Puteri Mart Food Court

There’s a big area blocked off behind our local grocery store/market with a sign that says, “Puteri Mart Food Court,” which I’ve always wondered about. It only opens at night, and until last weekend, I had never been. Now when I think of “food court,” I think of a mall with Wendy’s, Mickey D’s, Auntie Anne’s and the like. As you can probably guess, the Puteri Mart Food Court is a little different. 

It turns out, the PM Food Court is the place to be on Saturday night (I actually think that it’s open every night except Friday, which is when the night market on the other side of town is open). There were food stalls, a mini mart with beer and other drinks, and – get this –  a karaoke stage. I couldn’t have asked for more excitement!

It was a little empty when we first arrived, but quickly filled up.

Naturally, I also took this as an opportunity to try more food. First up:

Chicken something-or-other? Sure, I’ll take two!

It had a nice spicy-sweet glaze on top, which turned out to be quite yummy. To be washed down with…

…bad Asian beer! Although it was nice to enjoy a beer outside (atypical, given the Muslim culture and the fact that most people don’t drink), it did make me pine a little for Keegan Ales and other delicious beer at home. 

I was still hungry for a little something else, so I wandered over to another Chinese stall, where a little boy was behind the counter with his mom. Upon seeing me, he shrieked and dove behind a chair (as I’ve mentioned, not too many foreigners around). Anyway, I ordered bao (which is the Chinese word for it, which Alex told me before I went over and ordered, which totally impressed/confused the lady behind the counter). It’s a steamed, bread-like bun that can be filled with a variety of things. Mine had pork, onions and some other stuff(?). It was okay, but I wouldn’t rush back to get it again:

I asked the woman if I could photograph some of her other food, which also looked interesting:

I was too full to try anything else, but there’s always next time! 

So we enjoyed our food, drinks and terrible karaoke…

 

I was tempted to get up and belt out a few songs, but I’ll use the excuse that all of the songs were Chinese and I didn’t know the lyrics. Alex does know Chinese, so he really has no excuse. 

There aren’t many places to “hang out” near where we live, so it’s nice to know that you can go somewhere outside, have some food and drinks, listen to music (I guess…), and chill out. I don’t need to go every week, but I would definitely go again.

And now I will be going on a little hiatus for the next week and a half or so. Alex and I are leaving for Bali on Friday, to spend the weekend, and will be going to another island in Indonesia next week. I’ll send some virtual sun your way, and recap when I return!