CRIZ BON APPETITE

The Sigi’s Bar & Grill on the Beach @ Golden Sands Resort, Penang, is currently having its unique, gourmet burgers with international flavors from now until end of August 2015. The Burger Mania promotion is available from 11.00am until 6.30pm daily. These burgers would include choices such as Lamb Kofta Classic Burger (RM58nett), Egg and Cheese Burger (RM30nett), Charcoal Bread Beef Burger (RM50nett), Chicken Cajun Delight (RM42nett) and Big Wave Fish Burger (RM42nett). Most set would come with either some crispy nacho chips or French fries and a complimentary soft drink of either Coke or Sprite. For reservations, please call +604-886 1852 or +604-8811 911.

With Penang having one of the best durians during this season, the highlight of the August month will be their own concoction of Durian Cheese Chicken Burger (RM45nett), a chicken patty filled with oozy fresh Penang durian flavored cheese. The best part would be that the unique concoction would leave no extruding after dining breath. You can still kiss your partner with a disliking for the King of Fruits without getting a hard slap~ Haha~ 😛 In fact, I do love the aromatic scent as it was almost like the scent of a ripened cempedak (scientific name – Artocarpus integer). Fresh custardy fresh durian paste, combined with added melted cheese in the nicely grilled chicken patty was truly another umami experience. By the way, umami is the fifth taste your tongue could sense other than the usual sweetness, saltines, sourness and bitterness. I’ve to compliment the chef for creating such a unique patty. It may be the only one in the world as well.

If you were to have the durian-phobia of putting your most hated fruit into your mouth, you can always opt out for some other burgers in their menu. One of the recommended ones would be their Charcoal Bread Beef Burger (RM50nett). The beef burgers would be served with toasted charcoal buns plus condiments of French cornichon (small pickled gherkins), lettuce, tomato slices, sliced cheese, garlic aioli, smoked BBQ sauce, tomato ketchup and a side dish of delicious crispy nacho chips.

There would be more option in the menu such as the Lamb Kofta Classic which come with fragrantly cooked lamb, topped with some garnishing of diced onions, diced tomato and Middle Eastern crushed foul medames bean in a sesame seed bun, served with French fries and a lemon wedge. The Egg and Cheese Burger would consist of a fried egg, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and French fries. On the other hand, the Chicken Cajun Delight would have grilled chicken breast seasoned with Cajun spices, served with a bed of fresh lettuce, tomato slices, tomato sauce, garlic aioli, cheese and French fries. There would also be something on the menu to pamper those seafood lovers such as the Big Wave Fish Burger. The burger would come with a crispy batter-fried fish fillet, served with julienned lettuce, tomato slices, coleslaw and tartar sauce plus a side dish of French Fries and a lemon wedge.

If you feel that you could still put in some other dishes, you may want to start off with their Signature SBG Caesar Salad with Smoked Salmon (RM44nett), a plate of crunchy Romaine lettuce tossed in Caesar dressing, served with beef rashers, garlic croutons and parmesan cheese with rolls of smoked salmon.

To wind up the meal with something sweet and cooling might be a great idea too. You can check with staff if they have Durian Cake (RM22nett) available. You would get to indulge in a piece of the delicious cake, served with vanilla ice cream with some chocolate dressings.

For more options on the lunch, dinner or pool side & garden menus, you can always click on the photos shown below to view the relevant menu.

Overall, I would think that the chef did a great job in creating a dish that’s so Penang via durians. I would love to see the restaurant coming out with more local fruits creations in the near future. Who knows? You might get to savor more out-of-the-world dishes soon with his creativity? Ice Blended Rambutan Float? Mangosteen Pudding? Nutmeg Dragon Beard Floss? I would surely be adventurous enough to try all out~ 🙂

The restaurant is just located within the premises of Golden Sands Resort. Drive all the way up towards Batu Ferringhi. When you see the Rasa Sayang Resort & Spa on your right, slow down and watch out for the Golden Sands Resort entrance which is right after the Rasa Sayang Resort & Spa. Park your car at the ample car park there and walk into the main lobby of the resort. Head towards the beach area and you would see Sigi’s Bar & Grill on your right.

Name: SIGI’S BAR & GRILL ON THE BEACH @ GOLDEN SANDS RESORT
Address: Batu Ferringhi Beach, 11100 Penang, Malaysia.
Contact: 604-886 1852 (Direct Restaurant Line)
Business Hours:
11.00am-6.00pm, 6.30pm-10.30pm (Bar: 11.00am-11.45pm)
GPS: 5.477405, 100.251657

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

Hong Kong-based Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts currently owns and/or manages 90 hotels under the Shangri-La brand with a room inventory of over 37,000. Shangri-La hotels are five-star deluxe properties featuring extensive luxury facilities and services. Shangri-La hotels are located in Australia, Canada, mainland China, Fiji, France, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Sultanate of Oman, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. The group has a substantial development pipeline with upcoming projects in mainland China, Cambodia, India, Myanmar, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka. For more information and reservations, please contact a travel professional or access the website at www.shangri-la.com.

Malacca (locally known as Melaka) is well known for many Peranakan cuisine. During the “A Date with Bloggers in Melaka 2012” event organized by 1asiafoodguide.com and bestmelakaguide.com recently, a few of us managed to squeeze out some time to explore some of the nice cuisine outlets surrounding the Jonker Walk area. One of the most loved items was the Malacca Cendol. Compared to the Penang version which would use brown sugar, Malacca Cendol would use their famed local product – the Gula Melaka, a palm sugar which has a unique thick, rich, aromatic and natural sweetness. As we approached Bibik House, the buttery aroma coming from their daily baked pineapple tarts drew our attentions but that was not our target as we had quite many earlier on. What attracted us was the signage showing the Bibik House Cendol with durian. It would be great to try them out to compare with what we have in Penang.

As the weather in Malacca was crazily hot on that day, we had decided to try out just the plain Cendol (RM4.00nett) instead of the Durian Cendol (RM5.00nett) which would only come with an additional topping of a caramel-like durian paste. Having durians in the system on a humid day with lack of rest would surely be seeking for trouble to be down with illness, right? Haha! Anyway, the bowl of Malacca Cendol was amazingly rich in taste and flavors. It had a separate serving of cendol, a screwpine flavor infused green pea flour made delicacy. The finely shaved ice combined with the creaminess of the thick coconut milk and palm sugar sweetness was heaven, except it could be rather sweet for some health conscious consumers. Hidden within the “ice mountain” were some combinations of sweetened azuki and kidney beans.

Overall, I felt that the dessert was over rated in term of pricing. Maybe this dessert was sold at a commercialized tourist spot area but that does not mean that it should be charged at such an exaggerated pricing, worst still in a non air-conditioned and posh premises? A bowl of Malacca Cendol would cost almost twice the price of a decent bowl of the Penang Cendol (RM2.00-RM2.50 at roadside stalls). Moreover, what made me curious was the separate serving of cendol in a mini plastic sauce container. Are they trying to control the amount served by charging more for extra orders? You won’t get such a practice in Penang at all as you can always request for some reasonable amount added in without extra charges. On top of that, the cendol here lacked the firm texture. They were too soft to my liking as I would presume that the amount of lye water (sodium hydroxide – NaOH) added was not adjustable to the al dente bites that they should have. An extra charge of RM0.50 would be imposed for each takeaway in a plastic container. Regardless the comparison of pricing, I personally still prefer the ones served in Penang. Other famous outlets with super crazy long queues would be at Jonker 88 and QQ Ice further down the road.

If you are coming from Jalan Kubu entrance into Jonker Walk, you will see the Tamil Methodist Church on your left. Walk into the road next to the church (Jalan Tokong) until you see a “Y” junction (JalanTukang Emas/Jalan Hang Jebat). There’s a stage with an arch “Welcome to Jonker Walk” on your right. Walk into Jalan Hang Jebat (Jonker Walk) and you’ll see Bibik House on your right.

Name: BIBIK NYONYA @ MALACCA (MELAKA)
Address: 129 Jalan Hang Jebat, 75200 Melaka, Malaysia.
Contact: 606-288 3919
Business Hours: 9.00am-10.00pm
GPS: 2.197842, 102.245287

RATING:
Ambience: 7/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 6/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 7/10 (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)

A trip up Teluk Kumbar today proved fruitful for Chef Chen Hong (陳鴻) and his entourage as they finally get to visit the durian orchard that had named one of their native durians (土榴蓮) as “鴻榴槤/Hong Durian”. Even before the chef’s arrival, this species of durians which has been in existence for over 2 decades and was nicknamed as “crocodile skin durian” were already selling like hotcakes amongst the locals.

It was amazing how the owner knew how to differentiate the dozens species of native durians here. One thing for sure, they chose the ideal one to name it after Chef Chen Hong. The dark yellow colored flesh of this durian has that smooth custard creamy sweetness with a hint of fermented wine after taste. The fruit was almost all meaty with small seed. The quality can be compared to the second hottest selling durian, Hor Lor (Calabash/葫蘆), just right after the hottest selling Ang Hae (Red Prawn/紅蝦). What an honor for Chef Chen Hong to have that fruit under his name. This durian would surely do well if exported to Taiwan.

An expert in his culinary skills as always, Chef Chen Hong opened up a durian with ease. He charmingly remarked that the durians should be sold overseas not as a fruit but something exotic and unique that can be created in many forms of delicacies. He had even thought up of a few recipes which durian would be the main ingredient impromptu. They don’t address him as the Culinary Prince (美食王子) in Taiwan for no reasons, right? 🙂

Chef Park (from Korea) and Chef Billy Ng (runner-up of 8TV’s Hot Chef Season One) also had their try outs in opening durians. I wonder if the owner was serious enough to name their two durians as “Korea” and “Billy Boy”. Chef Park who was not a lover for durians eventually took to a liking for them.

The up the hill durian orchard was still untarnished with man-made pollution. The stream was so clean that you can still drink from it. Many fishes and prawns were sighted swimming about happily without the intrusion of human kind. The atmosphere was fresh and clean with abundant flora and fauna blossoming everywhere. Even a rare species of butterfly flew over and landed on my hand. What a beautiful sight that was. The orchard which spanned from Teluk Kumbar to Tanjung Asam (“chui cheang” where angling trips to the nearby Pulau Kendi was often planned) had many other famous branded durians such as the Ang Hae (Red Prawn/紅蝦), Hor Lor (Calabash/葫蘆), XO, Kapili Susu, Lipan, D2, D24, 604, Ooi Keong Ong (Turmeric King/Kunyit King/黄姜王), Xiao Hong (Small Red/小紅), Ganja (Cannabis), Chneh Poay Kia (Green Skin Boy/青皮仔), Bakuli (Marbles), Phua Cincu (Half Pearl) and many more. Other local fruits such as rambutans, mangosteens, cempedak, etc are also available here.

The evening event was also attended by the entourage of Chef Chen Hong, Chef Park, Chef Billy Ng, Food Digest crew members, FoodTok, family members and friends of the owner, food bloggers and reporters. It was indeed a fun-filled outing for everyone after some hectic weeks of planning, organizing and food hunting for the best food in Penang.

If you are coming from the Bayan Lepas FTZ area along Jalan Bayan Lepas towards the Penang International Airport, drive over the overhead bridge towards Teluk Kumbar. Drive on for around 6-7km and watch out for a big “Hai Boey Seafood” direction signboard on your left at a junction. Turn left into the junction which would also lead you towards Gertak Sanggul. Drive on until you see the “Hai Boey Seafood” signboard on your left. Slow down. Drive on for another 400m and watch out for a small slope on your right (GPS: 5.283556, 100.209471). Drive up the slope and you would see a small temple on your right. Just follow the sign boards available and you would reach your destination within 5 minutes.

Name: SONG HAI’S DURIAN ORCHARD
Address: Teluk Kumbar until Tanjung Asam, 11910, Bayan Lepas, Penang, Malaysia.
Business Hours: To call up
Contact: 016-467 5233 (Mr. Tang Song Hai)
GPS: 5.292088, 100.211914
Sales Office: 26 Lintang Merak, Sg. Dua, 11700 Gelugor, Penang, Malaysia. (Opp. Tesco Extra)
FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Song-Hais-Durian/129590123727593

RATING:
Ambience: 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: 7.5/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 7/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 9/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

It’s the time of the year for fruit feasting as there are lots of fruits on sales just anywhere you go along the roads of Penang. From May until August each year, you would get to enjoy many of the seasonal fruits especially durians – the King of Fruits. The different species of the fruits can come in shapes such as oblong and round with yellow, green or brown husks and the flesh would either be in white, pale yellow, yellow, orange to red. These thorn covered fruits are famous for their large sizes and unique smell that made them the love and hate of many people. I don’t think anyone had created a name for its intruding odor but to some it may just well be the combination of pungent cat pee, musty gym shorts, smelly socks and gas leak. I even heard someone mentioning that his neighbors called in 911 to report a rotten corpse. LOL!

Penetrating odor as the nicknames have suggested above, the fruits have the same reputation as the Hong Kong Stinky Tofu – the scent of smell could be overpowering but the scent of taste would sent many floating in heaven. There are many species of durian available in the South East Asian regions of Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia but most of the durian lovers would still prefer those from Balik Pulau, Penang, Malaysia and its surrounding areas as the texture are finer with stronger acquired taste.

Thanks to Steven’s contact with the daughter of a durian seller, an entourage of the few of us was able to have the first hand experience in tasting the best of this stinky fruit. There are many species of durians available here such as Kor Teh (Bitter Herbal Tea), Kucing Tidur (Sleeping Cat), Susu (Milk), Capri, D15, D2, COB, Ganja (Cannabis), Seven Goddess (七仙女), Bak Ewe (Lard), Ang Hae (Red Prawn), Ooi Keong (Turmeric/Kunyit) and many more. We started by tasting the more common ones and later to those award-winning and branded ones.

We started with the so called Ooi Keong Ong (Turmeric/Kunyit/黄姜王 – approx. RM10). It was fibrous, custard creamy and sweet with a hint of fermented wine after taste. Although the fruit was filled with lots of meaty flesh, it was just average to my taste bud as it lacked the strong aromatic taste of durian. Even though so, it would still be ideal for general consumption as it was rather filling.

We were then given a test on our preferences for the following two branded durians of almost the same quality – Hor Lor versus Kim Poh. Comparing the colors of these two different species, Kim Poh (Golden Treasure/金寳 – approx. RM15) had a more inviting color of mixed orange and yellow. Taste wise, it had a smooth creamy and custard like flesh with slight bitterness. To me, it was a bit over ripe but that was the uniqueness that made the fruit having its strong fermented wine after taste and likeable by many.

The moment everyone tried the Hor Lor (Calabash/葫蘆 – approx. RM15), there was a moment of silence as everyone was enjoying the beauty of the taste. The flesh was so smooth that it just melted in our mouth like ice cream. The creamy sweetness and bitter end taste obviously showed which species won the contest. Thumbs up for Hor Lor!

The next durian which was the Chneh Poay (Green Skin/青皮 – RM8-RM20) tasted more like native durians as it did not have much of the durian flavor “strength”. More fibrous compared to the rest, it only taste sweet towards the end nearing the pulp with more obvious bitterness.

I thought the next durian served was the laugh of the day – That Kah Chui (Stuffed Buttock/塞屁股 – approx. RM10) but that was indeed the name given by Ah Joo for this native durian (durians from the older unnamed trees/土蓮). This was just another typical native durian with thinner flesh and larger seeds. Although sweet with fine texture, it definitely would not satisfy my craving for better and more fulfilling durians. I’ll need more meaty flesh, regardless of branded or native as some native durians could taste far better than branded ones.

Here are a shot of some native durians which you could get a large bagful for less than RM20.

The Man of Honor aka Ang Hae (Red Prawn/紅蝦 – RM10-RM30) came out last as we had had decided to save the best for last. The fruit was indeed the best as it has won many awards in the local durian scene. The flesh was the finest around with smooth custard like creaminess. There was the distinctive sweetness and wine taste with a slight touch of bitterness. I would recommend this species. There’s a secret when consuming Ang Hae. The fruit should not be eaten once collected from the plantation. It should be left aside for a few hours to enable it to gather that powerful “booster”!

On top of having durian fresh or having them with steamed white glutinous rice topped with thick and slightly salted coconut milk and fine sugar, there are many other by products available here such as the local durian paste cake (durian kuih), dried durian meat cracker, durian cream cake, coconut durian glutinous rice cake (dodol), durian ice cream, durian nian gao (glutinous rice cake available during Chinese New Year) served with shaved coconut, etc. Phew! There are just too many to mention here. For me, I love to have the seeds roasted or boiled until cooked. They tasted just like chestnuts. Wonderful!

However, when you have the King of Fruits, you would also have the Queen of Fruits during the season – Mangosteens (RM2/kg or RM5/3kg)! These proud looking tangy and peachy flavored ladies in deep purple dresses with Brazilian party like greenish headgears and white pinkish undergarments have been believed to be the antidote for those who had consumed too many of the “kings”. Its nutritious richness and antioxidant strength would surely compromise with the sugar level, carbohydrates, protein and fat that of durians. Isn’t it great to have the “cooling effect” of mangosteens versus the “bodily heatiness” of durians? But have a pair of watchful eyes when peeling as the purplish natural dye from the fruit might stain your attire terribly. The edible endocarp of the mangosteen would normally have few segments of so called wedges like flesh. The bigger ones would have seeds. At the bottom of the exocarp would be some embossed wheel spokes like ridges. That would determine the amount of “wedges” the fruit will have within.

Other than the kings and queens, we have the hairy like fruits called Rambutans (RM2/kg or RM5/3kg). These fruits may come in many colors such as red, yellow, reddish green, green (unripe) or maroon (shorter hair). The species sold here were from Balik Pulau, Penang. They have thinner skins with a much thicker coconut crunch like texture. The taste of rambutans would be somewhat different compared to other tropical fruit as it has a unique mild acidic sweetness. Some older generations might even pickle them in salt. It actually tasted real good as pickles. One advice for those with asthmatic or throat problems – Do not take the fruit with the skin from the seed intact. It would cause continuous irritation to the throat.

Another tropical fruit that would be quite famous, especially amongst the Malays would be the Buah Langsat (RM2/kg). These fruits are normally oval in shape and would come in bunch of 30 fruits or less. The yellow and leather like skin fruit has 5-6 peels of translucent juicy flesh inside. Just like the mangosteen, it has whitish like seed in bigger peels. As for taste, it has a sweet and slightly sour acidic flavor with a hint of bitterness if not fully ripened.

Last but not least my so called Prince of the Fruits – Cempedak (RM3/kg). The sausage like fruit practically grows on the trunk of the tree. The unique South East Asia native fruit has red, orange and yellow arils and taste somewhat like a stronger jackfruit with a hint of durian (without the intruding smell of course). I actually wanted the stronger and sweeter fruit with red arils but it would take a month or two more before they would be available. We ended up with the yellow ones which tasted just as great. Although some people would love to have them fresh, my favorite teatime snack would still be the double batter fried ones. Why double batter fried? The first batter dip would be to get the flesh cook and the next batter dip would get the seed within cooked well and to give that extra crunch. Just like the durian seed, the cempedak seed has the unique chestnut flavor but a bit softer than the former.

I would surely archive Ah Joo’s contact for the remaining months and also for years to come as this has been one of the great fruit stalls around. Even their Buffet Durian Promotion (5-10pax at RM25/adult and RM15/child) shone out amongst the rest as there will be unlimited supplies of branded durians for your consumption. If you feel like having a durian fiesta right in the comfort of your home, delivery service can be arranged for an order of more than 10 fruits. Do check out the delivery time below.

Finding the stall would not be hard if you know how to get to the Penang International Airport by using Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah. As you reach the airport entrance “Y” junction, turn right and go over the flyover into Jalan Bayan Lepas. Drive on until you have reached the Jalan Permatang Damar Laut junction. Drive straight until next prominent landmark which would be the Emerald Park/Krystal Country Homes on your left. Drive further until you see the Teluk Kumbar Mosque, Kampung Sungai Batu. Slow down and watch out for Ah Joo’s Durian Stall just a few meters away on your right next to Forever Star Electrical and Plumber Trading.

Name: Ah Joo Durian Stall
Branch Address: 1238 Jalan Bayan Lepas, 11900 Penang, Malaysia.
Contact: 017-422 2248 (Ah Joo), 012-453 1812 (Delivery-Kelly)
Business Hours: 10.00am-12.00am (daily)
Delivery: After 5.00pm (weekdays), business hours (weekends)
GPS: 5.285736, 100.238872

RATING:
Ambience: 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: 9/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 7/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 9/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

Invited Reviewers:
Criz, Cariso, Food Paradise, Steven Goh, Chan CW