Classic Bowl - cheap & comfy tuck shop

This outlet has created such a stir even amongst the local hawking community, that I heard one of them walk up to the counter staff demanding to know

" Lu macam mana untung ah ?"

" how on earth do you even make a profit ?"

Yes, even for Penang, the prices and portion served here are soooooo ridiculously low priced.

See the ikan pari bakar , the other day , I just had a set in Aeon for RM10.50 . It's RM 6.50 here. The Iced Milo in Aeon was RM3 , but it's only RM1 here ! Crazy !

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.

Lunch at The Ship , Batu Feringghi

After one dissapointment after the next ,over so called new hip dining places , sometimes I prefer to fall back on the good old places we Malaysians love best.

According to hubs, the old Esquire Kitchen boss has a hand in this ( not sure how true this is but I spotted him in Nam Heong last time with a bunch of his pals, again pointed out by hubs ) . He mentioned that this category of western food is in the same category as Coliseum in KL.....essentially a colonial Hainanese western restaurant. The Hainanese chefs learnt how to cook from the Brits, but along the way, the recipe here at The Ship,  has become more Americanised with a strong oriental influence.

Veloo Villas - no fork and spoon

Update January 2015 : today, they do provide forks and spoons. Only the nonchalant couldn't care damn rude service remains.

-------------

The Veloo Villas of today, is far flung from days of yore. 

The premise has undergone a revamp minus the dothi wearing waiters and cooks. Foodwise, they too have succumbed to the easy , addictive fix of monosodium glutamate and soy sauce for almost all of their dishes. 

PARAM at Jalan Utama

Pasar Ramadhans or PARAM's are once yearly affairs most look forward to. The one at Jalan Utama features the usual fares one expects to see, so I'll just highlight those I deem to be rarely seen in Penang.

First thing you'll notice is that there is a massive amount of fish dishes on display at the nasi campur stalls....

....and a larger variety of grilled ones by ikan bakar operators

Joyce hokkien mee - Pulau Tikus morning market

The signboard indicates that they've been in business since the 1950's. If that is the case ,I'm just wondering how come most of today's Penang hokkien mee version on the island, has become so corrupted with sugar and all that other etc ingredients.

Nasi Kandar Deen Maju - Jln Gurdwara

Know how jammed the roads are in Georgetown today ? It's sheer madness trying to get around. Anyway, we interrupt my long winded travel posts to bring you yet another nasi kandar place.

Mind you, although Deen Maju has become very popular, the prices here, tend to attract a hoard of lower income earners. If you're not comfortable with that, then I suggest you move on. But this being Penang, where the filthy rich and the dirt poor, eat side by side at roadside stalls. Learn how the different classes co-exist if you can. Most important don't start wiping your plates or engage in other demeaning uncouth practices such as staring at the down and outs in disdain , for goodness sakes.

Open for less than a year, Deen Maju has succeeded most admirably in drawing in the locals looking for that cheap and tasty Nasi Kandar fix.

Tai Buan porridge - Muntri Street

The weather's been so hot lately.

33 Celcius on Sunday.

Dove into this oldie but goodie Moi place to cool down the system.

Am featuring this bowl of humble porridge first because for Moi connoiseurs , achieving a texture of this consistency takes a lot of TLC as well as some secret kungfu .

Indies Restaurant

 

 

" But it's an Indian drive through, worse still, it's under a fast food concept "

Guilty as charged. Yup, I have to admit, I was being biased without even stepping in first. Anyway, we're here already and looking at the menu, again I have my doubts.

So many things, sure or not you can cook ?

 

 

 

 

Hariyali Kebab.

Thick , big chunks of chicken breast, marinated in green paste combo with a minty dip on the side. I'm impressed as the chunks are much larger than another operator opposite Flamingo Hotel albeit a bit on the dry side.

Nice.

( NH ) Que Huong Toi - Jalan Jelutong

This quaint little outlet, with hardly any parking space, has been creating quite a buzz among Penangites and I intended to find out why.

  

    However, as opposed to all the people who have been raving about how great Vietnamese coffee is, it was seriously too thick for my liking.

Green Island Western ( PF )

1-world is an upcoming area filled with eateries and restaurants and this is my first foray into this charming little enclave .

Drove round twice, before deciding on this one as it seemed to be a crowd puller.

(NH) Sumida Japanese restaurant - Set Lunch

If you haven't noticed already, I'm making a slow and steady transition in my diet, since the beginning of this year. Japanese cuisine, seems to be becoming, part and parcel of my life now. Late bloomer , I know, I know ....
Somehow when we travel, it changes our outlook and influences our decisions. While it wasn't my trips to Japan that changed me, rather, Bangkok plays a starring role in this, especially after I saw the explosion of Japanese joints all over the city being wholeheartedly embraced by the Thais themselves .

Coming back to Sumida, it's been around for some time already. The fact that I wanted to try another new place, brought me here. Rumour has it that the place was originally helmed by a Japanese owner but not anymore.

Sushi Tei - Set Lunch revamp

The darnest thing about this place, is that it remains open even during the odd hours, when other restaurants have gone on break shift . So yeah, while I said I might not return the last time, in the end, I had to eat back my own words .

This is exactly the same set as we ordered on our last visit, on an overhaul.

Learnt to eat Cha Soba noodles while in Japan, as I am absolutely and completely NOT ....a fan of Ramen. When I returned, I taught shortie and that's how you always see on our table, whenever we go Japanese. 
Basically, it's a cold dish that's an acquired taste.

Bayview Georgetown Hotel - Sunday Malay lunch buffet

Seeing that we've been to some of the best places Penang has to offer , sometimes, we like to go back to the old basics....
which is good old hotel food.

Of all the hotels in its category and I dare say beyond , we know that they are dependable , as they're not obsessed with cutting too many corners and still employ locals , who are truly commited to the service industry.
Plates are cleared promptly, everyone works as a team, all of them can communicate in English and are alert at all times.

( NH ) Daorae Tg Tokong - sunken tatami vs the other side

This section, was where they treated us like Kings, on our previous visit

Today, however, we decided to sit over on the other side, just to see if there was a difference in the level of service.

Sakae Sushi - Gurney Plaza ( PF )

Today, let's compare the pictures of dishes from the menu, to the actual item sent to your table.

Fire Engine kids meal ( RM $9.90 )

Chicken Nugget, Golden Fish Cake, Panda Fish Cake, fries, assorted vegies

Reality : almost the same in terms of presentation.

IU Win Pan Mee Cabin ( NH ), Sungai Nibong

Had the opportunity to learn how to make this noodle , from scratch, from a Hakka family when I was around 15. 
It was a real family affair, which all the ladies in the house happily took part in together before sitting down for a great Sunday feast. 

Today, most hawkers tend to detract from the original recipe and spoil it by overflavouring this dish with things like msg and sugar, which are big no, nos. 

Therefore kudos to this restaurant for keeping to the authentic home made tradition, the way this noodle was meant to be....plain and simple, with minimal flavour.

Cab Western Food, Bagan Jermal ( PF )

Kindly take note that I no longer recommend this place.
However you are most welcome to try it out for yourself and see why I have done an about turn 

-----------------

If you've sworn allegiance to James Foo Western and you're only coming in here to give it a try, partially because it resembles their customer clogged outlet in Fettes Park, it's best you turn back.

The food they serve here is to my utter surprise.... hotel standard fare, going back to the good old days when hotel food used to be good ... never lousy. 

At half the prices, of course, expect to see customers of this kind sitting with one leg tucked up on the chair