Republished

Back on 13th November 2010 we were tasked to assist in the organising of an event for Bravo Italiana by RoundU, which we did and the event went through quite successfully although there were initial fears that the sampling would bore negative feedbacks after reading about some minor complaints on the internet and hearing rumours from a prominent food blogger from Penang.  If possible, we would try to upload the raw recording of the question and answer session that the bloggers had with owner cum chef to further understand his stand and concept of his restaurant and also how his food is made.

Below are the raw recording of the question and answer session that the bloggers had with owner cum chef to further understand his stand and concept of his restaurant

http://gourmetgarden.com.my/download/GG-BravoItaliana-1011130.mp3

The sampling event was different from the review session that was organised by Penang Tua Pui which was attended by many prominent Penang food bloggers back in year 2009.  The current sampling event was meant to provide direct feedback to the business owner on the quality and value of the surveyed items and thus help improve on the marketability of the items through the experiences, different backgrounds and taste preferences of the attending bloggers. The programme is operated by RoundU with a goal to promote the deserving quality F&B outlets in Penang to the consumer market.

Italian cuisine in itself takes heavy influences, including Etruscan, ancient Greek, ancient Roman, Byzantine, Jewish and Middle-East cuisines. But in the 18th century Italian cuisine as we know took on some significant changes with the discovery of the New World that introduced items such as potatoes, tomatoes, bell peppers and maize to Italian cooks, and which have become a major part of what Italians eat now a days. Recipes or what people eat are influence by the available ingredients, thus there is distinctive difference with the taste and texture of dishes of Italian cooking by region. Therefore it is hard or very subjective to point out the rights and wrongs of any dish. It all comes down to the taste profile or preference that one has grown up with.

Like any other dining culture in the world, Italy also has its variety in eating etiquettes, style or establishments. They are basically classified by the service, food and drinks they served to their customers.

• Agriturismo – or agritourism is a functioning farm / farmhouses that provide lodging and meals.
• Osteria – a night eatery that usually has a verbal menu that mainly caters to simple regionalised dishes.
• Paninoteca – their sandwich or Panini shop.
• Pizzeria – pizza shop.
• Ristorante – a upscale restaurant with proper dining and menu.
• Spaghetteria – a pasta and main course serving eatery.
• Trattoria – a family or home-style eatery that provides inexpensive and casual dining experience.

Bravo Italiana is said to be based on the trattoria-style dining concept were the chef cum owner have gain most of his experience in his 8 years stint in Italy. This restaurant was established on 3rd November 2008, but before this they were involved in the “Little Kitchen” restaurant at Bandar Sunway, Penang for nine (9) years.

The sampling session was planned for a survey of 13 items or dishes but due to the amount available, there were some impromptu changes during the event. It began at around 3pm as requested by Mr. Ng, the time coincide with the restaurant’s in between service hours break time. The sampling started with a photo taking session and followed by the sampling of their starters continued with mains and desserts plus a set lunch item.

Bruschetta (RM8.80+), toasted baguettes topped with diced tomato, capsicum, herbs and cheese. It was a twist from the usual bruschetta that normally has a lighter topping that is without cheese.

Taste – Savory and cheesy at first then followed with the refreshing sweet juice of tomatoes, peppery flavour of the capsicums and finished with the aroma of the sprinkled herbs.

Texture – Crisp baguette surface with a moist centre and tender yet firm toppings.

Grilled Chicken Salad (RM17.00+), strips of grilled chicken on top of a garden of fresh greens and fruits dressed with their in-house vinaigrette. The portions is generous enough for a light meal as its own for small eaters.

Taste – There were some complaints that the dressing was a a tad to acidic for their liking. But the chicken was well seasoned and the green were sweet with some bitterness due to the purple cabbage.

Texture – The chicken strips or slices were over dehydrated as it had been waiting for the sampling to begin, that is why in Chinese food culture it is always emphasized  that food has to be taken while it is fresh from the grill. Salad greens were crunchy and fresh.

Baked Oyster Vesuvio (RM31.80+ for half dozen), medium size halved shell oyster coated and lightly fried, then topped with mushroom slices tomato and capsicum chunks, crumbs and cheese  then baked. When serve hot, it had a pungent aroma of Chinese dried oyster.

Taste – It had sweet, savory and diary taste  with a pungent  fragrance sun dried oyster. Not too over powering in the taste factor.

Texture – There were a slight crunch on the surface due to the baked crumbs on top of the melted cheese mixture and firm cooked oyster flesh.  But there was a slight more of oily feeling from the melting cheese.

Lasagne Al Forno (RM24.00+), three (3) layers of lasagne pasta interlaced with their beef bolognese sauce and topped with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese and baked.

Taste – It was meaty, savory and creamy rich with a predominantly sweet aftertaste, that a few bloggers find a bit too sweet for their liking. For sure I would prefer something with a more balance flavour.

Texture – Grainy mince meat with good ratio of lean meat to fats. And the pasta sheets were just nice in texture, not soggy nor under cooked.

Lamb Shank (RM32.00+), braised NZ lamb shank in red wine with fresh Italian herbs, garlic and mushrooms.

Taste – It was different from the normal strong peppery tasting versions, we could actually taste the red wine and lamb flavours in the gravy. And it was one of the favourite dishes of the day although few did comment that it had a hint more of the “lamb” taste in the meat. But what is lamb without the hint of “lammy” flavours?

Texture – The meat was tender and firm.

Spaghetti Capitano (RM29.80+), spaghetti with fresh shrimps, scallops, mussels, squids and diced salmon, sauteed in a delightful marinara sauce.

Taste – Salmon was slightly heavy on taste (the fatty salmon taste) and the muscles had a bit of  fishy aftertaste, but the scallops and squid rings were sweet and juicy.

Texture – Muscles, scallop, squid and salmon were firm and tender, pasta was just nice in texture.

Pesce Misto alla Milanese Dinner Set (RM43.00+), it will be a new item for the dinner set menu. The grilled salmon and jumbo prawns dressed in a classic Milanese sauce comes with soup of the day,  drinks (lavazza coffee / tea / ice lemon tea) and dessert of the day.

Taste – Prawns were well seasoned and finely grilled with much of its flavours and moisture still locked in, as for the salmon it was slightly off their standard as it (the portion we had) had been “modeling” for the shutter bugs. The Milanese sauce was flavourful with the abundance of herbs and had a balanced richness. And the accompanying mash was every bit savory with the cheese stuffing within.

Texture – The prawn flesh was firm and tender with some crunch,  salmon was flaky but slightly dehydrated. The accompanying fried mash was crisp on the surface and fluffy inside.

Chicken Parmigiana lunch set (RM25.00+), is a piece of of deboned whole chicken leg batter fried, top with their tomato sauce and cheese then baked and served with a side spaghetti pasta.  The lunch set comes with a bowl of  soup of the day, a drink (coffee / tea / ice lemon tea) and a single scoop of ice-cream.

Taste – no comments as this dish was not included during the tasting session as most of the attendees were already filled to the brim, and that was before dessert.

Texture – N/A

Pizza alla Sicilian (RM32.00+), include toppings of beef pepperoni, chicken sausages, onions, green capsicums and black olives.

Taste – The pizza was cheesy and full of the flavours of the toppings, e.g. smoky, peppery, sourish, sweet, diary and rich.

Texture – The topping ingredients were still firm and not mushy, but the dough or crust was too crisp like baked biscuits. Many of the bloggers commented that they would prefer to have a softer pizza center.

On the plan were 4 desserts, but we had a extra surprise in the form of their home-made pumpkin pie.

Tiramisu (RM12.80+), very rich in liquor and chocolate flavours with un-overwhelming sweetness. The accompanying peaches lent some acidity to balance the creamy taste of the dessert. One of the few well orchestrated tiramisu that we have encountered.

Tequila Key Lime Pie (RM8.90+), tequila infused whipped cream covered the limy cheese filling of the Oreo cookie based pie. There were some feedback that it was a tad sharp on the sourness, but it settle well with my preferences.

Italiana Mousse (RM12.80+), is a new item to be included in their desserts menu. Rich in chocolaty goodness but stiff on the texture. Feedback from the owner is that there were request for a firm texture for this desert.

Bravo Zabaglione (RM12.80+), also in the new desserts menu list. It is actually an Italian custard made of egg yolks, sugar, a sweet wine. Over at Bravo Italiana, they have layered it on top of a base soaked in apricot liquor that to many tasted like almonds. It is dessert for those who appreciate good liquor as it is pretty strong in alcohol.

Pumpkin Pie (RM12.80+), is also new as we were told. And was an ad-hoc item that was included for the sampling. It had earthy flavours and sweet aftertaste. which was not overwhelming. But the walnut topping tasted a bit rancid although it was bought fresh from the supplier.

Our overall rating for Bravo Italiana:

Other current session invitees with their choice selection(s):

• All About Penang Food
• Cariso Part 1 & Part 2
• Evon Lai
• FoodPromotions
• Herrick-Mau-Makan
• Hong Kitcehn/Food Inspiration
• ItsDelicious
• John Khor
• Lonely Teacher
• Its About Valyn
• 蓝天白云数格子

Feedbacks from paid customers:

• Ginna.net
• IamTheWitch
• NuttyEve9
• Tarts & Pies

Bravo Italiana

Add : 01-01-11 Complex I-Avenue, Medan Kampung Relau 1, 11900 Bayan Lepas, Penang.

Business Hours : Tuesday to Sunday ( 11.30 a.m. – 3.00p.m., 6.00 p.m. – 10.00 p.m.) Closed on Mondays

Tel : 04-6410499

Popularity: 3% [?]

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Am i a zebra or a horse?

What is Marketing or Strategic Marketing and what is Branding? Are they the same? These are some of the questions that many are still not sure of the answer or have confused these two concept to be one. Therefore, we would have to begin from the very basics to answer these questions.

What is Marketing to me? Marketing is the management process that identifies, anticipates and satisfies customer requirements profitably.  Therefore, it forms a social and managerial process which individuals or businesses finds an unsatisfied need or want, creates a product or service and supplies it in the most efficient manner and price to provide value to the consumer or buyer and earn a premium or profit in the process. In short, the Marketing process places customer or consumer satisfaction in the focal point of all business activities.

Some of the important elements in the Marketing philosophy or concept are as follows:

• Marketing focuses on the satisfaction of customer needs, wants and requirements.
• The philosophy of marketing needs to be owned by everyone from within the organisation.
• Future needs of the market have to be identified and anticipated.

And what is Branding or what is a brand? A brand is a name, term, sign, symbol, design or value, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services or businesses that differentiate one from another. Therefore, it is understandably that branding is about getting the potential customers to notice you as the most suitable solution provider to their needs and wants. Thus, the objectives of branding or a brand should be:

• To delivers the message clearly.
• To confirm your credibility.
• To capture the emotions of your target prospects.
• To encourage or motivates potential buyers to act to your benefit.
• To create and strengthen loyalty or emotional attachment.
• To generate value to the brand.

Therefore, to succeed in branding your business or products, one must first understand the needs and wants of your target audience or market and create something that can satisfy and give value to the target market.

To summarise, Marketing is the social and managerial process of satisfying customer needs and wants, and branding is the process of persuading your target audience to choose you from the others.

Popularity: 2% [?]

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Last weekend we were invited to a pot-luck Christmas party at Carol’s. For that particular party we decided to try out something new that we have not made before because of the difficulty of sourcing for the main ingredient, vine leaves.

We have researched and learnt of the ‘Dolmathes‘ or stuffed vegetable during our quest of compiling suitable recipes for our clients to create distinctive dishes for their restaurants. But due to the difficulty of acquiring vine leaves, we have placed this particular recipe or dish on the side lines until this Christmas. We were able to get a few pieces of this so call vine leaves during one of our eat-out occasions.

Dolma is a stuffed vegetable dish that uses a vegetable that is hollowed out and filled with stuffing. And for dishes that are wrapped in vine leaves or cabbage leaves, they are called ‘sarma‘. But in many languages the distinction is usually not made, with dolma being a preferred reference to this dish.

The recipe that Gill used were actually a combination of a few that we have read and made changes of due to the lacking of certain ingredients. In many instances, this dish is made of 70% meat and 30% of rice, but it all comes down to your personal liking or of yours guests. The version that Gill made was with higher rice content as compared to meat.

Ingredient :

• Vine Leaves – raw or packed in brine

Stuffing

• Olive oil
• Rice – wash and drain (Thai fragrant rice with higher starch percentage was use, alternatively shot grain rice can be used)
• 2 x Whole onions (Chopped)
• 3 x Garlic cloves (Chopped)
• 1 x Tomato (Cut into thick slice)
• 1 x Lemon
• A handfull of Almonds (Crushed)
• A few pinches of Cinnamon powder
• A small handful of fresh Parsley (Chopped)
• 400gm Minced Beef / Pork
• ½ can of tomatoes puree
• Some Water
• Chicken stock or water (enough to cover the parcels)
• Salt, Black Pepper and Sugar to taste

Steps:

• Wash & boil the raw vine leave in 30 sec depending on the Vine Leaves thickness. This step is to make the leave slightly soften and good for wrapping process.
• If your Vine Leave is in brine, put them in a saucepan and pour warm water over them in order to remove some of the saltiness and acidity from them. Keep the vine leaves in water for about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.

• Sautee the onion & garlic with olive oil until they are slightly brown and fragrant
• Put in the rice & stir, insert the minced beef and follow by parsley & almond and stir
• Throw in tomato puree, lemon juice, water, salt, pepper and sugar to taste.
• Simmer the stuffing until it has soaked up the liquid/sauce (the stuffing should be in half cooked condition) then removed from the heat and set aside

• Use 1 or 2 vine leaves for 1 parcel. (Coarse surface of the leaves should be facing up)
• Spoon the stuffing on the center of every leaf and roll them in small parcels.

• Place some thick tomato slices evenly on the base of the saucepan to prevent the parcels from burning.

• Put the entire parcels evenly on top of the tomato slice.

• Pour in the chicken stock or water to just cover the parcels

• Then put a flat ceramic plate on top of the parcel to avoid the parcel floats
• Put on the lid and simmer for about 20 min (depending on stuffing) or until the stuffing is cook.

You may change the recipe by skipping the tomato puree if you do not like the taste of tomato, and put in more herbs and mints to substitute the tangy taste with more earthy flavours. Used what you or your guests like best in term of taste profile.

The saram/dolmathes tasted similar to the Chinese ‘Bak Zhang’, or rice dumplings, with one of the major difference with ‘Bak Zhang’ are that the saram’s vine leaves can be eaten and the ‘Bak Zhang’ wrapped cannot be consumed.

Popularity: 4% [?]

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Have you heard or try Savory Tang Yuan before?

It is truly a “Forgotten Recipe” from Hakka & Cantonese Dialect. We have received many readers request about this savory tang yuan recipe since we’ve posted the winter solstice from 2008.
Other than we talk about the sweet version which has tones of fans, we rather share those who are forgotten and unique from the rest.
We have prepare the steps with photo and recipe below, and do enjoy the cooking and happy winter solstice to you & your family

Step 1 & 2. Begin of the Yellow Bean & Anchovies Soup Base

Step 4. Chicken Gizzard to Give the extra texture

Slice Pork & Spring Onions

Tang Yuan In Bean and Anchovies Soup

Savory Tang Yuan Soup

Tang Yuan:

I don’t really know what and how to make the tang yuan dough, but all I know is using glutinous four to makes it up…heee

The only tips that I can share is, cook the tang yuan in boiling water and wait until its float on top of the water, and its cooked. And throw them immediately into Ice Water. This step is to make the ball springier and doesn’t go lumpy /mushy.

We don’t really measure what we cook for this Soup, and is all according to the taste

Soup base (basic soup base for wonton noodle soup):

Handfuls of Dried Soya Bean

Handfuls of Dried Anchovies

Chicken or Pig born

Water for soup

Ingredient:

Cabbage (coarsely shredded)

Chicken gizzard (thick slices)

Pork belly 600gm or more (in whole pcs)

Spring onion (4cm in length)

Home fried shallots

Step by Step:

1. Put Soya Bean & Anchovies into soup bag/sachet. Don’t insert the bag too full, when it cooks, the beans will be bloated. The ideal portion is 1/3 of the bag. Or put those 2 ingredients in 2 different bags.
2. After filled in the Soya Bean & Anchovies in the bag, put them all into boiling water and cover the lid, with medium to low heat, and cook about 30min or until you can smell the aroma.
3. Take out the soup bag. Leave the soup aside.
4. Boil water in another pot, to poach the whole pcs of pork belly and chicken gizzard until it’s done or tender. Take out and drain. Cut them into thin slices when it’s cooled. Set both aside.
5. Warm up the Anchovies soup and throw the cabbage in and cooked till tender. Add Salt to taste. Drain the Vege and set aside.
6. Basically the cooking step is all done.

Eating Step:

Just heat up the soup, scope all the precooked ingredient, tong yuan, cabbage, gizzard, pork belly, spring onion, and pour the steaming hot soup into the bowl and top with some homemade fried shallot. Enjoy!

Those precooked ingredient and soup can keep into the refrigerator and you may heat up for the next day. Except tang yuan, its good when eat its fresh.

Popularity: 7% [?]

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A few weeks ago after Sunday service, we went to “Eng Aun” for our breakfast. It was a refresher of sort for us due to the long absence. We used to patronize the place during the evenings when there was a poach chicken stall operating there, but it has since closed. The closure was not because of the lacking in business but due to the greener pastures in another industry.

The morning session food stall is operated by a loving couple and the coffee shop by their sister. The food stall caters to various types of noodles with a variety of toppings and soups. This trip back there was to capture the essence of some of their specialties, the stewed pork knuckle noodle, stewed minced pork noodle and their stewed chicken feet. The “Stewed Pork Knuckle Noodle” is actually pork knuckles with skin, meat and bones all cooked in dark five spice base gravy with dark soy. Even though five spices are used in the cooking, but the taste is unnoticeable due to the balanced of the spice, sweet and meaty taste. The tender meat and soft and firm skin-fat layer coupled with the sweet savoury gravy went very well with the “Yee Mee” that I ordered. The additional toppings of chopped coriander and spring onions gave it additional aromatics and freshness.

The “Stewed Minced Pork Noodle” is actually mince pork patties pan fried then stewed in a special gravy that taste like the “Loh Mee” gravy from Singapore that I have had many years ago while living there. It had a distinctive spice taste with a light sweetness that blend very well with the taste of the mince patties. The mince patties were pan fried till the surface was caramelised and the middle still moist and tender.

Choice of noodles to go with stewed minced pork is up to your liking of texture. Our preferred combination is koay teow + bihun in clear soup with stewed minced pork patties as side order.

Another special of theirs is the “Stewed Chicken Feet” in dark soy with thick shitake mushroom. The chicken feet are cooked until soft and yet still maintaining their shape/form, and the shitake mushrooms tender with the infused taste of sweet and savoury.  The stewing gravy had similar taste characteristics with the stewing gravies of the pork knuckles and minced patties but with a lighter taste spectrum.

Items availability are according to schedule:

• Daily available – instant-cooked koay teow th’ng, fish meat noodle and stewed chicken feet.
• Thursdays’ – Soy spare rib noodle.
• Saturdays’ – Vinegar pork knuckle noodle.
• Sundays’ – Special stewed minced pork noodle and stewed pork knuckle noodle.

Business Hours: 7am to 12pm from Wednesday to Sunday (closed on Monday and Tuesday)

Popularity: 9% [?]

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This our first adventure to Straits Quay in Tanjong Tokong. Previously we had our fears that the place might not be sustainable but with the many major brands from KL setting shop there, it would be a place to be seen for the many rich and famous of Penang. This was a working visits as we were there to have a business discussion with partners, but of cause it was also an excuse scout around for new places to dine in the newly opened up and coming commercial/retail location.

The place that we had our discussion was Weissbräu, a German bistro and bar that serves pork specialties, sausages, pizzas, roesti, and imported draught & bottled beers. Weissbräu is the German word for white brew or white beer that is popular and common beer in Germany.

During the discussion session we had a few glasses of beer and also their “Sausage Combo” (RM48++). The combo comes with a choice of two(2) sausages and two(2) side dishes. And the items that I chose and matched were “Farmer’s Garlic Pork” sausage, “Nurnberger” sausage, sauerkraut and mash. The sausages were meaty, juicy, tenderly firm and very flavourful. As for the mash, it was quite rich and creamy with a fluffy texture. And the sauerkraut served was of mild acidity as they have noticed the taste preference of locals and other Asians a like that do not like the original sour taste of this German specialty.

Sauerkraut in the olden days, before refrigeration and produce importation, serves as the vital source of the vitamin C, lactobacilli and other nutrients during the winter. It also contains increased levels of anti-cancer agents such as isothiocyanates.

Before we left the place for another joint, we vowed that we will be back for their pork knuckle after spotted this item on their menu. The only German pork knuckle available in Penang was the Ingolf’s version, but now there is the Weissbrau version. Also available now in Straits Quay is the Irish version of pork knuckle at Finnegan‘s and the Bulgarian version in Vintage Bulgaria.

The “Crispy German Pork Knuckle” (RM48++) we had the next day at Weissbrau had a crispy layer of skin with minimal amounts of fats and chunks of tender moist meat. The flavours were closed to natural as we did not taste any residue of herbs or spices on and in the knuckle. Again like the day before, we had a choice of two (2) side dishes which I chose again the sauerkraut and something different, roesti. The roesti is actually a Swedish signature that has been included into the German eating culture due to the close proximity between the countries. Roesti is made from shredded potato formed into a flat pan-cake like shape and pan fried till golden brown. It was crisp on the surface and fluffy in the middle, quite nice to our palates.

After the knuckle we had their “Alsatian Sauerkraut” (RM38++), which is a mixed plate of braised pork belly, loin, knuckle, Frankfurter and Nurnberger with one (1) choice of side dish. It is a healthy combination as the meaty items are either braised or boiled except for the Nurnberger. The meats were tender, flavourful and not salty at all, and the mash and sauerkraut were consistent in taste and texture.

After the 2 recent back-to-back visits, we will definitely be back to try out other signatures or specials that they have to offer. Reason being there is consistency in taste and service. Another thing to look out for is the brown sauce that we found in two of the three dishes that we have tried so far, it is infused with wine and does not taste like the pre-mix type.

Overall experience:

Address: Straits Quay, Lot 3C-G-1, Jalan Sri Tanjung Pinang, 10470 Tanjung Tokong, Penang.

Tel: +60 (4) 8901808

The Menu

Popularity: 39% [?]

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Have been busy and having a writers’ block these few weeks, can’t churn out any good posts. This is something that we were eager to share after trying the place out. There is no specified business name nor restaurant brand. We were asked to address it as “Stella’s Place” after the proprietor, Stella Lee, a lovely Austrian woman married to a local Chinese. The menu there is simple, just a few choices but those alone are enough to whet your appetite.

After looking through the menu, we finally decided to have the Roast Pork and Roast Chicken main course and 2 glasses of ice-lemon tea. The dishes we had were all prepared very little oil, less salt and no MSG. The roast pork was actually slow roasted pork rib served with baked whole potato wedges and some garlic and tomato salad. At first glance it did not look very ‘interesting’, but all the natural flavours and sweetness of the ribs and the fluffy texture of the potatoes were more than enough to convince me to come back again for seconds, thirds and so on. The flavours of the ribs came mainly from within the bones and meat with very little interference from herbs and spices. In most of the rib houses, they are prepared with heavy marinates and glaze, thus masking the beautiful flavours of the fresh pork. This one tastes as original as it can!

Slow roast is normally done at low-temperatures between 95 °C to 160 °C (200 °F to 325 °F), and with large cuts of meat or whole birds like turkey, chicken, etc. This is technique results in less moisture loss and a more tender meat.

The roast half chicken was also given the same tender loving care that left the meat firm and moist. Both ribs and chicken were served with their own juices as gravy. The gravy was light, had very little oil and meaty sweet.

Another thing to look for at Stella’s is the grapes. Yes, she has a living grape vine that flourishes with bundles of juicy spheres. But she will be chopping the “confuse” plant down to let is rest so that it can produce better fruits next season. We have collected some of the leaves for a Greek dish that uses them to wrap around a prepared filling and baked before serving. Hopefully we can use it before the leaves spoils.

Address: No. 2, Jalan Tanjung Bungah, 11200  Hillside,  Penang, Malaysia. (opposite the ESSO petrol station next to the “kung Fu” Japanese restaurant)

P.S. We were told that the meals were suitable for people who are ill or recovering from illnesses that would put stress on our bodies. Due to the low salt, no MSG and less oil cooking method, it is said to have a number of cancer patients or survivors visiting the place due to the healthy eating habits enforced there.

Popularity: 7% [?]

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These are the festive promotions sent to us by Golden Sands Resort. We are sharing as it is received, for more information you may go to www.shangri-la.com or call +604 8861852 check out the details. We have yet to experience the specially dedicated promotions for the coming festive mood.

Popularity: 3% [?]

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The holiday seasons are just around the corner and many hotel and restaurants are gearing up to provide lucrative packages or promotion that may entice local and foreign consumers to spend at their respective F&B outlets. Here are some promotions that were sent to us by Rasa Sayng Resort & Spa(RSRS) some time back in November. We have yet the opportunity to sample the quality and value of these offering by RSRS, thus we can’t pass judgement on the quality and value of the promotion.

For more informations, you may contact +604 888 8888 ext. 6430.

Popularity: 3% [?]

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Did you know that in 40 years we run the risk of not having any seafood to eat, if we continue to consume indiscriminately and irresponsibly?

As food lovers and bloggers, we live to eat but we do not waste food nor abuse it. Our food resources are getting less and less by the day due to climate change, wastage and especially over harvesting, we have to be mindful of our responsibilities towards nature and also the sustainability of our food source. With that in mind, we would like to share a small message booklet on Save Our Seafood (S.O.S) which we got with the purchase of the Nov & Dec 2010 Volume of  ”Flavours” food magazine by The Star publication.

Malaysian are the biggest consumers of seafood in Southeast Asia. About 90% of Malaysia’s bottom-dwelling fish stock has declined due to unsustainable fishing practices driven by the high demand for seafood. To try to improve or rebuild the stock levels we have to shoulder the responsibilities by making wise choices and demand for right or standard size/age seafood stocks. “When eating the stops the indiscriminate fishing will”. Use the guide provided by Flavours and S.O.S and start making the responsible choices.

RECOMMENDED, fish stock from well managed and not overexploited sources that are preferred for consumption.

THINK TWICE, fish stock that are at risk of becoming unsustainable. Choose wisely.

AVOID, fish stock from over fished species that we risk loosing forever. Avoid it now!

• PM – Peninsular Malaysia
• EC – East Coast Peninsular
• WC – West Coast Peninsular
• M – Malaysia
• SB – Sabah
• SW – Sarawak

Popularity: 1% [?]

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