Umay - Sri Lankan Briyani ( PF)

Always itching to try something new.

That's how I ended up in a foodcourt again although I totally detest the characterless, sterile environment.

Would prefer to eat by the roadside anytime...but hey...let's give it a go .

Offering Sri Lankan , Western and Arab food on the same menu , sounds as though it's gonna be a tall order, for the chef to pull off, right ?

But I'm willing to give everything a try once.

Settled on the Sri Lankan Briyani set.

Hin Loong chicken rice, Ipoh ( PF )

There are famous shops a few roads down, but I only eat here if I am on the lookout for a nice plate of chicken rice

There's no crazy crowd jostling for elbow space here .
Nice and peaceful.

The yellowing signs are meant for the uninitiated few.
"Please order your meal at the counter"
" FOC soup provided . Self service only"

Hainanese Delights - $60 ? Are you kidding ? ( PF )

Mind you, the restaurant is located within a budget hotel , so excuse me, for complaining that I find the bill a bit too much.

Our order

• 3 drinks - 2 hainanese kopi ( 1 hot, 1 cold), 1 orange juice
• 1 dessert - 1 small bowl of sago with gula melaka
• 3 mains - 1 fried rice, 1 fried rice with salted fish, 1 fried beehoon
• 1 appetizer - 2 spring rolls

Fried rice. Tasty and nice with prawns and chicken meat.

 Deep fried onions were so hard , I spit them out in disgust.

Fried beehoon. Crunchy sawi, nice fluffy scrambled eggs with prawns and chicken meat.

Again, the onions spoilt the whole dish.

Boiling inside.

Jasmine Garden Cafe ( PF)

7th January 2013 :

I don'tknow what's happened. Whether the kitchen is on strike or the chef has got a better offer elsewhere but the usual foods below which we ordered were dissapointing.
No taste. Not salty enough. Rancid char siew. Undercooked chicken. 

Earlier post :

Although YMCA lies just a little further down, across the road , most tourists give this a miss, preferring to venture elsewhere without ever realising, that they have a gem right at their doorstep .

Instead a bulk of their customers nowadays, consists of Indonesian medical tourists and staff from the hospital nearby.

Belacan chicken is excellent.

No overpoweringly, bitter belacan flavour.

Just heavenly.
You absolutely have to try this dish when you're in Penang.

Dave's Deli ( PF )

 Expect nothing less than good,wholesome food from this particular Dave's Deli outlet.

Customers have to line up and order food canteen style but who's complaining when there's no additional taxes on an incredibly reasonable bill ?

Always look forward to the roast chicken.

Portion is definitely larger than their competitors, mashed potatoes are really creamy and delicious.

Salads always perfect and crunchy.

Passions of Kerala ( PF )

This restaurant combines the best of both worlds....

a nice banana leaf meal, in clean, air conditioned comfort .

One vegetarian set costs just $5.50

D' Portuguese Cafe & Restaurant - Authentic Kristang Flavours ( PF)

At first glance, it looked like another ordinary makan stop

But take a second look ....

Bubba Gump Shrimp Co at The Curve

One might be forgiven for thinking that a Long Beach diner had been airlifted right smack into the middle of Mutiara Damansara

The entire restaurant is doted with memoribilia connected to the movie Forrest Gump

Pasar Air Itam Laksa ( PF )

This famous stall needs no introduction

Apparently it's their prawn paste which makes them famous

T.G.I.Fridays ( PF )

How to spend what the courier brought in. 



Head here

Eng Lee Grilled fish stall- Song River cafe ( PF )

This stall is actually more reknowned for whipping up the most spicy small shellfish (lala) on Penang island, but you have to come later due to some agreement he has with another stall owner not to sell this bestseller earlier

Not to worry, his ikan bakar is just as crazily addictive.
It's nicely charred, tender, moist,sweey and spicy with tons of garlic slices encased in banana leaf.

The more you eat, the more water you'll need,yet you just can't stop.

Know what I mean?

Hawker made Chai Kueh ( PF )

The kitchen is not state of the art, in fact it's just a makeshift table top at the corner of a kopitiam.
I'm intrigued as I've never seen these increasingly rare dumplings being made before right in front of my eyes . 
The price per piece costs just 60 sen with two stuffings to choose from.... turnip or chives .

Start with these essential ingredients below. The bowl of extra flour is to prevent it from sticking to your hands.

Paul Bakery ( PF )

Paul is a french bakery chain that is reknowned for its rather reasonably priced offerings

Heard so many rave reviews about it being THE place for bread, established in the 1889 bla bla....thus I want to try this out for myself today

Benugo at the NHM ( PF )

It's my first time here and I love it already. The setting is nothing short of spectacular.

Various muffins and cakes are laid out in the middle like a mini banquet for you to pick and choose

Is this elegant or what ?

Numeral Eight Curry House, Alor Setar ( PF )

Update Nov 2014 :

I have bad news and I have good news. The good news is, they now cater to Malay & Muslim customers. The bad news is, the high quality is gone. The beef rendang was dry, the fish head curry was not as delightful as before. They even serve the weirdest Chinese tea I've ever had in my life.
Not returning. So long, farewell, goodbye forever. Wasted my time. Wasted my money. Wasted my petrol. 
----------------------------

Plenty of fans will agree that this huge bungalow with no signboard is one of Alor Setar's best food venues.

Perfectly manicured lawns in a pleasant environment filled with interesting features greets every visitor....

Butter Cuttle (PF)

While we were at the Avenue of the Stars, waiting for the world reknowned Symphony of Lights show to start, a most delicious smell filled the air .

We followed our noses and it led us like hungry moths towards this musical rolling orange flame. Cute cartoon !

We place our order with this chap who's trying very hard to keep his cool and look undisturbed

Lok Yuen Beef Ball King (NH)

We came here because it was still open past midnight. Packed to the brim even. Barely any place to sit.

By right should be good right ? I mean they even have the balls to say they are king of exploding beef balls. Take a look at the extensive menu. Impressive.

Australia Dairy Company, Parkes Street

Heard so much about how good the breakfast here is so this place was a must try.

When we spotted the place, walaueh.... will you look at the line. What to do but wait.

Side view. Hopelessly long. Stretches past 3 shoplots.

By the time we reach their window I start aiming for this star dish of theirs.

Seems they come in 2 colours. White or yellow. I think white is steamed milk and the yellow is an egg.

Surprisingly the long line moves along quite fast. But once we arrive at the entrance we realise that everyone has to share tables amongst organised chaos. Packed to the brim !

We struggle along to get a gist of what we want to order with my very basic Cantonese. And actually get out order faster than one local sharing space with us.

Tadaaaa.....what the heck is this. Don't care lah just swallow.

It's steamed milk with sugar that is too sweet for my liking. Hmmm...an acquired taste I think because it has absolutely killed any trace of the smell of milk. Didn't enjoy this at all since I do like my milk to smell and taste milky.

He on the other hand enjoyed the cold version.

Scrambled eggs between two slices of bread and scrambled eggs on top of one slice of bread. Sigh. I don't want to bug any waiter at this point.

However one bite changed our perception of what scrambled egg ought to taste like forever. I've never tasted anything like this. This is indeed good. Slightly salty but very good.

We also had an exceptional cold glass of coffee that sent a shiver of delight down my spine. Excellent wake me up ! Tastes totally different from any coffee I have ever had. Thick, fragrant, rich and invigorating .

Didn't take pics of that out of consideration for the poor guy who still didn't get his order after we had left.

Directions : MTR Jordan Exit C2

Address : G/F 47 Parkes Street, Jordan

Hui Lau Shan, Sai Yeong Choi Street South

Hong Kong people seem to have a love for everything mango and where better to start than at Hui Lau Shan.

The mango variety that they use is extremely fragrant. Reminds me of the apple mangoes that we have back home growing in our gardens . But I am sure they do not source it from us. I think they use either Philippines or Thai mangoes for this purpose.

This is one of the more popular outlets . Have seen other branches with bigger seating spaces, yet somehow they don't do so well nor attract or pack in the crowds like this one does.

If  you cannot read chinese, the mock ups right at the entrance would prove to be most helpful .

Get yourself a table first.

It's elbow room in this very cramped, tiny shoplot yet nobody seems to mind.

Go through the menu and see what you would like to try.

Signal to the waiter for assistance once you have a rough indication on what you want.

You will not regret ordering the gorgeous looking dish called Mango Fiesta.

There is a heavenly mango ice cream sitting on top of a bed of spiced caramalised cooked fresh fibrous fruit (either a pear or apple I think), hinged by a wall of chocolate wafer.

In the centre is a creamy cake sandwiched by layers of silky smooth mango slices with texture similar to canned peaches.

While the last combines large balls of sago,with cubed fruit and 2 different types of puree .

Goes so well with each other.

This drink, whatever the combination you choose, is to die for.

Inside are dollops of a melt in your mouth kind of jelly, meant to cool you down during the hot summer months.

Behind this is a plastic container where you can get your spoons. It's on every table

Lastly we ordered this too because we noticed all the locals having one on their table.

Only after ordering did we realise we should have told the waiter that we wanted the one with mango ice cream inside. But no worries, this mango overdose was good too !

Again, it consists of the awesomely fragrant puree and delicious mango cubes but the only difference this time is , it has small sago seeds like what we get in our bubur cha cha.

When you're done, take the order slip to the counter.

All these desserts cost us around RM$50 in total.

Worth every cent.

I heard that they have opened up a shop here in One Utama and Berjaya Times Square, but I haven't tried it yet.

Anyway, it is always best to try at the source so you know what the fuss is all about.

Nando's Cataplana feast, Gurney Plaza ( PF )

Penangites have fallen hopelessly in love with this Portuguese chicken franchise from day one.

Us included.

 We want to try out their signature dish, served in this very cute but strange looking copper/brass like container.