CRIZ BON APPETITE

NOTE: This kiosk has ceased its operation at Prangin Mall, Penang.

You have heard about the term “Blogger”, a person who archives all his/her thoughts online through the mean of a weblog (weBLOG). Sometimes you might even come across people using the term “Flogger” which represents a Food Blogger but this is the first time I have known that someone had decided to name his café as Bloggers Café. Well, that would be a brilliant idea to gather bloggers under one roof. Presently, the management had decided to launch the Bloggers Café kiosk in Prangin Mall, Penang today prior to the official opening of their main headquarter in Maju Utama, Bukit Mertajam, Penang.

You might be asking what would they serve in their menu since it will be a café? Basically, to catch up with the trends of franchise companies such as J.Co Donuts, Big Apple Donuts and the newly open Krispy Kreme in Malaysia, they have decided to go into the donut business concept of producing sweet treats to the public. Since this is just a kiosk, you might not get the experience of seeing them making those donuts, buns and muffin. Instead, you will only get to watch the process of decorating the imported pastry (from HQ in BM of course). At the moment, they have 5 flavors such as rainbow colored rice candies, strawberries, blueberry, orange and lemon.

On top of those donuts, they have sweet and savory buns. Since it’s a pork-free establishment, it has chicken floss, chocolate crème, custard chocolate chips, canned pear slices and many more. They do serve muffin as well.

The packaging for the food items looked professionally designed but you have to take note that they do not provide you with plastic bags in case you have decided to purchase many boxes just like I did (Every single items in four large boxes :P). Well, who can resist promotions? For the first 2 days of their opening (25 & 26 April 2009), every items would be sold at only RM1 instead of the regular RM1.70 per item.

Here is the menu for the beverages and fruit juices as well.

I’m sure most of you would like to know my verdict towards the products since I’m more of a food critic, right? Firstly, I must admit I’m not a sweet tooth and sweet to me means overused of sugar for the product. To me, except for the chicken floss bun, every single item was extremely sweet. Moreover, the donut pastry was not fluffy and light at all. The donuts have heavier texture and compound. Thus, they would be suitable for those who would want something to fill up their stomach. Two were my maximum intake as I was full by then. There was nothing special about the buns either. They were of a different shape of dinner rolls, rough and dry. They did not combine well with any of the toppings/fillings. I would have expected the usage of more fine textured buns instead. The muffin tasted quite good except that I felt that it was a bit too moist if anyone were to store it for the next day’s consumption. Let alone what might happen if the muffin were to be left unrefrigerated in a hot and humid weather.

The kiosk is located at level one of Prangin Mall Atrium A (where Bread History, Secret Recipe, Starbucks, 7-ELEVEN, etc are). Use the main bubble lift to level 1. As you walk out of the lift, make two left turns and you will see the kiosk in between Pappa Roti and the police’s summons payment counter.

Name: BLOGGERS CAFE
Prangin Mall Kiosk:
Lot A1/K07A, 1st Floor, Atrium A, Prangin Mall,
33, Jalan Dr. Lim Chwee Leong, 10100 Penang, Malaysia.
Business Hours: 11.00am-9.00pm
Contact: 016-256 6336 (Mr. Jimmy Siew)
GPS: 5.414701, 100.3318971

Headquarters:
Bloggers Café Sdn. Bhd. (launching soon)
No.11 Lorong Maju Utama 1, Pusat Perniagaan Maju Utama,
14000 Bukit Mertajam.
Contact: 604-538 2525

RATING:
Ambience: 6/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 6.5/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 6/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 7/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 7/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

UPDATED 16 MARCH 2009: The Sam Hui Prangin Mall has ceased its operation and had moved to the ground floor of 1-Stop Midlands Park. Will the standard of the food still maintain as good as in Prangin Mall? You would have to find out yourself. 😛 (More updates on their main branch below – 15 February 2009)

The legendary 70’s Hong Kong actor/singer Samuel Hui (Sam Hui) has a food franchise business in Penang? Generally, this is what I have heard from some of the older generations around here. Well, the proprietor is definitely named Sam Hui, a Malaysian. You would not get him to sing to you with his unique voice or break any humor but he would surely impress you with his range of Hong Kong style cuisine. I have tried out one of the franchises recently and was really impressed by their choices of food, tastes, food presentations and pricing. It was in fact better than some of the known Hong Kong style restaurants around town.

The Hong Kong Style Tong Por Pork Rice (RM5.50) tasted real good. It may look like a plate of normal economy rice with some meat and vegetables but one bite into the sliced meat and you would be asking for more. The meat was nicely stewed until soft and tender with their special fragrant herbs and spices. It would just melt right in your mouth. It would have a stewed egg and some vegetable to balance off the meal.

Their Orange Fried Fish Rice (RM6.80) was also quite unique. It has quite a generous amount of deep fried tempura based fish slices cooked in mild spicy orange sauce and topped with mayonnaise, served with rice and accompanied with some salad. The taste would suit any ages.

You could also try out their Sharks Fin Gravy Rice (RM7). This is another wetter version of rice served with a generous amount of shark fins and fried baby anchovies. The gravy was nothing more than some rich broth with some beaten eggs. It tasted quite normal to me except that the fried anchovies did bring out some fragrance in the dish. Moreover, I was quite skeptical about the amount of shark fins given at such a low price. It could well be mock shark fins as the bite was not as chewy as the real ones. Well, at least some sharks were spared in this process. LOL!

I also tried out their Shanghai Noodles with Dried Tong Por Meat (RM5.50). The juicy meat slices were as great as mentioned above and the noodles blended in well with the Tong Por meat gravy and a hint of sesame oil. The Shanghai noodles tasted like a combination of ramen and pan mian. It has a springy sensation and tasted real nice.

You should also try out their salad and lighter snacks such as the fried and soup based dumplings, spring rolls combined with different salad dressings. I quite like the Deep Fried Breadstick with Pineapple Salad (RM6.80). Each piece of the sliced breadstick or commonly know as You Tiao or Chinese Crullers were stuffed with some prawn paste and deep fried until golden. The crunchy yet delicious breadstick slices (10 pieces) were then laid on some fresh green lettuce and topped with some pineapple salad and fresh carrot strips. This is a must to have.

The café do also serve Siew Long Bao (Little Basket Dumpling – 6pcs) for a mere RM9. Each piece of the dumpling contained some soup with seasoned minced meat mixed with some chopped Chinese celery. Watch out when you take these dumplings as you might spurt some of the juices at your friend. LOL! Anyway, I found those served here to be quite fine except for the minced meat which has a bit too much of corn starch added, making the meat a bit too soft. On top of that, the accompanied black vinegar with ginger strips was a bit too diluted for my liking.

The café do not have many choices for desserts as there were only three options such as Sweetened Barley with Egg and Tofu Skin (RM3), Red Bean Paste (RM3) and Fruit Cocktail with Herbal Jelly (RM3.50). I managed to try out the Sweetened Barley with Egg and Tofu Skin. The barley broth was mildly sweetened with rock sugar, accompanied with some barley grains, dried tofu skin and a hard boiled egg. This is an ideal dessert for a hot and humid weather.

Overall, the place served some good food at a reasonable price and without any taxes added onto your bill. They also have a few unique ice blended juices such as Markisa (Indonesian Passion Fruit) and Red Plum for you to try out. There are just too many items to introduce here. I will just attach their order menu to let you have a better idea of what they have. You can just click the photo to see the enlarged version.

Although the location of the café was at a secluded area of the mall, it’s actually quite easy to find the place. Try to find your way to Prangin Mall Atrium A (where Bread History, Secret Recipe, Starbucks, 7-ELEVEN, etc are). Use the main bubble lift to level 2. Look out for the striking S&J orange signboard or Digi yellow and blue signboard. Immediately after these two shoplots, you would see the café located along an inner lane between the Chocolate Gift & Souvenir and Glantz shoplots.

Name: SAM HUI CAFE
Prangin Mall Branch:
Level 2-30, Atrium A, Prangin Mall-Komtar,
33, Jalan Dr. Lim Chwee Leong, 10100 Penang, Malaysia.
Opening Hours: 11.30am-9.00pm
Contact: 016-453 0350 (Mr. Kelvin Khor)
GPS: 5.414814, 100.331286

You can also check out their main branch located within the 1-Stop Midlands Park Centre in Pulau Tikus. Just walk into the main entrance of the mall (Jalan Burma). The café is at level 2 on your left.

1-Stop Midlands Park Branch:
488B-2-26, Level 2, 1-Stop Midlands Park Centre
Jalan Burma, 10350 Penang, Malaysia.
Opening Hours: 11.30am-9.00pm
Contact: 016-458 2979 (Mr. Sam Chong)
GPS: 5.433139, 100.306547

UPDATED 15 February 2009: I thought after having some reasonably nice food at their Prangin Mall branch, the food at the main branch would be even better. My whole family was extremely disappointed with the taste and quality of the food served here. It was real embarrassing to me. To me, it should not the main excuse of us being the earliest patrons there. Moreover, the rude service of certain staff had added to the wound.

The five of us had ordered 5 different dishes and none of those ordered met our expectations. The taste for Shanghai Noodles with Tong Por Meat (RM5.50) was totally different compared to the one I took from the other branch which was filled with flavors. Except for the Shanghai noodles, the meat was hard and the gravy was so diluted with hardly any herb taste in it. The Kimchi Noodles (RM5.50) was a disaster. The wantan noodles used was soggy and the soup was rather tasteless except for the mild chili flavor. The Guangdong Crispy Noodles (RM5.50) was still fine but it was not the best around. It lacked of fragrant. The Pork Rib Rice (RM6.00) was a laugh. It was merely some sliced pieces of pork chop and it was so chili hot that it won’t fit the taste bud of a child. It’s supposed to be sweet and sour and not sweet and spicy. The last order which was Hong Kong Style Roasted Pork Rice (RM5.50) got me dumbfounded. I expected the dish to be somewhat different in taste but ended up with some roasted pork slices fried with fermented beans. I could have cooked that myself instead of visiting a restaurant just for that.

Overall, the food here is way below par compared to any of those roadside stir fry stalls. I would expect the café to look into a better qualified chef than to simply serve the public with such kind of food. If the other branch can provide quality food, why can’t the main branch? I might be wrong in this review but with two seasoned cooks, one elderly father and two children complaining, something is just not right. The menu here was slightly different with an additional 10 set meals priced at RM15. You can click to enlarge the menu below.

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: 4.5/10 (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)

Some of the shoppers might not know that there is a Thai restaurant hidden in the more low traffic area of Prangin Mall, Penang. The restaurant, Thai Station Café & Restaurant at Atrium A of Prangin Mall is actually a subsidiary company of the HK Wong Kok Group of Restaurants. There’s a branch of HK Wong Kok at Level 3, Atrium B, Prangin Mall too.

Whenever I’m in Prangin Mall, I would drop by for some food or just savor some of their Thai desserts. Although this is not the best Thai restaurant in town due to their fusion way of preparing some of the dishes, this could be a great place for a quiet discussion. I have tried out a large number of their dishes even before I started my flood blogging such as their Kway Teow Nger (Beef Koay Teow Soup – RM7.30), Khow Phad Krapi (Shrimp Paste aka Belacan Fried Rice – RM7.50), Phad Thai (Thai Fried Koay Teow – RM7.50) and so on.

The recent one I had was their Phad See Eu (Stir Fried Hor Fun with Kailan aka mustard greens – RM7.50). The noodle was smooth but the mustard greens were a bit too old and fibrous. Luckily with a big serving and lots of pork slices make the overall taste quite passable.

My friend ordered the Khow Phad Subprarod (Pineapple Fried Rice – RM6). It has a slightly spicy look compared to those we get from the local hawker stalls. I guessed they might have added some turmeric powder to make it so yellowish. As for taste, it’s just slightly above average although it had quite a lot of raisins, pineapples and chick chunks in the dish.

We also tried out their Hor Mouk (Fish Mousse aka Fish Otak Otak – RM3.50). The fresh piece of fish fillet and the combination of spices were great. The only hiccup is that they did not use any wild betel leaves (daun kaduk) at the base, instead they used lots of Thai basil leaves (daun selasih). To me it’s fine as I love the unique taste of green curry. It might not be suitable for some.

For dessert, my friend ordered the Tub Tim Krob (diced water chestnuts coated with red starch jellies, somewhat like the seeds of a pomegranate, diced jack fruits and served with sweetened coconut milk – RM3.90). The taste was great as it’s not too sweet as those I had taken in Thailand.

I ordered their Ruam Mid (diced water chestnuts coated with red starch jellies, diced glass jellies aka leong fun, attap seeds in syrup – RM3.90). The taste is just mediocre.

Overall, the food there is just slightly above average to my liking as I had got my taste bud accustomed to somewhat more authentic Thai cuisines. By the way, they do charge a 5% service tax. If you are in Prangin Mall, Penang, walk towards the entrance of the Parkson Grand Supermarket at Level 1, Atrium A. There are actually two entrances at each floor. If you cannot see the restaurant, it means you are at the wrong entrance. Try moving to the next entrance.

Name: THAI STATION @ PRANGIN MALL
Address:
33-01-118A, 1st Floor, Prangin Mall, Jalan Dr. Lim Chwee Leong, 10100 Penang, Malaysia.
Opening Hours:
12.00pm – 9.00pm
Contact: 604-262 8080
GPS: 5.414464, 100.331683

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: 7/10 (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)

I was at Prangin Mall few days back and had lunch with one of my friends during his lunch break. We decided to drop by Home Recipe Food Corner since the set meals there looked reasonable with a net price of not more RM14. Set meals meant to be fast right? But that wasn’t the treatment we had received. With the limited one hour of lunch time, we had to forgo the desserts and yet paid for the same amount. I will tell you the reasons at the end of the post.

The set meals came with free drinks, one Iced Lemon Tea and one Lime Juice. Both tasted extremely sweet. It’s bad for those healthy conscious people.

Next came the soup of the day – Mushroom Soup. The soups were diluted but yet edible. I doubt that it is made from some secret home recipes.

Here were the main courses we had – Cheese Satay Chicken Chop (RM13.90 set) and Sour Plum Chicken Chop (RM12.90 set). The Cheese Satay Chicken Chop presentation was real impressive with baked cheese on top but the taste was just normal. Nothing special and the chicken chop size was rather small. The Sour Plum Chicken Chop on the other hand was also the same, nothing special. I guessed the chef did not marinate the meat before hand.

As for the desserts, we had some problems with that. It was to be fresh cut fruits and a scoop of ice cream. We waited almost 25 minutes after the main course but we were not served at all. I was rather irritated by their service. 3 staff and a chef but no one served us. Not that the place is extremely big not to notice us. One staff was busy checking out the latest fashion trend opposite the shop. One was busy chatting with the other and the chef did not even push them to check on the completion the customer’s set meals.

My advice to the boss, do not get school boys and girls to handle your business if they are not serious at all. You may lose your business. After all, they only realized about their faults after we had decided to pay and leave for work. So what would you choose? Take the delayed serving of desserts or get a black record in your company for coming back late? As for my recommendation on this place, I won’t advice at all unless you are extremely hungry to consume the whole set courses and with ample time in hand.

Name: HOME RECIPE FOOD CORNER
Address: Level 3, Atrium A, Prangin Mall, Penang, Malaysia.
Opening Hours: 12.00noon – 9.30pm
GPS: 5.414534, 100.331290

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: 5/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 6/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 2/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)