CRIZ BON APPETITE

It’s time of the year for you to experience a wonderful blend of exquisite cuisine and exhilarating entertainment to celebrate your Christmas 2019 at the Straits Café & Lounge @ Ixora Hotel, Bandar Perai Jaya, Penang, with sumptuous gourmet dining, lucky draw, meet and greet with Santa Clause and Ixora’s mascot Hitam San. Table reservations are highly recommended. Call +604-382 8888 or email info@ixorahotel.com for further enquires.

Festive season promotion details as below:

Christmas Eve Buffet Dinner
24th December 2019, 7.00pm until 10.30pm
Selling price at RM98+ (Adult) and RM58+ (Child)
Promotion: Buy 4 Free 1 (Adult only, full payment before 20th Dec 2019)

Christmas Day Buffet Lunch
25th December 2019, 12.00noon until 2.30pm
Selling price at RM68+ (Adult) and RM42+ (Child)
Promotion: Buy 4 Free 1 (Adult only, full payment before 20th Dec 2019)

There would also be a lucky draw to diners to participate. You may be one of the diners to win a 3D2N stay at Holiday Villa Beach Resort & Spa in Langkawi, Kedah.

Some of the marvelous buffet spreads during the Christmas Eve Buffet Dinner would include oven-baked vegetable lasagna, baked cheese oyster, pan-seared sea bass with firecracker sauce, seafood paella, specially prepared lobster bisque and creamy mushroom soup, barbecued lamb, chicken, beef and flower crap, mouthwatering slow-roasted farm turkey with cranberry sauce and condiments, the freshest seafood on ice and plenty more along with a wonderful chocolate fountain and selection of Christmas’s traditional and contemporary desserts. You could also taste your way through their list of house-pouring wines from Australia, handpicked for your indulgence at only RM15+ per glass or RM80+ per bottle.

Expect to savor the lavish Christmas Day Buffet Lunch too with a fine selection of buffet spreads such as cold cut platter along with delicate main course including the wild honey chicken wing, beef tacos, grilled lamb with herbs butter & rosemary alongside the chef’s special slow roasted farm turkey. Be spoilt for choice of dessert buffet which offers specialties such as Christmas pudding, traditional Christmas Yule log cake, sugee fruits cake, chocolate tart, assorted Christmas cookies and pastries.

There are also some festival delicacies such as roasted turkey with condiments and cakes dine-in and takeaway as below.

Christmas Roasted Turkey:
The Roasted Turkeys come with traditional stuffing, sautéed vegetables and roasted potatoes, making it a complete, delicious and satisfying meal.

Whole Turkey – RM389+
Half Turkey – RM275+
Quarter Turkey – RM150+

Note: Deposit with 3 days pre-order is required and would be available for dine-in or take-away.

Christmas Bakery:
Check out the specially crafted cakes prepared by our talented pastry chefs.

Berry Christmas Cheese Cake – RM89+ (500gm)
Wreath Chilled Cheese – RM98+ (500gm)

Note: 2 days pre-order is required and would be available for dine-in or take-away.

Getting to The Straits Café @ Ixora Hotel won’t be hard as it’s just located next to the Megamall Shopping Complex at Bandar Perai Jaya. If you are coming from the island via the 1st Penang Bridge, just look out for the second exit on your left upon reaching the mainland. Drive all the way via Jalan Baru until you reach the 1st traffic lights. Turn left into Jalan Perai Jaya 1 and you can see Ixora Hotel at the junction of Jalan Baru/Jalan Perai Jaya 1. Drive straight for about 10m and you can see the basement car park on your right. Park your car and go up Level 1 and you can see the café & lounge there.

Name: STRAITS CAFÉ & LOUNGE @ IXORA HOTEL
Address: Jalan Baru, Bandar Perai Jaya, 13600 Perai, Penang, Malaysia.
Contact: 604-382 8888
Business Hours: 6.00am-10.00am (breakfast), 12.00pm-2.30pm (Lunch), 6.00pm-10.00pm (Dinner)
GPS: 5.378357, 100.398322

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

It has been quite some time since I had good Bak Kut Teh (BKT) in Penang ever since the closures of my favorite BKT stall right in the heart of Georgetown, Penang. After months of hunting around Penang for a BKT stall that would suit my taste bud, I finally found one. The treasured discovery was not located within the island itself but over at the mainland Penang. Moreover, it was not even any stall from our local Penang Bak Kut Teh community but a newly born 6 months old branch of one of the famous traditional Bak Kut Teh outlet from Klang, Selangor, birth place of Bak Kut Teh. Welcome to the newly opened branch of Restoran Ki Xiang.

Bak Kut Teh (as spoken in Hokkien/肉骨茶) is literally translated as “Pork Bone Tea” in English. It’s actually a variant of rich herbal soup cooked with different meaty bone parts of bones. Firstly introduced locally in the 19th century by the Chinese workers in the then Malaya, it was to be a tonic dish to supplement the under nutrition diet of the coolies but eventually it became a dish for general health for everyone especially those within the Klang Valley population. It is believed that there are still about 400 outlets of Bak Kut Teh stalls remaining there today.

There are three versions of Bak Kut Teh (BKT) in Malaysia – the Teochew style which has a more peppery taste and lighter in soup color, the Hokkien style which is saltier with a darker color from the soy sauce used and the Cantonese style which has more herbs and spices added for a stronger medicinal value. The version served in Restoran Ki Xian has gone through 3 generations with a soup base that has thicker and stronger herb taste. Moreover, the soup was not as overpowering as most of the shops out there. Just look at my one person mixed meat clay pot (RM8) with lots of free tofu puffs and tofu sticks plus enokitake (金針菇/golden needle mushroom – RM4). There were so many choice pieces of meat in the clay pot and yet the price was barely half of those BKT found on the island. It’s extremely value for money dining here. One note… If you intend to add in the enoki mushrooms into your pot, you might get a slightly altered taste as these mushrooms would make the soup having some sour after taste. That would have killed the original taste of the soup. Try asking them to serve you that in a separate bowl. I’m sure they would be obliged to any customer request.

On top of the accompanied tofu puffs and sticks, here are some of the meaty parts you can request – streaky pork ribs (五花骨), spare ribs (排骨), big marrow bones (大骨), small marrow bones (小骨), cartilage (軟骨), lean meat (瘦肉), fatty meat (肥肉), semi fatty meat (半肥肉), (pork trotters (豬腳), pork knuckles (豬腳彎), pig’s tail (豬尾), pig’s stomach (豬肚) and pork intestines (豬腸). There would also be more add ons for tofu sticks (豆腐乾) and enoki mushrooms (金針菇). In case you would like to have specific bone parts, you can always order individual bowls at RM8 each. Here are the uncut versions of all the parts they have.

Klang’s serving of rice would be different compared to what you normally get in our local BKT stalls. Instead of the normal steam white rice, dark soy sauce oil rice or even yam rice, the restaurant here served steam white rice mixed with fried shallots and oil. It’s only RM1 per large bowl or 50sen for a smaller portion.

Even the boiled lettuce would not have the normal meat floss or fried lard with oil garnishing. It’s just a simple plate of Boiled Lettuce (油菜) with some oyster sauce and fried shallots garnishing at RM6 per plate. To me, it’s healthy enough for everyone.

Chinese Crullers or You Tiao (油條) would surely come with each BKT meal. For only RM1, you can get a large bowl here.

As for the condiments, they have chopped garlic, cili padi (bird eye chili), soy sauce and dark say sauce. The chopped chilies sure tasted better than the normal sliced ones as each piece of meat would be covered with an evenly spread spiciness.

Well, what I had mentioned above was not the award winning dish I had been yearning for ever since I was first introduced to an established BKT stall in Klang last year. After trying out so many of the so called dry Klang style BKT from the island as well as mainland Penang, none can please my satisfaction other than the heavenly taste of the dry BKT here. Priced at only RM8 too, you can choose whatever meat parts you like and the chef would simmer them dry in a clay pot with a handful of dried chilies, cuttlefish strips, lady’s fingers slices, dark soy sauce and some of their thick BKT stock. One bite and you would want more. It’s the best of the best so far. This is a must order if you happen to drop by the Megamall area. You can even check out their other branches in Bandar Baru, Bukit Tinggi and Ampang.

Finding the restaurant would be easy if you know your way to the Seberang Perai Megamall. After you exit from the Penang Bridge toll, drive all the way until you see the third exit on your left. Turn left and that would lead you to into Jalan Baru. Megamall is just slightly further away on your left. Slow down and watch out for the first left turning. Turn into Jalan Perai Jaya 3 and drive until the end and turn right. Drive until the end and you would see the big blue roofed Pasar Awam Megamall on your left. That’s where Restoran Ki Xiang is located. To get back to the island, use the road opposite the complex (Jalan Perai Jaya 5) and follow the flow until you see the second traffic light. Turn left and you would see the route to the Butterworth Jetty Terminal (overhead bridge longer way, underpass via expressway with toll) or turn right towards Penang Bridge.

Name: RESTORAN KI XIANG @ PASAR AWAM MEGAMALL
Address: Jalan Perai Jaya 3, Taman Perai Jaya, 13700 Perai, Penang, Malaysia.
Contact: 016-295 5546, 016-313 8993
Business Hours: 9.00am-10.00pm
GPS: 5.374071, 100.399733

RATING:
Ambience: 8/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 8.5/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 9/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 7/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 9/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)