Demon Deli? Perhaps not too demonically good.

What do you do when it's midday and you're at home, hungry? I don't know what you usually do neither do I care too much but I log onto Facebook and browse the ever popular Kuching Food Critics group, the group which consist of some people that glorifies vendors who treat them (so called food reviewers) the way they want and condemn those who don't, plus the occasional self-appointed-charity-like-body but ANYWAYSS..*cough*

Browsing through and using the search button to look for nice foodie recommendations around my area I stumbled across this place called Demon Deli, just a 5 minute drive away.

Should I go for it? I'll be damned if I don't. I'm starving. So 5 minutes later I found myself at the place. Easily distinguishable from its not-too-attractive yellow signboard and yellow walls.

Both exterior photos are taken from the Deli's Facebook page. But honestly with a name like that (I mean, come on. Demon Deli?) I won't expect to see Chinese characters defacing the signboard. I mean sure the demon serves as a reminder of the demonic presence but whatever..it is Kuching, anyway. Almost 80% of signboards in this city are defaced in various degrees by Chinese characters.

As you enter the door, you are welcomed by a loud voice saying 'Welcome' in Chinese. I thought it was one of the staff from the back shouting out the welcome but it was in fact one of those recorded machines that screams at you when you cross the sensor. And it seemed to work both ways because the voice yelled 'Welcome' even as a patron was exiting the shop. Least they had a sense of humor, accidental or not.

I sat down and was given a menu, an order sheet and a pencil. I have no problem whatsoever with filling out order sheets myself but seriously why do they always give such blunt, weak HB pencils?
There was but one wait staff on duty and she moved around the place, dragging her feet along like a young Becky Jackson from Glee. Except she wasn't mentally challenged. It was like each step she took screamed 'I hate my job'. Which is understandable if she does. I mean the place is already decorated with Lunar New Year decorations and on a miserable tall vertical shelf stood a lonesome tiny Christmas tree. Perhaps they thought the shelf was too good to be filled with some books or magazines or ornaments, they decided a miserable tiny Christmas tree would fill the gap nicely. Chinese pop music was blaring from the speakers. Perhaps they should rename the place something else which doesn't contain any English words.

So I placed my order: 1 Original Cheese Tamago, 1 Belgium Chocolate Milk Tea and the signature Home Made Deep Fried Cheese Sauce Pork. I brought the order sheet to the counter and returned to my seat. I was thinking perhaps I might save the wait staff the energy of getting off her chair at the counter in the back, talking to her other colleagues.

The wait wasn't long. I was served my Belgium Chocolate Milk Tea which was enormous. If I remembered correctly almost all the iced beverages on the menu seemed to have been labelled with a '750cc' tag on the item section identifier. That's bold. What if someone comes in with a measuring beaker and measures out 749cc? But who has the time, right?

There's even the option to modify your sugar and ice quantity. Seems like they're fusing in some Chatime shit right there. But it didn't disappoint. I ordered my drink with the normal sugar quantity and with less ice. It turned out pretty good.

Except...

What a surprise. Not a pleasant one, too. To be perfectly fair, I was partially at fault for not paying attention to safeguarding the mouth of my glass from any insects wishing to devour the slightly bitter, not-too-sweet chocolate drink. I asked for a new glass and the boss was happy to oblige. I got a new glass (still allegedly 750cc) and decided on some security measures for my glass.

The Cheese Tamago arrived first. Now I must admit this must be the first time I've heard of a cheese tamago so I decided to do a quick Google Image search for it while waiting for my food. What Google gave me and what the menu depicted was just..

This was what Google gave me

This was what Demon Deli gave me.

Now I don't wanna come off as a completely ignorant fool so I did a little bit of research. Turns out a cheese tamago or tamagoyaki, is actually a egg and cheese rolled omelette.

So looks like Demon Deli did not cheat me after all. It was served to me piping hot all around, even in the centre. You might be fooled into thinking this was some kind of pastry with lots of cheese on it but it's not. It's a rolled egg omelette with melted cheese. And it actually tastes pretty good. Makes for a nice appetizer or if you're on a hipster diet this should fill you up. I'll give it a 4.3/5.

Next up was the signature bear paw bun with some surprises (or not) between it.

The pork with cheese came wrapped in a pink bun with a bear paw mark imprinted (or burnt) on it. Talk about stomping on food. But nevertheless it is still something unique at least for me. The dish is presented burger style. The bun is not cut completely in half, rather it's cut down the middle but not all the way through, allowing it to open and close. Like a clam. Open up the top layer and you'll find a piece of sliced tomato, melted cheese, breaded deep fried pork slice and some lettuce underneath plus the bottom layer of bun. The portion of fries isn't exactly as much as what McDonald's would give but that's the way I like it. I never liked too much fries to go with my meal.

The pork itself was cooked nicely and upon peeling away the layer of breadcrumbs and batter, you can see it is quite thin. You would see the kind of meat that has been flattened out with a meat tenderizer before being breaded and deep fried. The meat wasn't flavorful but it wasn't bland either. The saltiness of the cheese helps add flavor where it lacks. Personally it wasn't very filling but considering I've had a cheese tamago with a huge glass of chocolate milk tea, I'd say I was content and seconds would've been too much to handle. I'd give the pork-bun-paw thingy a 4.4/5.

The name on the menu had the word 'sauce' on it. Where's the sauce? Melted cheese doesn't count as sauce. That's misleading.

Prices were:

1. Original Cheese Tamago: MYR6.90

2. Home Made Deep Fried Cheese Sauce Pork: MYR8.90

3. Belgium Chocolate Milk Tea: MYR5.90

Which gives a total of MYR21.70. At the time of writing, no service charge or taxes were included in the bill.

So, final thoughts. Would I give this place another go? Yes I would. I've yet to taste its braised pork rice dish and other items on the menu that I've set my eyes on. All in all, it didn't disappoint but that was because expectations weren't high to begin with. 

Demon Deli is located at Lot 16806, SL41, Ground Floor, Jalan Canna, Tabuan Tranquility Commercial Centre, 93350 Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. 

If locating places off of addresses like the above ain't your thing, just look for it near McDonald's Tabuan Tranquility, behind Giant. Demon Deli is located just next to a coffee shop called 'Foursquare Cafe'. Or else just look for a place which is yellow and doesn't blend in with the surrounding shoplots. Plus there's a gym above it called Real Steel.

Geez these naming patterns are out of control.