The elusive Pei Pa duck

Pei Pa duck is very easy to find in  Ipoh .

However , when it comes to Penang , huh , boy , it can be quite a challenge .

Had my first fill at a hawker in Tg Tokong , then I went to Bee San in Air Itam twice and on the second visit , somehow the duck was so smelly , I just wanted to expire from the face of earth .

Long story short , after soooooo many years , I've found a new place selling this delicacy , 

but well , it's in a shady kopitiam which isn't very wonderful to look at as they seem to sell so much beer here , you'll be hard pressed to see so many beer promoters inside one kopitiam of this size, anywhere else . I counted at least 6 of them in here and that's really a lot for a place like this !

Yean Yean - Lembah Permai

We waited till our buttocks grew pointed so to speak .

Night in , night out , this restaurant is almost always full house , hence , you either arrive earlier , or you wait .

To pass time , you can actually do a whole lot of things come to think of it . You could stare at each other , make eyes at the occupants from the next table , play with your phone , chew your fingernails .....you get my drift .

That's the picture menu up in the background . In case you need it or you don't know what to order , just tell the order taker the number or point and show .

Rejuvenation at The Six

 After two consecutive weekends of gruelling events I willingly signed up for , my body finally threw the towel in on me . I went down 5 kilos within 3 days and boy was I worried . No I wasn't looking forward to such quick weight loss . I looked at my fingers and an almost skeletal frame was staring back at shocked me !

 Such sudden weight loss is a HUGE no no .

Time for nourishment . Time to put back some fat .

No chu char stall for the moment . I want something more pleasant to the eyes please . Thus we headed straight into The Six Cantonese Restaurant for dinner . 

Nursed this portion of Double Boiled superior ham soup with fish maw , mushrooms , and baby bok choy , like my life depended on it . Was good , not mind blowing great , but I'm here to reap the benefits .

Sticker by the side of the plate , shows the name of the Chef who made it .

Master Wilson it states there .

Kampung Jawi - duck rice village

On this little main street inside Kampung Jawi , at any one time there are at least 4 duck rice stalls open for lunch . Now this is highly unusual because in a lot of other small towns , the most that you will find is 2 competitors fighting for a share of the pie .

Over the years , I've stubbornly stuck to this shop , this particular stall operated by a lady not that she's the best in town or anything , it's just that I personally prefer to eat out in a larger open space by the front of her stall . Her place is also not as crowded , but I'll say it's definitely much more cleaner so there's another tick in the box as to why I choose her over the rest .

Marvellous Sunday morning big breakfast just outside the Botanical Gardens

Breakfast sets sold by Chinese operated western stalls in the whole of Malaysia are sooooo predictable .

Boring even .

Thus when he suggested this place located just outside the Botanical Gardens ( next to a bee/ honey product gallery ) , I groaned , you know , cos I can actually cook up a better , more sumptuous big breakfast set than any of these hawkers and Chinese western restaurants and shops .

The instant we sat down and I opened  up the menu ...gasppppp !!!!

What is this ?

How come we didn't come here and eat sooner ?

For less than MYR 11 you get this hotel standard set .

Bacon ,  ham , breakfast sausage , mashed potatoes , one egg , salad , mushrooms , and a slice of bread cut in two !

Isn't it beautiful ? Soooo pleasing to the eye and if you post this up on the social media , this is a meal which looks like you paid 20 to 30 ringgit for !

Brussels Christmas Platter - worth waiting for

We're here for the Christmas Platter ( which is available up till 31st of December ) and upon placing our order , we were told that we would have to wait between 30 to 45 minutes for it to be prepared , so were we ok with that ?

Of course we said yes .

Ah Soon Kor Har Mee - now at Seong Huat

We finally tracked down Ah Soon Kor . As you all know , we're huge fans of his hokkien mee which is and has always been so unique and remained so consistent , no matter how many times and kopitiams he has migrated to throughout the island .

But first , lemme tell you a little bit about a new discovery .

Somkid - Prima Tanjung

My countless sojourns into Bangkok since I turned 30 , have shaped who I am today . I have to admit , that I am both impressed by the standards of beauty and influenced to a certain degree by the exposure . And having Chinese blood running through my veins , a good number of us believe that we are what we eat .

In a way that translates to the inexplicable success of Korean and Japanese establishments in the region .

I do both occasionally , but I am more a fan of Thai cuisine than those 2 above and after almost 20 years , to a certain extent , that laywoman's belief could almost be true .

On a domestic flight to NYC , the gorgeous feline , an Anggun lookalike seated next to me , started talking to me in Thai , and when I came into this shoplot , one of the waitresses assumed I was Thai . Of course I quickly replied back in English , so they know that I am not .

This is so funny because when I am in Thailand , the Thais there either think I am one of them , some of them will even mistake me for a Japanese or Korean !

Foong Yean - 6 course feast

Best to make a booking before you arrive , as even though the restaurant is not that large , yet this venue is extremely popular due to the remarkable prices and generous portions .

Without further ado , I'm gonna plunge right in and introduce you to the items we picked off the menu .

Take note that all these cost us just 200 ringgit , rice and Chinese tea included .

First up , Indonesian prawns .

Tried this at another place near Bukit Jambul ( they've since shifted to Lembah Permai area ) and I absolutely hated that . However , this is so heavenly , you'll want to suck the roe , inside of the heads and the shell dry of the divinely spicy curry sauce , I'm afraid I'll have to give this a 5 star for amazing freshness ( the meat is packed so tight ! ) and fabulous taste !

Teochew style steamed Jenahak and a Szechuan veg soup

We rarely have steamed fish as I'm superrrrrrrrr fussy about the freshness , while he cannot stand Chinese wine in his food .

But I wanted a break from deep fried stuff and

so , not wanting to pay a ransom , we walked into Sum Sook where I made it very clear to the order taker , that we wanted no wine in the fish please and left the rest up to fate .

Well it turned out more than right . We loved it !

Steamed with the right amount of Suan chai ( salted mustard greens from China ) , pickled plums , ginger , deep fried garlic and tomatoes , this was done to Perfection for me because the marinade was delicious beyond words ! Those of you  who love your fish just cooked might find fault with Sum Sook's style . Not us . We fought over this to the end till there were no salted vegies or fish meat left for any stray cat !

Wantan mee with a roast platter - Pusat Pengkalan Enam Enam

KL style wantan mee and Ipoh style wantan mee are very closely related .

Whereas Penang wantan mee is completely different from these 2 styles . I prefer the former .

You also should not compare Hong Kong or San Francisco style wantan mee to this . In both megacities , the springy texture of the noodle and taste of the sauces vastly differ from what is found in Ipoh . However , if you love London chinatown style wantan mee , please continue eating it in London and don't try this . I'm serious . 

And it was on a quest for Ipoh roasted meats ( thanks to Hawker Chan hype ) that I found this stall near Station 18 .

We had earlier on purchased a big , beautiful platter in a hawker centre which was so shocking ( for 17 ringgit only , when it looked like it was worth 48 ringgit ! ) I forgot to snap a pic , so what you see here is actually the second plate after we demolished the first plate of wantan mee ( this costs less than 6 ringgit if I am not mistaken ), plus a platter of 4 .... roast pork , roast duck , roast chicken , char siew ( sadly also no picture as proof but it was so well presented , that I almost fainted from shock  ) . 

Kafe Fei Bo Snow Beer - Curry Chicken in Baked Bread

Nope . We're not here for the beer .

The Museum

The Museum has got to be one of the strangest , quirkiest restaurants I have ever been to in my life .

Located in Ipoh , you have got to come see this , when you find a chance to , cos if I use words to describe the place , I might rub some people off the wrong way but I'll try to keep it minimal and not too long winded anyway .

Mee Tiao - Teochew take on Long Life noodles

Mee tiao is a really tasty Teochew noodle dish meant for once a year birthday celebrations especially if there is a matriach or patriach in the household .

However , the texture of the noodle used by the Teochews in Penang is different from the Hokkien version . 

The Teochew version , has more bite and chew ( pun not intended ) to it while the Hokkiens , prefer a silkier texture , which leads some to use the flat egg noodles and others to use a fresh ramen like round yellow noodle , which makes it really confusing if you want to debate on what belongs to who . 

As far as I know , when it comes to the Hokkiens , the most important feature of the noodle that must not be compromised ....

.is the length . 

The longer , the better !

One should not cut it ,even if some of us might have a high chance of choking on it , so I guess why it's called Long Life Noodles since you can deem yourself a survivor after that celebratory  meal ! 

Due to intermarriage between the clans , as well as convenience and cost ( frugality embedded into the genes ) , cheaper localised , yellow noodles found acceptance amongst homemakers at first , and then only much later , was it turned into an everyday available dish , by enterprising hawkers , much in the same manner as how Hakka pan mee evolved into hawker fare today .

Yeah , the whole lot of us helped popularise long life noodles from an exclusive birthday celebratory meal into a commercialised breakfast , lunch , or dinner ( depending on the shop ) offering .

Nowadays , the cooks aren't so particular or superstitious , about the length either . Me thinks , it is because they don't want anyone dying on their premises hence , they will shorten it for you unless you have one super alpha matriach who really pantang to the max if you dare do that ( but I think that era is gone already ) .

Back to the subject at hand .

You can actually find this particular noodle , in a few good mid range Chinese restaurants in Penang . It's when you want to enjoy it in a sticky , greasy hawker centre , that it can get a little confusing as sometimes , some hawkers call it Char Mee Sua .

You know ? Birthday Noodles in one place , Char Mee Sua , Mee Tiao ....they may all mean the same thing but they may also be variations as far apart as the sun and the moon !

Now , when it comes to Char Mee Sua , you may pop in to the Cecil Street wetmarket in the afternoon .

Honestly , that used to be my favourite place for Char Mee Sua but lately , I suspect they are using bad oil , so I have not returned for a long time already .

So , where best , if you do not want to pay so much ? Public Cafe lah .

Yumsaap - for really good streetfood

We had a good laugh over the name .

It's a Chinese joke , nuff said .

Steamboat misadventure at MK - mmmmnnnnokay

You won't catch me having steamboat  or hotpot out of Penang . The only other place which I've actually enjoyed the steamboat / hotpot experience , was in Cameron Highlands ( covered somewhere in my backposts )

Since the first time I arrived in Bangkok , MK has been a fixture , it's been around that long !

I'm curious ...it's always full . Damnit let's go try it out today shall we ?

Hawker Chan - now in Bangkok

My jaw dropped wide open when I saw this .

Hawker Chan has now opened its first restaurant in Bangkok ...

Sizzler , Mega Bangna - lure of the free salad bar buffet

The restaurant buffet scene in Thailand is on such an upswing , that if you walk near or in any major shopping districts especially around Bangkok , in search of all you can eat places , for approximately 500 baht per person ( give and take ) you are bound to find a place to your liking !

There's just so many to choose from !

While , we decided on Sizzler on a whim , first let me show you where it is located in this sprawling complex .

You simply look for this centrecourt with a water feature ....

Brussels Beer Café - table for four

By the time we realised that we had definitely overordered , perched on the high chair area right in the corner , we made a quiet resolve to systematically remove some plates bit by bit because if you assembled them all at once , it would have looked like we had just been let out of prison .

Right , let's see what we shared amongst ourselves .

Beer Food Platter comprising ...

Blind finches ( I could drink the sauce provided together with it , all day , and get drunk on that alone lolz ), roast pork ( mouthwatering crackling skin is always such a bonus ) , squid tentacles , smoked duck breast ( fantastic ! ) , Belgian frites .

Good Luck Bah Kut Teh - Bayan Baru

Well , well , well .

Just when you least expect cheap , clean and fast to exist side by side on Penang island , walla , a place like this pops up .

And when I say cheap , I am not referring to those places where bah kut teh still costs MYR 5.50 per portion for per person . Don't know about elsewhere , but if it costs that little on the island , you're freaking risking it ! Not gonna elaborate on that matter further .

Anyway , the cheap I am talking about , hovers around ( more or less ) 10 ringgit per person . 

Certain places command two times that amount but don't expect premium meat . Sometimes , I think those expensive joints are either scams or pure herd mentality hype .

Lemme explain further with regards to the pricing ....if you order a bowl of bah kut teh soup for 2 pax , at Good Luck , it is just gonna cost you around 20 ringgit , not inclusive of drinks , rice and any add ons .

3 persons = 30ish , 4 = 40 ish .