CRIZ BON APPETITE

NOTE: This outlet has ceased its operation around the 3rd quarter of 2012.

Nowadays, diners are getting quite fussy about their food intake due to health reasons. They prefer food made from natural ingredients, no MSG, less oil, less sugar and with more nutrients. Recently, a group of housewives led my Mdm. Lim Lay Gaik had decided to join effort to cook some of their favorite dishes, of course the healthy way, to serve their family, friends and guests. Hidden within a corner lot bungalow unit along Jalan Pemancar, Gelugor, Penang, this little spacious yet comfortable eatery by the name of Yummy Tummy Delight sure knows how to pep up good food.

As the food served here are randomly cooked based on the ladies’ choices for the day, there would hardly be fixed dishes. Nevertheless, you can still be assured of some home cooked main courses, snacks, desserts and beverages daily. One of the almost available daily dishes would be the world’s #7 ranking Penang Assam Laksa (RM6.90nett). One sniff and you would know that the stock has been skillfully prepared with lots of fish bones, tamarind juice, herbs and spices. Although a bit spicy, this flavorful and thick soup based bowl of delicacy would sure soothe your sourness crave. It would come with lots of vegetable and fillet of a yellow-tailed scud (ikan selar) or sardine (ikan sardine), depends on market availability.

Occasionally, you would also find them serving Penang Hokkien Mee (RM6.90nett). The heavily simmered prawn shells and pork ribs indeed flavored the soup real well. The soup had that touch of mild sweetness; obviously from some add ons of rock sugar. The dish would be served with some yellow noodles/rice vermicelli, shrimps, pork ribs and egg garnished with some homemade deep fried shallots and chili paste. As a Hokkien Mee lover, I simply love the natural flavors of the overall dish. Slurps~ 🙂

There also do serve Seafood Nasi Lemak (RM4.50nett) on certain days. The fragrantly coconut milk steamed high quality rice sure complemented well with the thickly spiced up prawn curry, turmeric marinated fried fish (ikan gelama/jewfish), egg and some vegetables.

You would also get a fragrant home style Yang Zhou Fried Rice (RM5.90nett) with some shrimps, egg and Chinese sausages. It may look like any common fried rice but every single rice grain was skillfully flavored. More sambal belacan please~ 😛

The next dish which was the Fried Radish Cakes (RM5.90nett) was my all time favorite. Not only was the dish less oily than those I have tried elsewhere, it had that nice mild wok hei (high heat frying) with just the perfect flavors in it. The egg used was fresh and the bean sprouts were cooked just right for that extra crunchiness.

As for snacks, you might get to try out their homemade Yam Cakes (RM3.90nett/3pcs). Each bite had that generous amount of sandy bites yam pieces plus some dried shrimps. On top of that more deep fried dried shimps, fried shallots, chopped spring onions and red chilies were add as garnishes, accompanied by their homemade chili sauce. However, I found the texture to be a bit on the soft side. It could be due to their healthy way of omitting the usage of some lye water. The perfect combination would be 400g rice flour, 20g tapioca flour, 1 teaspoon lye water and 1 litre water, to be mixed with the rest of the ingredients and seasonings, prior to steaming for about 45 minutes.

Another option might be the Pumpkin Cakes (RM3.90nett/3pcs). Basically, the method of cooking would be the same except of the replacement of yam chunks with pumpkin chunks. Although still a bit soft to my liking, the nice sweetness from the ripe pumpkin chunks was just right. I personally prefer the pumpkin cakes than the yam cakes.

Whenever they served the Penang Assam Laksa, there might also be some Spring Rolls (RM2.90nett/3pcs). Basically, there was nothing much to shout about as these were just some common finger food. You can either eat these rolls with their chili sauce or just dip them into your laksa soup.

On and off, they would also utilize their home grown screwpines (pandan) to make some nice Nyonya kuih. I have tried their Kuih Talam (RM2.90nett/3pcs) and these were sinfully delicious. The balance between the pure pandan juice and mildly salted coconut milk topping was perfect.

For those who love to have mildly sweetened desserts, you are at the right place. Their Bubur Cha Cha (RM3.90nett/bowl) was heaven! It had just the right amount of coconut milk with added rock sugar as sweetener. Other than with sweet potatoes and yam, it also came with some tapioca flour made sweet potatoes and yam just like the ones you have at those Taiwanese dessert shops such as Blackball.

The Red Bean Soup (RM3.90nett/bowl) was also nice as it had blended red beans soup coupled with some whole azuki beans, kidney beans and some tapioca flour made sweet potatoes and yam too. Mildly sweetened and perfect to end my meal.

Sometimes, they might also cook some herbal type of desserts such as the Snow Fungus with Ginkgo Nuts (RM3.90nett/bowl). This Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) recipe would be great during this season for those who have cough and cold. The way they cook this dessert was based on their liking of having a softer textured snow fungus, thus you would find the soup to be rather starchy. The snow fungus is great to nourish the body, heal dry coughs and clearing heat in the lungs. The dried longan would nourish blood circulation and has a calming effect on nervous system. The red dates are basically for balancing the formula with a light touch of sweetness. The ginkgo nuts on the other hand would help in lungs related ailments, urinary incontinence and also as a digestive aid.

Overall, some of the dishes served here can be quite nice. However, there are still some rooms for improvements for some of the dishes I have tried. There are still many other dishes I have yet to try out such as their Jawa Mee (RM6.90nett), Nissin Noodles with Sausage & Egg (RM6.90nett), Curry Chicken with Mantou (RM5.90nett), Pandan Ang Koo (RM2.90nett/3pcs), Loh Bak (RM2.90) and more. Drinks such as their daily brewed herbal tea and soy bean milk are priced at RM2.90nett each. If you fancy healthier version of street food, this is the place for you. Delivery can be arranged for purchases of over RM30.00nett within the vicinity of Gelugor, Jelutong, Green Lane, Bayan Baru and Bayan Lepas areas.

Since this is a private owned house within a rather upmarket residence area, you might just pass it as just another house. Moreover, it’s hidden from the main street. If you have a GPS, it would be hassle free to find the location as I have listed below. If not, just follow the directions as mentioned here. If you are coming from Bayan Baru/Bayan Lepas area along Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah towards Green Lane/Jelutong, do watch out for the Gelugor Post Office traffic lights (Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah/Hilir Pemancar). Drive on after the traffic lights until you see a Mobil petrol kiosk on your left. Slow down and keep to your left. Turn left into the first left junction (Hala Pemancar). Drive about 50m and you would see a 3-level corner lot bungalow with green transparent awning at 11 o’clock. Park your car along the road and walk in towards the stainless steel gate. The auto bell will ring and there will be people inside opening the door for you. You can’t miss it as there’s a banner there stating “Yummy Tummy Delight”.

Name: YUMMY TUMMY DELIGHT
Address: 378A, Jalan Pemancar, 11700 Penang, Malaysia.
Contact: 019-280 7560 (Ah Gaik)
Business Hours: 11.30am-7.00pm (Tuesday-Saturday ONLY)
GPS: 5.372685, 100.308112

RATING:
Ambience: 7/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 7/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 7/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 7/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 8/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)