Beyond Veggie By Secret Recipe Bintulu

Beyond Veggie By Secret Recipe is an intriguing spot recently opened at Bintulu Sentral (Google map still showing a jungle path but it is located just around the corner of Digi). As the name suggest it is a vegetarian themed restaurant by Secret Recipe which we dropped by last week to have a try.

Vegetarian restaurant has always been the sort of ignored places as I find it largely ironic that these restaurants serve dishes made of vegetable to resemble or taste like poultry. I am puzzled whether people who do not want to eat meat due to religious belief or to end animal cruelty wants to actually get a taste of it? For now I will just leave it at that but being it from Secret Recipe I was curious to find out what is actually being served?

The restaurant has a relaxing feel to it mostly due to it's lighting placement with dark ceiling for a chill hangout plus the night we arrived there was only two tables occupied which was surprising considering most new restaurant is swarm with people. We were served immediately with a green menu, there is a selection of dishes that could be found from the original Secret Recipe however those dishes with meat or prawn are being substitute with vegetables. Things that I found interesting are the variety of appetizers like mushroom done in different style and sauces, yam basket, spring rolls and there is a slew of choices for fried rice and noodles cooked with some different kind of vegetables. Then there is also the dessert which I find pleasing apart from their cakes (most are not found at Secret Recipe) are the new addition of cendol or shaved ice and sago.

We made our orders and less than fifteen minutes the foods are out.

The Snow Mountain which cendol shaved ice looks good but unfortunately lacks the taste, it taste pretty watered out as they used too little condensed milk.

Mushroom is the new meat

Kueh teow with bitter gourd, as the name would suggest is quite bitter which came in a large bowl with black sauce that tasted a bit herbal but I couldn't make out what it was. A very large potion with lots of mushroom however overall I do not find the look or smell too appetizing.

Tom yum without the prawn

Tom yum soup noodle, Secret Recipe has the same dish however they sub the prawn with mushrooms (mushroom is the new meat here). It lacks flavor due the missing prawn and cuttlefish usually used to give an overall sweet flavor.

No lion mane was harm in making this dish

Lion mane mushroom, although no resemblance of a lion however it was the highlight of the night. It has the curry flavor yet sweet smell and taste which is mouth watering. To be honest it really taste like meat maybe that is the reason I enjoy it.

Healthiest meal we had...really?

Overall I do like the place and Beyond Veggie has set itself apart from the tiring western food restaurant in Bintulu. There is a lot of choices that I look forward in trying in the future. Stay tune for future updates.

Lion Mane Mushroom - RM19.90
Kuey Teow Bitter Gourd - RM15.90
Tom Yum Soup Noodle - RM15.90
Snow Mountain - RM7.50
Quickfix - RM8.90

ZenQ Bintulu - Blackforest Danish Toast

ZenQ Dessert Bintulu has recently added a new toast series to their dessert menu which seems quite popular judging from all the hype being posted on Facebook. So I decided to give a go and chosen the Blackforest Danish Toast which they also have Chocolate Banana Honey Toast and Strawberry Lover Honey Toast.

The wait was pretty long around 10 minutes despite we were the only table waiting for our desserts to be served which I can't imagine on a busy day. The toast came in a big plate with fork and knife but because the table surface was pretty smooth, I had a hard time trying to cut through it.

Blackforest Danish Toast sure looks dark

Top with chocolate ice cream, grapes, kiwis and a layer of peanut butter on top of a toast, it was somewhat puzzling to say the least to even consider it creative. The taste if you would imagine is like getting an ice cream bun from those bicycle ice cream vendor for a price of RM2.00 but instead you are paying RM16.90 for it. The mix of peanut spread with chocolate ice cream was not really my preference, it felt there is just too many different things going on with the toast and halfway through it I stopped as I was feeling pretty dreadful like when you load up too much fat and sugar in a filling.

Maybe I did not know what I was expecting but overall in my opinion it could have been good other than ice cream on toast with bombardment of different taste on it.

Blackforest Danish Toast - RM16.90

The Esplanade Bintulu

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The Esplanade Bintulu is one of those hidden spot due to it's location and public perception towards not knowing what to expect from the restaurant. Situated just beside the riverbanks of Bintulu Waterfront, it serves a variety of Chinese dishes and seafood choices while I did not see any Halal sign however they do not serve any pork and there was a few tables with our Muslim friends.

 I have been here since the week of The Esplanade's opening and as expected of any newly opened restaurant the service was poor. Food came out late and the drinks did not even came until we asked at our last dish. So I decided to come back again after a year later. You can choose to sit within the restaurant which is air conditioned or outside which I enjoyed the view of the park and the cool breeze.

We ordered bean curd with seafood soup, fried prawn with salted egg, stir fried broccoli with almond and deep fried chicken Thai style. I expected the food to be late as there were a few tables waiting and not to mentioned the people seated just in front of us was really unhappy with their order as the food did not came and they canceled it in the end. Yet I was pleasantly surprised food took around 15 minutes to be served while I could not say the same thing for the drinks as it took a staggering 20 minutes just for a watermelon juice and barley lemon.

The food was great especially the prawn fried with salted egg which is in golden crisps and not to mention the portion of the Thai style was huge. I love the relaxing experience and would be coming back again.


Fried prawn with salted egg - RM20.00
Bean curd with seafood soup - RM8.00
Stir fried broccoli with almond - RM15.00
Deep friend chicken Thai style - RM12.00
White Rice per person - RM1.00
Watermelon Juice - RM5.00
Barley lemon - RM5.00

ZenQ Bintulu

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For ZenQ menu of item please view HERE. I'll also be updating what I have tasted on the main menu.

ZenQ is a Taiwanese dessert store located beside Kemena Hotel at Medan Raya Bintulu. The store popularity among teenagers to old folks is just amazing as the place is always buzzling since its opening in April. Although suffering from the initial setbacks of not having enough ingredient to complete their menu, these days most dessert are available.

There is a variety of choice or series ( Grass Jelly series, Barley series, Red Bean Soup series, Shaved Ice series, Sago series, Iced Tea series & Freshly made series) . Unless you came with someone that has tasted quite a few to give recommendation or else you'll be one of those customer who might complain they ordered something that doesn't suit their taste. After trying most of their series, my suggestion is to ordered those that is recommended on the menu marked with their logo. Personally I recommend ZenQ Signature Grass Jelly and Mixed Fruit Shaved Ice.

ZenQ Signature Grass Jelly base is crushed ice of green tea with toppings of grass jelly and Q Yuan that I can only described as sweet jelly. You can choose between green tea,grass jelly or soy as the base. A really refreshing dessert as the bitter taste of green tea balance out the overall sweetness of the dessert which I greatly enjoy.

Signature Grass Jelly

The Mixed Fruit Shaved Ice came with a mountain of shave ice top with an ice cream and accompanied with honeydew,mango and watermelon cubes. I added sago as another topping. Although as good as it might seem I find there is nothing particularly interesting but don't get me wrong it still serve it's purpose for a cool dessert.

Mixed Fruit Shaved Ice

Overall I enjoyed the place and it has been one of the dessert store I visit from time to time.

For ZenQ menu of item and more dessert review updated as I have tried. Please view HERE

ZenQ Signature Grass Jelly - RM7.50
Mixed Fruit Shaved Ice - RM8.90 + Topping RM1.00

ZenQ Bintulu Menu Item (Last Update 29/07/2013)

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ZenQ Bintulu offers a variety of dessert however it could be puzzling trying to figure out what to have when you reach the store. So here is a menu for easier viewing. Click here to view ZenQ Bintulu.

For all ZenQ dessert series excluding Milk Tea Series, you have the choice to add toppings of the following sweet goodies into your dessert. So pick and match!

Now onto the desserts!

Paddy's Coffeehouse New World Suites Bintulu

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Paddy's Coffeehouse is a restaurant serving both local but mostly western halal food located at the fifth floor of New World Suite Hotel. It is one of those restaurant that I seldom visit due to my past 4 experiences here that not only didn't impress me at all but left me wondering why I am spending to spoil my lovely evening here? From past experience the service is not really great and I could still remember calling during Valentine day to ask what course of meal they were serving to their reply "chicken, beef and vegetable"...*GASP*. The main deal breaker is the wait, I hate waiting for my food and I had experience of waiting almost an hour for my chicken cordon bleu which tick me off really bad despite there were only two tables in the whole restaurant.

So you might be wondering why I am back here?Well I guess it was fate as I was stuck in the building due to the downpour and the only place to dine other than having fried chicken and sushi was Paddy's Coffeehouse. Despite its name, Paddy is by no mean a kopitiam. Its quite an expensive restaurant to dine in by Bintulu's standard. They serve mostly western food but also some local food and they are quite famous in offering a variety of mocktail and cocktails.

Upon entering I was greeted by a smoke filled restaurant, I guess the exhaust fan in the kitchen was not working that night? I love the enviroment, it felt really cosy and you get to overview the rivefront park of Bintulu which is gorgeous in the afternoon. I would recommend sitting near the windows in main hall and avoid the big tables at the secluded side. The chair and table are so awkwardly placed it is only suitable for afternoon tea break where you are relaxing but eating is not practical as I find you need to reach your whole body forward to the table to eat.

I ordered the double cheese burger while my partner ordered the ulam fried rice. I was really suprised when the food came under 15 minutes as there was around 4 tables when we came in. The burger was juicy but cold when it came out however I wouldn't say it was bad. The bun was fresh made with chunky beef paddy slipped between processed cheese and a piece of egg.

The ulam fried rice came with prawn, tofu and shrimp paste. The shrimp paste was the highlight, albeit from that it just look as it is. Dull.

To finish it off, we had the silky smooth sweet creme caramel, I love how they decorated it. It wasn't too sweet that made you cringe thinking I am going to have diabetes tomorrow. Overall a great place if you are not in a rush.

Reggae Grill Bintulu

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Reggae Grill located at Park City is one those restaurant with nice dark ambient where you can just simply hit back and watch a game with a bottle of cold beer or simply enjoy your meal. The menu served both local and western dishes from your fried noodle to steaks and I must say they have a good variety with prices I consider reasonably cheap which why the place is always buzzing with crowd later into the night.

I ordered the steak roll while my partner a chicken chop. The service was good as the waiter waited at our table to make our order but it took almost twenty minutes for the food to come out which in my book is a long wait considering when we arrived there weren't much people.

The steak roll came rolled with sauce and mix vegetable in between served with mashed potato. The meat looks absolutely gorgeous and the taste  didn't disappoint. Full flavour and was pretty soft but my only complain was the portion was too big if I am being picky.

 Steak roll

The chicken chop came with mushroom sauce and mashed potato. According to my partner it tasted alright since I don't expect anything earth shattering about chicken chop as long as they don't burnt it.

chicken chop

Overall I enjoyed the whole experience and there is also a room with air condition for those who doesn't want to sit outside which mostly are smokers but I find it's not always opened.