Gourmet Garden

Some few weeks ago we were asked what can we recommend to eat in the Batu Ferringhi area, it was simple but yet hard to answer question. Although I have been calling Batu Ferringhi our home for the past 6 years or so, we have not really put much thought and research on the food scene here. Some of the more logical reasons that I can think of are that we cook our meals most of the time, the ‘tourist’ pricing that are charged and the presumed quality of the food.  But if you really put in some effort and time, you will find some decent and fair priced chows in Batu Ferringhi.

Breakfast and lunch is easy to satisfy with a range of fair price hawker fare and economy rice at Mutiara Apartment, which is about 5 minutes walking distance from Golden Sand Hotel. It is opposite the areas’ 7-Elven convenient store.

Try to ask the apartment’s food court location from the locals, and they will able to show you. Most of the stalls in the food court opens 7 days a week,.

Stall no.5 sells assortment of noodles, curry me, hokkien prawn mee and lor mee. The price ranges from RM2.80 to RM3.30 per serving depending on size, which is quite reasonable. And for taste it is not very exceptional but decent and able to calm the addiction when it hits. My favourite pick with this stall is the curry mee, as for lor mee I would substitute the usual ‘chili boh’ with curry mee chili and top up with some stock from the hokkien prawn mee to give it some additional flavour.

Then there is the wantan mee stall which is good to stuff the belly for a quick and cheap meal. Price ranges from RM2.80 to RM3.30 too and is worth the penny for quantity. But be sure to ask the auntie to make to order the way you like it. We normally like our wantan noodles dry (meaning no added stock or soup) with lots of lard and spring onions, and a mixture of broad and thin noodles. This combination brings out the flavor of the dark soy sauce and enhances the texture of the noodles.

If you like fried noodles, then there is the Hokkien Char, Char Koay Teow and fried rice stall. But our usual order from this is their Hokkien Char. The trick in savouring this hokkien char is to let the noodles soak up all the gravy before you start eating it. Price is similar to the previous stalls, cheap and decent.

For a more filling meal or lunch, you may want to try the economy rice stalls available in the food court.  There are actually 3 stalls there but we only patronized 2 of them, stall no. 15 and the one opposite it. On average there are 30 or so dishes available for the picking from stall no.15 depending on available ingredients. As for the stall opposite no. 15, their favourite is their curry fish and homey tastes, but the cleanliness is a bit of a no eye see at time.

At lunch time, an extra choice would be the available selection of Malay food by the road side of Jalan Sungai Emas, just outside of the mentioned food court / its infront of the 7 Elvent. There are 2 stalls in the area, but we have been patronizing ‘Kak Umi‘ of recent. The dishes are cooked at their nearby home and driven to the stall when ready. Business hour starts from around 11am until the early evening. Their curry ranges from mild spiced to flaming hot and with variety of meats like mutton, beef, chicken, fish and prawns. And their ‘ulam’ (salad) are fresh and green accompanied with their pungent ‘sambal’.  If you are willing to travel the distance you may want to try out Kedai Makan Lidiana at Tanjung Bungah for more choices of dishes and flavour variety with a very reasonable price tag. They are closed on Sundays.

The following meal cost us RM17.00 with 2 servings of mutton, 1 fried chicken, 1 fried cat fish, ulam, and 2 vegetables. It is a bit on the price side because we took extra servings of meat, our normal meal for 2 is usually below RM10.

For the between meal snacking after lunch, Banana House near the Parkroyal hotel may be the answer. This Fritter’s Shop located exactly the same roll as Park royal, less then 5 min walking distant. It’s in between Park Royal & Ferringhi Garden or the way up to Hard Rock. They sell bananas (as the name has it) all day long from 12 pm onwards and are open on all days except for special occasions, but we are more interested is the ‘goreng pisang’ (banana fritter), ‘kuih kodok’ (banana bread balls), ubi goreng, etc. I love their goreng pisang because they are crisp, sweet, tender and flavourful, and of cause cheap at RM0.50 per piece.

Dinner time is bit hard to recommend much as we seldom eat out at the time, especially in Batu Ferringghi. By nigh fall there are numerous eateries that are open for business but most of them are more for tourists with ‘tourist’ prices. Beach Corner behind Parkroyal has been a staple favourite for visiting Penangites and tourist. They serve some Hainanese fare and seafood, but is a bit pricey for our standards. One thing that is a no try would be their ‘Yam Duck’! To try their Hainanese dishes it would be wise to call and book beforehand with Lim or Yeow at 012 4729113 / 016 4222113. They are closed on Wednesdays and business hours are from early evening(I think).

Another choice for dinner if we were lazy or unable to make dinner would be ‘D’Anjung Selera Qistina’ which is on the street behind ‘Kak Umi’ / straight end of 7 eleven’s building . They are the Malay/Thai ‘chu char’ that is good in fried rice and variety of small dishes. Their dishes are prices are similar to the other Malay stall pricing levels. We aren’t sure of their off days. Will update later.

If you are looking for a classier place to dine at night, you may consider Tarbush, Sigi’s in Golden Sands, Hard Rock Cafe, etc. We have not visited these places, thus are not in the place to comment on them, but they have been blogged by some celebrity bloggers in Penang. With this that wraps up our usual haunts for makan in Batu Ferringghi for me and Gill. Enjoy your trip to Penang, Wendy!
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