Western Food Dinner at Northam Beach Cafe

Having dinner at Northam Beach Cafe (11 March 2016)


Whenever we go to Northam Beach Cafe, we would have the chicken pie at the Western Food stall. The other day, we saw that they have several other items on their board, so my wife and I decided to have a go at the other dishes. At home my wife told me that they have something with salmon, so I was eager to give it a try.

We arrived quite early, around 6:00 am. Looking at their menu board, we selected the salmon baked with rice (RM16 something), the clam chowder (RM16 something) and the shepherd's pie (RM13 something). Instead of ordering two set meals, we ordered three items à la carte. I think we are among the first customers, as it took quite a while before we receive our orders. At that time of the evening, Northam Beach Cafe was also still quite empty.

The shepherd's pie was delivered to us first, followed by the baked salmon and the clam chowder. Here they are. They do look nice, don't they?

Shepherd's Pie at Northam Beach Cafe (11 March 2016)


Baked Salmon at Northam Beach Cafe (11 March 2016)


Clam Chowder at Northam Beach Cafe (11 March 2016)


Partaking this meal reminds us that the looking forward to the meal is better than actually eating it. Although the food all look good when they arrive at our table, our main complaint is that they are not sufficiently tasteful.

Of the three items, the best was the clam chowder. I was impressed that the clam chowder has two scallops in it. For RM16-something, that's value for money. I remember having it at a higher price elsewhere, and it was not so "ho liau". But, despite that, the clam chowder is not sufficiently tasteful. Or, should I say, it was quite tasteless. We also found that the garlic bread was not very crunchy. Maybe it was not as fresh as we would want it to be.

Both the baked salmon and the shepherd's pie were disappointing to us. The shepherd's pie was all mashed potatoes and crust, with not much filling in between. My wife didn't quite care for the baked salmon, and I had to finish it between us. On the whole, we ate the food out of having ordered it, but not out of great pleasure.

Our main complaint is that it is not tasteful. This could probably be rectified somewhat with a dash of salt and pepper. But it won't change the fact that there isn't much inside the shepherd's pie, or the rice in the baked salmon is so tasteless, I had to pour the clam chowder over it to give it some taste. While we would not like food that is too salty, food still need some salt to bring out the taste. The bill for the three items came to RM47 something. Not too bad for three items.

I am not dismissing Northam Beach Cafe's western food outright. We have gone there before for its chicken pie, more than once too, and we were happy on our previous visits. Next time, we will stick to our usual order.

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