Gourmet Garden

‘Mee Goreng’ or ‘Mamak Mee Goreng’ is one of the many favourite fab foods that Malaysians enjoy and there are many comments on who fries the best. What we look for is not the best but the one that can deliver a more traditional bouquet of flavours. The best is only if we have tasted all the Mee Goreng in the world, or at least in Penang for this case.

Mee Goreng literally meaning fried noodles is myth to have originated from Chinese ‘chow mein’ and believed to have been introduced by Chinese immigrants to Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia when they immigrated from China. In its’s basic form it consists of  yellow noodles, bean sprouts, egg, bean curd, crackers, fritters, chili and each individual cooks specially concocted gravy. Some stalls may also offer stewed squid or cuttlefish.

The Mee Goreng stall that is found at Chuan Foong (Yok Fong Cafe) on the junction of Jalan Tanjung Bungah and Jalan Chan Siew Teong reminded us of the oldskool flavours that we very much enjoy and look forward for. The stall has been in business for around 37 years in Tanjung Bungah and has been based in Chuan Foong for 20 years and opens 6 days week, resting on Fridays. Business hour starts from 2pm daily.

The stall still practices cooking with open charcoal flames that maintain a more distributed heat wave that will would evenly cook food and enhance its taste. 

Their Mee Goreng is sold at RM3.70 per serving. It has a balance of savouriness from the special gravy used to braise the noodles, sweetness from seasoning with sugar, heat from chilli and creaminess from egg.  Some lime juice from a wedge of freshly cut lime provided a taste of freshness to the plate of old flavours.

Other than Mee Goreng, they also have Mee Rebus and Pasembur which are also favourite items sold by Mamaks in Malaysia. Their Mee Rebus is sold at RM3.70 per serving. Although it is not exceptional, but it is still good enough satisfy the occasional cravings.

Their Pasembur is price at RM3.50 per serving which come with juicy and crunchy roughly julienne cucumber and jicama (sengkuang in Malay), crispy prawn crackers, fluffy fritters, firm bean curds cubes, and a rich hardboiled egg. We especially like the prawn crackers, which were well seasoned, that went well with its thick sweet and spicy gravy.

Overall, the Mee Goreng is well flavoured and has that unique wok sear aroma and taste, the Mee Rebus is a bit general in taste, and the Pasember is above average in texture and taste in terms of the ingredients and gravy. It would take us a few more visits to gauge their consistency for sure.

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On the 1st of March we were invited to a private dinner by the Communication Dept of Golden Sands Resort in Batu Ferringghi to have a taste and experience of their Sigi’s Bar & Grill 1st Anniversary Set Meals that are only available for the whole month of March, except for Thursdays and Sundays. Thursday and Saturday nights has another value promotion namely their “Beachside Barbecue Nights” for only RM59.99++ per head that will run through March to the end of April 2011.

While doing research for this article I have found some articles regarding this casual yet stylish beach front restaurant that have been written by other bloggers, thus I would spare you the long winded introduction and oversell. I would just share our experience and thoughts of visit.

Even before their renovation work and reopening back in March 2010, we have not step foot into Sigi’s or any other hotel based restaurants in Batu Ferringghi except for Hard Rock Cafe. I guess the bad experience and oversell of certain hotel based restaurants have prevented us to spend our hard earned money on food that will at the end cannot suffice our palates and feel cheated.  If not for the invitation, we would not know that there is still hope now!

Sigi’s is situated at the beach front of Golden Sands Resort with alfresco seating on the beach area and also on their roof top. These two locations will provide you with a view of the evening sun setting with a foreground of waving coconut palms and lapping waves. Occasional breezes from the beach or from the hills would provide some form of natural cooling sensation.

On the other side of the alfresco dining area, there is an open air BBQ & Gill pit that is often used for functions, buffets and special occasions.

On the indoor dining area, there is a fussed free dining atmosphere accompanied with the sound of flowing water from the small pool located in the centre of the dining area.

The invitation to Sigi’s was mainly to sample the 1st Anniversary Set menu and some ala carte dishes that will spice up the existing menu. At the heart (kitchen) of the restaurant and the person behind the menu is John Brock their Executive Sous Chef from New Zealand. The 1st Anniversary set menu is priced at RM100++ per person, but do not fret as it is their anniversary and they are giving out a “1+1″ promotion from 1st to 31st of March so that visitor are able to join in their joy and celebration.

The 1st Anniversary menu consists of 3 course plus coffee or tea to end the meal. The entrée has 4 choices, mains have 5 choices and deserts 3 choices. Out of the items listed we had a sample of their Gourmet Flat Bread, Arancini Balls, Sigi’s Signature Fish & Chips and chilled Rice Pudding.

Gourmet Flat Bread, fluffy toasted bread topped with pieces of savory and tangy sun-dried tomatoes, crumbly salty creamy chunks of feta cheese, nutty pumpkin seeds, olives, herbs and dressed with drizzles of sweet chilli sauce. The toppings provided most of the flavours with acidity, savouriness, nuttiness, creaminess, sweetness and slight heat.

Arancini Balls, rice risotto with mushroom and peas balled and deep fried until crisp on the surface then dressed with their minted aioli and served with a side of garden greens. The crust was crunchy but not hard and the insides were soft and moist. The aioli dressing although made with garlic and olive oil was not overwhelming with the taste of garlic and had a hint of mint to end.

Sigi’s Signature Fish & Chips, thick juicy butter fish fillets coated with fluffy beer batter deep fried till golden brown and served with garden greens, hand-cut chips (wedges of potatoes) flavoured with rosemary and garlic cloves, and a dollop of tartar sauce plus a wedge of lemon. The flavours and texture of the dish was well balanced, crisp fluffy salted batter coat with sweet juicy fish fillets and tender chips and creamy aromatic garlic cloves. In our case, we did not have to use the tartar sauce nor the wedge of lemon. All was well with natural tastes and aromas!

Chilled Rice Pudding, texture filled rice grains, with diary base (may be milk or cream) was served with a bitter sweet and acidic Strawberry Soup and White Chocolate. Definitely there is texture, tastes wise it is light and refreshing to end a meal. But do bear in mind that the combination has more English influence, and thus should not be compare the local Malaysian rice base dessert or puddings. It needs some getting used to.

Apart from sampling there Anniversary Set meal selections, we also had the chance to try out some new dishes on their newly updated dinner ala carte menu: Beef Cheek & Shallot Pie, Paella for 2, Lobster Pizza and Sticky Date Pudding.

Beef Cheek & Shallot Pie RM60, tender strips of slow cooked beef cheek meat and shallots surrounded by beautifully baked pastry skin and served with John’s special spiced tomato relish and lightly dressed garden greens. The filling was soft, beefy and savoury sweet, and the pastry was firm and crisp. Combined with the tomato relish for some acidity and spice to balance the richness, was a pairing well planned! And the salad gave the dish a shot of freshness.

Sigi’s Paella for 2 RM70, short grain rice cooked in stock flavored with the sweetness of saffron, the mild heat and sweet taste of Pimentón, the savoury smokiness of chorizo, the sourness of tomatoes and other herbs. The ingredients or toppings are also not to be looked down upon; there were loads of prawns, calamari, mussels and chicken chunks. I guess rice dishes from the West is always a must to get to used to in terms of flavours and texture for most Asians.

Lobster Pizza RM30 for 12”, wood oven baked thin pizza base topped with lobster chunks, orange flesh, pesto and Parmesan. It looks pretty common but the pesto, orange and rich salty parmesan combined perfectly to produce a light aromatic tasting topping that did not overwhelm the natural flavours of the lobster flesh. Even cold, it still tasted fine to the palate.

Sticky Date Pudding RM16, chopped pitted dates infused into the rich and sweet tender pudding served with Calvados caramel and garnish with a few halves of fresh Strawberries. The pudding was rich and flavourful but not overwhelmingly sweet. The caramel sauce was also equally appealing and not too taxing on the palate, especially when Calvados or apple brandy was used to enhance the taste of the sauce. Even Gill had a good time savouring this dessert although she is not a desert person. As for me, the warm pudding could do with a scoop of cooling vanilla ice cream, but that would have changed the whole experience of the dessert. So, just go with the flow!

SIGI’S BAR & GRILL ON THE BEACH @ GOLDEN SANDS RESORT

Address: Batu Ferringhi Beach, 11100 Penang, Malaysia.

Contact: +60 (4) 886 1852 (Direct Restaurant Line)

Business Hours: 11.00am-6.00pm, 6.30pm-10.30pm (Bar: 11.00am-11.45pm)

Other ongoing promotions at Sigi’s:

• Extended Happy Hours daily from 5pm to 8pm. Pizzas at 50% off plus discounts on certain selected beverages.
• Beach Seafood BBQ RM59.90++ per pax from 7pm to 10pm, and from 3rd March to 28th April 2011.

Garden Café Promotions:

• “1 +1” Sunday International Buffet Lunch RM59.90++ per pax from 12pm to 2:30pm, and from 6^th March to 17^th April 2011.
• Easter Sunday Lunch on 24^th of April 2011 for RM49.90++ per pax.

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Of recent we were invited by Miraku Japanese Restaurant in Penang’s G-Hotel to gather a small group of bloggers to share the opportunity to preview their new dishes and promotions, and bridge them to the mass of Japanese food lovers out there. To begin with the series of planned event is their March & April Hotate (Scallop) & Chuhai (Japanese Cocktail) promotions. The promotions begin from the 1st of March and ends on the 30th of April 2011.

There are 10 items to choose from their Hotate promotion menu that ranges from the naturally sweet Nama Hotate sashimi to the savoury Hotate Ramen.

If you are planning for a full night of Hotate craze, you could  start the meal with the Nama Hotate Sashimi (6pcs) RM19.90 that had a light natural sweetness and smooth tender flesh.

Then we had the Hotate Sushi (Nigiri Sushi) (3pcs) RM14.00. The texture of the scallops were similarly soft and tender like the sahsimi scallops and the hand pressed rice rolls were not too sour nor too compact.  With a small drop of shoyu and a touch of wasabi, it brought out the sweet taste of the scallop further.

After the raw hotate, we had the Hotate Chuka Chinmi RM8.00. They are actually the membranes on the side of the adductor muscle trimmed and tossed with sesame seeds, chili, vinegar and seasoned to taste. It had a crunchy texture and an appetising taste that helps to get the palate moving and duets quite well with certain beer sand sake.

Then we tried the Hotate Kakiage RM28.00. Mixed vegetables, onion, capsicum and scallops batter coated and deep fried till golden brown. It had a crisp surface with moist and juicy fillings that are appealing people who love fried foods.

Another deep fried item on the promotion menu was the Hotate Korroke (2pcs) RM18.00. The croquettes are different from the normal potato base, they were made from diary custard packed with corn kernels and scallop breaded and deep fried until achieving a golden crust and yet maintaining a rich creamy centre.

Continuing after the deep friend version, we had the Hotate Kushi Yaki (2 sticks with 6pcs scallop) RM11.50. Pieces of whole scallop grilled and glazed with their home made sauce of soyu, sugar & leek. It is said that the end product is very similar in taste as the ones found in Japan, authentic and exquisite.

Then there was the Hotate Kara Yaki RM19.90. Big size Scallops with roe pan grilled in butter, Mirin, sake, shoyu and seasoned with pepper. The scallops had a firm and tender texture with a buttery and savoury taste.

After the grilled, we had the Sanshoku Hotate Mayo ( a set of 3 colours with individual flavour) RM30.00, Green was Wasabi, Yellow was Mayo and Red was the  Mentaiko (明太子) is the marinated fish roe of Pollock. Each individual flavours would have a different appeal to different taste preference. Some liked the spicy Wasabi or horseradish taste, some enjoyed the rich mellow taste of the mayo and for me it was the rich and salty Mentaiko that hit the note.

Another creamy dish that was on the menu was the Hotate Gratin RM23.00. It had 5 lovely charred scallops on a bed of sweet and creamy gratin made of custard, cheese, mayonnaise and macaroni, then finish with a slight torch of the surface.

Last but not least, a hot bowl of Hotate Ramen RM25.00. The soup base had predominant flavour of Miso and Wakame or seaweed. The savoury and creamy tasting soup had in it a mount of Ramen noodles, Ginkensai or Pak Choy, Moyasi or bean-sprouts, corn kernels and most importantly the whole scallops with roes intact.

After finishing the last item on the “Hotate Promotion” menu, we went on to have some cocktails drinks. The drinks were also part of their March & April promos, “Chūhai Promotion” @ RM28.00 per tokkuri. Chūhai is a cocktail mixture of Shōchū (Japanese Liquor) with carbonated drinks & citrus drinks, the possible concoctions may include lime, grapefruit, apple, orange, pineapple, grape, kiwi, ume (plum), yuzu, lychee, and peach. In short, Chūhai is a Japanese Alcoholic Cocktail that can either be served hot or cold and any with any flavours according to the drinkers’ preference.

Miraku in its Chūhai promotion is providing a 150ml tokkuri (house pouring) of either Mugi (Wheat Shōchū) with 23% alcohol or Imo (Potato Shōchū) with 25% alcohol with a variety of choices mixers:

• A can soft drink of either tonic, soda, Sprite, Cola or Oolong,
• 300ml of choice of juice of either lime, Orange or Mango Juice.

The most desirable cocktail by the ladies that particular night was the Mugi (Wheat Shōchū) with Sprite and Lime Juice cocktail. It was well blend, with little bit sweetness, tang, mellow alcoholic taste and fizzy after taste.

The following is the Potato Shōchū or Imo with Sprite/Tonic, Lime and Plum. It had an alcoholic taste with a bit of salty sourish taste, and it was the second most liked concoction of the night.

This is Imo with just Oolong tea. It is for the more matured drinkers who like their cocktail strong.

Our chef of the day was Nakagawa-san, a shy chap at start but looks can be deceiving. If I am not wrong, he is still single and available for now!

Business Hour :

Daily Lunch 12:00pm to 2:30pm

Daily Dinner 6:00pm to 10:30pm

Reservation:

Tel No. : 604-229 8702

Fax No. : 604-229 8560

Email Add : fm@miraku-restaurant.com

Links to the other attendees of the preview:

• Food Promotions
• It’s Delicious
• Valyn Lim

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Last Saturday we were invited by FoodPromotions to attend an invited review hosted by TERRACE BAY RESTAURANT @ COPTHORNE ORCHID HOTEL PENANG.

It was the “second” Thai cuisine review in 30 days for of the foodies. As for us, we had to forgo the earlier event at Tree Monkey which was arranged by CK Lam & Criz Lai, and hosted by a local company that builds websites, GenisSIX.  Although we did not attend the review at Tree Monkey, we were “there” to lend support as my mother-in-law already planned to celebrate her birthday there. We actually tried to persuade her to have the dinner in Hard Rock Cafe, but she wanted to try Tree Monkey after reading about it in the papers. We knew misunderstandings would bound to happen if we were to show up, but it was not a choice that we had. Compound by past frictions and perceived conflict of interests, it will leave further misunderstandings. But between family and acquaintances, I choose family. What can be said about Tree Monkey is that it is a place to JUST relaxed, enjoy a cold drink, soak in the clean air from the surrounding greeneries and admire the the beautiful sun setting towards the west. A cold drink and an “Asian Tapas” platter shared amongst 2 would suffice as a pre-dinner outing.

Back to the Terrace Bay Restaurant Thai Buffet invited review. The buffet is priced at RM30nett for adults, RM20nett for senior citizens & RM18nett for children. The buffet runs from 7pm to 10pm on Saturdays for dinner and 12pm to 2.30pm on Sundays for lunch. The selected composition of dishes is brought to TERRACE BAY RESTAURANT by a Chef Chamnan Ngamlamai from Bangkok.

The menu or list of item that were served on that evening is as follows, there is an alternate menu/list which would be rotated as and when see fit by the restaurant:

Appetizer

Papaya Mango Salad (Som Tam), Mango Salad (Yam Mak Muang), Chicken Feet Salad (Yam Tin Kai), Thai Sambal Belacan (Nam Pit Ka), Kacang Botol (Sator Thua Pool) & Kai Lan with Salted Fish (Kana Pla Kem)

Soup

Ken Som(Tom Yam Soup with mushroom, chicken slice, mixed vegetables)

Main Course

Basil Leave Beef (Kak Thau Nua), Chicken Red Curry (Kai Pat Pit), Fish Pat Pit (Pla Pat Pit), Prawn Clam Noodle (Kung Obboon Sen), Egg Ommelette (Kai Pat Pit), Thai Otak – Otak (Homok) & Thai Fried Rice (Phad Thad)

Stall

Thai Kampung Chicken Rice (Kau Man Kai), Thai Laksa (Khanom Chin), BBQ Fish ball, Beef Ball, Crab Stick (Look Chic Ping), Crispy Cat Fish with Spicy Sweet and Sour & Green Mango Salad (Yam Pladukfu)

Dessert

Fresh Cut Fruits, Khanom Chan (Multi Layer Of Pandan Flavour Sticky Rice with Coconut Milk,) Baked Sweet Pudding, Khanom Tan (Palm Flavour, Mini Cake with Shredded Coconut on Top), Khanom Thuai Talai (Steam Sweet Coconut Jelly and Cream), Lot Chong Nam Kathi (Pandan Flavour rice Flour Noodle In Coconut milk, Similar To Cendol) & Salim (Multi Cour Mung Bean Flour Noodle in Sweetened Coconut Milk Serve with crushed Ice)

TERRACE BAY RESTAURANT @ COPTHORNE ORCHID HOTEL PENANG.

Overall rating by us at GourmetGarden:

Taste & Texture:

• 2.5/5
• To our preference the dishes seem not as “authentic” as we expected, but the dishes were acceptable in terms flavours in general.

Money Value:

• 3.5/5
• Authenticity was not in our consideration but a hotel themed buffet at RM30 nett with quite a variety is hard to come by in Penang especially on the tourist belt areas.
• As a budget or middle income earner, Terrace Bay Thai Buffet would be my better choice to feel the tank at a affordable price range as compared to Tree Monkey in Teluk Bahang.

Service:

• -NA-/5 (cannot be considered as it was an arranged event)

Cleanliness:

• 4.0/5
• plates & utensils are tidy and clean, and the overall restaurant dining floor is well kept.

Atmosphere:

• 3.0/5
• nice pool & Sea view at the alfresco section

Add: Jalan Tanjung Bungah, 11200 Penang, Malaysia.

Tel : 604-892 3333   Fax : 60 4 892 3303

Email : fb@copthorne.com.my

Opening Hours:

• Saturday Buffet Dinner: 7.00pm – 10.00pm
• Sunday Buffet Lunch: 12.00 noon – 2.30pm

Other food bloggers present:

1. Food Promotions
2. Steven Goh
3. All About Penang Food
4. Cariso
5. Waco
6. Criz Food

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A month or ago we noticed that there was a new nasi lemak stall located just in front of Sunrise Tower McD at Gurney Drive Hawker Center. At last we managed to try out the nasi lemak and fried chicken from the stall.

The price ranges from RM1.00 to RM3.50 and the price of their fried chicken is RM2.50 per piece.

The nasi or rice is steam and kept wram in a wooden bucket on top of some hot water.

The fried chicken is fresh prepared and the taste is about 85% near to the taste of the Original flavour fried chicken found in KFC.

Taste & Texture: 3.3/5 (The gravy or chili tasted sweet, our preference is more to savory and spicy but not hot. Additional points were given due to the near KFC flavour fried chicken. The RM1.00 version was not up to our expectations)
Money Value : 3.0/5 (Fried Chicken was big and tender juicy, but the rice has space to improve in terms of grade and volume)
Service: 3.0/5
Cleanliness: 2.8/5 (above average cleanliness for a hawker stall)
Atmosphere: 2.5/5 (can’t for much from a hawking area, but care is needed to upgrade the standards in the area. Upgrading doesn’t mean cosmetic changes only!)

Popularity: 10% [?]

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Too many backlogs! This was trip to Kluang that we had to take for a friends wedding. We drove all the way down and took us about 6 to 7 hours. Never the less we enjoyed every bit of the short excursion as we were able to sample food in Kluang and Muar.

The day after the wedding dinner, we went to Kluang RailCoffee to sample their ‘kopi’ and specialties. We have actually seen a similar brand before in ‘The Curve’ in Damansara, thus was skeptical on what it could offer to us. We are not fans of the ‘kopitiam’ type franchises after numerous run ins with poor service and poor food quality. Luckily this outlet has no direct relations to the similar named outlet in the ‘The Curve’, but is indirectly related. The owners are actually uncle and nephew.

Setting foot to the cafeteria or canteen is like going back in time to the time I took the train from Penang to Singapore. The place is really nostalgic and homey in certain ways. The canteen is located just next to the Kluang KTM train platform which also doubles as a waiting point for people coming and going, a place to have good wholesome breakfast or light meal before embarking on their journey.

The prices of food items available in the canteen are not exuberant as seen on the price board below. Before going, we were expecting to be whack with the ‘OldTown’ or ‘Papparich’ kind of price tags. Luckily it is not so!

We did not get to try their famous ‘nasi lemak’ as we where somewhat late and the stack was just exhausted.  Therefore, we only had kopi, toast and soft boil egg.

Should have ordered kopi ‘o’ but instead accidentally got their kopi susu. A mistake that me and my Gill did not regret. The kopi was smooth and was full of flavour, and the best thing is that they were not too sweet for our taste buds.

We had two types of toast that were both individually unique in the texture. The butter was creamy and rich, and the ‘kaya’ or coconut jam was not overwhelming with sweetness.

The soft boil egg was fragrant and rich in eggy flavours, but I like my eggs slight firmer and less runny.

After finishing our order, we proceeded to walk around and take some photos of the place and the current owner that was mending the so call kopi station. The person did not talk much and was busy brewing his kopi, thus we did not get to get more information about the place.

Before we left, we bought a packet of their pre packed kopi power to try out at home. It was nice and fargrant, but they still can’t compare with the original cup made by the hand of an expert.

Taste & Texture: 3.5/5
Money Value : 3.5/5
Service: 3.0/5
Cleanliness: 3.0/5 (clean and tidy, even in the kitchen)
Atmosphere: 4.0/5 (I like nostalgic feel and a place were we can see people from all walks of life and colour sitting down together eating the same thing)

Popularity: 14% [?]

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This afternoon we were at Lidiana’s again for lunch. We almost had all our usual dishes except for the raw pea sprouts. Food still taste the same spicey, flavourfull and cheap. The pea sprouts had a slight tangy taste with sweetness and a bitter aftertaste.

Our usual favourites are their ayam kicap, beef, curry fish, tempeh and ‘money leaf’ in lemak.

A great news to those who are unable to make a bee line to Lidiana for lunch, we were told by the staff that they are open up until 9:00pm daily, from Monday to Saturday. Sunday is the rest day for them.

The direction starts from landmark of  Tanjung Bungah Maybank, once you see the maybank at your left,  keep going straight after the second traffic light. you will see the tsunami’s flat on your right. Take note on the left, when the moment you see the junction on your left, just turn in, and you can see the big signage – Arked Tanjung Bungah is on your right, it is axactly opposite the Floating Mosque. Lidiana is the first stall (bigest stall) from the entrance.

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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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Popularity: 9% [?]

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It has been years since we last visited this roti canai or Indian pan fried bread stall. With time to kill before our appointment after church yesterday morning, it was our second stop for breakfast. This stall used to be housed a few meters down the road in an open compound under a big tree which has been removed. My favourite was their ‘roti kosong’ (plain bread) and ‘roti telur bawang’ (onion and egg bread) and drench in their homemade curries (mixed).

The roti kosong was pan fried till crisp on the surface and still fluffy on the insides. The dough or roti itself had a savoury taste which I can’t quite find in many other roti outlets now a days.

The roti telur was full of that fragrant eggy aroma, minus the onions. The roti as usual, was crisp and the egg just well done with soft whites and sandy yolks.

The mutton curry was pungent with the flavours of spices without the heat and the meat was off the bone tender.

The beef curry was a bit of a let down though. It used to thicker and had more taste of spices. The current beef curry was sweet with a slight sour (tomato) lingering after taste.

Price wise the roti was not too over price like some who charge RM0.80 for just a roti kosong.

The roti shop has even been featured by the local Chinese daily.

The recent experience with the Seikh Usman or Argyll Rd. Roti Canai:

Taste & Texture: 2.8/5 (the roti was fluffy, crisp, fragrant and flavourful but the curries tasted different from previous times)
Money Value : 2.5/5
Service: 2.5/5
Cleanliness: 1.0/5 (Table was oily, the floor was soiled with curry sauce and the most unbearable was water dripping from the washed plates on to the lower shelve that houses the cooked curry pots)
Atmosphere: 2.4/5 (warm at times)

Popularity: 6% [?]

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One of the most popular breakfast that are shared by many Malaysians regardless of their ethnicity would be a nice warm rich plate of soft boil eggs. Depending on ones preference it could be runny or thick, my preference is always fluffy whites with and near solid yolk to give it texture and aroma. I am not the type that likes the egg all watery.

My decision to research on soft boil egg was mainly due to our fruitful exploration in Kluang. In fact, it was one of the most memorable soft boil eggs that we had out of home.  The eggs were not under cook nor over cook, it had just the right consistency, smoothness and was fragrant. The eggs were served whole and we had to crack our own eggs, like what we used to do at home.

Some may choose to cut off the top egg with a knife or egg scissors, or tapping gently around the top with a spoon. Some may spoon out the content, some may drink from the shell, some may pour it on to a piece of butter toast, etc. Any way it is cracked, enjoyed and preferred, the main objective is to get every single drop of protein goodness from the egg shell.

There are a few methods to make the perfect soft boil egg that one would like. The local or Asian way is to pour boiling water into an enamel or stainless steel mug or a ‘soft-boil egg maker’ and let the egg soak for five to six minutes depending on the preferred firmness. To achieve the pour-all-out effect, after the preferred cooking time place the egg in a cold bath for 2 minutes or so to rid off the residue heat from further cooking the egg and to prevent the egg whites from sticking to its shell.

The Western method is to place the egg into a small saucepan and fill it with cold water until it covers the egg, then turn on the stove to the max. When the water starts to boil reduce the heat and simmer for 3-5 minutes depending on how firm or easy you prefer your egg. Or alternatively, simmer the egg for 1 minute, then let soak in the hot but not simmering water for about 6 to 7 minutes or so.

To go hand in hand with a rich creamy plate of soft boiled egg, a perfectly toasted bread smudged with sufficient amount of salted diary butter (not margarine) and a cup of thick aromatic kopi ‘o’ or ‘kopi suss’. Breakfast from haven!

Popularity: 10% [?]

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Last Thursday, there was an impromptu request to cook dinner; on the list were the aging prawns in our freezer. As prawns were not that fresh, the method would then be something that can over come this problem. The easiest way out would be curry, but the paste that we have was only for fish.

First thing I did was to shell the prawns and “freshen up” them with some sugar and corn flour. Then to the hot oil they go. The prawns were deep fried until just cooked so that any fishy taste would not affect the curry.

Before cooking the curry, we had to prepare some other additional such as onions, lemongrass and fresh tomato. The curry paste that we used was the fish curry paste from Mak Nyonya. The curry paste had a strong spice aroma, and lemongrass was quite predominant.

To begin cooking the curry gravy, I started to brown the chopped onions in the pot and oil used to fry the prawns earlier.

After the chopped onions were browned, they were transferred to another pot for further cooking process. Do not wash the frying pot, add some water to deglaze the pot and keep the sweet juices left by the prawns and onions.

In the new pot, put in the julienne onions and lemongrass and begin aromatise them in hot oil.

After the onions and lemongrass begin to emit their fragrances, add in the curry paste and continue stirring.

While still aromatising the curry paste, pour in the deglazed juices from the earlier pot. Remember not to pour everything at one go, too much would dilute the curry paste and flavours.

After the paste has reached the right consistency (according to what you like) and have begin to emit the curry fragrance, then it is time to add the coconut milk. No fresh coconut milk was available, so boxed type had to suffice. Boxed coconut milk does not have the taste and essentials that fresh coconut milk has.

The second last step is to pour in the tomatoes wedges.

After the tomatoes have softened, it is time to let the prawns join the curry gravy and let them soak up the spice and fragrance of the curry gravy ingredients.

The curry prawns’ textured was not bad although they have been kept in the freezer for almost six months. The sugar and corn flour helped to firm them up. The freezer was also played an important role. The taste of the curry was spicy with slight sweetness in it. Other than the curry prawns, we also had roast duck brought all the way from KL. The roast duck was sweet and tender although it had been on the road for a few hours.

Popularity: 10% [?]

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We all talk about preserving the historical building, endangered animals, etc. But why don’t we also put in more effort to promote and support our locally unique heritage hand-made products and traditional trades. In this competitive world many trades have turn to mass production through new technology, but through this change we have loss the rich character of hand-made products that was once the pride of our country and culture.

Hand made “Mee Koo” (in Hokkien) or “Steamed Turtle Buns”  are one of the example of these dying trades in Malaysia. The Mee Koo are linked and used in Chinese festive celebrations and cultural ceremonies. Now a day, many have turn the age old manufacturing process by hand to mechanised manufacturing lines. But then who am I to say they are wrong to change, they still need to put rice on the table at this competitive times. As a marketing consultant, I advocate change to create a competitive edge to overcome obstacles and competition. But sometimes a total change would have created more harm than good. Therefore, we would need to consider the many angles that affect our change. Sometimes, partial change or improvements can do more good and than full conversions.

Hoe Peng & Co. is one of the examples of partial change that help them survive through the test of time. In the old days when one thinks of Mee Koo in Penang, Hoe Peng’s buns would be the first to come to mine. They not only churn out their famous Mee Koo but also “Siew Thou” (in Hokkien) or “Longevity Buns”, “Thou Sar Pheah” or “Green Bean Biscuits” and some Chinese folk lore prayer items that are used in Taoist ceremonies.

“Siew Thou” or Longevity Buns

“Tho Sar Pheah” or Green Bean Biscuit

Assorted Taoist Ceremonies Prayers Items

As our society, is ever influenced by the western culture and its dining practice, many have forgotten about the versatile Mee Koo. We have forgotten one could the Mee Koo as it is, with butter and kaya, dunk in a cup of hot Kopi ‘O’, made into French toast, or even used as a coating for fish n’ chips (that is my own recipe). Thus, it is due time to give our traditionally unique Mee Koo recognition and respect.

Some weeks ago we were honoured to be given the opportunity to visit and have a peek into the Mee Koo making process at Hoe Peng & Co.’s kitchen. Hoe Peng & Co. was previously located in a corner shop lot just beside “Ong Kongsi” and opposite the once tallest building in Malaysia, Komtar. Currently they have moved to a new location on Lorong Selamat where just opposite the famous “Lorong Selamat Char Koay Teow”. It is now under the umbrella of Cheong Kim Chuan, who has been a household name in Penang and also Malaysia since 1937. They are one of the producers and retailers of our famous and much sort after nutmeg products, “belacan”, “Rojak” sauce, Tambun Biscuit (Tau Sar Pneah) and other traditional Malaysian food and non-food products.

Our visit started with a tour of their Mee Koo making kitchen where we were introduced to its production executive and food tech, and then we were briefed on the Mee Koo making process. The process from flour to Mee Koo has in all 5 stages, fermenting, kneading, and moulding, proofing and finally steaming. All of these were used to be done by hand, but as technology touch down our shore of Malaysia many years ago, they have converted the mixing and kneading to a mechanical process by introducing mixing, kneading and press machines.

The initial stage of flour mixing and fermenting is a business secret which we did not cover. We begun on the the kneading process, the objective is to churn out dough that has a consistent and equal composition.

After the dough has reached the right consistency, it is then transferred to another machine where the dough is repeatedly passed through rollers to press the dough. This machine compresses the dough so that they reach a specific elasticity before it is sent to the human hands for moulding.

The common Mee Koo has two layers, the inner one is the main white bun and the outer pink or yellow layer is the skin that encases the white fluffy bun. At Hoe Peng & Co. the outer coloured layer is edible due to the food grade colouring used to churn out the dough.

At Hoe Peng, the tradition of hand moulding of the dough to the specific weight and shape are kept like when it was done many years ago. The dough is hand cut down to size and weighed, wrapped, moulded, and placed on the base paper which also serves as the branding of the Mee Koo.

After the Mee Koo dough is all prepped up, it is placed on a bamboo tray and left to proof or set before they are sent for steaming.  The proofing stage is a important stage where it also determines the texture of the end product. There is set time for proofing, but it mainly relies on the experience nad touch of the food tech to determine the duration required. The uncooked doughs are touch and squeezed to determine the ripeness because due to the ever floating temperature and humidity of our Malaysian climate, the Mee Koo proofing time would fluctuate.

After the Mee Koo is steamed and cooked, it is place on sale at the counter out side the retail outlet. As you are wondering how do they write the Chinese characters on the Mee Koo for the festive and cultural ceremonies? They are all hand ‘written’ upon request or order. This part of the mee koo is not edible because the dough used in writing the Chinese characters have not been cooked or steamed. They are actually raw dough with added colouring. The process of preparing the coloured dough is also hand-worked to the right texture and elasticity.

All the characters on every Mee Koo are hand ‘written’ using the traditional method that has been used since Hoe Peng & Co. opened it is doors for business years ago. The writing process is very laboured intensive and tedious. Imagine during the festive seasons and hundreds or thousands of orders that require specified Chinese characters to suit the occasion, I pity the person who has to ‘write’ all those characters. But I also admire the person for keeping the tradition alive for our future generations to experience and see.

Thus, as a Penangite I would like ask my fellow Malaysians regardless of the race and religion to put in support for our heritage products, trades, etc in the form of consuming and patronising them. Give the support in terms business so that they can get to survive the test of time and leave a piece of history, culture and character for our future generation that they will be proud of. Heritage is not only in the form of buildings and artefacts, but also the way of life, cuisines that were savoured by our forefathers, etc.

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Popularity: 17% [?]

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Days back while driving through the Jelutong Express-way, we noticed a typical looking Malay eating outlet beside the ramp just after the old land fill area along the express-way. As we just finish the eLawyer seminar at USM and had no plans of where to have lunch, we decided to try out the Malay eating outlet that we saw previously. When coming from the Georgetown area, just keep to the left after the Jelutong xpress-way Shell petrol station. The “makan” area is just after the old land fill. But if you are driving from the Bayan Lepas direction, after Tesco stay to the left and turn right at the first traffic lights and you will see the “makan” area.

The name of the stall is “Ani Nasi Campur Gulai Sembilang”, and it is housed in the “Balai Nelayan Jelutong”. The stall open’s for business daily except Sunday and their business hours are from 11:30am onwards until everything is gone from their trays. It literally closes after all their dishes are all sold out, and would just take about 2 to 3 hours. We were there some where near to 2:00pm and everything was all sold out except for some beef, squid, and some fish curries.

And thus, that is what we had for lunch that faithfull Saturday. 2 plates of white rice, 1 nasi tambah, 1 curry sembilang head, 1 piece of curry ikan pari  , 3 pieces of beef and some chilli squid. And the total demage is RM 17.00.

The chilli squid or “sotong pedas” was slightly chewy and over firm, but the taste was quite appetising with some sourness and heat. This dish almost taste like “sotong sambal”. With the gravy in toe, one could finish the whole plate of rice without anything else.

The beef that we had I guess was some sort of rendang or stewed beef. Anyway, it was tender and flavourful. The beef chunks that we had been moisten with a distinctive sardine like taste gravy with just the right amount of spice to bring out the beefy flavour. The heat in the chilli and spice did not overwhelm the sweet and affirmative taste of the beef chunks. The usage of curry leaves in this dish was also something that we do not see everyday at Malay “makan” stalls.

The “Ikan Pari” or stingray curry had some hint of “balacan” or fermented shrimp paste in it. The taste is of this dish is quite light but the gravy was creamy. It is a dish that I would not miss if the run out of stock on my next visit there.

Next on the table was the “Gulai Sembilang”, which is actually our local catfish cooked in their special “gulai” or curry. The gulai was light, sweet and full of fragrant of spices. As the gulai is light, it did not go well with white rice alone; one would need to mixed it with other heavier tasting gravies. But to enjoy it like one would do with soups would be a better way to enjoy the flavour the sembilang gulai has to offer. As for the sembilang fish head, it was creamy or “lemak” especially with those entire soft cartridge like flesh encasing the skull of the fish head. The mixture of spices used in the gulai was well balanced to rid the sembilang of any unappetising taste but yet left that sweet taste of fish still intact in the dish.   No wonder Ani is famous for their “gulai sembilang”!

On average, I would rate Ani Nasi Campur Gulai Sembilang:

* 3.8/5 for value (RM17 is a bit high just for 3 chunks of beef, scoops of squid, 1 piece of stingray meat and 1 catfish head)
* 3.9/5 for taste & texture (love the beef and catfish)
* 3.4/5 for service (not attentive when first approach the stall)
* 3.0/5 for cleanliness(by the sea and at make shift area, not much can be expected)
* 3.0/5 for atmosphere (a bit hot on sunny days)

Address : Balai Nelayan Jelutong, Jelutong Express-way, Penang.

Tel : 016-4584229 (Ani)

Business Hours : 11.30am – ?pm. Closed on Sundays.

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Popularity: 10% [?]

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aaaaahhhh………Still remember Ivy’s Kitchen Combo Meal posted a month ago?

I feel a bit bad towards to Mr.Tan & Ivy for owing the a-lar cart dinner post for such a long time.

Ok now, Ivy’s Kitchen also have available dishes on a-lar-cart order for dinner time besides the lunch combos that cater to the OLs and OMs in the near by office blocks.

At Night they serve Chinese and Nyonya dishes, and the followings are my verdict for some of the dishes served for the invited review dinner do:

The Big Banner hanging in front of the restaurant is eye catching. Jason has given Mr. Tan some ideas to make the restataurant’s brand name more visible to attract those who drive on Jalan Chow Thye. One of them was to place a extended vertical banner similar to that used by Japanese restaurants to show-off its name because the current banner is slightly out of sight by car drivers.

Sweet and Sour Flower Crab (market price)

The sauce combination is thick and very flavorful, and i can taste the distinctive sweet crab meat flavor from the first mouthful.

The flower crab flesh was indeed very meaty & fresh, it is a testament to the quality ingredients that they used here. To be frank, is my first encounter with such a meaty flower crab. Usually flower crab ain’t that meaty. The dish is a good mate for a bowl of fragrant white rice.

It was good, but there was a slightly sweet after taste. Light handed on the sugar is necessary.

Rating for the dish: 3.9/5

Gulai Tumis Chinese Silver Pomfret (market price)

Gulai Tumis usually would be Malaysian’s favourite, when talk and think about the dish one would start begin to experience a  saliva tsunami in the mouth. Hahaha…

What is so special about the Gulai? It is all about the spiciness of the chili paste, sourly taste of tamarind, pungent smell of lemongrass, light perfumery bungah kantan (tourh ginger) to make it became a mouth watering dish.

Above all ingredients, Ivy’s Kitchen version has additional Green Chilies and tomatoes. The Silver Promfret was fresh, but the fish was slightly over cooked because there some late arrivals due to the traffic situation.  I personally would prefer the silver pomfret put into the steaming tray rather into the gulai tumis if the fish still extremely fresh.  :)

Rating for the dish: 3.7/5

Assam Prawns (RM20 for 10 prawns)

Look at that divine caramelised colour!

There are 2 types of assam prawn, either with thick gravy or dried.  And here they served dried and crispy assam prawn with wonderful flavors .

I would say this nyonya assam prawn was very authentic to me. Although here in Malaysia there are tones of restaurant serving the same dish, but rarely you would get the same “good” nyonya assam prawn.

But don’t be sad, you can now taste the very nicely marinated and pan fried to perfection assam prawn in Ivy’s kitchen. The tamarind flavour is not overpowering; sweet and sour on the right balance. Thumbs Up!

Rating for the dish: 4/5

Fried Bean curd with Leeks

This was a simple homey dish with wok hei. It was slightly dried, a little more gravy and leeks should be better.

Again, it was slightly over sweeten.

Rating for the dish: 3.6/5

Tofu with Seaweed Soup

Seaweed soup with distinctive and clear flavours! This is the freshest seaweed flavour and aroma that I never taste before. No wonder Japanese like it so much. But again it was slightly over sweeten with the seasoning.

The soup come together with sliced carrots, fish balls, cabbages, minced chicken balls and prawns, and of course generous amounts of  the fragrant seaweed

Rating for the dish: 3.8/5

Fried Snow Pea Shoots with Bean Sprouts

The combination of snow pea shoots and bean sprout stir fried was not popular not until the recent years. I and jason still remember we had our curry fish head in Alor Star and we discovered this combination of stir frying of snow pea shoots and bean sprouts for the first time back in 2006 or 2007. Something interesting, as the friendly curry fish head chef cum owner told us, bean sprout gives the sweetness and evenly match the bitterness and rough texture of the snow pea shoots.

Anyway, the easiest dish is the hardest to master, more skill is needed. This dish in Ivy’s has that homey taste with wok hei.  But the bean sprouts were slightly overcooked, thus, the loss of that crunchy feeling. But the fragrant garlic bits compensated for that..

Rating for the dish: 3.7/5

Fruits Platter

After all the dishes, big plate of fruits was sent to our table, with chunks of sweet mango, papaya and longan.

Note: ivy’s kitchen is serves pork free dishes.

Average rating for this place:

2.9/5 for value (slightly over priced for seafood, but it was on market forces)
3.8/5 for taste & texture (taste of home cook meals, but there is still room to excel especially on the handling of certain ingredients and the seasoning)
3.8/5 for service
4.0/5 for cleanliness
3.0/5 for atmosphere (not much of decoration. evening got lots of mosquito due to the neighbours plants but they are looking into environmental friendly ways to get rid of this minor problem)

Location:

Add : 58 Jalan Chow Thye, 10250 Penang. (Next to Isaribi Tei and near by Jemputree)

Tel : 013-433 7878 (Mr. Tan), 016-433 7130 (Ms. Ivy)

Business Hours : Daily 9:00am-9:00pm from Monday to Sunday. Saturday 12:00pm-9:00pm.

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Popularity: 7% [?]

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It was a hot late afternoon and what the hack my appointment was canned, so we detoured to the old “Bubur” push-cart-stall on the sidelines of the busy Penang Road in the heart of Georgetown. The stall is no other than the famous “Kamblis Bubur” at the junction of Penang Road and Jalan Dato Koyah. It is just directly opposite of Ho Ping coffee shop and just at the door steps of the once famous Kayu Nasi Kandar.

It has been quite sometime since I last ate at this bubur stall. So you when there is an opportunity, I can’t resist. At the stall you can see people from all walks of live, from different ethnic group, of different skin colour etc enjoying a bowl of thick, sweet and rich “bubur” and mingling about the daily happenings. There is no tension or disharmony to be seen.

My favourite is their “bubur gandum” or wheat porridge in direct translation. The bubur gandum is actually whole wheat grains cooked in coconut milk and sweeten and seasoned to produce that seemingly sinful tea time snack for people of all ages, except the diabetic. A bowl of bubur with a scoop of glutinous rice only cost RM 0.70, but take-away would cost 30 cents more. The bubur gandum is only available on weekend(s), which I am not very sure. On week days they would cooked up other types of bubur which they daily changed so as not to bore their patrons with the same old thing everyday. It is a bit cliché; you can say it is like a pot of chocolate, you won’t know what is installed for the pot cover is lifted.

It was good to recall the good old days when we used to ride our bike around town and just stopping where ever is convenient and have a bite or two. It is the simplest things in the world that give us comfort on a hectic or busy day.

Popularity: 7% [?]

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Last Saturday on (13th June 2009) we revisited Blue Reef, the fish n’ chip joint at 32 Permai off Vale of Tempe that we visited early this year. The revisit to Blue Reef was partially to meet a friend and also to find out whether their quality food is still consistent to that we had early this year. We had to find out for our selves because we have read some ‘not so good’ comments of the place.

It has been almost 6 months since we set foot in Blue Reef, and we didn’t know what to expect from them. Not much has changed since then, the only thing that we notice is the little drawings that were pasted on one side of their wall. It is good to see that our ideas were accepted and used, but the actual idea was to have the photos of patrons and their fun moments captured and enshrine on their wall. At least the idea was used in some way!

Currently there is an offer for a full meal option, excluding dessert, for an additional RM1. It is a good promotional strategy at this current economy phase. Many are looking for bargain and money saving deals for their daily needs and wants. With an additional RM 1 added to the cost of the chosen main course, I was served with a glass of ice-lemon tea and a bowl of the soup of the day.

The soup of the day that we had was their green pea soup. It tasted kind of earthy, nutty and sweet. There was some sandy texture to the soup which I find to my liking. Served with the soup, was piece toasted garlic bread. On seeing it, we thought that the bread would hard to consume due to the thicker shaped. But surprisingly the bread was quite manageable because it was crisp on the surface and moist and soft inside. Thus, it was not crumbly and hard to bite into.

For the main course, I had their Salmon Burger. The flaky salmon patty was well caramelised on the surfaces and yet retaining the juicy moisture. The seasoning of the salmon meat was well choreographed as it did not totally overwhelm the distinct taste of salmon. The crisp and soft sesame seed bun and the sauté onion toppings was a good combination to the salmon patty. There was only one thing that I felt bad about the burger was the amount of tartar sauce. I would personally leave the tartar sauce out and may be sauté the onions with some balsamic vinegar to give the burger some added flavour.

Gill had their Aglio e Olio as usual. But it was a bit of a disappointment for her because they have substitute the pork bacon for the anchovies as they are now a pork free restaurant. With the anchovies, it tasted a bit weird to us. We asked Chris why not use beef bacon, and he told us that it did not have enough flavour. Anyway, I guess we would be going back for try their Aglio e Olio again because the Chris mentioned that they might change it to Seafood Aglio e Olio. The previous trip to Blue Reef, the Aglio e Olio was excellent and the pasta strands were firm and springy.

Our friend had their famous fish n’ chips and their Caesar salad. One of the not so good comments that we read was that the batter for the fish n’ chips were a soggy. But from the looks of our friend’s serving, it was perfectly coated and deep fried till gold brown. Although minutes have passed, the beer batter coat was still firm and crisp. And the serving portion for below RM20 was, as my friend puts it, value for money. He said in Kuala Lumpur the portion would have cost him at least RM35.

As for his Ceasar salad, I am not the position to comment as I did not taste it.

At the end of the lunch cum discussion, our friend ordered their Orange Crème brûlée. Crème brûlée is a rich custard dessert topped with a layer of hard caramel that is formed by the burning of sugar by any means of heat source. Traditionally the custard base is normally flavoured with just vanilla, but at Blue Reef they have prepared their version flavoured with orange. The cream was not too dairy or creamy, and sweetness was just at the right note. But the caramelise sugar coating was slightly coarse for the silky smooth textured custard. May be fine sugar should be used instead.

On average, I would rate Blue Reef:

* 4.1/5 for value
* 3.7/5 for taste & texture (because of having to choose pork free)
* 4.1/5 for service (Chris and his staffs are always attentive to our comments)
* 4.1/5 for cleanliness(still clean and neat after in bussiness for more than 6 months)
* 3.7/5 for atmosphere

Address : Permai 32, No.22 Lebuh Lembah Permai 4, 11200 Tanjung Bungah, Penang.

Tel : 04 8999128.

Business Hours : 11.30am – 2.30pm and  6.30pm – 10.30pm. Closed on Mondays.

GPS Coordinate : N 05*27?16.38?   E 100*17?25.4?

Popularity: 7% [?]

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It was a sunny morning somewhere in March this year that we were invited to interview the owners of an unique bakery located on the busy Chulia Street in the Georgetown area, Rainforest Bakery. The bakery has been in operations since year 2000/2001 which at those days were only supplying their breads wholesale to eateries, etc. But as time goes by and from the request of their ‘door-knocking’ customers, Rainforest began to plan for a retail outlet which was finally materialised at its current location on Chulia Street in year 2008. At Rainforest, one could see that customers from all walks of life and nationality wondering and choosing their pick of the day from the selection of continental breads that are baked daily.

At current the bakery is being managed by a pair of identical twins, Jerry and Jesse Tan(short spiky hair do). Jesse whom entertained our question and answer session was actually MIA from Rainforest Bakery for approximately 3 years not for fun, but to work in London and travel around Europe to acquire the skills and knowledge that they require to differentiate their breads from the localised bakeries and to provide better and healthier loafs of wholesome organic breads to its patrons. The daily fresh baked loafs uses the traditional or organic methods of preparing the dough for each individual type of bread that they offer today. Organic does not only mean that the ingredients are organic, even the preparation and baking process must be organic in every way that is what sets them apart from the rest. What they are selling at the bakery is not only bread, but also the concept of healthy organic traditionally baked and non-localised bread.

The daily fresh baked loafs uses the traditional or organic methods of preparing the dough for each individual type of bread that they offer today. Organic does not only mean that the ingredients are organic, even the preparation and baking process must be organic in every way and that is what sets them apart from the rest. Enjoy with assurance that no preservative, no MSG or enhancers and no essence are use in their bread. Even the yeast they used is self-cultured!

Not only the ingredients and baking take on the traditional concept, the packing or wrapping of certain breads also takes on the original ways that were used to pack them for customers which are still practiced in certain parts of the baking world.

Other than bread, one would also be enticed by their cakes, muffins and cookies that are on display at the bakery.

And if you need to add some savoury or sweetness to the bread that was just picked from the rack, you could also try out their homemade Kaya and Garlic Butter spread.

Their current business caters to the retail walk-in customers, wholesale deliveries to restaurant and hotels, and also residential home if it is located on the delivery routes. Other than the current retail outlet, there are also plans to expand their business by setting up their own branch. They are not looking into franchise because they want their Rainforest Bakery breads to be made fresh  and to keep the quality in check so as not disappoint their customers.

Average rating for this place:

• 3.8/5 for value ( it would be a bit on the high side but the quality is what you are looking for, it is place to try out)
• 4.0/5 for taste & texture (certain individuals may not be receptive to the kind of bread taste & texture.)
• 4.0/5 for service (friendly and accommodating)
• 4.2/5 for cleanliness ( everything is kept closed and clean)
• 3.9/5 for atmosphere (what bakeries should smell of and feel like)

Address : 300 Lebuh Chulia, 10200 Penang, Malaysia.
Contact :+ 60 (4) 261 4641
Opening Hours : 10.00am-10.00pm (Closed Sunday)

enclosed with their in-house brochures

Popularity: 32% [?]

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We have heard and read much about the new fad in town, Coconut Jelly. Thus, during the Labour Day weekend after much request from our church members, we organised a ‘makan’ trip in the Georgetown and Tanjung Tokong area. And for the finally of the trip we brought them to the current food fad, Coconut Jelly, located in one of the old districts on the Penang Island. 

Legend has it that the trend started from here at Joez Coconut.  This Joez Coconut, under another business name, traditionally sells coconut base products like the refreshing coconut juice, coconut milk, etc. But after the son of the proprietor and yours truly, Joel Jeyachandran took over the business from his dad they begun to venture into producing and selling the now famous coconut jelly.

The coconut jelly is produced by heating and cooling the coconut fruit whole, no sugar or other chemicals and preventives are added. But sometimes a small amount of sugar would be added if the coconut fruit is too young or the meat is not ripe enough which would produce a sour end to this otherwise refreshing dessert.  As the product is without any preservative, therefore it must be refrigerated to ensure that it can last at least 5 days.

The end product of the secretly kept recipe is a very smooth and silky pure coconut nectar jelly with fragrant coconut aroma and sweet flavor of ‘Pandan’. If luck is on your side, you might also get to scavenge mouthful of rich coconut flesh with every spoonful of jelly.

Add: 201, Jalan Dato Kramat, 10150 Penang, Malaysia.

Tel. : 604-229 6063, 016-440 9049 

Business ours: 11.00am-7.00pm daily.

Tips: If you take it fresh it would have a hint of Pandan. But if kept in the fridge for few days more the coconut jelly would develop a much richer taste with a stronger nutty taste. Be sure chilled it thoroughly before savouring it.

Popularity: 10% [?]

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For Ivy’s Kitchen, an arrangement was made for some of us food bloggers to sample their spread of a-lar-carte dishes and combo meals. The a-la-carte sampling was held on a Friday night and the combo meals were arranged for on Sunday’s lunch. It was good because we could just waltz in after Sunday Service. The Sunday lunch sampling was mainly to introduce the various sets and combinations that Ivy’s Kitchen can dish out daily. Other than sampling the meals, we were also given the opportunity to put-up some personal feedbacks on the food and also give some thoughts on the possibility to utilise some of our know-how to attract and improve in certain areas ranging from food quality and business management.

As usual we try to make it slightly earlier to capture some kitchen action, thus the following shots were possible.

The value sets or combo meals are specially created to cater to those who need to grab a quick bite that is value for their money. The combo meals are priced from RM 7.50 to RM 9.00 per set and what one would get is a rice set, a glass of freshly squeeze fruit juice and dessert, and for noodle sets they are accompanied with ‘thong shui’ and jelly dessert. You can say that their combo meals cater to both rice drums(fun tong) and noodle freaks.

If one does not prefer to get stuffed and just to fill the tank emperor, you could opt for the a-la-carte noodles and porridge offerings.

Combo A: Chicken Rendang

At RM9.00 per set, one would be served with a piece of tender creamy rich aromatic chicken cut, a  bowl of white rice(not nasi lemak because it would be to rich with all that coconut milk), half an egg, deep fried anchovies and peanuts, papadum and achar or pickles vegetables.

Rendang is a dish which originated from an ethnic group of Indonesia, Minangkabau. In many cases the rendang is mentioned as curry, but authentically the rendang is anything but curry. Rendang is prepared through a slow cooking process of the meat of choice in coconut milk and spices until almost all the liquid is evaporated and the aroma and taste of the spices and creamy richness of the coconut milk are absorb by the meat. And through this slow cooking process it allows the meat to become tender, even beef.

Combo B: Beef Rendang

The combo of beef rendang and rice shares the same side dishes as in combo A but is cheaper by RM0.50, at RM8.50 per set. Both chicken and beef rendang shared the same characteristics, creamy, rich, and aromatic, but the beef rendang was slightly spicier hot. Although the rendang dish calls for a slow cooked tender chunk of meat, the beef rendang today had some chewy chunks. One of the reasons for this is that the chewy chunks had less or no fatty contents. But yet is not enough of a reason to shun from this dish.

Combo C: Nasi Lemak

At RM7.50 per set, one could expect a coconut rich fragrant bowl of rice accompany with a halved hard boiled egg, ‘sambal’ anchovies that is prominent with the colour of turmeric and sweet, deep fried chicken wing minus the drum- met, deep fried sardine, crisp anchovies and peanuts and fish cracker. Alternatively, one could substitute the chicken wing and sardine with a bigger fish like the deep fried stuffed cincaru or hard tail mackerel for RM9.00. Personally, I would like to have bigger piece of chicken to fill my tank while still maintaining the price at RM7.50. What are people looking for now is something which tasty, economical and yet able to fill them up.

This stuffed hard tail mackerel in its raw form.  The stuffing consists various type of herbs and spices, and the predominant taste that one will get to experience from this fish is the sourness of tamarind, the fragrant of Kaffir lime leafs and the heat from the chilli paste. This stuffed hard tail mackerel is sold at RM3.80 per fish.

Combo D: Fish Fillet Noodles in clear soup

This set is for the noodle freaks and light tasting food fans, and it is only  RM9.00 for a bowl of noodle topped with generous amounts of deep fried dory fish fillet and chicken meat balls, accompanied with thong shui and dessert. One could choose from your noodle of choice from instant noodles to rice vermicelli(bee hoon), glass noodles(tang hoon) to plain old rice porridge. The soup is clear and sweet with a noticebale taste  of sesame seed oil as a condiment.  When requesting for the rice porridge version, do expect a more hard hitting sweet taste of ‘tung choy’ (type of Chinese preserved vegetable with sweet and salty taste) in soup. This because by substituting the noodle with cooked rice, the light clear soup would have its taste overwhelmed by the rice, thus the usage of ‘tung choy’ is call for. If you are a person who can’t taste anything lite, it is would not be a good choice to choose combo D.

Other than the combo meals that are mentioned here, one could also try out their lite snacks and other a-lar-carte dishes.

Average rating for this place:

3.1/5 for value (slightly above averagely priced for combo meals as comapred to economy rice, but with fresh juice and dessert it should break-even nicely)
3.7/5 for taste & texture (taste of home cook meals, but there is still room to excel)
3.8/5 for service
3.9/5 for cleanliness
3/5 for atmosphere (not much of decoration. evening got lots of mosquito due to the neighbours plants but they are looking into environmental friendly ways to get rid of this minor problem)

Location:

Add : 58 Jalan Chow Thye, 10250 Penang. (Next to Isaribi Tei and near by Jemputree)

Tel : 013-433 7878 (Mr. Tan), 016-433 7130 (Ms. Ivy)

Business Hours : Daily 9:00am-9:00pm from Monday to Sunday. Saturday 12:00pm-9:00pm.

Popularity: 7% [?]

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We have been hibernating for the pass weeks, and I guess it is time to post some articles. Or else Steven Goh would bug me about our idle blog again. This one is for you Steven!

Last weekend (15th March 2009), four of us (Steven, Criz, Gill and me) went to Kuala Juru to try out the famous mee udang beings served there. We started our journey at around 3:15pm from Tesco Penang and drove to Kuala Juru in about 30 minutes. The weather was cooling with intermediate heavy raining, thus the journey was a comfortable and cooling one. For the trip we planned to try out the fehmes mee udangs from two places, the first one we went to was the ‘Restoran Nelayan Kuala Juru’ and the next was ‘Warung Pak Su’.

When we arrived at Restoran Nelayan Kuala Juru, it began to rain cats and dogs, thus we quickly rush into the typical Malay kampung style restaurant. This particular place is located right at the end of Kuala Juru, the main entrance faces a play ground and hill and its back is to a river mouth, which I guess is Sungai Juru. Anyway, it is a good place to do some sight seeing of the wetlands, fishing village, free flying eagles and swiftlets. A place to relax and enjoy what earth has to give.

At Restoran Nelayan Kuala Juru, we left the ordering to Criz as he is familar with it has to offer. We had their Mee Udang (Prawn’s Noodle RM6), Mee Udang dan Ketam (Prawn & Crab’s Noodle RM6), Nasi Goreng Udang (Prawn Fried Rice RM6) and Nasi Goreng Paprik (Paprik Fried Rice RM4) and some drinks (RM5), which only cost us RM 27.00. I am not familar of the prices here, but it seems to be quite cheap to me to have crab, prawns and sotong at this price. Of all the dishes that we ordered at the Restoran Nelayan Kuala Juru, my favourite was the Mee Udang (Prawn Noodle) and the Nasi Goreng Paprik (Paprik Fried Rice with squid a.k.a sotong and Vegies). The gravy or soup of the Mee Udang tasted like our Chinese’s Hokkien Mee (Prawn Soup Noodle), in fact it was even tastier than the Hokkien Mees that I have had before. The sweetness and fragrant of prawns was mush more intense than our Hokkien Mee, but there was one set back due to the prawns wasnt fresh. I guess may be our timing could have something to do with it! Anyway, at Restoran Nelayan Kuala Juru the prawns used are of the Udang Rotan(thick greenish shelled) species as informed by Criz.

4.5/5 for taste & texture

The Mee Udang dan Ketam (Prawn & Crab’s Noodle) did not fare as well as the Mee Udang in terms of the gravy taste. It did not permiate the sweetness of prawns that we enjoyed in the Mee Udang. And the ketam or crab was also not as fresh as we wanted it to be. But in terms of price, the mee udang and mee udang dan ketam offered here is considered cheap from point of view.

3.5/5 for taste & texture

The Nasi Goreng Paprik with Sotong and vegies was one of our favourites at Restoran Nelayan Kuala Juru. The fried rice was well seasoned and spiced, it was fragrant and tasty to the last grain of rice. And the accompanying stir fried ‘sotong’ or squid was equivalently tasty, the squid rings were  juicy and tender.

4.2/5 for taste & texture

The other dish that we had was their Nasi Goreng Udang. It was the rice version of the Mee Udang, but the gravy is a bit eggy due to the use of egg in their gravy. And the fried rice was not as tasty as the Nasi Goreng Paprik.

3.8/5 for taste & texture

On average, I would give Restoran Nelayan Kuala Juru:

* 3.9/5 for value
* 3.9/5 for taste & texture (the Mee Udang gravy and Nasi Goreng Paprik saved the day)
* 3.0/5 for service
* 3.0/5 for cleanliness
* 4.2/5 for atmosphere (becasue of the river view)

GPS:5.340084, 100.408500

After feasting at Restoran Nelayan Kuala Juru, we headed back out on the Jalan Kuala Juru to Warung Pak Su which is more conveniently located. This place is said to be the more famous Mee Udang restaurant around the Juru area. They were even featured in a newspaper.

When we began to enquire about the Mee Udang here, we were told that they have 2 version, one with gravy the other without gravy and prepared like mee goreng. The Mee Udang Goreng or Fried Prawn Noodles(RM10.00) has a sugary sweeter taste  and the prawns were fresh and crunchy. But my preference on taste is still with Restoran Nelayan Kuala Juru for the prawny  flavor and taste. We had an idea to have the best of both worlds, get the prawns from Pak Su, which are of the Udang Kertas(thined white shelled) species, and buy the noodles and gravy from Restoran Nelayan Kuala Juru, and mix them togather to get a plate of sweet and tasty prawn flavored noodles with fresh and jucy prawns! Anyone who tries that, do let us know the verdict.

4.0/5 for taste & texture

The gravied version of Mee Udang(RM6.00) at Warung Pak Su was blend in flavor without much taste of prawns in it, but the prawns was very fresh though.

3.6/5 for taste & texture

At Pak Su’s, we also got the opportunity to try out the Malay grilled Siakap fish a.k.a. Perch (RM 30.00) on banana leaves and chicken satay as when we reached there they preparing for the dinner crowd to come. Criz decided to order the grilled fish because the fish looked very fresh. We were glad that we ordered the fish as it was really fresh, and is was nicely grilled to perfection with all the juicies and sweetness still intact, and slightly permiating a smokey aroma. Unlike the grill fish we had at Teluk Tempoyak on the southern tip of the Penang Island, were the fish is normally over grilled and the banana leafs sticking to the meat. At Pak Su’s, we did not have to work through the burnt banana leaf to get to the fish meat and did not have to endure the burnt aroma and taste.

The end product of Grill Perch.

The siakap marinated with chili and spices and wrapped with banana leaves and grilled on top of the charcoal. The dish accomplish with a plate of sauce, and it usually contain chili padi, onions into soury sauce. infact we do really enjoy the chili spices with the fresh fish, and the sauce would abit too much to match with the taste.

4.4/5 for taste & texture

We also got to savor the chicken satay(RM0.60 per stick) as when we arrived at Pak Su’s the satay man just delivered his satay stock to the place. The chicken satay are similar to the chicken skewers or kebabs. The chicken meat was juicy and tender, but slightly a bit to sweet for me. Normally, Malays prepare the satay without the skin intact, but this one kept the skin which gave the meat skewres the moister and fats it needed. The accompanying dipping gravy was also a bit sweet for my liking, but overall the satay was nice if you ignore the sweetness.

4.2/5 for taste & texture

This are the cockles waiting to be ordered and grilled. We did not order the cockles because it did not looke fresh to us.

On average, I would give Warung Pak Su:

* 4.0/5 for value (Due to the freshness and quantity of prawns)
* 3.5/5 for taste & texture (It would have been 3, but points were added because of the grilled fish and satay)
* 3.8/5 for service (Because the staff were able to reccomend what was available and fresh)
* 4.0/5 for cleanliness (Excep the toilet)
* 3.0/5 for atmosphere (Kampung style)

GPS: 5.326817, 100.414767
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Popularity: 17% [?]

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