Restoran Mints - Taman Bagan

Half the fun is in finding the place .....or not at all . Instead ,when you stumble upon another place while searching for the first and it turns out better , as opposed to what happened at Taman Saga , it comes as a little reward , as a payback for all your effort .

This restaurant and its local workforce , they work in complete unison . There are no foreign workers here but they're managing extremely well because men are in charge of the most stressful part of the show . Being waiters and cooks , they're fast and make sure all dishes are delivered simultaneously. Watching the Chinese kitchen in action is nothing short of amazing.

On the other hand, the women , were left to handle more miniscule tasks , but we ( I say we since I'm Chinese and although I can cook well , I can understand how they feel being thrust into such an environment ) we wither under such hot and uncomfortable conditions. Except for the lady in the kitchen in charge of retrieving ingredients , the drink lady screwed up our order and the lady in charge of scooping rice , dropped the scoop onto the floor and I don't even want to know if she washed the scoop after that or not at all. 

French beans with minced meat.

Crunchy and bursting with natural sweetness . Delicious !

Darned bloodsuckers of Taman Saga

Some time back , one local half Thai lady bragged to me about how great the salted egg crabs were over in Taman Saga . She smacked her lips and gave it the thumbs up . But I was not so familiar to want to venture further than the centre of town ...yet. Still , I made a mental note to go check it out one fine day. 

Then when I last queued for the McD nanoblock house , the nice chatty guy in front of me , had a twinkle in his eyes when he mentioned that he had sacrificed supping at Taman Saga just to get in line for his tiny girlfriend . 

Damnit , now I really had to go find out for myself what the fuss was all about .

 Not knowing the area , it did not help that the roads were pitch black , with pockets of potholes . Confoundedly confusing . 

After feeling around blindly , found the crab place tucked away in a corner but there were no diners. Ditched that and went to Chong Wahh instead because Wahh ,will you look at the full house yo ! 

Another way Penangites enjoy giant garoupa fish

There's a famous breakfast place near Sunway Hotel which serves this noodle. Very expensive for such a stuffy establishment , I tried it once and never went back again .

However, I do enjoy fish , every now and then . Sometimes when a giant garoupa is caught and successfully bidded for , the masses head to places recommended by the local newspapers. No mad, mad crowd for me thank you . 

Prefer to eat at this place near the Queensbay roundabout . They're open for dinner and prices are more down to earth .

Giant Garoupa - Burma Food Paradise

Some people will take the next flight in just for this fish.

Considered a delicacy , it seems whichever shop owner successfully bids for the Big Ones most times sees enthusiasts clamouring for a portion.

Sum Sook Restaurant - Bukit Tengah

 Based on how unappetizing this dish looked ,we really never expected the unlikely combo of sweet sharp lime sauce and tofu that's been deep fried till so dry, it looks all wrong , could turn out to be  winner .

This plate of Kerabu Tauhu just proved that. So addictive that after the first careful nibble , we began fighting over it. 

Chicken Claypot House - Phoenix Reincarnation , an Imperial soup you can now afford

Chicken Claypot House has managed to draw in quite a crowd. Located in the former Joo Seong restaurant on Macalister Road , it is Singaporean in origin with 3 outlets on the republic and Penang is so blessed to be chosen as the venue of their very first foray on Malaysian soil .

White Sugar Seafood - Sungai Petani

There are pockets full of Penangites who have set up businesses in Kedah and this place is one of
 them .

Photo from Foursquare

Hokkien Mee 1173 - Permatang Tinggi

Some people call this Ah San or Ah Shan hokkien mee but I would rather refer to it's address 1173, because you'll need it. 

Locating the shop, is no easy feat .Wedged inside a Chinese New Village enclave , where roads are narrow and challenging to navigate and decipher , we actually got some help from local folks at the local town hall to show us the way .

Coming all the way , having gone through all that trouble to finally arrive at the right place , was worth it. 

Requested for additional ingredients such as a whole egg and one chicken feet and the hearty , filling portion just blew me away  .

However , if you are from the island , you need to know that you will probably find this salty . But if you are say, from KL or Ipoh , you might agree that the very tasty prawn and pork broth brewed together with a lethal dose of pounded dried chillies , is what one would refer to as ....Mee Yoke. 

Small portion with additional ingredients .

Delicious .

Butterworth Curry Noodles House - Jalan Raja Uda

The shop is always crowded and after ignoring it for so long, we intend to find out why. 

Yes , why is it always so crowded ?  

Kampar Fish Jelly Restaurant - Jalan Aziz Ibrahim

There are many people from Perak working and living in Penang. Hope that explains the popularity and proliferation of joints selling staple Perak favourites such as pakcham kai and Kampar fishballs.

Having patronised this shop from the first time they set up shop near Bayan Bay , I can tell you the changes they have undergone. 

First up is the workforce. Today , there are lots of foreigners who can communicate in English here. In the beginning there were more Chinese staff. 

This batch is very efficient and so hardworking to boot , I am sure some girls will be eyeing the more capable ones already. 

Oh really ?

I absolutely love Libby's.

Fry it with some big onions and place it on top of a plate of hot white rice .

While I have no problem consuming non halal food, to see this recategorised over on this shelf, does come as a surprise to me. Yeah, in Malaysia, even if there's a halal sign from overseas authorities, this is possible. 

No wonder I haven't been seeing some brands like Greatwall ( from China ) . 

Never realised there was an issue until today.

Hokkien mee stall no.6 - Kompleks Sri Selera Bayan Baru

Don't usually add the red chilli to my bowl of hokkien mee but in this case it is neccessary as this version of hokkien mee is so different from what I am accustomed to. 

If you come at the right time, that is when the soup has developed its full , rich flavour , 

you too will return again like what I did here.

Nowadays there are plenty of pretty bad hokkien mee sellers around who put much sugar in the soup you feel like you want to strangle them on the spot . However , when I tried this for the first time , I liked it instantly. More pork slices , kangkung which is extinct in other stalls , more egg slices than elsewhere , slighter bigger portion , still low in price ....pretty happy with this.

Jalan Raja Uda - a nook for great teatime hawker food

You probably know how much I have been groaning and bitching on how bad Penang hawker food is becoming these days .Well ,

I walked away with a most positive experience and my faith in good old hawker food renewed .

Now , I'm not going to make this easy for you. Since it is the tourist throngs,  that spell the death knell to quality hawker food which Penang is so famous for.  Will post up a few photo clues so you can hunt them down if you want. All the hawkers are in the same area. 

First up. 

Cendol. 

If you ask me to go to that famous stall in Penang Road I would rather jump off a cliff. The other day at Gurney Paragon , I had their worst ever bowl of cendol which came with frozen unthawed green noodles . What a disgrace !

Compare with the one I found here. It is perfect ! I love this. The noodles are silky , the gula melaka fragrant and the santan not too jelak with a super cold ice shaving that doesn't go warm before the 5th mouthful. 

Perfect !

Japanese Salmon Yee Sang at Sushi Tei

Yee Sang is also known as Lo Hei, which is a most colourful dish symbolising prosperity , requiring all of 27 ingredients . It's not only fun tossing everything together with chopsticks , this creation by Sushi Tei Gurney Plaza gets the thumbs up from me as the absolute best , most yum yum, Yee Sang I've had all these years. Not too sharp, with the right amount of sour and just the right amount of sweetness, it is spicy , tangy and downright mouthwatering to the last sesame .

Beautiful presentation needless to say. 

Thanadsri Hatyai ( Since 1969 )

We were actually aiming to eat at a similar competitors shop 3 doors away but nobody was finishing soon and that's how we ended up here for the first time. 

The young lady with high bun ( whom I presume is part of the shop owner's clan ) is very humble, very gentle, sweet , friendly and she tries her best to help us with our order in the best way possible.

Double steamboat - a partition of torture

The steamboat is a modern version of the Mongolian hotpot. With the latter, charcoal is used to heat the soup while steamboat relies on gas or electric stoves to do the job. 

Most people do not find this concept appealing .Me too initially, until the day it dawned on me that hey, I actually know how to develop a hearty soup on the spot. While satisfying, the whole steamboat experience isn't very exciting. We need a little spice in our lives.

So last week, we ended up here, where half the excitement lies in that nasty red looking half side. The soups are partitioned and they will never mix, thus you've got the best of both worlds. Crazy  Spicy hell on one side and normality on the other .

The better 3 dish meal

Two lanky white men walked into this crumbling dinner shack on stilts yesterday. I heard one of them say

" Geep mi yor besd " with a big grin, in all good intention. 

The local Mandarin speaking waiter shot him a blank look and started squirming about trying to look like he knew what he just said, without giving the game up.

The taukehsoh ( ladyboss) soon stepped in and asked 

in English 

" So what you want ? Cheeken ? Feeeshhh ? Where gee ? "

They nodded at all three and left the cooking all up to her.

Gee...no they shouldn't have left it to the ladyboss to recommend. Especially when they themselves eat spicy stuff and think you, would prefer less, um, stimulating dishes.

But let's forget those two for a moment and take a look at my meal first.

Butter prawn with slightly crisp egg batter , sugar granules and bayleaf. Tasty but a bit overdone . My biggest gripe is that the prawn was way too small for a dish like this and nobody in the kitchen had the courtesy to warn us beforehand.  

Roasted duck rice - Goh Chew Cafe

A roasted duck meal like this would cost a bomb in Beijing or Hong Kong, ah, but not in Malaysia. Simple, filling and very delicious , this roadside stall is where I get my fix every now and then.

This coffeeshop is not my favourite place in the world, so most times if I don't do a takeaway I will request for my meal to be sent across the street to another premise.

Sau Tao - XO Sauce Scallop noodles ( non halal )

I'm not into the whole Penang Curry hoopla but I certainly have a craving for pungent  Hong Kong style dry wantan noodles. After I first ate this, I told myself, omg, if I were homesick or longing for some good old Hong Kong noodles, this one will do just the trick. 

Been months since the shelves were restocked and I wasted no time in grabbing some.

Nowadays, the wantan mee sold at the hawker stalls is so suspect....I seriously wonder if I'm gonna die from boric acid poisoning thus I try not to eat as much of the dish. Keep it to a minimum while I gorge on this one.

 

Back at Taste Thai Cuisine - Alma

Fans of clear tomyam , might not like this Southern version. In contrast this one is very oily , very sharp and sometimes very sour too.

But me, I wanted to have what everyone was having so there. After skimming through the gamut of ingredients, I still prefer clear tomyam over this ,anytime.

Still, in case you wanna know what was inside, we ordered a Seafood tomyam ( medium prawns, oyster mushroom, fish meat chunks , squid galangal slices, kafir lime leaves )what was unusual is that there were that marbled shellfish called lala which is abundant in supply in KL, but rarely sold in Penang wetmarkets .