Loke Sok Seafood - fast forward 2017

This kopitiam is actually famous for its fish noodle . But if anything is to go by and you observe like I did , and notice that most of their loyal old customers end up looking like garoupas with too many visible age spots on their skin , that's a huge No Thank You from me . 

We are what we eat after all .

I hardly take belacan and prawn paste but I do like fish occasionally , so what am I doing here actually ?

Well , there is a chu cha operator that opens till around 2 pm or so . The old cook from last time is no more around but these guys are just as good and this is what we called for .

Brussels Beer Café - whole deep fried poulet with sauerkraut on the side

Had the best of both worlds when we ordered this today .

A whole deep fried bird which had skin that tasted like a thin crispy siew yoke !

Morganfield's - Queensbay Mall

To avoid the crazy crowds at 7ish who are about to break their fast during this Ramadhan period , we could not decide between S.Wine and Morganfield's , but ah , he wanted beef .

Thus , to Morganfield's we went . 

Gan En Wu Tang Shui - new , clean kid on the block

It's 6pm and the crowd at Kimberley Street is not yet building up .

That gives us plenty of room to manouvre and table space to choose from which we will be hard pressed to do so at say ....8 ish .

Authentic Mun Chee Kee - Sam Leong Road

Can't think of anything more perfect to put back the glow on the cheeks , than a steaming hot bowl of soup for supper . And since this shop claims to be the King of Pig Organ's Soup , we're gonna give it a try .

Late night supper at Khidthung in Jelutong

At 11pm , Jelutong is a locale which offers many food options for night owls . However , if you ask my honest opinion , a lot of the foods after dark is " beh chiak " ( awful ) .

Until , I recalled this place , so rather than go to the nearest Mamak or fastfood , let's have something more exciting for supper tonight .

Tomyam Maggi .

We Malaysians , refer to every instant noodle brand as Maggi you see , even though what they currently use here are noodles imported from China , we still call it Maggi .

K-Pot ( Prima Tanjung ) - authentic Korean comfort food in Penang

There are two or three K-Pots between Tanjong Bungah and Prima Tanjong . The outlet I am referring to is the one in Prima Tanjung , just 2 doors away from that lovely Aji Noren which reminds me of dark nights darting in and out of hidden food alleys in the more serene parts of Tokyo .

Ah Gu Pan Mee - yummy clam pan mee

Ah Gu Pan Mee is one half of the two famous brothers who used to run a Pan Mee stall in the old Yi Garden Kopitiam .

They were in the same shop as the other famous operator , Hongkee Bamboo Wantan Mee .

We used to patronise them , then  followed them to Kampung Malabar before discovering that they have another shop here . 

Update : have since discovered that they have closed the Kampung Malabar stall and are now here in their own shoplot .

Before you read further , I'd like you to know that this is NOT your regular tasting Hakka pan mee . Think of it as a richer , different flavoured version , made by other clans , especially when it comes to the soup stock . The noodles on the other hand , are equal to any lovingly homemade pan mee made in Hakka households .

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 .