The Cajun Kings - Reprise, with better photos

We headed back to The Cajun Kings for a big rowdy family dinner one Friday evening, and this time, I managed to stall everyone long enough before eating to take proper photos.The good thing about going with a lot of people and ordering a lot of food meant that we got to try a lot more stuff, which was brilliant.

The cousins did the ordering, so we just sat back and ate whatever came our way. The frogs legs were pretty good - juicy, moist and succulent, tasting exactly like chicken - I normally wouldn't have ordered it, but I was glad we got to try it.

Calamari - a hot favourite among the old and young.  Their batter was super crispy, and the calamari was cooked just right so that it was still soft enough without being too chewy.

Garlic butter dip waiting to be devoured.

 

The sweet potato fries - these were surprisingly good.

The entire spread of starters for our table

I really liked the garlic fries - it was surprising how good the flavour was

Deep fried okra, which turned out surprisingly good as well - crispy on the outside, soft and not too slimy on the inside.

Our table had the plain seafood boil, with all types of seafood and some sausages and corn thrown in.

And the most majestic of them all - the boiled lobster sitting right on top.

Trying our hand at placing the corn strategically in between the pincers for a better photo

One of the dungeness crabs

Enroute to being chopped up

Work in progress

Super creamy insides. The crab was wonderful - while the cajun spice mix was pretty tasty, the plain boil also brought out the natural flavours of the seafood much better.

And we even had space after that for supper at Prego's. *Guilty smile*

Kota Tinggi and Penggarang Eating

A bunch of greedy friends and I headed to JB for some good eating one sunny Sunday, starting off bright and early for breakfast at a roadside bak kut teh stall in Kota Tinggi. It's past the road to Desaru, identifiable by a lot of cars parked outside a shack, as well as the 100plus sign.

Half of the spread that we ordered

 

Tau pok and golden mushrooms

The pork ribs that came with tau kee on top as well as canned button mushrooms

There was also some liver/kidney stuff that looked yuck but my friends ate them up

The ribs were pretty good - they were soft and meaty.

The pork trotter was also quite nice, but a little salty

Nice with rice

Everything cooked with charcoal  - made a big difference to the aroma

After whiling away the time, we headed to Penggarang for a seafood lunch.

This place was meant to be good for lobsters - they were kept in tanks outside

We ordered some fried kangkong - very ordinary

We ordered quite a few other things as well

First up was the lobster with a herbal sauce - it was very light in flavour, and it was good that the lobster was fresh so the flavours showed up very nicely

Sambal lala

Very fresh as well - and not sandy.

A seafood tofu mix - ordinary, but decent

The shimmering sand lobster, coated with some flour. This was more tasty than the herbal version. Think a salted egg version would really be quite brilliant.

Mikuni Reprise

We've been making good use of the FAR card, and I've had quite a few happy meals at Mikuni. Again, I stress that without the card, there's really no point in going there, paying all that money, for what is an above-average meal with a really ridiculous price tag.

This was the lunch bento - probably cost about $90.  

The cod was not too bad - but cod normally isn't bad anyway.

Tempura - light, fluffy, crispy, decent.

Pretty standard sashimi - it was fresh, but I daresay sashimi at any restaurant like Ishiban Boshi and upwards is usually fresh.

California Maki - very normal, nothing to shout about.

Some prawn crisp as a starter

I think this was the business lunch ($75). 

Fresh sashimi again, this time slightly more enjoyable than the version than came with the lunch bento. Maybe it was the presence of hotate.

Thinly-sliced pork with miso - now, this I really enjoyed. The soup was nicely sweetened by the chinese cabbage and onions. Drank up every last drop.

Tempura was pretty standard.

Not sure what this tofu/tamago thing was.

A close-up look at the pork - perhaps the most excellent thing one can order at lunch time

The beef and prawn teppanyaki set

The beef was good, and the prawn was yummy but really, if the prawn is that fresh/good, you really don't need that creamy sauce. Ugh.

We managed to score some extra desserts in addition to the normal fruit slices - a red bean cake, and some green tea ball.

Christmas and New Year Eating

We were very blessed and fortunate to have been invited out to various places over the festive season, and we had lots of great food shared with great friends. These aren't necessarily the best ever dishes or photos, but they were eaten in good company with good conversation. 

Christmas Party 1: Roast beef round 1 - this was pretty yummy but slightly dry.

There was a very yummy salad with rocket, sundried tomatoes and cranberries with balsamic vinegar

 

 Turkey - with plain boiled veggies

 

Roast beef round 2 : much juicier this time

 Grilled sausages

 

Next up, a new year's eve dinner at an old friend's house - clams with garlic, white wine and crab meat

 

Which went on top of angel hair pasta

The salad which looked really colourful - we brought a cheese platter with quince paste, dried apricots and nuts which I regret not taking a photo of

The star of the evening was this roast rib - straight out of the oven, done to rare-medium-mediumwell perfection

Dripping with juices - beautifully done

A closer look

So good you can even eat it on its own

Last, but not least, we had our usual Christmas dinner at the inlaws' place. Unlike previous years, this was a smaller-scale affair, but as yummy as ever.

Ham with honey mustard and grilled pineapple rings

Turkey - this was perfect.

Potatoes, oven-baked and pan-fried, with paprika

The entire spread

Sausages

Veggies to make ourselves feel slightly healthier

The ham was super yummy and sufficiently un-salty

The husband carved the turkey expertly

Log cake made by the SIL

Happy New Year everyone!