Gourmet Garden

Shangri-La’s  Golden Sands Resort has just launched their Sigi’s Bar & Grill Beach Bar, an addition to their alfresco no-frills, real food restaurant by the beach. The have got the soft sand at their feet, whacky bean bags, relaxing reclining chairs, soothing sound of waves washing ashore sand, the cool sea breeze, the warmth of a setting sun and a variety of beers, Mojitos, wines, cocktails and soft drinks, but the picture is not perfect without you.The beach front bar that is capable to cater to 60 pax opens from 5:00pm to 12:00am daily with a mixologist a.k.a bartender mending the well equip 10 sitter bar sheltered in  a star-shaped canopy that allows you to enjoy the fresh and cooling sea breeze while taking in the magnificent sun setting at the horizon.  As the moon rises so does the “temperature” at the beach bar where a live band is ever ready to entertain you with their rendering of good old classics to the most recent chart toppers. During the launch event, attended by the likes of media journalist, food columnist, VIP guests and corporate partners, we were entertained by a bartender flipping bottles like the scene in Cocktail with Tom Cruise. Then there were the flame eaters that don’t only swallow the lit torches but also spit fire to heat up the excitement. As part of the launching program, the adventurous were given the opportunity to try their hand in mixing up their own cocktails to experience the flair of being a “bartender”.  One of their longest staying guests from Germany who have logged around 5,000 room stays was seen enjoying the action at the bar with the other invited guests. As the night got older and with all the Mojitos, beers, wines setting in, we had to bit farewell Golden Sands Resort’s and SBG’s team for the whirling good time, tasty Spanish styled Tapas and great drinks with a heavy heart.

If you are ever in Batu Feringgi in the evening, why not give them a try and see what they can serve up to you for your before dinner drinks to help you get the mood going before a proceeding to savour the tantalizing dishes churned out by their new in-house chef, Fredrick. Attending the event with us were Jazz & Trista, Jennifer and Joling. You may want to visit their blogs to see better looking photos and also read about their time there.

Sigi’s Bar and Grill On the Beach
Shangri-La’s Golden Sands Resort
Batu Feringgi Beach 11100 Penang Malaysia

Tel : 04 886 1852
Business Hours : 11am-6pm, 6.30pm-10.30pm (Beach Bar: 5pm-12midnight)

Popularity: 3% [?]

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Hainanese cuisine plays a big role in Penang’s food culture and heritage. Although some of the dishes are influence by the Hokkiens and Peranakans, it is distinctively different. The influences are all due to the demographic changes and history. Many centuries back, a Fujian a.k.a Hokkien minister was sent to the Hainan Island to assume the responsibility of the local government, and thus the beginning of the exodus of Hokkiens to the island that was and is still inhibited by the local tribes.And thus, this gave birth to the Hainanese dialect and its cuisine.

Then at the start of the previous century (19th), many Chinese migrants came to the Malay Archipelago to escape the deteriorating living conditions and the Japanese invasion. And with them they brought their heritage and culture which was later merge with Peranakan and Western cooking practices to give birth to the Nanyang Hainanese dishes that are now part and parcel of the Nanyang Flavours.

The border line similarities of dining heritage in Penang are very thin and some times confusion occurs. Many people confuses Popiah (薄饼) which is a Fujian delicacy with the Nanyang Hainanese Choon Pheah (春饼) that is one of the popular dishes that is a must when dining in any established Hainanese eateries or restaurants. The difference is not merely in its outlook, but the taste package and texture and the dipping sauce that comes with it. We are lucky through our research journey to have found people who are equally passionate of the food heritage  that are willing to share the treasure that they have amass from their forefathers. Lim Jit Chuan (林日川), who is the head of the family, is an experience chef/cook in the infamous Beach Corner that used to operate in a MPPP food court lot behind Park Royal Hotel, and now on a piece of land just next to Tarbush in Batu Ferringghi. His son, Wilson Lim 林方义 who runs a Choon Pheah stall in Long Beach food court off Jalan Batu Ferringghi had graciously open up their kitchen to share with us the making of their Hainanese Choon Pheah which are well accepted by locals and tourist alike.

The making of a traditional Choon Pheah  starts with its basic handmade batter, not dough as like Popiah, made from eggs, cooking oil, tapioca and glutinous rice flour and plain old H2O (water). The concoction is hand mixed to introduce air and also to bring out the starchy texture of the Choon Pheah skin.After the batter reaches the right consistency or viscosity, it is then moved to the cooking station where it is individually pan-fried with a thin coat of oil until the shape is formed or firms up. The batter when it is ready to leave the pan, it resembles a piece of crepe but with a more elastic texture. After it is deep fried, it has a crisp then springy mouth feel that is followed with a lightly sweet taste. The Popiah wrapper or skin is only crunchy to feel after being deep fried.  Apart from the distinctive difference in taste and texture of the wrapper, the fillings of both Choon Pheah and Popiah also have their own flavour profiles. The main difference lies in the ingredients, seasoning and cooking method. The Choon Pheah filling has in it prawns, meat (can be chicken or pork, mince or chunks), crab meat, julienne cabbage, shredded jicama and carrots, wedged red onions, and seasoned with salt, sugar, pepper and most importantly 5 spice powder to make it authentically Hainanese. The Poppiah fillers are usually julienne jicama or yam bean (sengkuang), chopped green beans, diced bean curd (taukuah), and sometimes with crab meat without the 5 spice powder.After all the ingredients for the Choon Pheah is all julienned and chopped up, they are stir fired and braised until they are tender yet maintains the crisp texture with a sweet savoury taste. The batches of fillings are then left to cool down before being assembled into a Hainanese Choon Pheah.When the stir-fried vegetables and meats have cooled down, poached crab meat is added before the Choon Pheah is finally assembled by the gentle yet efficiently fast paced hands. For each individual Choon Pheah to be cooked evenly, all the assembled pieces have to have the similar size and weight. This will fasten the frying process with fewer complications.Each order of Choon Pheah are normally fried a-la-minute and served fresh from the fryer with a dipping sauce nicknamed “ang moh tau yew” which is roughly translated to “English Soy Sauce”. The dipping sauce is actually a concoction of chopped red onions, julienne red chilli, Worcestershire sauce and sometimes HP Sauce or some plum sauce. It shouldn’t be your common chilli sauce in a bottle with strong spicy and sweet tastes that will overwhelm the natural sweetness of the Choon Pheah. At the end of the day, the Choon Pheah should have a crisp texture on the surface with a soft springy layer of skin before the sweet and savoury tender vegetable and meaty fillings. And the dipping sauce should complement the sweet Choon Pheah with a slightly spiced and tangy taste that enhances the experience rather than colliding with each other.

The followings are some of the places that we know of where you can find Hainanese Choon Pheah  on offer with their own interpretations:

1. Long Beach Food Court @ Batu Ferringghi.
2. Beach Corner Restaurant @ Batu Ferringghi.
3. Hollywood Restaurant @ Tanjung Bungah.
4. Lengkok Burma Hawker Area (Formerly at Senior Citizen Association)
5. Hai Onn @ Burmah Road.
6. Hainanese Delights @ 1926 Hotel on Burma Road.

Try them and let us know do you think of them here. How authentic are they?

Popularity: 5% [?]

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The Hard Rock franchise being an American brand, will be introducing an American themed buffet coming April 6th, 2012. Recently, we were invited together with other journalists from mainstream print media and magazines to a simple media preview before the actual launch of the buffet. The “Great American Buffet” will run from April the 6th onwards, on Fridays and Saturdays at their in-house Starz Diner for dinner only. The buffet is priced at RM108++ for an adult and RM54++ per child of below 12 years old.Hosted by their Sales & Marketing Director, Ms. Betty Lim and their Marketing Communications Manager, Ms. Elisa Saw, the media entourage was given an introduction to the concept and items that will be featured in their themed buffet line. Each individual item that will be showcased in their Great American Buffet has been carefully picked by their Executive Sous Chef, Mr. Beh Aik Aun and prepared by their dedicated team of chefs. The items that have been selected are significant and are popular dishes widely enjoyed by the people of United States of America.The buffet spread with over 70 dishes includes appetizers, salads, hot and cold entrees, chilled seafood on ice and a line up of desserts that will tantalize every foodie’s taste buds. The appetizers rage from their signature “Prawn Salad with Tomato & Basil” to their signature “Buffalo Chicken Wing with BBQ Sauce” to the much accepted Tex-Mex style Guacamole and Nachos to soups and chowders.

Buffalo Chicken Wing with BBQ Sauce

Seafood Chowder

Main courses they will be serving in their Great American Buffet line will include their version of spicy “Grilled Cajun Prawns with Mint and Mango Salsa”, moist firm “Lamb Burger with Caramelized Onion”, beefy “Grilled Rump Steak with Onion Jus”, rich “Macaroni and Cheese”, savoury “Seafood Jambalaya”, tangy “Blackened Fish with Citrus Butter Sauce” and lots more. They will even have a carving station that will also serve the like of tender and juicy off-the-bone “Smoked Beef Ribs” and succulent “Roasted Lamb Leg” for a start.

Lamb Burger

Macaroni and Cheese

Blackened Fish with Citrus Butter Sauce

Smoked Beef Ribs

And to complete the meal, there will also be a selection of desserts to cleanse the palate with. These include creamy rich “New York Cheesecake”, sweet and textured “Pumpkin Pie”, crunchy nutty “Pecan Pie”, zesty “Lemon Meringue Tart” and more.

From left: Pecan Pie, New York Cheesecake, Pumpkin Pie then Chocolate Mouse Cake.

As Hard Rock Hotel Penang’s GM, John Primmer put it, now with the Great American Buffet one would be able to savour the popular dishes from different American states and enjoy the fun and entertainment that is synonymous with the American brands’ “trained” servers while dining. All these are possible at a reasonable price of RM108++ for an adult and RM54++ per child of below 12 years old, minus the long-haul flight ticket to USA.

For reservations please contact the follow:

Hard Rock Hotel Penang
Batu Ferringhi Beach, 11100 Penang, Malaysia
Email: fb.penang@hardrockhotels.net
Main Line: +604 8811 711

The followings are the photos of the actual buffet line and atmosphere during the official launch of the buffet on the 6th of April 2012:

Popularity: 4% [?]

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Housed in one of the pioneering hotels in Batu Ferringghi, the Feringgi Grill is situated on the Mezzanine floor of Rasa Wing at Rasa Sayang Resort & Spa Penang. With its full glass windows and well thought of layout, the dining area gives a breathtaking view of the grounds and garden of the resort, CHI spa and the ocean. The openness and close proximity to nature brings a sense of relaxation while savouring the wonders that can be flipped out from their semi-open kitchen equipped with their latest edition in a long line of chefs that has been charged with serving exquisite traditional favourites and creating signature dishes for their loyal clientele, Chef David Pooley.

Chef David Pooley, an Australian with over 10 years of culinary experience predominantly in Melbourne and Sydney has been appointed chef de cuisine at Feringgi Grill. Prior to joining the Shangri-La family, he was sous chef at Quay that specializes in modern Australian cuisine and mentored by celebrity chef Peter Gilmore, and Claude’s a 33 year old French fine-dining restaurant now owned by Chef Chui Lee Luk.

Brik Pastry Canneloni, savoury goats curd stuffed into a crisp pastry canneloni and served with a sweet cherry tomato on a bed of chopped olives dressed in a light acidic vinegarette and garnished with aromatic Dutch basil. The taste profile was a balance with rich creaminess, sweetness, savouriness and acidity that got our palates excited.

Torched Tuna,  skilfully prepared tuna fillet , lightly seared by torched that is served with crisp feta puffs, hard boiled quails egg with a rich runny yoke and frozen cucumber droplets on a bed of avocado puree and sprinkles of red powder.  The tuna had firm and fine texture with hints of natural sweetness that when combined with the avocado puree, feta puffs and red powder produced a lightly sweet, creamy and savoury taste experience. The frozen cucumber gave the dish a refreshing sensation. And with the egg and runny yoke, a smooth yet textured sensation.

Five Spice Quail, a dish that combines Asian ingredients with Continental cooking methods to produce this fusion of flavours. Lightly seasoned with five spice and salt and cooked till perfection, the quail was plated with mushrooms and fungi pan fried with garlic, chives, soy mirin, coriander and succulent baby cuttlefish. The quail was tender and flavourful, and the mushrooms and fungi were earthy and full of their individualistic taste and juices. A well executed dish that we will be back for more, simple ingredients and sophisticated techniques combined.

Bouillabaisse, a traditional Provencal fish stew originating from the port city of Marseille. Here at Feringgi Grill, lightly seared sweet juicy tender whole scallop and snapper fillet and a crunchy firm poached yabbie immerse in a thick and flavourful seafood and ginger bisque. The bisque was smooth, creamy and highly-seasoned and filled with flavours from the strained broth crustaceans. The taste is similar to our local Hokkien Prawn soup.

Sorbet Sesame Cones were served to cleanse our palates before the arrival of our main course. Made from lime, pineapple and coconut, the cold sweet and sour sensation refreshed our taste buds while our anticipating our lamb dish.

Lamb Loin, the still pinkish loin meat was firm to touch but yet succulent and juicy was paired with mellow tasting smooth eggplant puree, sweet nutty pine nuts, pearl barley and chopped spring onions and the salty fermented miso paste that was lightly torched.  And to finish off the garnishing was the red-coloured mint leaves and spring onion buds. Taste wise, there was savory, nutty and earthy in play. As for the texture, there were combinations soft, firm and crunchy, but our favourite was still the lamb lions’ firm yet tender mouth feel.

All good things have to come to an end, but the ending also saw an orchestra of taste and texture at work in their served desserts. Rose & Strawberry Granita, strawberry flavoured ice shavings laced with rose water set in a glass with cubes of cocoa jelly, a scoop of vanilla gelato and garnished with gold leaf and violets. It was slightly acidic with creaminess from the gelato and texture from the ice and gold leaf; light, refreshing  and not over sweet for our palates. The violet gave some sweet perfume smell.

Chocolate Panna cotta, frozen white chocolate encasing a sorbet of earl grey and served together with rosemary popcorns, banana marshmallow and cocoa jelly. It is a bit exotic in terms taste with sweet, savoury and earthy flavours in one dessert presentation.

Last and not least was the Macaroons & Prailines. The chocolate was dark with a bitter after taste which I like.

Feringgi Grill
Shangri-La’s Rasa Sayang Resort and Spa
Address: Batu Feringgi Beach, 11100 Penang

Tel: 04 8888888
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Popularity: 7% [?]

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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.

Popularity: 10% [?]

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It is a month full of celebrations! After Chinese New Year, it is time again to spend attention to your love ones. “Love ones” doesn’t just have to be your girlfriend or wife, it includes people that you love and care about like best friends, work buddies, etc… Here are the promotions for Valentines from Golden Sands Resort and Hard rock Hotel.

GOLDEN SANDS RESORT
Batu Feringghi Beach
11100 Penang
Malaysia
Phone: 604-886 1911

HARD ROCK HOTEL PENANG
Batu Ferringhi Beach
11100 Penang
Malaysia
Tel:  +60 4 8811711
Fax: +60 4 8812155

Popularity: 3% [?]

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Popularity: 3% [?]

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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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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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A week before father’s day, my family celebrates father’s day, my father’s birthday & my younger sister birthday together in one day! Yea, 3 in 1….so that we can spent a

Part of the dining area – outdoor

a new Mosque was builded in the beginning of this year, just next to them

Romantic Setting in different section

Few floggers recommends this Tomato Loaf in their blog, so i give this a try.

The environment is a bit dark at where we seated, so the food photo shooting wasn’t that good….sorry

a very special table lantern

Table for 2

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Popularity: 20% [?]

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