January 4, 2010
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Matahari
As a treat before he went back to camp, Hubbie made reservations to go to Matahari. I've been wanting to go there for a while now ever since i found out about the restaurant during the Edmonton Heritage Festival. Been told they serve South East Asian (esp Malaysian and Singaporean) cuisines and i am not going to say no to a place that might serve a slice of home for me.When we arrived, Hubbie and myself noticed that the restaurant's decor was simple, chic and modern, with a touch of south east asian flavour. It was pretty quiet for Sunday night. Well, guess since it is the end of the new year's weekend and everyone was heading back to work on Monday they chose to stay home instead of eating out. So the restaurant was nice and peaceful, not that i was complaining.
I've been craving for Nasi Lemak for the longest time. Nasi Lemak is typically steamed coconut rice with a side of meat (normally fried chicken), cucumber slices, ikan bilis (small dried anchovies deep fried till crispy), roasted peanuts, hard boiled egg, and sambal (which is a blended paste of red chilli, tamarind slices and juice, sugar, shallots, and garlic that has been fried till it turns dark). So no question as to what i was going to order since i went through their menu list on their website and made sure they had it listed on the menu. Hubbie went with the 'Singaporean Toss Noodle' which i think is just another way of saying Wanton Noodle. *grin* Because listed on the menu this was the description they gave - vermicelli or egg noodles, bbq pork, wontons, Chinese greens, fried onions, and green onions tossed in a soy-sesame and minced pork sauce. Indeed, when our food was served and i had a taste of Hubbie's noodles it did tasted like Wanton Noodle.
We also ordered an appetiser for Hubbie and a salad for myself. Hubbie's choice - Murtabak, which essentially is an Indian dish of thin, flat dough that has cooked minced chicken, beef or lamb as a filling and pan fried till the dough is nice and crispy. Usually served with curry or (as Hubbie calls it) red sauce ... which to me is just a blend sweet chilli sauce and ketchup. At Matahari, they had a slightly different take on this dish as it had egg as a filling instead of meat. My choice - Gado-gado, which is a Indonesian dish of fried tofu with bean sprouts, cucumbers, shredded lettuce and green beans all smothered in a peanut sauce. Matahari's version had potatoes in them which was a first for me since the ones i have had never had potatoes and i still prefer my Gado-gado without the potatoes.
Hubbie with his Muturbak.
On the left is Gado-Gado and on the right is Nasi Lemak.I was stuffed by the end of the meal, but Hubbie had room for desserts and went for banana fritters with vanilla ice cream. I was eyeing the Wild sticky rice with fresh mango and vanilla ice cream but knowing i was too stuffed to polish it off the plate i decided against ordering it. However, Hubbie asked if we could order it to go, knowing very well i would be kicking myself an hour or two later for not ordering it and i would be whining about it and he would have to hear me whining.
Which was very sweet of him and also a very wise move cos the moment we got home i polished off the dessert while sitting in front of the computer tweeting. *lol*
Sorry, no photos of the dessert. Guess i was preoccupied with a very satisfied appetite and tummy from all the yummy food i had and making plans on when i should next go back for more yummy food at Matahari! *grin* *heehee*Update : A friend on twitter has suggested i do a meetup at Matahari. I have concerns about whether or not the food is going to be to everyone's liking.
But, it is something to think about.
