so that was recommended. the wifey would have their apple juice with something in it (kasturi?). of course they are more well known for their cheesecakes, but we havent tried that yet! for you to have a go. located at the pelita roundabout along the 'bright, happening' part of miri with its nightlife row. overall worth to check out.

Cafe Rosita

been wanting to try this place out for a while, but just never came round to it. one day i just mentioned it to the mrs that we go there for lunch and off we went. its at the ground floor of the dynasty hotel, one of the older hotels here. looks ok from what we saw of the lobby but no idea what the room are like. 3 star ish...apparently owned by a local malay family but sold out due to problems running it. anyway back to the main reason. i was told this place can be busy, but we took a chance and turned and there was a table for us, though not many left. its popular with the buffet. we had a flick of the a la carte menu, and it did look interesting. alas we went for the buffet. overall it is ok, some ups and downs, our daughter happened to enjoy the chicken roulade with roast potatoes and gravy, which is always welcome. they had some ok dishes, though the ingredients (meat cuts, lamb) was not up to scratch. they do need to work on the matching, they had nasi minyak but only one dish to go with it. the rest was more a white rice dish..salads range was acceptable, and so was dessert. overall ok value for lunch. atmosphere is about eating, table/chairs have been optimised over the years of experience. would certainly come back to try their a la carte range pulak.

restoran best western

when in the mood for a good slab of meat or poultry, we like to head out to this place which is located on the ground floor of the hotel grand palace. this joint had a bit of a run in with their halal cert renewal, but am glad to say that they have sorted that out now, so we can head out there again without was-was. we very much like their steaks, whether the regular cut or their tournedos. the tournedos are especially really nice and succulent and tender when put into your mouth. they do actually give the steakhouses in kl a good run for their money, seriously. side dishes are good too, i am a sucker for mash, and they do this quite well here. the atmosphere is more towards fine dining, but they wont turn you away even if you turn up in a pair of shorts, just dont do the full ah pek look lah thats all with the pagoda t-shirt, though you never know and try it out yourself. back to the makan, they also do nice soups, whether mushroom, tomato or lobster bisque. salad is another area which is worth having a go with. it is sufficiently fresh and fairly well dressed and you can also decide to add chicken or fish to go with it. overall a worthwhile place to go whether it is with your family or for business.

restoran ala mak

this joint was recently opened couple months ago, and what a welcome sight it is. focusing mainly on johorean favourites (the owner is a johorean of course), it brings a new niche to this quite generic makan scene. when opened it offered only briyani gam, but now has expanded into mee bandung and mee rebus johor. the nasi briyani is light and fluffy as that is the malay interpretation of the northern indian dish. served with either beef, lamb or chicken it certainly is a very good shot at the real thing (as in nasi briyani batu pahat). you dont feel stuffed after having this briyani and so it lulls you into wanting to have more...
the mee bandung and mee rebus is also a must try as it doesnt cut any corners with the ingredients. have it with sirap bandung and youre ready to go. the place also does lots of different juices (incl pegaga), so you also get to enjoy the beverage with the makan.
located along the shop lots in piasau (opposite the shell station), with easy parking.

restoran bulatan

this is one of the places we sometime go for the basic goreng2, sup2 stuff. we happen to know the owner's spouse who works at the same place (half of this town works here), but thats not the reason why we come here. its a casual place, opens throughout the day and is quite consistent in terms of the quality of food served. most of the time its the basic nasi goreng, they do it without much fanfare and the taste is quite good, when you get that charred taste. also worth trying their hotplate, its good as well. there is a brader who does satay in the evenings, from 8 onwards, and usually is sold out by 10. price is reasonable and theres easy parking spots, except for the pasar malam nites on fridays and sats.
located along the row of shops facing the biggest roundabout (and now flyover) in miri, its quite accessible and is along the main thoroughfare of miri.