Food in Muar - Sai Kee Cafe and the Marina Complex

One fine Saturday, while I was in Muar on some IT-related project (nothing concerning my current employer, though....), I chanced upon the Sai Kee Cafe. This cafe was famous for it's own 434 brand coffee. According to the information available on their website at http://www.saikee.com, there were a total of 4 separate Sai Kee Cafes spread out all over the small town of Muar (though I heard from a reliable source that there were currently only 3 in operation). The one that I patronized was opposite the Muar Bus Station, along Jalan Salleh (that's the road you turn into right after crossing over the old bridge that's next to ST Microelectronics).

From the outside, the cafe hardly stood out among the rest of the shops beside it, with nothing save a worn, weather-beaten sign board to announce itself to the endless stream of motorists driving by. True, as I had driven past it many times before without noting its presence. Lucky for my wife who was much more familiar and observant than I was for these kind of things.

The specialty of the Sai Kee Cafe was the famous *Musang* coffee. A Musang is a civet-like animal, which is involved in the creation of this particular kind of coffee. How? Well, from what I understand, the Musang eats the coffee cherries, together with the seeds (beans). The beans, unsurprisingly, are indigestible, and are therefore recovered from the Musang when it, um, defecates. Through some post-processing (probably using similar technology as used in the production of Newater), the beans are thus ready for consumption after grinding as coffee. Apparently, this adds some unique flavour to the RM15+ cup of Musang coffee brew....

Besides Musang coffee, there were other types of coffee sold here, with names such as Blue Mountain, Mona Lisa and Elephant Coffee (which thankfully, is not produced like Musang Coffee!).

The menu was rather limited, basically a two sided laminated sheet, of which more than half was dedicated to the signature product, coffee. The interior and ambiance quite successfully recreated the feel of being in an old-style coffee shop. Besides a large variety of coffee to choose from, there were some food available such as toast with "kaya" (which is something locals here spread onto their bread, made from eggs, sugar, coconut milk and pandan) and nasi lemak (again, a local dish of steamed rice soaked in coconut milk, usually serve with "sambal" [hot spicy sauce / paste], ikan bilis [anchovies], cucumbers and eggs). By the way, the nasi lemak here was small and only contained sambal (it was more of a side order than an main dish).

Well, still, if you have the time, the Sai Kee Cafe is a nice place to sit down and relax with some light snacks and coffee.

Update [10 Jan 2011] : Inserted a map to Sai Kee Cafe below:

That was it for breakfast. After concluding my business for the day, we adjourned to the nearby Marina Complex, for lunch. This was the building near the Muar Jetty, the one with the large durian roundabout that I visited together with friends from 8GCC way back in the end of 2007. There was a small set-up along what was by definition a beach (actually, where the Muar river flows into the Straits of Melaka). The "beach" was lined with large rocks, so no running along the sand ala Baywatch. In the premise of Marina Complex there was a small open air joint (under the shade of trees) where you could get some fried rice or noodles. There was an option to sit indoors too, but since the area was nicely shaded with a nice breeze, the only reason for sitting indoors would be to avoid the rain. The food was quite affordable here.

Update [10 Jan 2011] : Inserted a map to The Marina Complex below:

Well, I'll be coming down to Muar from time to time, so hopefully with each visit I'll discover more interesting places for food worth mentioning about.