Breaking Fast @Jati Restaurant

I first heard about this restaurant from Fendy, after a week in Manchester, because I was complaining to him that I haven't take rice for quite some time now. He mentioned to me a couple of restaurants which served rice and these include Jati and Rezki.

"Wah... they have Malay restaurants here? Hmmm... I'm impressed!"

A week later, I received a message from newly found Internet friend (thanks to blogging, I guess) saying that he will be coming to Manchester with a friend of him on business purposes. When he said he will be breaking fast at the Jati Restaurant, I quickly responded to his blog to ask whether or not, I could join them dining there.

In short, we agreed to meet at about 6.30pm.

I arrived quite early, at about 6.00pm and thank God I managed to find the restaurant with clear direction given by Fendy (well, it's not that difficult to locate it because I remember passing this route on my way back to Old Trafford 7 or 8 years ago) . To kill time, I decided to walk along the Oxford Road because it's busier, which means safer. I walked and walked until I spotted one of my favourite spots in Manchester i.e. the Cornerhouse, where I used to entertain myself with art films from all over the world.

As usual, it was full and I quickly grabbed the latest October 07 listings and ran into its bookshop. In one glance, I've identified a couple of books which I would like to bring home to add into my collection of film studies books.

My alarm (one of my favourite functions on my Sony Ericsson Walkman) went off at exactly 6.30 pm. I grabbed and paid for the latest edition of Sight & Sound and quickly walked back to the restaurant.

By the time I was there, there was a group of four Malaysian Chinese, an English couple and a Malay lady with a British husband inside the restaurant, having their meals. It totally reminds me of the Malaysian Hall canteen in London, only that it's a lot smaller.

While the waitress helping me with the menu, Lee and Martin popped in with big smiles on their faces. We meet each other at last! I ordered the set meal (rice with salad and chicken tomato), Malaysian teh tarik (they used milk powder instead of condensed milk - I guess for health reasons!) and a bottle of apple juice. Lee had a similar dishes except that he took chicken kurma and a big glass of teh tarik. If I'm not mistaken, Martin opted for fried noodles and also a big glass of teh tarik. The waitress came back to us with a plate of dates. How sweet!

I hope I did not bore this two gentlemen with my uninspiring life. And surprise, surprise... Lee is also a big fan of Ramlah Ram. Oh my God! I don't know how to describe it but I feel so wonderful to meet someone in these days who enjoys listening to Ramlah Ram. He also enjoyed Kuching as much as I do. That's great! If the time permits, may be we could go for a vacation in Kuching in a group in the near future.

I took the opportunity to ask Lee and Martin for some useful travel tips especially for my next trips to Edinburg and Germany. Martin advised me to go to Hamburg during Spring because it will be awesome (Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany) and cost effective (the most important factor for poor students like me!). Insya-Allah will try to google Hamburg after this and soon will disturb them with my queries.

Lee also suggested to me to go to Edinburg on New Year holidays because there will be some kind of celebration or special event or something (I forget its name) to do with gorgeous firework displays. Hmmm... maybe I need to start finding a friend in Edinburg soon to realise this trip. Hehehe.

It was nice to meet the two of them - both are equally friendly. We exchanged numbers (although Lee was a bit struggling to save my number, hehehe) and promised to stay in touch. I informed both of them that I will be going down to London on this coming Raya and insya-Allah, if time permits, will try to arrange for another get together in London or in Cambridge.

We said goodbye to each other at about 8.00 p.m. To some the food might be pricey but to me, it's quite reasonable and definitely will come back again.


p/s: My only regret is I totally forgot to bring along my camera! Hopefully, Lee will find some time to email me (arenaKu@yahoo.com) the one and only picture we took last night and will upload it a.s.a.p.