Holiday Foodsteps: Grandview Cafe, Kijal

If you ever find yourself in Kijal, Terengganu, there's a good chance you'd be staying at the Awana Kijal Resort. There's also a good chance that despite the variety of food outlets available at the resort, you'd want a change of scene at some point during your holiday.

Grandview Cafe, situated within walking distance of the resort serves up the good old Chinese staples, the sort of food you know you can always count on.

Deep fried squid - dipped in a spice-laden batter and fried till a delightful golden brown, I loved how they had put a new spin to this dish. With the crunchy outer layer giving off hints of curry spices, their version of deep fried squid is definitely one that stands out.

Chicken chop, oriental style. It may be that just because I'm Hainanese, my favourite version of this classic dish is the Hainanese one. There's just something about the crunchy chicken thigh in that quirky tomato based, mixed vegetable-filled gravy. Unfortunately, while Grandview Cafe is a Hainanese-run restaurant, they decided to go down the more popular path of serving their chicken chop with a choice of black pepper or mushroom sauce. With that said, they do a really good oriental style chicken chop just by keeping everything simple.

They say that one of the most basic performance measures for a Chinese restaurant is their Cantonese fried (insert noodle preference here). Coated in thick, egg-y gravy, the nicely browned kuey teow and crispy noodles were just what we needed after a morning spent cycling in the sun.

Fish head curry - a little more sour than your typical fish head curry and highly reminiscent of the Nyonya gulai tumis. While slightly on the oily side, it was still rather satisfying.

Like quite a few other Chinese restaurants in Terengganu, baked crab is a feature on the menu. Filled with a good amount of crab meat, the baked crab rivals some of the more famous ones in Kemaman.

Another dish worth mentioning is the egg Fu Yong (omelette) - cooked to a lovely, fluffy texture and with slightly browned edges, it just goes to show that sometimes, you really don't need fancy. That's really thing to remember about Grandview Cafe - it's best to keep things simple - you'll definitely come away from the meal hugely satisfied and with your wallet intact.