CRIZ BON APPETITE

Ever since my crazy adventurous island trip to Pulau Aman just to try out the famous Mee Udang (prawn noodles), who would have expected that I would go for another two food hunting trips along the river of Sungai Juru on the Penang Mainland district of Juru, i.e. Restoran Kampung Nelayan Kuala Juru and Warung Pak Su. From the island hopping adventure (Pulau Pinang aka Penang to Pulau Aman) and the panoramic river dining, this time I had driven up a hill by the name of Bukit Genting (Genting Hill) on Penang island itself for some dining experience.

Well, I almost did not make it for I was spooked on the way up the sloppy hill. Although it was just 10.30am, I felt a presence watching over my movements. Sure enough there was a moving shadow in sight amongst the trees and it made my hair stood up in fright. Can you guess what made that shadows? It was this playful villain!!

I would not have expected such a handsome peacock roaming so freely amongst the area but that was not the only reason I almost did not make it to the top. Well, I almost rammed into another one in the middle of the sloppy track and it almost killed my constantly braked stationed car with overheated engine.

Guys! Since when will they stop wooing a lady? LOL! Anyway, the peahen was a beauty too. I saw a few scammed for hiding as my car passed by. In fact, I saw around 8 peacocks and peahens roaming freely as if someone have been breeding them there.

Before I knew it, I saw some smokes emitted at the front portion of my car and had to rush all the way up without making any more stops on the tracks. Luckily, the destination was not that far away and the wound was not that serious. My advice, it’s better to get a 4-wheel drive up there. The view there was great. I could see the township of Teluk Kumbar on one side of the hill. It was a surprise how much the place had developed now with sight of some beautiful buildings by the beach front.

On the other side of the hill where the restaurant was situated had another great view. It was the township of Balik Pulau, a haven for durian lovers. You could even see clearly Pulau Betong, the turtle shaped island on the southern west part of Penang.

I had inspected every loops and corners of the leisure park and found them to be real cool during the day. I could not imagine how beautiful it’s going to be when all the lights were switched on during the late evening.

You can also have the option to dine in some of the chalet like dining areas by reservation or during bad weather. I guessed there might be a small price to pay for some privacy.

Now, let’s look at what the place has to offer for their Thai cuisine. There were just the three of us (myself, a guy and a gal friend who happened to share the same birth date. :P) and ordering a few dishes was not that difficult.

The first order had already given me doubt on the quality of the food we will be getting next. The Luo Han Guo (Siraitia grosvenorii – RM1.20) and Iced Chinese Tea (RM0.70) were so diluted as in taste and color that they were like drinking flavored water. I regretted not ordering canned drinks at RM2.20 per can.

We started the meal with EVERYTHING arriving at the same time. 8 dishes at one go? That was such an express service and I guessed I knew the reason later on. The Pandan Chicken (spiced chicken meat wrapped in screwpine leaves – RM1.30 each) looked impressive but the filling was dry. It tasted just like those frozen ones.

The Spring Rolls (RM1.60 each) tasted normal with not much of filling. Another pre-packed frozen product? It obviously was as there would always be that defrosted dryness especially on certain types of vegetables no matter how well a restaurant would freeze them.

The Pucha (Stuffed Crab Shell – RM3.50 each) somehow had the crab meat lost somewhere. I wondered if it had gone into another dish. The minced chicken meat plus a few chopped vegetables was still fine except that they were over fried as well. I has suspected that the above 3 items were all fried in the same wok, thus the lost of juices in the food.

The next dish which was Fried Kailan with Salted Fish in Oyster Sauce (Chinese Broccoli – RM8) was the worst dish I had ordered. The greenery and crunchiness of the vegetable was gone. It was as though the chef broiled the vegetables for hours in bland tasting oyster sauce gravy. Moreover, the Kailan was old and there wasn’t much presence of any salted fish. They should have used baby kalian instead.

It’s a blessing that the Pineapple Fried Rice (RM6) was still acceptable. At least the pineapple cubes were fresh and the taste was right to our taste buds.

The Gai Pud Pet (Red Curry Chicken – RM12) was the best amongst our orders. The meat was tender and at least the gravy has the taste of a true Thai cuisine but it was rather pricey for just a small quantity of sliced chicken meat curry.

Next was the Yam Woon Sen (spicy glass noodles salad/kerabu – RM8). This dish was filled with the spiciness from all the red and green chilles. It was rather spicy hot of some of us. Moreover, the dish had too much of lime juice in it. At least, this dish was edible compared to the “swollen” ones I had at Yellow Light Restaurant in Georgetown, Penang.

We had also tried out the White Tom Yam Seafood (RM16). The soup had some squids, prawns and perch fillet. The taste was normal. Somehow I felt that the chef has too much of a light touch in throwing in more herbs and spices. If not, this soup would be quite good.

The lunch ended up with some desserts and the list was very limited. We had only 3 options and of course we tried out everything. Tang Yuan in Ginger Soup (RM4) was the most expensive item on the menu. I had two colors (yellow and white) of black sesame filled tang yuan (glutinous rice balls) with some ginkgo nuts served in ginger soup. The ginger soup had the overpowering taste of old ginger and it was not well sweetened at all. In fact, it was bitter. The normal tasting tang yuan was of course frozen ones and the soup broth was misty. I would have thought that the chef would have known that tang yuan should be cooked separately and later added on to the soup base to preserve the clarity of the soup.

Tub Tim Krob (jellied waterchestnuts with jackfruit and coconut milk – RM2.50) was not as creamy and sweet as it should be. There was too much of shaved ice in the dessert that resulted in further dilution in taste. The jackfruit should also be cubed to have a smoother mouthful. This was served in a styrofoam bowl which eventually got my shirt dirtied due to the windy atmosphere. I wonder why they did not use a normal bowl as the rest of the dishes.

At least the Mixed Ice Cream (RM1.50) has the normal standard. There were a scoop each of chocolate and vanilla flavored ice cream, topped with some raspberry syrup and two halved cashew nuts.

Overall, the place would be suitable for those who enjoy the beauty of nature as well as to stay away from the hustle and bustle of city lives. This is a great place for testing out your photography skill.

For entertainment wise, it’s dead quiet except for the frequent crowd there towards the late evening to watch the panoramic view of the sunset at Pulau Betong. The surrounding small gardens would be quite boring after a short visit as it did not have playgrounds for families with children. I won’t blame them too as it would be quite risky to leave children unattended with cliffs on both sides.

As for the food (as in Thai food), it was just edible. There’s nothing to brag about. Now that made me wonder why this place did not get much publicity and tourism support although it has been in existence for more than 5 years.

There are actually two ways you can use in order to start your journey to Bukit Genting. One way would be using the Jelutong Expressway and drive straight up towards Batu Maung traffic lights and move straight on using Jalan Permatang Damar Laut to reach Jalan Bayan Lepas and turn left towards Teluk Kumbar/Balik Pulau. Another way would be using the old road (Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah/Jalan Bayan Lepas) until you reach the Penang International Airport. Use the flyover (instead of the left road leading to the airport) towards Teluk Kumbar/Balik Pulau.

It’s going to be just one straight road leading to Bukit Genting. All you need to do would be to watch out for my attched landmarks. Firstly, drive on until you have reached Emerald Park/Krystal Country Homes (MAP A) on your left. From here onwards, all the landmarks would be on your left. You would need to drive until you see the Hai Boey Seafood signboard (MAP B), Sekolah Kebangsaan Teluk Kumbar (MAP C), Restoran Ayam Misai (MAP D) and Pusat Pemeriksaan Kenderaan Berkomputer Teluk Kumbar (PUSPAKOM). The journey after this is going to be a short but winding road to reach your destination. You would see a signboard showing the way to Kem PLKN White Resort (National Service Camp Site – MAP E), constructions of new bridges (MAP F&G). Slow down after the bridge/road and keep a look out for the entrance to Bukit Genting Leisure Park and Restaurant (MAP H). In case you have a GPS installed in your car, here’s the reading for the entrance (GPS: 5.315771, 100.22590). Do watch out and if you see a big and white water tank (MAP I) on your right, it means that you have missed the entrance. The rest would be easy as there would be mini sign boards showing how many kilometers left on your way up to Bukit Genting. (You can click on the maps below for a clearer view.)

IMPORTANT NOTE: DO WATCH OUT FOR THE FREE ROAMING BIRDS!! MAKE SURE YOU ARE AN EXPERIENCE DRIVER AS COMING DOWN ANOTHER ZIG-ZAG CEMENTED SLOPPY TRACK CAN BE REAL SUSPENSE. MAKE SURE YOU CHECK THE FUNCTIONALITY OF YOUR BRAKES AND WATER IN YOUR CAR BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO GO UP THIS HILL.

Name: BUKIT GENTING LEISURE PARK & RESTAURANT
Address: Jalan Teluk Kumbar, Balik Pulau, 10300 Penang, Malaysia.
Opening Hours: 11.30am-10.30pm
Contact: 604-827 9801/5, 019-465 7100
GPS: 5.308917, 100.220533

RATING:
Ambience: 8.5/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 7/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 5.5/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 7.5/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 7/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

Wait! Before I confused more people, I was not in the city of Karaikudi in Sivaganga District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the capital of the Chettinad region but instead I’m in an Indian restaurant in Penang’s Little India by the name of Karaikudi right in the heart of Georgetown, Penang. Thanks to PenangTuaPui for inviting me to try out their food. The food in this restaurant is so much different compared to a few others that I had frequent quite regularly. Here, they concentrate more on the fresh ingredients and spices imported all the way from India. That’s the reason why the taste, the texture and the fragrance emitted for the dishes were so pleasant to my senses.

To get everyone’s appetite moving, we were first served with Mango Lassi (RM4.00) to hydrate and refresh the body after a tiring day. What could be greater than blending fresh mangoes and yogurt to rejuvenate the body? Not only does the beverage contain Vitamin A, B6&B12, C and many more nutrients, it has the necessary dietary fiber to aid our digestive systems. The Mango Lassi served here was one of the best I have tasted. It was thick, creamy and smooth flowing. How I wished they would blend in some ice cubes to make the beverage maintained its chillness.

Chettinad Style Vegetable Soup (RM3.00) was served to every individual next. The soup was mild in taste with cuts of fresh cauliflower, carrot, French bean and dhal with a light touch of spices. The soup was light and slightly salted to boost up the pungent taste. Non spicy at all and it would be suitable even for kids.

As appetizer, we were served with some thinly sliced and yet crunchy Bitter Gourd Chips (RM6.00). These were well marinated with chili powder, salt and chickpea flour (Besan) and deep fried to perfection. I love the version here as each piece was sliced so evenly thin and fried without any moisture left within. Moreover, having curry leaves and dried chillies fried together with the bitter gourd had added that special fragrance for the dish. Bitter gourd is also believed to improve the energy level, stamina, eyesight and also to lower sugar level in the blood and urine. This would be a great vegetable dish for diabetics.

The next dish which is quite common in an Indian restaurant would be the Squid Fry (RM8.00). Slices of squids would be dipped in spicy batter and then deep fried while maintaining the tenderness within while having a crunchy outer layer of batter. It’s better to consume this dish as soon as it had been laid on the table as time would eventually make the fried squids soggy due to the moisture inside.

Wow! The restaurant sure has a group of hearty people as the next dish which was the Chicken Cutlet (RM6.00) came in the shape of hearts. There were grounded chicken, potato cubes, onions, green chillies, turmeric and chopped coriander inside each cutlet. Seasoned with beaten eggs, these cutlets were coated with bread crumbs and deep fried to golden brown. It was an indeed a beautifully presented dish for all. Anyone want to celebrate Valentine’s here next year? It would surely get you heated up for many years to come. 😛

No meal in an Indian restaurant would be complete without trying out their Chicken Briyani (RM9.50). Basmati Rice was use in this dish combined with the necessary spices and it has that hidden tangy taste of tomatoes. A chicken drumstick was hidden right at the base of the fragrant rice with a hardboiled egg above. The rice would go well with the accompanied side dressing such as chutney and raita but I personally felt that the chicken should be above. Somehow, the meat had lost its value hidden under the rice although this would be how any Indian restaurant would serve their Nasi Briyani. Moreover, the meat was not as fragrantly cooked as it should be. Another thing that the restaurant might not be aware of was the presentation. The modern generation might not be so concern about it as it would just be another meal to them. To the older generation, especially the Chinese Taoist, the hidden chicken especially in such a small bowl with an egg on top would meant something taboo which would only be performed in certain rituals. My advice to the restaurant would be to turn it into a clay pot style or present it on a plate.

If you want something with rich gravy to go with your rice, you should order their Kadai Vegetables (RM9.00). There were assorted vegetables such as green peas, tomatoes, carrots and many more, slowly simmered with freshly grinded spices and water until the gravy became thick. This dish was really good as I can taste the freshness of the ingredients very well such as a touch of garam masala, turmeric, coriander, cumin, etc. The only difference in terms of style of cooking was the added bean curd cubes. Moreover, the freshly sliced coriander and onions garnishing gave that extra fragrance to the dish.

The Chicken Kothu Paratha (RM9.00) was something unique. Roti Paratha would be what the Malaysian would address as Roti Canai. It’s made of whole-wheat flour, pan fried in cooking oil or sometimes in ghee for the extra crispiness. The Roti Paratha would be cut into strips (somewhat the thickness of koay teow). On the other hand, the chicken meat would be cooked in curry and then hand shredded into smaller pieces. These would then be stir fried with boiled lentil (urad normally would be used in the cooking of dhal), eggs, tomatoes, onions, spices and curry leaves. This is a great dish and was not that oily too.

When I saw the Ladies Finger Pepper Fry (RM7.00) on our little “test paper”, I thought it would be those slimy wet version of ladies fingers as the Chinese would cook. To my surprise, the dish came with deep fried thinly slices ladies fingers fried with chopped onion, grinded black pepper with some salt. It was so simply and yet it was so delicious with that peppery taste. In fact, we had ordered for a second helping.

The Mutton Chukka Varuval (RM18.00) caught most of us by surprise with its powerful spiciness. Simple as it may look, the added curry leaves and chillies sent many seeking for more drinks. I suspected that the garam masala that they had used contained more grounded peppercorns than usual. I had no problem with that as spicy food regardless of Indian, Malay, Chinese or Thai has been quite a norm in my daily meals. Surprisingly, I found this dish to be extremely delicious. The meat just melted in my mouth as it was tender, juicy minus the strong mutton taste.

The Kashmiri Naan (RM6.00) served here is simple but yet delicious. Normally it would be filled with more nuts and dried fruits such as raisins, pistachios, almonds, cashew nuts, shredded coconuts and many more. Instead of making the naan so complicated in ingredients, the restaurant made it simple by only filling it with desiccated multi colored coconuts some powdered cashew nuts and garnish with some chopped cherries. It was slightly sweetened but it was good as each bite was smooth to the mouth.

The next dish which was the Chettinad Potato Masala (RM6.00) has been my favorite no matter which Indian restaurant I had patronized. The only difference was that the ones served here was richer in taste. It was a perfect dish with potato cubes being sauteed fragrantly with the presence of cinnamon, star anise, cardamom, poppy seed, dried chillies, curry leaves, tomato and garnished with some coriander. The chef sure knew the secret to a good Chettinad masala.

The Egg Podimas (RM4.00) was actually the Indian version of scrambled eggs. I cook this dish quite often at home but not as spicy as what the restaurant served. It’s basically beaten eggs fried with onions, chili powder (prapika), turmeric powder, coriander leaves, green chillies, mustard seed, curry leaves, salt and pepper. I normally add in slices of fresh tomatoes to cut down on the spiciness.

Chettinad Special Dosai (RM4.00) was indeed the colorful version of a plain Dosai. It had a generous spread of chopped beet roots, onions, carrots, cabbage, coriander leaves. This crispy thin Indian pancake tasted well with the accompanied chutney and tomato puree.

There was a surprise in store for us towards the end of the meal and it was the special creation of the owner’s wife. Sizzling Brownie (RM10) as the name stated came sizzling with a freshly baked chocolate brownie on a hot plate of melted butter, topped with a scoop of Vanilla ice cream, chocolate fudge and some cashew nuts. This was somewhat like the apple crumble I had at Swensen’s but the ice cream here melted just too fast over here. Although the dessert tasted great with the slightly burn taste of the brownie and cashew nuts combined with the saltiness from the boiling butter, I would advise the restaurant to reconsider the brand of the ice cream. This brand does not really suit the sizzling plate concept. It’s either the suggestion mention or to provide a thicker cake base to distance the sizzling heat from the ice cream. Moreover, the presentation was not as impressive as it should be as you can see on the photo below. It would be better if the sauce would be poured right in front of the customer for that wonderful experience, with the advance provision of a napkin of course.

After a hefty meal, what would be best than to have a hot cup of frothy “teh tarik” styled in-house specially filtered brew, namely the Chettinad Filter Coffee (RM2.80) just like what everyone in Tamil Nadu would do. The distinct taste of the grounded roasted coffee beans, set in boiling water, filtered, then slightly sugared and with added fresh cow milk was indeed bonus for all.

Alternatively, if you would love to have tea instead, you could always try out their spicy Masala Tea (RM3.00) or sometimes known as Masala Chai which has a strong taste of cloves, star anise, ginger, cinnamon and cardamom. There are many variants to the Masala Tea as sometimes ingredients such as grounded peppercorn, mint leaves, nutmeg or licorice roots would be added too. Some might not like their tea to be so spicy but it was surely an aromatic experience for all of us.

Overall, the quality of food and service here is good. I shall be dropping by to try out their other dishes soon namely their idly, vadai, paratha, poori, naan with chicken tikka as they are my favorites at anytime of the day. 😛

If you are coming from Lebuh Light (Esplanade/Fort Cornwallis), you would reach a roundabout near Queen Victoria Memorial Clock Tower with one of Penang’s beautiful stainless steel structure known as “Pinang Dibelah Dua”. Turn 3 o’clock into Lebuh Pantai where all the main banks are. Drive on and keep a lookout for the 5th junction on your right (1st-Lebuh Union, 2nd-Lebuh Bishop, 3rd-Lebuh Gereja, 4th-Lebuh Cina and 5th-Lebuh Pasar). Turn right into Lebuh Pasar (Market Street) and you will see the restaurant on your right. Parking space could be quite limited here during certain peak period and office hours. Try to find some along Lebuh Penang, Lebuh King or Lebuh Queen. If you are having trouble finding parking space, I would advice you to park your car at Sri Weld Car Park (next to Sri Weld Food Court) located along Jalan Pantai directly opposite Lebuh Bishop and walk up to the restaurant.

Name: KARAIKUDI RESTAURANT
Address: 20 Lebuh Pasar (Market Street), 10200 Penang, Malaysia.
Contact: 604-263 1345, 604-263 1359
Business Hours:
11.00am-11.00pm (Closed on Deepavali)
11.00am – 4.00pm (Lunch), 4.00pm – 7.00pm (Snacks), 7.00pm – 11.00pm (Dinner)
GPS: 5.416567, 100.340400

RATING:
Ambience: 8/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 9/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 8/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 7.5/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 9/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

Plentiful of nice Penang Accommodation are also available if you plan to visit Penang for all the wonderful and multinational cuisine.

As people are getting more educated on healthy living, more and more health food outlets such as organic food stores, restaurants and bakeries have boomed all over town. Of the many, the most notable one would be the Rainforest Bakery & Pastry with their internationally patronized shop located along Jalan Chulia in Georgetown, Penang. You would just need to walk into the bakery and you can feel the coziness and atmosphere of a traditional cottage-like bread house. The whole place has the nice aroma of freshly baked breads and the arrangement of the bread loaves, rolls and cakes of many shapes and size were indeed the work of an artisan bread maker. The best news is that all the breads here are freshly handmade daily from quality and healthy ingredients. They suggest that unclutterer has the best bread makers to help you enjoy your own bread right at home. That’s the reason the breads here are heavier and have different tastes, textures and shapes.

Managed by a pair of identical twins Jerry and Jesse Tan, this bakery is indeed a heaven for those healthy and organic bread lovers. With Jesse who had gone for a bread hunting trail throughout Europe, France, Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic and absorbing hands on experience in each of the country, this little cottage like bakery do indeed produced one of the finest breads in the country. With Germany having the most types of bread (more than 300 types to be precise) and the world’s number one bread consumers, how would they not be the best in this region?

You would surely be spoiled by the wide array of choices these two bakers can produce. To name some here, they are Poppy or Sesame Bagel (RM1.50), Chelsea Bun aka Cinnamon Roll (RM1.70), English Scone (RM5/pack of 5pcs), Foccacia (RM3.70), English Muffin (RM4.50/pack of 4pcs), French Baguette (RM3.90), Grainy Baguette (RM4.80), Ciabatta (RM6.30), English Bloomer (RM4.20), Poppy Seed Bloomer (RM5.20), Rustic Onions (RM6.30/RM3.50), Volkron Brot (RM8.80 – also known as Pumpernickel Bread) and many more.

On top of that, they do have some quality cakes, cookies and muffins to make you drool for more. Their Chewy Nut Trail Cookie (RM3.80) is indeed my favorite as each cookie was filled with a generous amount of nuts and raisins. Moreover, it was mildly sweetened with natural honey. It’s great for those who are not so much of a sweet tooth. Even their Plum Muffin (RM2.70), Raisin Muffin (RM2.10) and Tropical Banana Cake (RM3/slice) were all made from fresh fruits. You should check out on their homemade Kaya (RM3 – Coconut Jam), Garlic Butter (RM7) and their 100% natural Fruit Smoothie (RM8 – Raspberry, Blueberry, Strawberry, Lychee and Mango).

The list would go on and on as these two brothers would always try to experiment other different types of bread to cater to their needs of some expatriates and their guests from all over the world. You can have a look at the part menu list of what you could expect from the bakery. Please remember that it’s best to drop by their bakery to have a look at their complete products. Please click below to enlarge the flyer.

Another reason why I like to visit such healthy bakery is to source for some healthy bread for my family. When you have a household of diabetics, you might be wondering what would be the best bread for consumption. For sure any types made from solely white flour would be the ones to avoid. The ideal type would be Ezekiel Bread which is organic, flourless and rich in protein, vitamins, minerals and natural fiber with no added fat, as inspired by the Holy Scripture verse Ezekiel 4:9., “Take also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and spelt, and put them in one vessel, and make bread of it…” . It’s quite hard to find such bread mass produced locally. Maybe I should produce my own from the recipe I have… if only I have the time. LOL! The next best alternatives as suggested by Jerry were their Sourdough Bread and French Farmhouse Bread.

Sourdough Bread (RM7/loaf) has a distinctively tangy or sour taste and that’s how it got its name. It took Jerry four days of leavening process just to produce a few loaves of the Sourdough Bread for the day as this type of bread does not go through the normal process of using cultured yeasts but with the reserved dough as starter. Consuming Sourdough Bread especially during the most important meal of the day, breakfast, would eventually lower the blood sugar level of a consumer. I would think that the fermentation process would have changed the nature of the starches in the bread making and it would be an ideal choice for diabetics.

Although Sourdough Bread would be good, not everyone could get accustomed to its slightly sour taste. Alternatively, French Farmhouse Bread (RM6.30/loaf) will be the next choice. The bread consists of different ingredients and it’s also fat and sugar free as the Sourdough Bread. It’s a traditional hand kneaded recipe where white flour, yeast, linseed (flax), sunflower seeds and millets would be used. That’s the reason you would hardly see the bread being of a standard size. Linseed or common flax seed has been widely used as a precautious measure for certain major diseases as well as stabilizing the blood-sugar levels of a diabetic. Moreover, the seeds have high fiber content.

Do you want to know what are the cereals and grains that you have in or on your bread? Here are the items that they have been using.

The best way to reach the shop would be by using Jalan Penang and turn left into Lebuh Chulia. Drive straight ahead and you would pass by Jalan Masjid (Sun Hotel) on your left and then Lorong Love (7-11). Slow down after Lorong Love and you would see the bakery just a few shop houses away on you left with a black signboard. It’s also located just opposite the famous night Curry Mee stall along Lebuh Chulia.

Name: RAINFOREST BAKERY & PASTRY
Address: 300 Lebuh Chulia, 10200 Penang, Malaysia.
Contact: 604-261 4641, 012-405 6276 (Mr. Jesse Tan)
Opening Hours: 10.00am-10.00pm (Closed Sunday)
GPS: 5.418328, 100.336631

RATING:
Ambience: 8/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 9/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 8/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 7.5/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 8/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

 

Note: This restaurant has ceased its operations at Penang Times Square and has moved to Gurney Plaza, Penang, under the name of Xiao Nan Guo Cuisine.

UPDATED 26 MARCH 2009: Effective today until a time the management had decided to cease this special promotion, the EAT-ALL-YOU-CAN Daily Buffet would be from 10.30am until 11.00pm. Each person would be entitled to order as many items as he/she could eat within the stipulated 2 hours time frame at RM49.90+ per person. No matter what time of the day you had decided to walk in to have your buffet, count down will start the minute you start ordering your food. Please take note that for every 100gms of food wastage, an additional RM10 would be charge.

Prior to the grand opening of another of Penang’s glamorous landmark, Penang Times Square supposedly scheduled to be in June/July 2009, a few restaurants had already popped up recently within the premises, namely Haven Delights, Express Café and Tsuruya Sushi Bar. One of the notable ones would be Haven Delights, a restaurant that served many varieties of cuisine from Shanghai, Japan, Hong Kong and Korea. Strategically located at level one of the mall facing the main road of Jalan Dato Kramat with panoramic view of Komtar, Sunway Hotel, Red Rock Hotel and Grand Continental Hotel, this restaurant has set another great standard within the Georgetown area for serving delicious food.

Haven Delights has an extensive range of dishes to tempt your every desire. In fact, the restaurant has over 240 dishes, desserts and beverages for you to choose from. I had also faced a hard time trying to figure out what I should have, especially not all the items have photos shown or they were in some foreign language that I could not understand. The best would be to get those experienced staff to recommend to you what’s the best in the restaurant.

Well, the waiters and waitresses sure knew their jobs well with what was recommended for my dining experience. The first dish which was Red Dragon Prawns with Jammy Sauce (RM20) had already caught me off guarded. The whole presentation was so colorful with balls of dragon fruits, capsicums, carrots, yellow pickled ginger and 4 batter fried king prawns stir fried to perfection with a hint of apple cider, lemon and mustard in the sauce. This is a must to order.

Chicken Ban Ban (RM10) was next. The presentation was awesome. Big chunks of batter fried chicken meat were topped with crispy fried egg white and seaweed strips. The dish has 3 different types of garnishing sauces such as mayonnaise, wasabi and a spicy sweet sauce. Again this would be another dish not to be missed.

Suddenly, I sensed a unique seafood aroma moving closer to my table and there was my Soft Shell Crab (RM12). Two whole soft shell crabs were deep fried to crunchiness with a generous amount of salad in the middle of the plate. The salad sauce was quite spicy but sweet. It blended in real well with those crunchy soft shell crabs. I would surely order this dish again during my next visit.

I had also ordered another a small side dish to try out. The Salted Pepper Mantis Prawns (RM15) was indeed salty as the name but still great for my consumption. It has some crispy fried mantis prawns (tasted more like shrimp paste aka belacan frying flour) stir fried with some chopped chillies, spring onions and ginger. This dish would suit well with rice or noodles.

To compliment with the above dish, I had ordered a plate of Japanese Yaki Udon (RM12). Before I could finish taking shots of the rest of the dishes, I had to switch to video mode. You know why? MY FOOD WAS ALIVE!! Here’s a short video on what happened.

Basically, the hot steam emitted from the Udon has created a sensational effect on the paper thin bonito flakes (Katsuobushi/dried, fermented and smoked skipjack tuna shavings) garnished on the noodles. It was real impressive. As for the taste, it was indeed a beautifully sour and salty combination of their secret Japanese sauces. This large plate of Japanese Udon has a generous amount of prawns, chicken meat and vegetables. You should try out this dish too.

Another of their most sought after rice dishes would be their Hong Kong Fried Rice (RM10). Wow! The fried rice was extremely delicious. The Cantonese sure knows how to fry their rice with enough of “wok hei” (high heat frying). Every single grain of the rice was so flavorfully coated with the right taste. The dish had cut prawns pieces, chicken slices, green peas, cashew nuts and egg, garnished with a generous amount of meat floss, chopped spring onions and fried shallots. This is another must to order.

If you would like something spicier, you can always try out their Cajun Fried Rice (RM10) as the Cajuns are famous for cooking well seasoned and somewhat spicy food. The dish had cut prawn pieces, chicken slices, corn kernels and garnished with chopped spring onions. No doubt this dish has the right spicy taste but my preference would still be the Hong Kong Fried Rice.

If you feel like having some side dishes, you can always order their Shanghai Juicy Meat Dumpling (RM8). The filling has all the fragrant taste with the well marinated meat. Somehow I find the skin a bit too thick and they should have more soup in each dumpling.

You could also order their Potato Salad (RM5) for appetizer. The dish has a large scoop of semi coarsely mashed with the right amount of cream, butter and herbs on top of a bed of finely sliced greens. This would be good for light eaters.

As for desserts, basically the choices are quite limited with many items being ice cream based. The only warm dessert which happened to be my favorite too was the Silky Egg with Water Chestnut (RM6). The dessert had sliced red dates, white fungus and finely sliced water chestnuts simmered with in a beaten egg white broth, mildly sweetened with rock sugar. This is really good.

The rest of the desserts was rather common as all had ice cream scoops but with different presentations. The most eye-catching one in the menu would be the Tempura Ice Cream (RM8). It was just two large scoops of vanilla ice cream with raspberry sauce, garnished with some loose tempura batter and a sweetened cherry.

The bombastic named Ice Fire Golden Banana (RM8) was another case. It was just a rainbow colored scoop of ice cream presented with some raspberry sauce and batter fried slices of a banana. I felt that this is a bit pricey for the amount served, especially when it was served on a large plate.

At least the Kuru Gama Ice Cream (RM8) was rather unique with some black sesame seeds blended into the ice cream. The ice cream was mild in black sesame taste, with lots of crushed peanuts. I also felt this dessert to be a bit overpriced as two scoops would at least justify the amount paid.

Overall, the food here could be real good if you know how to combine them well especially for a family or group eat out. On top of the Ala Carte Menu, you can also check out their other quality food and set meals such as the Chinese Dome Set with 5 dishes priced at RM46+, Grilled Cod Fish with Potato Cream priced at RM35nett or quality Kobe Beef option namely Kobe Beef Tataki (RM88nett), Kobe Beef Ishiyaki (RM58nett) and Kobe Beef Sashimi (RM88nett).

They do also have daily buffet lunch and dinner where you have the options to order anything from their 90+ dishes buffet menu priced at RM49.90+ per adult. Children would be at half price. There would also be free flow of finger food, broth, ice cream, etc of the day at another side table buffet line. If you intend to visit the place, do take note of the 2 hours time frame for the buffet. Buffet hours would be as 12.00noon-2.00pm, 2.00pm-4.00pm, 5.00pm-7.00pm, and 7.00pm-9.00pm daily. Everything in the restaurant would come with a 5% service fee.

Just let me share with you some of the night scenes at Penang Times Square prior to the official launch for Phase 1. Phase 2 would be completed within the next two years.

The best way to reach the shop would be by using Jalan Magazine (Traders Hotel). Drive into Jalan Dato Kramat (2nd junction at the right of Gama Supermarket) until you have reached Penang Times Square on your left. Find a parking space along the road or within the allocated parking bay. Just walk into the mall and go to Level 1. The restaurant is very prominently located either by mode of escalator or elevator.

Name: HAVEN DELIGHTS
Address: 77-L1-34, Jalan Dato Kramat, 10150 Penang, Malaysia.
Contact: 604-210 8855, 210 8856, 016-492 1658 (Ms. Angie Ng)
Opening Hours: 10.30am-11.00pm
Buffet Hours: 12.00noon-2.00pm, 2.00pm-4.00pm, 5.00pm-7.00pm, 7.00pm-9.00pm
GPS: 5.414701, 100.331871

RATING:
Ambience: 8/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 9/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 8/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 7.5/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 8/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

Since I did not have the opportunity to visit another seafood restaurant that was much recommended by the Kuala Juru village folks as it was closed during my visit to Kuala Juru earlier, a small group of us decided to go for another food hunt to the small fishing village deep into the outskirt of Juru. This time, I had revisited Restoran Nelayan Kuala Juru as well as the much acclaimed Warung Pak Su. I won’t touch much on my earlier trip as I had updated the post itself with some new information and photos. Let me share what I had dined at Warung Pak Su instead. Somehow this visit had a few hiccups as the sky was pouring heavily and the pricing for the food was a bit of surprise to us but these hiccups did not did not deter us from savoring some of the good food around that area.

Being a well established restaurant, Warung Pak Su surprisingly did not provide any printed menus and indeed it was a risk we had to take when ordering a few of the dishes. As most of the seafood items were freshly bought daily, all the items were based on market rate. The first dish that we ordered was the Ikan Siakap Bakar (Grilled Perch – RM30). The fresh fish was cut into halves, marinated with some spices and wrapped in banana leaves and grilled for a certain period of time. The end product was a nicely cooked fish, mild in spices taste and fresh in juiciness. The grilled fish would go well with the special sauce which consists of sliced onions, chili paddy, lime juice, soy sauce and sugar but I personally found the sauce to be a bit overpowering with lime taste.

While waiting for the fish to be grilled, we also ordered some satay to try out. Although we were still quite full from the earlier meal at Restoran Nelayan Kuala Juru, the juiciness and fragrance emitted from the chicken on skewer boosted up our craving for more. The taste of the large sized satays were great and it was only at 60sen each.

The restaurant will also have Kerang Bakar (Grilled Cockles – RM5/plate) but we did not order them as we were scared of food poisoning after seeing how cockles were harvested. 😛

Since the villagers highly recommended the Mee Udang (Prawn Noodles – RM10) and Mee Goreng Udang (Fried Prawn Noodles –RM10), we decided to order a plate of each. The difference between this restaurant and the one at Restoran Nelayan Kuala Juru was the use of different species of prawns. Restoran Nelayan Kuala Juru uses Udang Rotan (Cane Prawns – thicker shells) whereas Warung Pak Su uses Udang Kertas (White Prawns – paper thin shells).

I found the prawns here to be fresher compared to the ones down at Restoran Nelayan Kuala Juru but somehow the noodles were not up to my expectation. Both the fried and soup based noodles tasted kind of sweet without the taste of prawns in them. They tasted just like those you can get at any tea time Malay stalls except that here you will have huge cooked prawns being nicely decorated on the noodles. Luckily, the fresh prawns complimented the noodles or else it would be a total disappointment. My preference would still be those delicious prawn taste enriched noodles at Restoran Nelayan Kuala Juru.

It would be easier to reach the restaurant if you know your way to Auto City. As you come to the Juru Interchange, you would pass through 3 traffic lights to reach Auto City. At the last traffic light at the T-junction (McDonald’s), turn left and drive all the way up Jalan Perusahaan/Jalan Tok Kangar until you have reach a traffic light at Jalan Juru (Map A), turn right into Jalan Juru (Juru Villa Show House) and drive all the way until the end. You would pass through a few sign boards of the district on your left namely Kampung Sekolah Juru (Map B), Bagan Nyior (Map C), and a sign board showing direction to Sungai Sembilang and Kuala Juru (Map D). At the T-junction (Map E), turn right and you will see the restaurant just on your left (Map F). You can click to enlarge the two maps below for a clearer direction.

Name: WARUNG PAK SU MEE UDANG
Address: 385, MK12, Bagan Nyir Juru, SPT, 14000 Bukit Mertajam, Penang, Malaysia.
Opening Hours: 12.00noon-10.30pm (Closed Thursday)
Contact: 012-409 0771, 012-493 5771
GPS: 5.326817, 100.414767

RATING:
Ambience: 7/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 8/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 7.5/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 8/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 8/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

You would be amazed by how many times a Malaysian would eat a day, especially those Penangites with so many options available from breakfast right up to supper. You have so many choices at each and every corner of every district such as Adam’s Karipap Ayam (chicken curry puff – RM1.50 each) in Pulau Tikus Market along Jalan Pasar, Te Chang You Tiao Wang (the longest Chinese cruller at 14” length – RM1 each) along Jalan Paya Terubong, 8o varieties of kuih-muih (local finger snacks – 40sen each) at Mat Relax Corner along Jalan Jones or even some authentic Cantonese snacks at Guangzhou Cake House along Lebuh Carnarvon. Who could resist such temptation even at odd hours of the day?

Another great snack would be the Malaysian Pancake, commonly known as Apom Balik by the Malays and Ban Chang Koay by the Chinese community. Where could you get such great snack then? One prominent place would be right in town itself. With a continuous flow of buyers from all races, En. Noor Azam has been selling his Apom Balik right in front of the General Post Office (Pos Besar Pulau Pinang) along Downing Street (Lebuh Downing) for more than a decade.

What made his Apom Balik (60sen each) so demanding compare to many other sellers in town? His Apom Balik has the right texture, thickness, sweetness, buttery taste, freshness of the pounded peanuts and most importantly the crunchiness on the crust at all time. There are actually two types available at his roadside stall. One would be a thinner version with crunchy crust. You could opt for plain or with cream corns.

Another version would be the thicker type being slowly cooked in a large pan. This version would be more fluffy and soft in the center.

If you are at that area, do try his Apom Balik out. I had not stopped patronizing his stall each time I’m around that area as I find his skills in preparing this wonderful snack had maintained its consistency throughout all the years. It’s a great snack for tea.

Finding the stall would not be hard if you frequent Lebuh Pantai (Beach Street) often for your banking transactions as this is the road where all the major banks are located. Just drive along Lebuh Pantai until you have reached Hongkong Bank. The road next to the bank is Lebuh Downing. Drive right until the end and you would see the General Post Office at the junction of Lebuh Downing and Pengkalan Weld (Weld Quay). The stall is just in front of the GPO, next to a Chinese iced drink seller. Do try out the corn drink here too as it’s one of the good ones around.

Name: NOOR AZAM APOM BALIK
Address: Lebuh Downing, 10300 Penang, Malaysia.
Opening Hours: 12.00noon-6.00pm
GPS: 5.417557, 100.344192

RATING:
Ambience: 5/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 5/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 8.5/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 6/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 8/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

When you mention about jelly, the first thought that would come into your mind would be those translucent and wobbling like gelatin that would normally be served chilled as a dessert. Yup! Those are jellies but do you know that there are so many kinds of jellies available in the market? Most people would assume that these were made out of seaweed. Well, it’s not necessary true as certain brands used animal-derived gelatin with the requirement of alcohol in the cooking process and thus that would not be appropriate for the consumption of certain religious groups or vegetarians.

Brands such as Kraft Food’s Jell-O Shots (Vodka Jelly) would require the use of some alcohol such as vodka, tequila, rum or grain alcohol. This would replace the use of certain percentage of water or fruit juice to congeal the gel. In Malaysia, people used agar strips or powder made from algae-like seaweed. Carrageenans, an extract from red seaweed that grew abundantly in Phillipines were used by the locals, either in dried or powder form for making jellies and thickening certain food stuff. Japan had their version of jelly too. The Japanese would make jellies out of a prepacked mixture made from Konnyaku potatoes combined with calcium hydroxide extracts from eggshells.

Let me share with you a great success story of one of our locals here who owned a coconut shop right in Georgetown, Penang. The first moment you step into the shop, you would see coconuts scattered everywhere. That would be how you would see as in the many other coconut wholesalers in Penang such as the one at Lorong Abu Siti. They would normally sell the coconut juice straight from the fruit.

If you are observant enough, you would noticed a small refrigerator by the side of the shop with chilled coconuts in it. Isn’t it great to sip chilled coconut juice on such a hot weather?

You would be in for a surprise if you try to sip that using a straw. Watch closely what was written on the label.

It’s jelly inside my friend! You would need a spoon instead of a straw. LOL! This new and refreshing way to get pampered was the brainchild by one of the Malaysian geniuses. Welcome to the newly innovated idea of Mr. Joel with his Penang “Coconut Jelly”. The best part of this yummy dessert would be the jelly within that is preservative free and fresh to be consumed anytime throughout the day. You can even savor the fresh flesh after that.

You can have a look at how original the content in the coconut is. It looked so deceiving as the color of the jelly is exactly like the juice itself. The only difference is that you would not be able to spill any juice out by turning it upside down.

The mildly sweetened jelly tasted great with the natural taste of the coconut juice. The texture of the jelly was like a harder version of soft fruity crystallized jelly but a softer version of the agar we usually get from the mamak stalls. Everything was perfect. On top of that, I could even scoop up the flesh with ease. Well, it’s best that you get the person to choose a younger fruit for you just to make sure you won’t get hardy coconut flesh. If you intend to buy back the coconut jelly, make sure you consume within 3-4 days as you won’t want the RM3.70 per coconut fruit to go stale.

You could get three coconuts for RM11 with only 10sen discount. If you would want to get each for just RM3, you could always drop by PenangTuaPui’s food blog to print their 1st anniversary discount voucher. For courtesy sake, please leave them some well wishes. You can see their banner being hung right above the shop. The promotion ends 23 March 2009.

The best way to reach the shop would be by using Jalan Magazine (Traders Hotel). Drive into Jalan Dato Kramat (2nd junction at the right of Gama Supermarket) until you have reached Penang Times Square on your left. Start counting until the 3rd junction (Jalan Kajang) on your left. The shop is just 2 shop houses after Jalan Kajang on your left. Parking would be hard here as the shop is near to a traffic light. My advice would be for you to park along Jalan Kajang itself and walk up to the shop.

Name: JOEZ ENTERRPISE
Address: 201, Jalan Dato Kramat, 10150 Penang, Malaysia.
Opening Hours: 11.00am-7.00pm
Contact: 604-229 6063, 016-440 9049 (Mr. Joel@Joe)
GPS: 5.411811, 100.323208

RATING:
Ambience: 5/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 5/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 9/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 8/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 8/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

Note: Please refer to http://www.crizfood.com/1019/siongho/ for the update on the relocation of the stall effective 18 March 2010.

If you are thinking of having some fresh seafood noodles or porridge (especially during this humid and contagious flu and fever season), you can always head over to the newly open branch of Siong Ho Fish Head Bee Hoon (Sg. Tiram, next to Shell petrol kiosk Bayan Lepas) along Weld Quay, Georgetown, Penang. The owner, Mr. Teh (Ah Ho) had more than 20 years of experience in cooking up fresh seafood noodles and porridge just for you. If the ingredients were not fresh as it should, they will definitely not pass the regular QC check of the boss.

There are two types of soup you can choose from on top of the different arrays of seafood and meat. One would be the clear soup broth which was boiled with lots of chicken bones, dried shrimps with their secret recipe. The other would be a spicier choice with tom yam paste.

Firstly, you have 5 options for your bowl of hot steaming meal. You can either choose thin rice vermicelli (bee hoon), thick rice vermicelli (cho bee hoon), wheat flour vermicelli (mee sua), instant noodles (maggi mee) or porridge (moey).

The next step would be choosing your main ingredients such as large white prawns, grouper fish head, grouper fillet, fried bass fillet, minced meat, frog, pork kidney, meat balls, fish ball and dried bean curd. More ingredients such as crabs, squids and so on would be available at a later date.

One of the most sought after dish would be the fresh Frog Porridge (RM6/100gms). One look at the color of the skinless frogs, you will know that they are real fresh. Those frogs may look rather gross to some but their flesh can be as smooth and tender as chicken meat. That’s how the frogs got the name “Water Chicken” as in “水雞” in Chinese.

Here’s an inside peep at what are the other ingredients that they would use make each bowl of the dish delicious. The best part is that the meals served here are MSG free, thus you won’t feel thirsty after consuming.

Since this is a “pick & choose” what you like concept, the pricing might be different for each individual bowl of order. Basically, a bowl of minced pork related noodles/porridge would cost you as low as RM3.50 to “God knows how much you love seafood” type of order which would cost you tens of dollars. Just to be on a safe side for those budget food hunters, let me share some of the basic pricing with you.

Majority of patrons over there would order fried bass fillet meals. All types of noodles or porridge with only fried fish fillets with vegetables would cost you RM5 per bowl.

I managed to try out both the clear soup as well as the tom yam noodles. Let me share with you my experience on each bowl of the noodles. Firstly, it was the Tom Yam Bee Hoon without any fresh seafood. My bowl consisted of only fish balls, meat balls and dried bean curd together with bee hoon. It was priced at RM5. The color was fiery red but it was not chili hot at all for me. The soup was thick, sweet and tasty with the fragrance coming from the added Kaffir lime leaves and mint leaves but somehow it lacked some vegetables such as tomatoes, young corns or abalone mushrooms. I had suggested these additional items to the boss and hopefully he would have them during my next visit.

The next was my “pick & mix” items for my instant noodles with clear soup. I had picked fish balls, meat balls, dried bean curd with fresh grouper fillets. Although the bowl cost me RM10.50, it was worth the amount spent considering that there were a generous amount of grouper fillets inside the bowl. The taste of the soup was amazing. It has the sweetness from the fresh fish fillets with a hint of preserved vegetables (Dong Cai/冬菜 – salted dried cabbage with leeks and sea salt water). On top of the added ingredients, this bowl of noodles was rather fulfilling.

Here’s a rough summary of all the possible combination of ingredients and prices (either with noodles or porridge in clear soup or tom yam):
Grouper Fish Head: RM9
Grouper Fish Fillet: RM7.50
Prawns (3 pcs): RM8
Frog: RM6/100gms
Fried Bass Fillet/Fish Head: RM5
Minced Meat: RM3.50 – RM5
Miscellaneous items such as pork kidney, fish balls, meat balls and dried bean curd: RM3+ per item or combined

If you are coming from Prangin Mall along Jalan Dr. Lim Chwee Leong, drive straight pass the Lebuh Carnarvon traffic light. You will reach another traffic light (Lebuh Pantai). Drive straight again until you have reached the Weld Quay (Pengkalan Weld) traffic light. Turn left and drive on until you have reached the first left junction (Lebuh Melayu). The shop is just diagonally opposite the newly constructed building in brown color.

If you are coming from the ferry terminal, keep a watchful eye on the landmarks on your left, especially those Jetty signboards. You would pass by Lim Jetty (temple), Chew Jetty (hawker area), Tan Jetty (Xen Teck Café), Lee Jetty and Mixed Surname Jetty. Immediately after the Mixed Surname Jetty, slow down your car. The shop is just after signboard maker, Chuan Advertising and next to Chun Heng Auto Repair. You won’t miss it as the boss and his workers are all dressed in chef uniforms and cute Bermudas. 😛 You may find parking a bit hard along the heavy trafficked road as it’s the main road leading to the Jelutong Expressway/Penang Bridge. Try driving a bit further up to Yeoh Jetty. You should be able to see some open space there. If not, you have to drive a bit further up to Lebuhraya Merdeka where Ghee Seng Seafood Restaurant is located.

Name: SIONG HO FISH HEAD NOODLES AND PORRIDGE @ VILLAGE CAFE
Address: 107-A, Pengkalan Weld (Weld Quay), 10300 Penang, Malaysia.
Opening Hours: 12.00noon-11.30pm
Contact: 019-458 8693 (Mr. Teh/Ah Ho)
GPS: 5.411414, 100.336897

RATING:
Ambience: 7/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 7.5/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 8/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 7.5/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 9/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

Ever since my adventurous trip to Pulau Aman to discover the wonderful and tasty Mee Udang (Prawn Noodles), I have been yearning for the similar dish, if not the best, which would be much nearer to Penang island. Eventually after much searching around, I found a place right within mainland Penang – Kuala Juru, the river mouth of Juru. Located next to Persatuan Nelayan Kawasan Seberang Perai Kuala Juru Jetty, lies a quiet and scenic restaurant by the name of Restoran Nelayan Kuala Juru. This place served fresh and delicious seafood dishes. Let me start by recommending the food here prior to introducing other aspects which also did amaze me.

Coming so far away from the island, I would surely try out their seafood dishes rather than the Malay cuisine which they do also serve. They have Mee Udang (Prawn Noodles) and Mee Ketam (Flower Crab Noodles). Instead of having a plate of both, I had the mixed version with two fresh large prawns and a flower crab in halves. All for RM6!!! That’s real cheap considering the size of the prawns and crab although the noodles were a bit too little for my consumption.

The broth with ingredients such as smashed garlic, chillies, cabbage, onion and a hint of tomato puree combined with the sweetness of the fresh seafood was superb. The prawns and flower crab were so fresh that I wanted to order more. I even bought home a few packets and my parents sipped everything until the last drop. You could imagine how delicious the noodles were. It’s a must try for all seafood noodle lovers.

Since I was still a bit full with the 5.30am Char Koay Teow breakfast, I managed to try out the second dish which was the Nasi Goreng Udang. Most stalls that I had been to would just fried rice with a few medium sized prawns. The way the restaurant served the dish was totally different. It came with a plate of fried rice which was quite normal to me but the spicy large prawns curry was a real surprise. It may look like it would be a fiery dish from the look of the color but it was not chili hot at all. The thick gravy which consist some freshly grounded spices was very appetizing to be taken with the fried rice. I have a feeling that they did add in some belacan (prawn paste) to have that fragrant and delicious taste. This set was also priced at RM6.

In case you might want to find out what else they have in this restaurant, you can click and enlarge the attached menu below.

**** UPDATED 15 MARCH 2009 ****

It was only during the 2nd visit to this restaurant did I know that the prawns used were neither green prawns nor tiger prawns. It was another species that I had never heard of or common in our wet markets. These prawns are called Udang Rotan (Cane Prawns as translated). They are the same family with the tiger prawns but with a harder shell. No matter what species they are, they sure tasted better than fresh water prawns.

On top of the above fried rice and noodles, we also tried out their Nasi Goreng Padprik (Padprik Fried Rice – RM4). The cook sure knew how to use the stove well as the fried rice has the required grainy texture and the high heat cooking was just right. The accompanied stir fry mixed vegetables with fresh squids in some spicy tomato gravy combined well with the fried rice. You should check this dish out.

**** END UPDATE ****

Although there are two more such restaurants at Sungai Sembilang and another three restaurants along Jalan Kuala Juru, I like this restaurant the most. Not only was I amazed by the great food and simplicity of the village folks, it’s also a heaven for nature photographers. You just won’t know what you would expect to find along your way to your gastronomic destination. I had seen a few stray otters playfully along the swampy area, a monitor lizard by the roadside, a Haliaeetus leucogaster (white bellied sea eagle) soaring the sky seeking its prey, a low flying stork, hungry looking stray cats and many other unique looking shell fish such as the Horseshoe Crab/King crab along the river banks.

One main type of shell fish that you would see here would be the cockles. Kuala Juru is one the many areas in Malaysia that harvests and processes cockles for distribution to the local markets. It was indeed an eye-opening experience to see how cockles were in their original state and the processes to get them clean. I managed to catch the whole action on camera and would like to share with you. As the cockles arrived in sampans, they had that dirty and muddy look mixed with lots of rubbish. After they had been put into a rotating machine that filters out the mud, tiny objects and other dead shells with a constant spray of clean water, they would end up at section where larger objects would be filtered out. Towards the end of the process, these cleaned cockles would be packed in large nylon sacks to be distributed to the local markets. The steps may look simple but it did involve a lot of manpower.

It would be easier to reach the restaurant if you know your way to Auto City. As you come to the Juru Interchange, you would pass through 3 traffic lights to reach Auto City. At the last traffic light at the T-junction (McDonald’s), turn left and drive all the way up Jalan Perusahaan/Jalan Tok Kangar until you have reach a traffic light at Jalan Juru (Map A), turn right into Jalan Juru (Juru Villa Show House) and drive all the way until the end. You would pass through a few sign boards of the district on your left namely Kampung Sekolah Juru (Map B), Bagan Nyior (Map C), and a sign board showing direction to Sungai Sembilang and Kuala Juru (Map D). At the T-junction (Map E), turn right and drive all the way to Kuala Juru (Map F). You would reach a playground not far away (Map G). Find a parking space there as the restaurant is just opposite the playground. You can click to enlarge the two maps below for a clearer direction.

Name: RESTORAN NELAYAN KUALA JURU
Address: Persatuan Nelayan Unit Kuala Juru, MK12, SPT, 14100 Bukit Mertajam, Penang, Malaysia.
Opening Hours: 12.00noon-11.00pm (Closed Tuesday)
Contact: 012-567 2423, 019-549 7134, 017-446 7194
GPS: 5.340084, 100.408500

RATING:
Ambience: 8/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 8/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 9/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 6/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 8/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

If you want to know the success story of a Char Koay Teow stall, you should check out the stall located at a corner shop lot named Kedai Makan Teong Ah along Lebuh Cecil (Cecil Street). I had to wake up real early this morning at 5.00am just to make an effort to visit the place and have a chat with the cook, Mr. Leow, who has started frying Char Koay Teow as early as 1967. For the past 40 years, Mr. Leow has been frying along the roadside of Magazine Road before he was forced to move out due to a road expansion project. Currently, he has shifted to this new premise for more than a year.

Why is Mr, Leow’s Char Koay Teow so unique and famous that he has to open up for business so early in the morning? It’s very obvious as his Char Koay Teow and Fried Rice has been the hot favorite of many factory workers. By the time I was there at 5.40am, he had already packed more than 50 packets of Char Koay Teow and fried over 20 plates. What is so different in his style compared to some of the famous ones around? He uses almost the same ingredients as the others but there’s one hidden secret. He uses charcoal and his high heat frying skills that I could hardly take a proper shot from his hyper motions.

Another reason is that his Char Koay Teow is believed to be the cheapest within the whole of Penang Island. A plate of Char Koay Teow with an egg, three large prawns, cockles and some sliced Chinese sausage fried with some lard, bean sprouts and chopped chives cost only RM2.60. I had mine added with extra fresh prawns and it was only RM3.30. You can also opt for the Char Koay Teow fried with duck egg. It’s only RM3.

The Char Koay Teow was not oily at all and it had a banana leaf laid on the plate prior to serving. Somehow, not many Char Koay Teow stalls are applying this method nowadays although this would give that additional aroma to the noodles. On top of that, the dish had the right saltiness, spiciness and a bit of burn flavor in it.

Since the Char Koay Teow was so delicious, I was tempted to try out the Fried Rice as well even though it was a bit too heavy for such an early breakfast. The price was the same as the Char Koay Teow but instead of the ingredients stated above, he used only rice, chopped char siew (bbq pork) and fresh prawns. The Fried Rice was indeed another good experience. The dish had that unique burn flavor again with a well combined taste to my liking. Every single grain of the rice was well coated with rich flavor. This is also a must to try out.

If you would like to have many packets of takeaways, I would advise you to call him up prior to collecting. From my observation during the one hour of patronizing his Char Koay Teow stall, his handphone was like a hotline.

Searching for the Char Koay Teow stall would not be hard at all as it’s just right at the junction of the Cecil Street evening wet market (七條路巴刹). If you are coming from Jalan C.Y. Choy, it’s just right at the corner with a large signboard “Kedai Makan Teong Ah – 中亞茶室) as you turn right into Lebuh Cecil.

Name: CECIL STREET CHAR KOAY TEOW @ KEDAI MAKAN TEONG AH
Address: 246 Lebuh Cecil, 10300 Penang, Malaysia.
Contact: 016-485 8210 (Mr. Leow)
Opening Hours: 5.30am-10.00am (Closed Monday, 1st&15th day lunar calendar)
GPS: 5.407442, 100.329381

RATING:
Ambience: 8/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 8/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 8/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 6/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 9/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)