CRIZ BON APPETITE

Penang Times Square has been a mall that has been lacking in retail shops but has many new eateries and bistros opening up there. In no time, it would be more of a food mall than a shopping mall. Do not underestimate those little eateries around there as some of them would surely blow you away with their simple and yet mouth watering cuisine. One such eatery would be the Get’em Smack Café. It’s small but yet the interior had that little touch of coziness that would be great for a casual dining for just any age group of diners. The hospitality there is great with lots of regular expatriates. Don’t feel surprise if their staff suddenly communicated with their diners in Japanese. It’s quite normal for them. 🙂 The café do serve quite a few types of cuisine but their pastas and desserts excel amongst other dishes.

As for starter, there’s the Soup of the Day which happened to be Mushroom Soup (RM5.90nett). It may look like a normal bowl of soup with a slice of toasted garlic bread displayed but it definitely would give the required punch. The soup has just the right creaminess with hints of fragrance and sweetness coming from the chef’s secret recipe of combining different types of fresh mushrooms and carrot. It was indeed a touch of difference done tactfully compared to the ones I’ve tried before.

As for main dishes, there were about 9 dishes ranging from pasta, fish and poultry. We started off with the Roast Chicken (RM13.90nett) which in fact was pan-grilled to perfection. The usage of a boneless drumstick combined with the right usage of herbs and spices made this dish remarkably palatable. The outer layer of the chicken maintained a bit of crisp while the inner part was still as tender and juicy. Not a bad choice for a meal. This was served with their unique homemade mash potatoes and some greens, topped with some brown sauce. Their mashed potatoes side dish was unique in the sense that it had kyuri (Japanese cucumber) and carrot slices added in, something that you won’t get from elsewhere. As for size wise, it was just adequate for a normal diner. It would be great if one or two slices of garlic bread being added in for those with bigger appetite.

Their pastas had that wonderful buttery yet fragrant aroma floating about the surrounding. One such pasta would be their Mascarpone Cheese Walnut Spaghetti (RM13.90) with the cheese being one of the main ingredients for making modern styled Tiramisu. With the milky-white coagulated crème cheese skillfully folded into the sautéed chopped garlic in olive oil, prior to being stir mixed with the spaghetti, it would be a great dish for those carbonara pasta lovers. This pasta came with some chopped walnuts and parsley as garnishes and topped with some slices of nicely herbed roasted chicken. The portion was also just right with approximately 180g of pasta being given.

Two new pastas were added in recently. One of the new ones not stated in their menu was the Aglio Olio with Prawns (RM13.90nett). This dish would be one of my favorite pastas served here. The mildly spiced pasta with the fragrance coming from some dried chilies, combined with the briny taste of fresh prawns, sautéed with some chopped garlic and parsley, made this dish remarkably appetizing. Do not leave the café without trying out this perfectly concocted dish.

Another new pasta dish would be their Eryngii Spaghetti (RM13.90nett). For those healthy and meatless diners, this would be my most recommended pasta dish. The usage of eryngii mushrooms (king trumpet mushroom/エリンギ/杏鮑菇) was indeed delicious. The meaty bite from the slightly toasted mushroom slices, combined with the nicely sautéed chopped garlic, parsley and pasta made this dish remarkably tasty. The earthly flavor was one flavor which I would not forget for a long time. Superb dish indeed!

On a lighter side, they do have some nice finger food available. One of them would be the Smoked Duck (RM18nett for 8 skews). This dish would come with some fresh lettuce all wrapped with a slice of smoked duck, dressed with some homemade dressing and herbs. Another dish would be their Greek Pie (RM6.90nett for 3 pieces). This would be another meatless dish as the pies do not contain any meat such as the Kotopoulokopita (Greek Chicken Pie) or Kreatopita (Greek Meat Pie). In fact, it was not even near to the Spanakopita (Greek Spinach Pie). The café do serve their version as there are a thousand and one ways for filling up the pita based pies but each would definitely has some cheese on them. The Greek pies served here had some freshly made tomato puree, topped with some yoghurt and herbs prior to baking.

As for desserts, Get’em Smack do serves some great crepe related desserts on top of their occasionally available Chocolate Brownie, Tiramisu and so on. One of the more notable ones which you won’t get easily from elsewhere in Penang would be their Crepe Cake (RM6.90nett per slice). Since the cake which would not last for too long in the chiller due to the moist from the fresh crème and fruits, the Café is proud to serve them as theirs are made fresh daily. Each slice has multiple layers of freshly buttered pan-made crepes filled with fresh crème and fruits. The taste was simply refreshing. There also have Mango Crepe (RM6.90), Banana Crepe (RM6.90), Kiwi Crepe (RM7.90) and Strawberry Crepe (RM7.90). The more recommended one would be the Banana Crepe as the fruity and creamy flavors of the ripened fruit complement well with the fresh crème and Vanilla ice cream.

The beverages served here can range from just a soda drink, tea & coffee, fresh fruit juices or just a cup of brewed tea. The Café would serve well-known brands such as the UK based Twinings products such as the English Breakfast Tea, Earl Grey Tea, Camomile Tea and Jasmine Green Tea. Each refillable pot of tea would cost RM8.90nett. You should try more of the Camomile Tea as it has the effect of relaxing the body and calming the mind after a hectic day of work.

The café is located at the exterior part of the mall. It’s actually at the ground floor below the biggest food court in Penang aka Penang Times Square Food Gallery, behind Soju Café and two shop lots away from the Roti Bakar branch. If you intend to park at the open car park at the entrance of Penang Times Square, just drive all the way towards the end where you would see a big “Entertainment City” signage and park your car there. It won’t be that hard to locate them from there on.

Name: GET’EM SMACK @ PENANG TIMES SQUARE
Address: 77-G-44, Penang Times Square, Jalan Dato Keramat, 10150 Penang, Malaysia.
Contact: 012- 401 6888 (Esther Chan) / 017- 478 4901 (Celynn Tan)
Business Hours: 12.00pm – 9.00pm
GPS: 5.411485, 100.32556

RATING:
Ambience: 7.5/10 (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: 7/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 8.5/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

If you remembered the beautiful chill out place formerly call Sunset Bistro up at Bayu Senja, Batu Ferringhi area which was burnt down due to the so-called arson attack in late January 2011, you would surely not miss out the reincarnation of such cool bistro which now carries the name of Bora Bora By Sunset. A brainchild of Ms. Melynda Soon, the bistro was opened towards the end of May this year at a new location. It’s located just a shop lot away just before the Tarbush Lebanese Restaurant, hidden right behind some night market stalls along the famous Batu Ferringhi stretch. It has a better ambiance compared to the former with more cozy and dimly lighted corners for romantic couples. The bistro covers a long stretch of cemented pathways up to the edge of the beach, with an ejected wooden platform in between, to watch the beautiful sunset over the horizon of the Andaman Sea. Comfortable and uncomplicated, this snazzy bistro is actually a reminiscent of those smaller water holes by the beaches of some South East Asian countries. With an open rainforest concept, you are assured of cheap beers, reasonable priced beverages and a decent spread of cuisine, done in the simplest way to tempt any taste bud.

An uprising star on the night scene in Penang, Bora Bora By Sunset without fail has attracted a steady stream of regulars amongst the locals, tourists and expatriates. Even the workers there were all well trained to make the best out of your visit. Occasionally, there could be some well-heeled guests swinging and twisting out from nowhere. Are you sporting enough to put on your best dancing shoes and join in the crowd? After all, this would be the best opportunity to let your hair down and mingle with everyone.

Do check out how fun-filled the crowd can be even on weekdays. 🙂

There would never be an ending to the choices of cuisine available here, ranging from light snacks, sandwiches, local food fares, spaghettis, pizzas to western cuisine and desserts. The Special Fried Rice (RM8.90nett) had a twist of everything Malaysian. The rice had a mild spiciness with chunks of chicken meat and prawns. The only thing that it lacked was that “wok hei” (high heat cooking) that the locals would love to have but the tourists just loved the way it was presented. It came with an Indian papadam, two big skews of succulent Malay satay, a sunny side up omelette and an assortment of fresh greens. Everything tasted well except that the kitchen should take note of the excess oil from the satay gravy. It made the rice a bit oily.

The newly introduced Pan Grill Lemon Citrus Butter Beef (RM31.90nett) had a touch of Mediterranean flavors. It had side dishes such as sautéed potatoes and fresh greens. The slight smoky flavor from the pan grilled beef, combined with the citrus butter with a touch of black pepper and herbs blended in well with the freshly handpicked greens. Although the dish was quite appetizing, in my opinion, this concoction would suit seafood better, preferably fish. Another thing that the kitchen should take note of would be the species of potatoes used. Certain potatoes imports such as those Australian or China ones are more suitable for deep frying or boil cook rather than being sautéed. Indian potatoes would be the ideal ones as they have that nice soft texture. Diners’ choice of meat should also be considered here as some might not like their meat to be so well done. It should be a norm when ordering but somehow the waiter kind of forgotten about the importance of the diners’ preferences.

Pizzas… I always love thin crust pizzas or those wood fire ones. We ordered The Bora Bora Special Pizza (6” – RM12.90nett or 8” – RM13.90nett) which has turkey ham, pineapple, button mushrooms and olives. Compared to the dough for the pizza base from the former outlet, this one would need more experimenting. The base was rather compact and did not provide that mild crunchiness. Moreover, the pizza base sauce was rather thinly spread and did not have that distinctive tomato taste. On top of that, fresh pineapple cuts were used instead of the sweetened canned ones. There’s nothing wrong with that except that the kitchen should have chosen a riper pineapple and got rid of the harder parts. It did not flow smoothly with each bite.

The best part was the dessert time. We ordered the Chocolate Brownie with Ice Cream (RM7.90nett). It was simply marvelous after a hearty meal. The slightly oven burned taste for the almond bits and raisin filled brownie went well with the scoop of vanilla ice cream. I just wished the scoop would be larger… haha! 😛

As for beverages, you can get just anything from coffee, tea, soda, fruit juices, lassi, milkshake, punch, cocktail, beers to any of your preferred hard liquor. Beer lovers would surely love this bistro as they have Skol (RM8nett per bottle), Anchor (RM9nett per bottle), Tiger (RM10nett per bottle), Carlsberg (RM10nett per bottle), Guinness Stout (RM12nett per bottle), Heinekken (RM13nett per bottle) or Corona (RM19nett per bottle) which ranges from as low as RM38nett per bucket to RM93nett per bucket. Paulaner is at RM26nett per bottle. Well, we just got ourselves Iced Peach Tea (RM5.90nett) and Mango Lassi (RM8.90nett).

With such a relaxing and stress-free environment combined with the ever friendly and fun-filled staff, it would be a great hangout place for just any ages. Moreover, all the items are at nett price. As for the food, there are still rooms for improvement since the newly appointed chief, Chef Mady Ahmad, just came in barely a week ago to revamp the whole kitchen. I guessed I may have to comment more on their food during my next visit.

It might be a bit hard for foreigners to find this bistro as it would not be visible from the main road. But no worries as I’m going to show you some landmarks that would lead you directly to their door step. Just drive all the way up to Batu Ferringhi until you reach the traffic lights with Petronas petrol station at the junction. Further up would be Lone Pine Hotel on your right. Drive slowly and watch out for the tall Tarbush Lebanese Restaurant neon signboard on your right. Just before the restaurant is the Beach Corner Seafood Restaurant (Happy Mart Mini Market is just across the road). Park inside the car park (RM3 per entrance) and you would see a green gate on the right. Walk through that gate, turn left and you would see the bistro there waiting to greet you with open arms.

Note: The entrance to Bora Bora By Sunset is actually opposite the Desire Reflexology Centre and Fish Spa (left side of Jalan Batu Ferringhi) but quite unnoticeable with a small signboard in yellow neon lights with a beach view background. As parking spaces would be very limited inside there, it would be a better idea to park your car next door (Beach Corner Seafood Restaurant) with ample parking spaces.

Name: BORA BORA BY SUNSET
Address: Lot 415, Jalan Batu Ferringhi, 11100 Penang, Malaysia.
Business Hours:
12.00noon-1.00am (Sunday to Thursday)
12.00noon until 3.00am (Friday, Saturday and Eve of Public Holiday)
4.00pm-7.00pm (Happy Hours)
Contact: 012-553 1313 (Ms. Melynda Soon)
GPS: 5.474476, 100.248114

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