Gourmet Garden

This coming 5th of September, we have planned and will be organising a “Speed Jiaozi Eating Contest” at its restaurant premises. The event would be co-organised with Foodmice.com.

The main objective is to promote the Chinese traditional food- Jiaozi (饺子) a.k.a dumplings.

Date of Event: 2PM to 4PM on 5^th September 2010 (Sunday)

Location/ Venue: Young Heart Restaurant

Registrations Fee: RM10.00

Contest: Every contestant have to eat 10 dumplings (Female: 8 pcs) in 60 seconds.

Prizes:

1. Consolation x 30 = RM50 voucher + 1 foodmice membercard, total prize worth RM75
2. 1st place or fastest =RM500 voucher + 1 foodmice membercard, total prize worth RM525

Those who wish to pre-register can do by contacting Ann at +6016 4108098 / +6012 4115867 or just walk-in an 30 to 60 minutes prior to the event on the 5th of September 2010.

Popularity: 3% [?]

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YOUNG HEART RESTAURANT

Address: 44A, Jalan Cantonment, 10350 Penang, Malaysia.
Opening Hours: 12.00noon-10.00pm (Closed Wednesday)
Contact: 604-228 8084, 016-410 8098 (Ms. Ann Kee)

Some of the active food bloggers that know us or have met us would know that me and Gill are currently running a restaurant & marketing consulting business that also provides food and product photography to compliment our concepts and design services.  A few week ago, after refurbishing and making some adjustments to provide a better value and a more affordable meal at our clients restaurant, Young Heart, we arranged for some of our blogger friends to try out the meal packages and provide us with their feedback. Those present were: Cariso.net 。Crizfood.com 。FoodPromotion.com.my 。 Noweating.com。StevenGoh.com

Generally the feedbacks that we got were positive and has been in terms of the meal package pricing and discount programmes. With the slight price adjustment and bundling created extra value for their customers  and the discount programmes are design fill the usually quite hours and also to get their customers to try other dishes that they might not have tried before.

VIVA DIM SUM DELIGHT (东城点心)

Address: Lot 303, Jalan Tanjung Tokong, 10470 Penang, Malaysia.
Opening Hours: 6.00am-2.00pm
Contact: 604-890 2549

Another client of ours, Viva Dim Sum Delight, was schedule to open on the 10th of August 2010. After having taken their product(food) photos and designing their simple table menu, and having the opportunity to taste what they are capable of “steaming” out from their kitchen; I requested from the owners to let my blogging friends try and feedback to them their (general public) expectations.

My personal feedback was that they could have done better on that day. When I was there for the photo shoot, the items that we tasted were a lot better than the usual dim sum found in our local Penang dim sum houses. Never ever give way to the demands of customer when you know that your product is superior then others and refrain from substituting ingredients when there is a shortage. Just stop selling them!

To be fair, I have refrain ourselves from reviewing these  two clients of ours. You may read about the review of Viva’s Dim Sum at the following blogs: All About Penang Food。Cariso.net 。Crizfood.com 。FoodPromotion.com.my 。Moon Spell。 Noweating.com。StevenGoh.com

These are two young chefs that are currently heading the kitchen of Viva Dim Sum. They have been hired from Kuala Lumpur to dish our Hong Kong dim sums in Viva.

These are the specialties that will be occasionally featured on weekends.

凤眼带子饺 (RM5.80), prawn, scallop and fish roe dumpling.

龍鬚卷, Stuffed with avogado  + custard cream and wrap in vermicelli noodle.

Popularity: 5% [?]

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It has been quite awhile since we last set foot into the infamous “New Lane” in Penang. Our recent venture bore us 2 new finds, one a “Tang Yuan” road side stall and two a Chee Cheong Fun with its origin from Teluk Intan.

The Tang Yuan stall is said to have been operating for the past 2 years in the coffee shop opposite the from where they are now. They are easy to find, just near the Sunway Hotel exit. Their Tang Yuan is soft and smooth with the texture of “Muar Chee” and their feelings are quite well balance in terms of texture and taste, goes very well with the Tang Yuan dough texture. Will be back to try the other variants of soup and feelings.

My pick or favourite would be the Ginger syrup and Osmanthus Flower(桂花) a.k.a Sweet Olive  syrup. The Osmanthus syrup (shown below) was fragrant and lite, almost like drinking nectar. My Gill like the soy bean soup version cause she is “nuts” person. The white caloured soup was also lite and a hint earthy taste and bean curd skin flavour.

The second find of the night was the Teluk Intan’s(Ansun) famous Chee Cheong Fun. They just started business in the New Lane Cafe just about a month ago and are now working hard to promote the availability of the  ”Ansun” chee cheong fun in Penang.

The chee cheong fun are made fresh, thus I had the opportunity to photo-document down the process of making the famous chee cheong fun.

The steaming contraption seen here assists the entrepreneurs to mass manufacture chee cheong fun in matters of minutes. The traditional way is sheet by sheet manually on a piece of cloth and steamed till cooked.

Popularity: 11% [?]

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It has been a busy weekend for the past 2 weeks. Last Saturday we were invited by Caffe Strada to review their outlet after operating  for about 2 months or so. When we first heard of their name we thought they were related to the Strada in Pulau Tikus, luckily they aren’t. But I have found similar named establishments in Australia & America.

Caffee Strada is located at the previous spot that housed the infamous Island Red Cafe. The place has been given a face lift internally and externally. The place is cosy and great for gatherings due to the spacious seating arrangements, but some sound deafening would be in oder for their air-condition section to reduce the noise level.

The review of Caffe Strada was arranged by Alan of All About Penang Food on the request of the owners of the cafe. Before the food tasting event begun, we were given a brief by Micheal the co-owner and person-in-charge of the cafe’s concept and theme. But before that the early birds that arrived were seen roaming around taking photos of the place and also doing some catching with some other fellow bloggers.

Before the food introduction and tasting begun, we were given a heads up that the cafe is not a FINE DINING restaurant but more of a place to meet up and chat with some dishes to munch one and drinks to quench ones thirst. But to my opinion as a gastronomist and a working restaurant consultant, I beg to differ. Any place that serves up food must have an acceptable standard in their product. When I say product I mean the food, drinks, service and atmosphere, and not just the atmosphere.

The review event saw us having a “feel” of what are the cafe’s menu and the samples quite long. I would say a bit over board because most of us could not really focus on their key specialties and have a proper tasting portion. The followings are the list of items that we had and their prices with thanks to our lovely Cariso for compiling it.

Appetizer

Green Garden Salad (RM8.90): Lettuce, capsicum, onion, croutons, sun flower, seed, egg and smoked chicken, served with house salad dressing.

Seafood Chowder in Bread Bowl (RM15.90): Chunks of seafood are simmered with potatos, onions, celery, real heavy cream and a touch of butter. Served in bread bowl.

Asian Delights

Kung Pao Chicken (RM9.90): Stir fried with kung pao sauce, served with cashew nuts, fried egg, prawn crackers and rice.

Kam Heong Seafood Combo (RM8.90): Stir fried with kam heong sauce, served with prawn crackers, fried egg and rice.

Salted Fish and Chicken Fried Rice (RM8.90): Served with prawn crackers, fried egg and chicken wing.

Bao Zhiang Mien (RM11.90): Noodle in house-blended gravy, with minced chicken and 3-colored vegetables.

Tomyam Seafood (RM8.90): A choice of bee hoon or instant noodles.

Western

Club Sandwich (RM12.90)

Spaghetti Bolognese (RM9.90)

Caffe Strada Roast Chicken (RM13.90)

Mongolian CHicken (RM15.90)

Cheezy Grilled Chicken (RM17.90)

Grilled Butter Fish (RM19.90)

Fish and Chip (RM8.90)

Grilled Lamb Shoulder (RM19.90)

Drinks
Fluffy Hot Chocolate (RM6.90)
Strawberry Kiss Frappes (RM8.90)
Choco Banana Frappes (RM8.90)

Mango Frappes (RM8.90)

Italian Lime Soda Float (RM6.90)

These are the drink items without a photographic record.

Chocolate Chips Frappes (RM8.90)
Orange Jewel Milk Shake (RM7.90)
Ice Bear (RM6.90)

Espresso Drinks

Espresso (Caffe= single shot espresso RM4.90, Caffe Doppio =double shot espresso RM5.90)

Review:
Cappucino (RM6.90 hot, RM7.90 cold)
Caffe Latte (RM6.90 hot, RM7.90 cold)

Dessert
Caffe Strada’s Ice Coffee Slush(which to me is just plain old affagato)

Snack
Caffe Strada BBQ Chicken Wing, served with house chicken wing sauce (2pcs RM5.90, 4pcs RM9.90)

Overall rating for Caffe Strada Krystal Point, Penang:

Taste & Texture: 2.0/5 (a lot of room to improve in areas of their coffee, drinks and food items)
Money Value : 2.0/5 (prices are not really attractive due to the quality of the products)
Service: -NA-/5 (cannot be considered as it was an arranged event)
Cleanliness: 4.0/5 (relatively new, thus a clean out look)
Atmosphere: 3.0/5 (nice place to gather but would be noisy due to the lack of sound deafening)

Address: Block 1-01-12, 13 & 14, Krystal Point Corp Park, Lebuh Bukit Kecil 6, Krystal Point II, 11900 Bayan Lepas, Penang.
Tel: 04-643 6643

Popularity: 9% [?]

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Simple but yet hard to master, it is one of the most common noodle dish in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, etc, and yet many have been disappointing. In this current times, almost all the noodles are bought from suppliers and they are not left to “aged” sufficiently, the soup base are not made as they were used to, the consistency of toppings and other ingredients are not controlled and most of all the passion and focus of the trade is no longer there.  Therefore good businesses that still hold strong on serving good food like the old days are hard to come by.

Of recent while preparing for this post on Chee Meng Cafe (志明茶室) there have been some articles published by the newsprint media and by a well known blog. We were delighted that this noodle business has attracted attention not only from us, but like many they have only managed to introduce the business and have neglected their uniqueness and specialty.  We can’t blame them because time is precious; it took us a few visits in a span of a few weeks to really grasp their uniqueness (精髓) and tried all that they have installed in their humble business through 4 decades of experience in manning their Wantan Noodle stall.

Hidden in row of old shop houses off Penang Road on Jalan Dato Koyah we found a business which only specializes only on Wantan Noodles.  Chee Meng Cafe houses the wantan noodle(云吞麵) stall that is run by Mr. and Mrs. Tan(陈). The used work their trade in a coffee shop, Tai Wah, at the junction of Jalan Agryll and Lebuh Clarke before they moved here sometime back last year. This jovial couple is always ready to chat and tell us about the good old days (in terms of food), and they too agree that food does not taste the way they used.

As stated in the price list below, the prices of their servings are considered reasonable as compared to the prices up held by similar businesses in and around town. Small serving is at RM2.50, medium at RM2.80, big at RM3.00 and special at RM3.30. Dumplings (水饺) are at RM0.60 per piece.

The norm for dry wantan noodles is the sweet caramel tasting dark soya sauce and fragrant lard. But these days many stalls have foregone the lard for a more healthy fragrant oil. At Chee Meng, the dry noodles are coated with fragrant roast pork oil and heavier tasting dark soya sauce with a dash of soup stock and white pepper. The uniqueness is the roast pork oil that is used in place of just plain old lard. The oil gives it a special smoky and porky flavour which is synonymous with roast pork.

Tips: Most of the time we would like our dry noodles extra without the dash soup stock. This way we can taste the flavours of the dressing.

While I like the dark soya sauce’s flavours and sweet caramel taste, I have been thought otherwise by Mrs Tan. She introduced us to their dry noodles without dark soya sauce and only laced with their fragrant roast pork oil. It is this version that kept us coming back for more. With just the roast pork oil, we could even taste the flavours from within the noodles and feel the texture of every strand of noodles.

The soupy version of the wantan noodles is average less the thirsty after feeling. The soup base is light with slight meaty sweetness and it goes very well with their meat dumpling or 水饺.

Tips:) Do remember that soupy versions must go with 3 to 4 day old noodles or else it would loose its springiness and firmness when immersed in the soup.

Another specialty that they have at their business is the availability of chicken spare parts. We have tried the chicken gizzards, egg sack, undeveloped eggs that are still in the sack and chicken intestines. The old hen chicken skin minus the fats is also one of the things that one should not miss, but the availability is limited. The skin is cut length wise to resemble the cooked jelly fish, and the texture also resembles the jelly fish but with more crunch. Toss in some oil, lightly seasoned and served with sprinkles of chopped scallions; it makes quite a delicious snaking item to have.

For more reading on Chee Meng Cafe you may drop by Kwang Wah Daily for their published article on them.

Overall rating for Chee Meng Cafe:

Taste & Texture: 4.0/5 (want more “aged” noodles)
Money Value: 4.0/5 (comparably reasonable with the prices in surrounding areas )
Service: 4.5/5 (jovial and friendly to all customers not only us!)
Cleanliness: 4.0/5 (well lit and clean plus newly renovated)
Atmosphere: 3.5/5 (slightly warm in the mid day or on sunny days)

They have moved back to:
Address: 20 Jalan Dato Koyah, Penang Near 48-102, Jalan Argyll, 10050 Georgetown. Penang (Opposite Caltex Petrol Station)

Business Hour: 7am till 12pm daily except Tuesday.

Chinse Version: http://www.gourmetgarden.com.my/2010/08/20/%E7%99%BD%E4%BA%91%E5%90%9E%E9%9D%A2/

Get to know Chee Meng Wantan Noodle latest update, pls visit http://www.gourmetgarden.com.my/2011/02/13/chee-meng-wantan-mee-is-back/

Popularity: 11% [?]

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Popularity: 10% [?]

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Just changed to a new UV filter with ED. And are trying the effects of the new filter. These are some of the photos taken at the Tanjung Bungah Tuesday Night Market(Pasar Malam). This stall sells various Chinese deep fried snacks (dim sum) and is normally located next to Uncle Bob’s Taiwan Chicken Chop truck. My favourite would be their Deep Friend Yam Dumplings or 芋角.

The Deep Friend Yam Dumplings or 芋角 are crisp and firm on the crust, the mashed yam filling is moist, sweet and fragrant, and the meat filling is sweet and savoury. I like this yam dumpling because of the yam filling which had the right texture and taste, but not the meat filling that was slightly over sweet for my tongue.  I have yet to find Deep Friend Yam Dumplings or 芋角 that tasted like it used to when I was small, taste of fine “Char Siew” filling with some green peas minus the the very sweet taste combined with crisp and tender yam casing.

The next and one of the more popular food or stalls at the Pasar Malam is the pancake or “ban chang kuih” stall located just opposite Uncle Bob. The pancakes sold here are the just the normal version, just with toppings of ground peanuts, sugar, corn and lots of melted margarine. The prices are very reasonable and they taste quite nice too.

Next to the Malay pancake stall is a Nasi Lemak makeshift table stall. RM1 per packet of nasi lemak is quite hard to come by in this area. Portion is not very big but is at least better than the stall just a few meters away from the Bagan Jermal Fire Station. Taste wise would be dependable on each individuals liking, but to us is average and acceptable. My wife like the salted fish version, which is also hard to come by.

At the weekly night market, we also get to source for some unique and cheap fresh vegetables that we schedule out for our daily dinner meals. But bare in mind that not always the harvest would be as good as commercial farms. This particular business is located at the corner of the hawker center, just opposite Uncle Bob.

Today, we found and bought a packet of Rozel or Asian berries and its raw leafs. When we inquire, we were told that the outer skin could be boiled to make a “Ribena” like drink. But make sure to remove the seed sack in it. And the leafs could be used to make “sayur lemak” or vegetables cooked in coconut milk.

Will try get more stalls to shop from at the night market.

Popularity: 10% [?]

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