CRIZ BON APPETITE

As you know, Penang is the Food Paradise of Malaysia. What would you do if you want to try out something cheap, nice and yet not too filling? There are many options but you can always try out one of the local delicacies called Fried Koay Kak (Fried Rice Cake), which is made out of rice flour added with some water and some seasonings. The mixture would then be steamed until you get a white and soft rice cake. The cake would then be cut into cubes using a mesh wire frame before the actual frying. This is how it would look like when mixed with some dark soy sauce in a large pan.

There is one stall along Lebuh Carnarvon that served one of the cheapest Fried Koay Kak in town from as low as RM1.50 (small). You can opt for either chicken or duck eggs. I would recommend the Fried Koay Kak with Duck Egg (RM2.50). Somehow, the duck egg has that special flavor that made the dish even better. I love to frequent this stall as the lady is one of the more pleasant and generous one around. She would ask you if the ingredients such as the preserved turnip (chai po) or bean sprouts would be enough for your consumption or whether you would need more chili paste and chives. That’s what I call VIP treatment. 🙂

I would say the price to try out this dish is cheap. Just look at the price list. If you are adventurous enough, you can always try out another version of the recipe which is the Fried Radish Koay Kak (Char Chai Tau Koay).

It’s really very easy to find the stall. The stall is at café is just diagonally opposite the Te Chang You Tiao Wang stall which I wrote about earlier. If you are coming from Jalan Dr. Lim Chwee Leong along Prangin Mall, you will pass by two traffic lights. Keep left and drive on to the second traffic light. Wan Lee Brothers (toys wholesaler) is on the left. Turn left into Lebuh Carnarvon and drive until the end of the road. You would pass by a police station on you left and then a market after a junction (Lebuh Carnarvon/Pesara Claimant). Drive on. You would reach another junction (Lebuh Carnarvon/Lebuh Campbell). Drive on. Try to find a parking space here. The stall is just on your left hand side at the end of this street (Lebuh Carnarvon/Lebuh Chulia).

Name: CARNARVON STREET FRIED KOAY KAK
Address: Carnarvon Street, 10050 Penang, Malaysia.
Opening Hours: 8.30pm-1.00am (Closed Wednesday & Thursday)
GPS: 5.393019, 100.276342

RATING:
Ambience: 6/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 4/10 (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: 8/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

NOTE: THIS RESTAURANT HAS CEASED OPERATION BUT THE PUB IS STILL IN OPERATION

If I mention about Restoran Zim Sum along Jalan Anson or its sister companies, Town Steamboat Restaurant and Dim Sum Food Restaurant along Jalan Macalister, most Penangites would know about them. What about another sister company by the name of 7’S (Seven Sister) Café & Restaurant just a few blocks away along Jalan Nanning? Quite a number of people who passes by this nice bungalow lot would think that it’s just another pub in town. You are wrong as this place served one of the cheapest set lunches in town.

I was there to try out their set menu recently and found their food quality to be real impressive at the price I was paying. The set menu came in 3 categories – Noodle Soup & Pasta Set (RM7.80nett), 4-course Western Set (RM14.80nett) and Rice Set (RM10.80nett). All sets will come with a Dessert of the Day (Ice Cream) and a Drink of the Day (Iced Lemon Tea, Soft Drink, Coffee or Tea).

Since there were only two of us there for lunch, we tried out two of the set meals. I had the Western set which also included Appetizer of the Day (Classic Caesar Salad) and Soup of the Day (Fresh Mushroom Soup). The salad portion was big and has a few fried sausages in it.

The Fresh Mushroom Soup was great too with lots of mushroom slices in it. It might not be the best around but it was quite creamy and tasty.

I get to select my main meal from a list which comprised of Grilled Chicken Chop with Mushroom Sauce, Pan Fried Salmon Steak with Lemon Cream Sauce and Black Pepper Grilled Lamb Chop. I opted for the latest. I did not regret ordering this dish as the presentation was marvelous and the black pepper sauce was thick and tasty. There were lots of potato wedges and greens hidden under 3 big pieces of juicy medium rare grilled lamb meat.

Dessert of the Day was next. It was just a plain scoop of Strawberry Ice Cream. Who would want to complain? That was a bonus!

My friend on the other hand tried the Rice Set thinking that it would be small serving. He chose the Seafood Japanese Tofu from a list of dishes which also included Stir Fried Chicken with Dried Chilies, Sweet & Sour Fish Fillet, 7’S Homemade Steamed Chicken in Ginger Sauce and Fried Lamb Cubes in Teriyaki Sauce. The dish came in a clay pot with lots of Japanese Tofu and mixed seafood. The gravy was nice.

A large bowl of rice with an omelette above and some fresh tomato slices was accompanied with the dish. Dessert followed.

I would surely drop in to try out their Noodle Soup and Pasta sets when I am down that area again. The list of food listed such as Egg Noodles in Homemade Abalone Soup, Yellow Noodles in Homemade Light Ginger Soup, Spaghetti with Grilled Chicken, and Spaghetti with Grilled Dory Fish was quite impressive.

This place also does provide Happy Hour from as early as 4pm until 9pm.

Moreover, there’s a public karaoke area for you to sing your heart out until 3am in the morning.

If you are coming from KOMTAR area (Jalan Magazine and Jalan Dato Kramet) into Jalan Macalister, you would see its sister companies, Town Steamboat Restaurant and Dim Sum Food Restaurant on your left. Drive on and turn into the second junction (Lebuh Nanning) on your left. You will see a big white bungalow with red trims on your right. The famous Lorong Seratus Tahun curry mee is just opposite this restaurant.

Name: 7’S (SEVEN SISTER) CAFE & RESTAURANT
Address: 26 Lebuh Nanning, 10400 Penang, Malaysia.
Contact: 604-228 2653
Opening Hours:
Restaurant: 11.30am – 3.00pm, 6.30pm-10.00pm
Pub: 4.00pm-3.00am (Karaoke), 4.00pm-9.00pm (Happy Hours)
GPS: 5.415253, 100.322270

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: 8.5/10 (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)

Note: This food court is no longer in operation.

For those who frequent the Georgetown area for food, you would have noticed that there’s a chain of food court by the name of Neww BT Food Court popping up at many places on Penang island as well as some places at the mainland. These food courts are big and have many choices of food available. I have been testing out majority of the food at both the Weld Quay outlet as well as the Burmah Road outlet but to date have barely found one stall that really gave me that oomph for repeat visits.

For the past few weeks, I have been sitting down at the Burmah Road outlet to identify which are those stalls that had the most orders and tried them out. To my conclusion, most of those ordered dishes were barely up to the standard. Maybe I could be wrong as taste bud is something that differs from individuals but from the leftovers on the plates and bowls that I had noticed, I might not be the only one that had the taste problem. Let me share with you my experiences at the food court.

Some people might consider presentation skill of a dish important. As for me, I would rather have tastier food rather than the presentation. Better still, I would prefer if the restaurant or hawker can provide both. I tried out two of the Western dishes on one occasion.

The presentation on the Black Pepper Chicken Chop (RM7.50) plate was impressive. It had some turmeric colored oil and dark soy sauce as presentation. Even the main meal itself was beautifully presented as you would get from a fine dining restaurant or a 5-star hotel. The most noticeable problem on this dish is the choice of batter and the chicken meat. The crust was too thick and hard and the meat was too soft. There wasn’t any taste or springy texture of a chicken meat bite. Worst still, the black pepper gravy was so diluted and does not have any pepper taste or saltiness in it. This is totally disastrous!

The Grilled Chicken (RM7.50) had the same problem as the dish above. The taste is totally bland and burnt. You can see how burnt the piece of meat is. The bottom section was even worst with almost 50% was burnt. The recommended gravy was also bad. No sweetness, saltiness or even sourness in it. Moreover, it’s also rather diluted. This was the worst Western dish I had taken in ages.

Luckily the Pasembur (mixed fritters with boiled potatoes, egg with shredded cucumber and jicama/yambean/sengkuang – RM5) saved the day. At least all the ingredient that I had chosen plus the gravy was quite acceptable although not the best around.

The two piece of Poh Piah (thin Asian wheat flour crepe with shredded jicama filling) ordered was a disappointment. I expected something better for the RM3 paid. It ended up soggy, tasteless with hardly any filling. There was not even a single piece of crabmeat in it. Each roll has only barely noticeable mashed bean curd and some minced meat. I felt so cheated!

The next dish was a joke. Baked Cheese Seafood Macaroni was priced at RM9. I expected to see at least some reasonable amount of seafood presented but all I got was barely one button mushroom, less than half a artificial crabstick, 3 pieces of broccoli, four medium sized prawns, a large amount of macaroni pasta with some crushed oregano sprinkled on top. There was hardly any cheese taste and the sauce was sour and diluted. I did not even finish this dish as it was too tasteless for me.

I saw quite a number of people ordering the Ampang Yong Tau Foo (mixed fish balls, meat balls, tofu related by products and vegetables of your choice – RM5) served with Yam Rice (RM1). When the dish was served, it was always my style to try out the soup first. First taste was quite fine but rather too mild considering that all the richness from the ingredients and the seaweed that I had chosen would have left some sweetness in the soup. The ingredients were like, “Gosh! How long have they boiled them? There wasn’t any taste in every single one!”

The Yam Rice looked great with all the loose grains with some pieces of yam but the dish was extremely cold. Now you get what I meant about great presentation? The rice was totally inedible. Not only was the rice tasteless, it didn’t even have the fragrance from the soy sauce or dried shrimps in it. I had to force myself to finish it.

There are many other stalls selling Pei Pa Duck Rice, Braised Duck Herb Noodles, Curry Chicken Rice, Fried Belacan Chicken, Satay, Wan Than Mee, Hokkien Mee, Portugese BBQ, Char Hor Fun, Koay Teow Th’ng, etc that I had not tried to comment more. One thing I had noticed, these few stalls were not getting orders as they should. I guessed the consumers would know better right?

If you are coming from Jalan Penang into Jalan Burma, drive on until you reach the second traffic lights at Jalan Burmah and Jalan Anson/Jalan Larut junction. BMW Showroom is on your left and Giant Supermarket if on your right. Drive straight amd keep to your right. You can see the food court on your right. Drive into Jalan Arratoon and find a parking space within the ample car park provided by the management.

Name: NEWW BT FOOD COURT @ BURMAH ROAD
Address: Jalan Burma, 10050 Penang, Malaysia.
Opening Hours: 9.00am – 2.00am
GPS: 5.422672, 100.323300

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: 5.5/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 7/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 6/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

The Malay version of chicken rice is totally different compared to the Hainanese Chicken Rice. Instead of roasting with some sauce on the outer layer of the chicken, they would coat the chicken pieces with a thin layer of batter and deep fried them until they become crispy. One of the nicer ones which I had recently was from a stall within the surrounding of the Penang City Stadium along Lorong Kulit. The stall has been there since 1995, serving their yummy chicken rice to all walks of people. The name of the stall is Rosli Nasi Ayam.

You have a choice of ordering the different parts of the chicken meat but as for me I would always like to have the chicken thigh. The Chicken Rice set will come with a large bowl of rice and a bowl of soup and it only cost me RM3.50. Surprisingly, the meat within the crispiness of the batter still maintained its tenderness and was very delicious.

As for photography purposes, I requested for the specially prepared soy sauce and chili sauce to be separated. The rice which is fragrant and not dry at all also came with a bowl of chicken soup garnished with some sliced lettuce and fried onions.

If you are driving from Georgetown towards Air Itam along Jalan Dato Kramat, you will reach a traffic light (The Patani Road Police Headquarter is on your left). Drive on until you have reached the second traffic light (Padang Brown is on your right). Drive on until you see another traffic light (Maybank is on your left). Turn left into Lorong Kulit and you will see the stall at the junction of Lorong Kulit and Persiaran Stadium. This place is where the City Stadium is and has a flea market from as early as 8.00am until 1.00pm.

Name: ROSLI NASI AYAM @ LORONG KULIT
Address: Lorong Kulit, 10460 Penang, Malaysia.
Opening Hours: 8.00am – 3.00pm
Contact: 016-433 2517 (Kak Min)
GPS: 5.412817, 100.313233

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: 8/10 (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)

You may not know but there are about 13 dim sum shops in Georgetown area alone. Some are newly established with great ambience and choices, whereas there are still a few older but well established ones that regulars would still frequent. One such shop ios the Yong Pin Restaurant located along Jalan Sungai Ujung, Penang. Instead of covering on the not-so-many varieties but delicious dim sum they have, let me share with you their yummy noodles.

One such noodles that I have not seen from other dim sum shop is their Fried Duck Yee Foo Noodles (RM5.50). The yee foo noodles dish was great with all the gravy from the stewed duck seeped right inside the noodles, making the whole combination very tasty. The restaurant only serves this wonderful dish on Friday and Saturday.

Another noodle dish that’s worth mentioning is the Hong Tu Wo Mian (RM5). It came with some yee foo noodles cooked in some thick soup, somewhat like the sharksfin soup. It had some pork, prawns and beaten eggs in it. You can add in some black vinegar if you want it to be more sourly. The dish tasted great too.

The next dish we ordered was the Sheng Mian (RM5). The crispy noodles was actually fried wan than noodles which were topped with some gravy, prawns, fish slices, pork slices and vegetables. This is another dish worth eating.

Most of you might not be aware of Sunday Metro’s SMS Pick of the Best Dim Sum in Malaysia as published on 6 July 2008. Yong Pin Restaurant was voted as one of the top choices in Penang, as highlighted.

This restaurant sure did provide some great authentic dim sum such as the Black Vinegar Pork Legs, Broiled Fried Chicken Legs, Fried Paper Wrapped Chicken and so on. Although the varieties are not as many as those bigger dim sum shops, there are quite a few of their steam as well as fried dim sum that’s worth trying out.

Of all the dim sum that I had in this shop, I would never miss out their Prawn Rolls and Fried Water Chestnut Cake. The Fried Water Chestnut Cake is soft and fragrant with lots of finely sliced water chestnuts inside while the outer layer has a bit of crispiness. I would have two to three plates on each visit as I find them to be not overly sweet. Do try them out if you ever visit this place.

If you are coming from Jalan Penang into Jalan Dr. Lim Chwee Leong (road leading to KOMTAR/Prangin Mall), keep to your left and turn into the second road on your left which is Jalan Sungai Ujung. Find a parking space as the shop is just on your right along a row of shop houses.

Name: YONG PIN RESTAURANT
Address: 11-B&C, Jalan Sungai Ujung, 10100 Penang, Malaysia.
Opening Hours:
6.00am – 12.00pm, 7.00pm – 12.00am (Closed Monday)
Contact: 604-261 1355
GPS: 5.415989, 100.332175

RATING:
Ambience: 6/10 (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: 7/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 8/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

If you are in Georgetown area, you could always try out the kampung style cooking at Restoran Azizah, a subsidiary restaurant of the famous Restoran Mak Long in Bayan Lepas. This little Malay restaurant serves quite a variety of Malay dishes with rice at a very reasonable price. Some of the vegetable dishes would be as low as RM3.00, whereas fish would be charged according to market price. If you do not want to have rice with dishes, you could always order their fried rice and noodles which won’t cost you more than RM4, unless you order their special which would be RM1 additional.

Here are some of the dishes I had tried out in this restaurant. The Tom Yam Udang or Prawn Tom Yam (RM4) has 6 medium sized prawns, some fresh mushrooms and tomatoes. The dish was quite tasty and appetizing to start the meal.

Next was the Sotong Goreng or Squid Fritters (RM4). The flour used was of a different kind. They were using plain flour which did not give the crunchiness I had expected. That was quite a disappointment.

Sayur Campur or Mixed Vegetables (RM3.50) was next. Nothing to fuss or boast about as they did give quite a lot of squid slices there.

I also tried out their Telur Bungkus or Wrapped Omelette with Minced Chicken (RM4). There were quite a lot of minced chicken, chopped onions and mixed vegetables cooked with a touch of tomato puree wrapped inside the omelette. This dish is normal but at least the filling and the omelette blended in quite nicely.

As I saw many customers ordered their set fried rice, I decided to try out their Nasi Goreng Padprik Ayam or Padprik Chicken Fried Rice (RM4). I was impressed by the generous amount of chicken meat and vegetables given, considering the amount I had paid. As for the taste, it was a new experience as the gravy from the dishes blended in very nicely with the fried tomato rice.

I was chatting with the person-in-charge of the restaurant on what were the most ordered dishes in the restaurant. He recommended me the above fried rice as well as the Nasi Goreng Special (RM5) which has a few more seafood added in. Maybe I can try that next time.

If you are coming from Jalan Penang into Jalan Burma, keep to your right and turn into the second road on your right which is Jalan Transfer. Drive on until you have reached the third junctions on your left (Jalan Dinding). That’s where the restaurant is located. You can always park your car along Jalan Dinding.

Name: RESTORAN AZIZAH (RESTORAN MAK LONG)
Address: 162, Jalan Transfer, 10050 Penang, Malaysia.
Opening Hours: 4.00pm – 1.30am
Contact: 604-641 4450 (Restoran Mak Long)
GPS: 5.419714, 100.330077

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

Name:
BRAISED BEEF BRISKET WAN THAN MEE
@ KEDAI KOPI KEAN LAI SENG
Address: 55, Lorong Kampung Malabar, 10200 Penang, Malaysia.
Opening Hours: 11.00am – 8.00pm (Closed Monday)
GPS: 5.419103, 100.332319

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

Name: JIT SENG HONG KONG ROASTED DUCK RICE @ STAR HOTEL
Address: 246, Lebuh Carnarvon, 10100 Penang, Malaysia.
Contact: 604-262 2172 (Mr. Lam)
Opening Hours: 12.00pm – 3.00pm (Closed Public Holidays)
GPS: 5.414319, 100.333386

RATING:
Ambience: 7/10 (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: 6/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 7/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

Please note that this Hainan Chicken Rice stall remained in the same coffee house but the whole place has been renovated under the new ownership of Yummy Cafe.

Name: KOWLOON HAINAN CHICKEN RICE (Opposite Red Rock Hotel)
Address: 97, Jalan Macalister, 10400 Penang, Malaysia.
Contact: 016-455 8825 (Ah San)
Opening Hours: 10.30am – 3.00pm (Closed Tuesday)
GPS: 5.416585, 100.323029

RATING:
Ambience: 7/10 (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)

Name: MEE MANJA
Address: 1F Jalan Hutton, 10050 Penang, Malaysia.
Opening Hours: 6.00pm – 11.00pm (Closed on Tuesday)
Contact: 016-480 3568 (Encik Aman)
GPS: 5.419022, 100.331483

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