Tong Lek 8 Cafe - another legend in the making

Son numero uno recommended this place to muah last night .

He told me " since you like tomyam right ? you should go try out this place "

Well here we are this morning .

Little Corner Cafe - first time having Picotea

" The stall is run by an angmoh kia "

Which made me scrutinise the cook as he whizzed to the back of the kopitiam . I noticed a lot of New York yellow cab toys placed like a recurring theme, from the stall to the display cabinet behind .

When I checked their facebook page , someone mentioned that this was an American burger joint .

He looked middle eastern at first glance , though he could be a Lebanese , Puerto Rican or some other nationality . Didn't ask . Just wild guessing .

What mattered was , why , of all places , would a foreigner choose this far flung kopitiam to set up shop .

As well as how he could whip up a Picotea dish that tastes so yummily addictive even with flattened buns that really reminded me of that marvellous Arab bread served in Dubai airport .

Go Noodle House

There is a perpetual queue outside this outlet .

Wild Boar Curry in my Chap Fun

Found a new chap fun economy rice place today . This wasn't your regular mediocre run down place . 

Everything was fresh , clean , the oil was of good quality and best of all , the taste was so darned good !

In spite of all the current price increases , this enormous plate below cost only RM 5.40 only !

My goodness .

Henry Restaurant - Bukit Panchor

We had a choice . Between Heng Lee or Henry just a few doors down .

Heng Lee has Southern Thai chefs ( which could mean that foods would have a lot of sugar thrown in ) while Henry seemed to attract silver haired  customers . 

At around the same time , a car full of Ah Beng and Ah Lian occupants spilled out and rushed towards Henry . That decided it then , we would follow suit  . 

The instant they sat down , a humungous platter of crabs was served . Talk about fast service . I guess they must have placed their order via telephone first .

Anyway , the man who took our order was patient as well as polite . Other really good thing I noticed about this restaurant is , they're not stuck up in the least and won't pull a face if you want to order less or have just a one dish meal .

However , when the first of the 2 dishes arrived , we took one look at the size of the prawn and thought to ourselves ....

" die already , sure kena chop wan " 

Inside was 6 numbers of medium sized ( pek heh )prawns , plus one big slice of fish , a few pieces of squid and okra in claypot curry

Boy were we wrong .

When we got the bill , this was listed as RM 30 only !

Little Dragon Puffs in a bamboo steamer - Din Tai Fung

I love the set up of this restaurant . Clean lines , with guzheng and erhu music lilting softly in the background .Slightly spiffy but not too stiffling  , the staff approach is one that maintains a distance , is professionally non judgemental , yet remains attentive and quick to attend to every one of our needs and wants .

Makes you feel as if you fit right in , with thoughtful , polite diners that take care not to raise their voice to too many decibels .....my kinda place alright  .

Nepalese cooks ....what next ?

Would you believe it if I told you that this entire Malaysian Chinese meal , was cooked by Nepalese chefs in Penang ?

It was good , tasty and wholesome yet I still cannot get over the fact that a good number of them can cook better than today's local hotel chefs and many of us women .

Geez.

Whatever laws the Penang state government has put in motion , it's useless as these foreign chefs seem to be an increasing fixture in the chu cha and dimsum kitchens . 

First it began with the Thais , then Banglas , followed by a regretful period of terrible cooks who should NOT be given any licence to cook from ( 2 countries which I don't want to name because one of those are known to be super siew hei ) and now omg , now we have the Nepalese entering the fray  . Fast learners who can deliver the desired results !

Ah Soon Kor Har Mee - Carnavon Street

Never have I come across old Japanese men patronising any local Hokkien Mee stall until just now .

The soup though teeming with rich prawn flavour is so much more oilier than other versions of Hokkien Mee on the island , that it looks so wrong  but of course it tastes so darned good lah otherwise why you think the Japanese would eat it , no ? 

Even then , notwithstanding the fact that I am one of his fans , I was still very surprised to see with my own four eyes that Ah Soon Kor has managed to snare at least one foreigner in his apron .

Maneki-neko murals at Mall ' s Cafe - Prangin tomyam paradise on level 3

Somehow , Southern Thai tomyam seems to smell and taste better when served within air conditioned premises .

There's no way you are not going to get your appetite worked up when you pass by the shop . The aroma is enough to floor you .

That's how , even though Prangin Mall seems to be on the decline after the exit of their anchor tenant , the 4 main tomyam players on the 3rd floor , still manage to draw in all of us sadistic makan freaks .

I'll show you the first outlet . My personal favourite.

1. Mall's Cafe .

The ahbeng ahlian chop shop where I once scoffed at a Korean guy who popped in but was so shocked when he drank up every last bit of the soup without breaking a sweat .

Respect !

Was surprised to see that they now serve their tomyam maggi in nicer ceramic Maneki - neko bowls . Not only that , the entire shop is filled with Lucky Cat murals too .

CRC Penang - small table in a big restaurant

It's a big restaurant and we're such a small party of people that I'm really worried if we're gonna be ignored . 

So we decided to arrive early .....like really , really , really early and yes , since we were so obviously visible , the kepala ( head ) of the ladies squad personally attended to us . Phew !

Sin Hong Keng - deep fried fish steamboat with yam

I'm very particular about the fish I eat .

It should not reek of a fishy pong but should smell like the ocean .

Though I'm not expecting sashimi grade flesh , if it arrives on my table with an odour straight out of a market drain , no matter how many people are enjoying it , I will not touch it .

And it's pretty telling of the sad state of affairs when one can find fresher fish in Kedah than in Penang , even though by virtue of Penang being just next to the sea , fish meat supplies ought to be super fresh , right ? Wrong a lot of times before I finally learnt my lesson and stopped ordering steamed fish at any chu cha place on the island .

Anyway , we're having the rare fish meal today . 

Deep fried red snapper ( it's all farmed off shore today ) boiled with round cabbage and yam .

Not only is it succulent and naturally sweet , he cannot remember when was the last time he actually had snapper this fresh . We'd probably have to pay a bomb for it on the island but even though what we had here is not THAT cheap , it still cost less than that airconditioned giant garoupa place near Chew jetty .  

Tastewise : oily , plain , with a slight hint of Chinese wine , full of aromatic yam flavour ( the root is the very fibrous type )

Kum Loong - a very old gem

Never seen anyone order Kaya Kok by the bags full before . Actually , I've seen people buying a lot , in that Raub kopitiam but that Raub cha pou  , cannot even compare nor come close to this outlet .

One lady before me , wanted 40 pieces of this and that , which made me wonder if she was going to eat this by herself or resell them elsewhere . 

And that's how I needed no persuasion to get 2 of each for our table which turned out to be quite scrumptious with surprising underlayers of crust enveloping the thick kaya and so much minced meat encased in the siew pau , it felt like I was dining in a more generous and extravagant miners era , rather the year 2016 .

See the glossy texture and flakes . You tell me if this is going to be keng or not .

Curry mee , Jalan Air Itam - an old world recipe

We went for curry mee in Air Itam earlier .

First time we're trying out this popular place . The crowd at the assam laksa stall has thinned down tremendously  to cater to just tourists nowadays , but this curry mee stall which opens for business during the hottest time of the day , is fervently supported by local kapcai riding folks .

Update : new picture of the stall . Can't find this via foursquare . Women who regularly eat Penang curry mee acquire a snow white skin tone . Think it is the combo of spices and pig blood cubes that does the trick . I don't eat this so often but it's my favourite so far . Anyway , I prefer to look more tanned .

I swear the broth tastes almost like the instant noodle soup which Chef Ismail concocted for Mamee Chef .

The exception is that , the former is cook-it-yourself and completely halal , while this dish served here is absolutely non halal , as they throw in fresh ingredients such as coagulated pig's blood , brown squid soaked in alkaline water , taufu pok , mint leaves , very thin coconut milk and a spice mix that is burns you so bad , your lips will still throb after your feeble attempt at nursing them via a bowl of ice kacang .

Din Tai Fung - Gurney Plaza

Have put off coming here for months already . 

Well , we finally took the plunge today but alas I have no extra pics to prove that we tucked in at this outlet , because my phone was er ...overtaxed and undercharged .

Thus you will have to make do with just one photo ( updated with photos as we went back a 2nd time ) of this house speciality , the starter ....a kelp, tofu , beansprout and glass noodle pickle which tasted so Taiwanese , I wore a puzzled look on my face till I checked out their facebook page . Which is laughable because I assumed from the set up that Din Tai Fung was Hongkie in origin .

No , Din Tai Fung is a Taiwanese restaurant with fine dining Chinese cuisine that will knock you off your feet , you Alishan bumpkin you ( I'm talking about me ) !

Hong Kee Wan Thun Mee - bamboo kungfu for ultra springy wantan mee

Update : the problem with this operator is , it can be quite unhygienic . There , I've said it . If you go please make sure you either keep your eyes wide open or half shut .

-------

Was very direct with the noodle man , when I saw him .

" I've been waiting for you for a really long time to resurface already "

( they were the original hawkers at the formerly famous corner kopitiam called Yi Garden Cafe on Macalister Road , you see )

Kim Poh Roasted Chicken & Duck Rice - Golden Triangle

In Penang , it is common knowledge that there is a coded number for ordering a combo of roasted meats at the local roaster .

You let the order taker know you want a 3 or a 4 in Hokkien , and then something like this will arrive at your table . Without costing you an arm and a leg at a swankier joint , this platter of roasted pork , chicken and duck comes with a price tag of less than 20 ringgit . 

Best Porridge - new chu cha place in town

From the shop name , we thought we'd come across a new Teochew Moi place where a big variety of dishes to go with plain boiled rice porridge , are the order of the day .

So there we are looking at the food on display in the glass case when 2 ladies coax us into entering by showing us the chu cha menu .

Steamed delights are getting harder to find

There are so many coffee and cake outlets in Georgetown these days that I really wonder if the operators want us to switch our diet completely .

Steamed dim sum delights such as this dumpling stuffed with pounded peanut and sugar , encased in a pandanus leaf , are rare sights indeed . 

Chai Poh Fish - somewhat like the old Hupsa

Perseverance was the key to pin pointing the old Hupsa / Yan Yan Ho's new location .

Wantan mee al dente - Boon Seng , Jalan Dedap

Most lady chefs do not make the cut when it comes to whipping up this dish . They just do not have the skill required to coax the noodle into the right consistency nor tweak the sweet treacle into one with an aftertaste which customers will come back for.