Cheers Restaurant and Bierhaus

Best in town for:  Pork Knuckle
Worst in town for: Nothing

Opening Times:
Monday to Sunday: 3.00pm to 1.00am

*EDIT* 29/01/12

The Citrus Smoked Duck Breast appears to have changed. It is no longer as tasty as it used to be. However, it might just be a poor batch of duck. The Pork Knuckle is excellent.

CAT: An uncle of mine mentioned to me that a new Bierhaus had opened up in Tanjung Tokong, and that the Chef had migrated there from Berlin Bierhaus (in Straits Quay). Having been impressed by the food at Berlin, we decided to try out this new place, Cheers Restaurant & Bierhaus.

First impression: the staff seem rather blur. Most of them have a poor command of English and take a while to process whatever you say, kinda like Google Translate on a laggy connection.

Anyway, my uncle had strongly recommended the Imported Smoked Duck, so that was a given. For our second dish, we ordered the Steamed Pork Belly with Mantou and Mashed Potatoes, which sounds like a really odd combination but hey, it sounds interesting and unique.

Braised Pork Belly with Mantou (RM27.80)

The dishes arrived quite promptly, and we were not disappointed. The Smoked Duck had the most amazingly sweet and tasty skin; I can't really describe it well, but imagine honeyed bacon / pork crackling and you sorta get the idea. The meat was tender and juicy and was perfectly complemented by the orange reduction sauce. A really amazing dish and a must try for anyone. Even Bear who's not a big fan of duck loved it.

Citrus Smoked Duck Breast (RM35.80)

The Pork Belly was decent, nice fatty chunks of Pork Belly served with fluffy Mantou and Mashed Sweet Potato make a tasty and interesting combination, but unfortunately it's overshadowed by the Smoked Duck.

The only disappointing dish was the Cheesy Bacon Bread, which sounds really good, but is let down by poor quality bread (tastes like the cheap baguettes from Gardenia or something)

BEAR: Hmph, a lot CAT seems to know about Bear. Bear is actually a fan of ducks. It just so happen that ducks are expensive and Bear is poor. On our first visit to Cheers, we were greeted in Mandarin. Not something I am accustomed to especially since I’m not exactly in a Chinese Restaurant but thankfully service was good.

We headed upstairs for dinner and as usual greedy Cat did all the ordering. He ordered the Smoked Duck and also the Pork Belly with Mantou and mashed potatoes.

So la dee da, the food arrived and it smelt like bacon. I looked all around but there was only the Smoked Duck. One bite later, I can vouch that the Smoked Duck was amazing. It tasted a bit like bacon too but it was so good it was a little indescribable. I was never a big fan of sauces to be truthful so I didn’t really care if they gave me the orange reduction sauce, soy sauce or whatever. The meat was so good and that was all that mattered to me.

Look at the fat on the skin!

The Pork Belly was pretty good too but it wasn’t as amazing as the Smoked Duck. I enjoyed the mantou though..

The prices are reasonable but judging by the menu, the appetizers were on the expensive side with side orders like spicy potato wedges going for RM9

Overall, the food is good, service is good and waiting times does not include you falling asleep drooling onto the menu.

A big thumbs up from me. Oh wait, does Bears have thumbs?

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Sri Malaya Heritage Restaurant

Best in town for: reasonably-priced set lunches, coffee

Worst in town for: lack of parking space

Opening times:
11.45 am - 3.00pm
6.00pm - 10.30pm

Closed Tuesdays

CAT: I love Nasi Lemak. In fact, I would pay RM17++ for a Nasi Lemak set lunch, but only at Sri Malaya. That's because Sri Malaya serves reasonably priced set lunches that have huge portions and great taste. You might call me crazy for paying RM17++ for a Nasi Lemak, but it's worth it!

The set lunches come with a dessert and your choice of drink, and we recommend that you choose the Illy coffee instead of the juices, as you can get juice anywhere but few places serve coffee as good as Sri Malaya's.

Illy Milk Coffee

The Nasi Lemak here is served with a big piece of chicken in Thai curry, which is rather different from the usual rendang sauce, giving it a unique flavour. The shredded Poppadums sprinkled on the dish is crunchy and tasty, but very very oily.

Nasi Lemak (RM17)

Dessert is a slice of chocolate cake with chocolate sauce drizzled on it. Taste is just right, not too sweet, not too rich, but it can be a struggle to finish even this small slice after the humongous meal.

Chocolate Cake

BEAR: There is a bit of a waiting time but they have free wi-fi so you can entertain yourself on the ipad or something. I usually order the Nasi Lemak as well but this time, I opted for something different. I got the Chicken Teriyaki Burger. It came surrounded by an army of chips that we couldn't finish.

It is extremely rare to see that the filling between the burger is actually bigger than the burger itself. Besides the huge piece of chicken, there was a little mayonnaise, lettuce and tomato. By the time I was done, Cat could just roll me out of the door. My dessert ended up packed for later - much later.

Teriyaki Chicken Burger (RM17)

I super love the Illy coffee that they serve. Priced at RM6 per cup or included in your set lunch, it is fantastic. I've always been a coffee addict and Illy coffee ranks high in my list of favourites. In my personal opinion, it tastes better than Starbucks' Cafe Latte - the drink I order a good 98% of the time I'm there. My only advice, drink it while hot. It's delicious!

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