CRIZ BON APPETITE

After having too much of rice related meals for the week, my friend and I decided to visit a restaurant along Jalan Rangoon for some fresh seafood noodles. That restaurant is called Wong Chau Jun Restaurant where they are famous for their Spicy Sour Fish Noodles. I saw that on all the tables, there was at least an order. Since I was not able to consume something spicy and sour that day, I ordered something milder.

The first dish that came was the Steamed Fish with Ginger and Hor Fun (RM8). The perch fillet was real fresh and the time used to cook the fish was just right. It came with some hor fun. Although this looked like a simple steamed fish with soy sauce, ginger and some Chinese wine, the combination of ingredients was really nice. This is a must to try out on a hot and humid weather.

The Fried Maggi Mee (RM4) came next. Nothing special about the dish except that it has 3 big and fresh prawns. The taste was fine but the restaurant could have done better by using a more springy type of noodles.

What I like most was their special homemade Deep Fried Tofu with Dried Shrimps (RM6). The tofu was soft and smooth. The way they fried the deep fried tofu with some dried shrimps was simple and yet the taste wonderful. I would highly recommend this dish.

If you are coming from Komtar into Jalan Burmah, just drive further up until you reach the second traffic light in front of New Word Park. Turn left into Jalan Rangoon. Drive forward until almost the end of that road and you will see the restaurant on your left (two more shops and you will reach Jalan Macalister).

Sometimes it is good to visit places that will bring back fond memories of our childhood days. When I was a child, I used to play in the big field along Jalan Scott with my parents and brother. After a happy and enjoyable day out with them, we will usually end up at the Senior Citizens’ Association of Penang for our meals. Going back there again recently brought back many memories of how fun and united it was to have everyone sitting down there and enjoying ourselves as a family. That sort of reunion hardly exists that frequent in our family now as all of us had grown up and being busy with our own life and family.

As I drove into the compound of the Association, I can see many cars parked outside. Those were the cars of some of the senior citizens there. I kept thinking in my mind why they were there when they should be in the comfort of their home enjoying their life with their children and grandchildren. Were they there because they would feel more at home with people of their ages or they were not getting as much attention from their loved ones that they had to be there for companies? I have no answers to that, do you?

Anyway, coming back to the type of food they were serving since the first day I stepped foot into the cafeteria with my parents. The menu did not change much. Most of the food served there were for the convenience of the club members although they did get revisits from some of the guests the members brought in there earlier. I ordered the usual such as the Mee Sua Tao (RM5), Roti Babi (RM3.80 per set) and Choon Pneah (RM3.80).

The Mee Sua Tao (Rice Vermicelli with gravy) was great when taken with black vinegar. The dish was cooked with some minced meat, egg and crab meat. Nothing really special compared to those sold elsewhere as the prices of things had gone up tremendously and the ingredients were not as much as it used to be. The taste still remained the same as what I had taken when I was younger.

The Choon Pneah (Spring Roll) was still nice. Strips of turnips, carrots, minced meat and crab meats were wrapped in a poh piah (flour crepe) skin and then coated with some flour and fried to perfection. Although it was a bit oily, the crunchiness and the taste of the 5-spice powder brought out the taste nicely. As for the filling, not much of crab meats in there as the price had shot up a lot quite a lot in the recent years.

The Roti Babi (French toast with filling) had the same filling as the spring roll. Instead of the poh piah skin, white bread was used and coated with beaten eggs and deep fried until it turned to golden brown. This is a great dish for breakfast, tea or supper. Both dishes are best served with cut chillies in Worchester sauce.

The cafeteria is very near to One-Stop Midlands Park Centre and Adventist Hospital. If you are along Jalan Burmah, just turn into Jalan Brown. Drive forward until you reach the second junction on your left. Turn into the road (Jalan Scott) and you will see a building with a big field on your right. That is where the Senior Citizens’ Association of Penang is. The cafeteria is just behind the building.

Yesterday marked an unforgettable day as I got to meet up with some of the food bloggers in Penang. Finally, I get to see those real faces behind the virtual food blogs. Those who attended the mini gathering included the three brains behind PenangTuaPui, Lingzie, CK Lam, Buzzing Bee, Carrie, Gill & hubby Jason and me. I wanted to arrive earlier to take some snap shots of the vicinity but ended up quite late at 7.45pm due to some unexpected delay. Why? Because my little gift packs only came out from the oven only at 7.20pm. LOL!

Anyway, the gathering started with us guessing who and who were Tam Jiak, Huat Koay and Fei Fei from the PenangTuaPui trio. We all were in stitches after knowing the story behind this trio. In fact the whole group of floggers who gathered there last night was a bunch of jokers. Not only do they know their taste buds well, they also know how to make everyone felt at home. Not long later, the food was served. Here were the dishes we had ordered.

The food served that night was just average and nothing to fuss about. What really got us excited was when BuzzingBee brought out her homemade fruit tarts. Everybody was like busy shooting those 20 pieces of tarts being nicely arranged on the lazy susan. The tarts were amazing. Bee had the tarts baked to perfection with some not-so-sweet chocolate glazed at the base. She then topped the tarts with freshly sliced banana, kiwi fruit, orange and lychee. What a nice dessert for all of us.

Finally, a beautiful and moist Green Tea Cake bought by Lingzie came in. Coincidentally it was Carrie’s Birthday. How old was she? We dare not ask. As you know most ladies would not like to disclose their age, especially when they get a year older on their birthday. LOL! Anyway, we had lots of fun fooling around with her cake as who should get the strawberries and so on. In the end, they ended up on Carrie’s plate. Here was what she had on her plate.

Somehow, something made my mind go wild when she made her birthday wish. Is this what she had in her mind? We won’t know for sure… hahaha!

Finding the restaurant won’t be hard as it is located within the vicinity of Penang’s Inshore Marina, Church Street Pier and QEII along Pengkalan Weld (Weld Quay). It’s a great place for gathering and to have a drink while enjoying the scenic view of the seaside.

Maybe you are not aware but Penang has another new shop selling nice and oven fresh pastries to keep your mouth nibbling at all time. Originated from Teluk Intan, this shop provides one of the best egg tarts and puffs around Penang. The business started as early as 1975 in a small bungalow in Teluk Intan. By 1979, they started using trishaw to sell the delicacies in trays. That’s the reason you can see the trishaw as part of their logo. What made the pastry so irresistible is that they are handmade until today and the recipes are of the original for the past 30 years. Even the fillings for the pastries are of selected choice pieces of meat and ingredients.

The pastries come in different sizes. Some of them are bite sizes and are great for parties and office meetings. If you plan to have functions or intend to make them as gifts, do try to call up and make your orders. The oven fresh pastries get snatched up real fast. Here are some of the pastries which you can get from the shop.

To find the shop is rather easy as there is a big signboard in front that shows an elderly lady on a trishaw. If you are coming from Komtar into Jalan Burmah, just drive further up until you reach a traffic light in front of Telekom. The shop is just after Lorong Madras on your left. Chew Thean Yeang Aquarium is just diagonally opposite this shop.

If you like to have lots of seafood dishes at an affordable price, you should make a visit to this small restaurant along Weld Quay area. The food served here are quite nice as they are neither too oily nor over flavored as most of the restaurant along that area. I visited that place not long ago with a friend of mine.

We ordered a bowl of Seaweed Soup (RM4) with lots of fish balls and meat in it. Not bad for the taste except that I find it a bit oily on the surface.

Next on the list was my personal request to the chef – Fried Bean Sprouts (Taugeh) and Pea Sprouts (Dou Miao) with Salted Fish (RM5). The chef did even better than I expected as he added some juicy mushroom slices in the dish. The dish was just nice with the correct amount of crunchy salted fish added.

The Iron Plate Tofu with Minced Pork (RM6) followed. This restaurant presented it in a different way as they laid the base of the hot plate with eggs before putting in the tofu and minced meat on top. Most restaurants would just knock an egg on top of the hot steaming dish before serving.

The best of the rest came last. We were served seven juicy and big Spicy Buttered Egg Prawns (RM19) and that got our appetite to boost up further. What I like about this dish is that the prawns were real fresh and the slightly sweet buttered egg was real crunchy. Most of all, the dish was not too oily and the amount of curry leaves and butter used in the dish were combined well.

Overall we spent RM40.20 on the food which was inclusive of rice (RM2.40) and drinks (RM3.80). If you are driving from the ferry terminal towards the Jelutong Expressway, the restaurant is just before the Shell petrol kiosk on your left. Do watch out carefully as they have yet to replace their signboard after it was spoiled by a heavy and windy rainfall.

I just read about What2See’s review on the all the nice places to eat along Lebuh Cintra but he missed out one nice hawker shop along the way. He was not the first one too as the shop which sells Fried Hor Fun looked just like any other hawker stalls in Penang. Unless the person resides within the town area, he or she would have overlooked the small stall hidden at the corner of the old coffee shop.

My friend and I paid a visit to the shop not long ago, although I had frequent the stall for takeaways all the time. We ordered a large Fried Hor Fun (RM6) with lots of freshly fried grouper meat and also a normal sized Fried Ee Foo Mee (RM4) with big fresh succulent prawns. Although the portions served were quite small, the tastes were wonderful. What mattered most was the freshness of the seafood used at the stall. In fact, majority of the patrons there would order their Snakehead Fish Rice Vermicelli Soup (Lay Hoo Bee Hoon Th’ng). If you happen to be around that area, do drop by to try them out. Here are the two dishes which we had ordered.

You won’t miss the shop as it is at the junction of Lorong Kampung Malabar and Lebuh Cintra. In fact the stall is the row as the famous Rice Dumpling (Bak Chang) shop. Although the shop is located at the heavy traffic area, you can easily find ample parking space along Lorong Kampung Malabar.

Other than Northam Beach Café, there is another place called Breeze Café right up by the coastal area of Tanjung Tokong. The concept here is totally different compared to NBC as all the food and beverages are managed by only a restaurant there. They do serve Western food, noodles & rice dishes, finger food up to ice creams, coffee and hard liquors. Not a bad place to laze about on the easily available deck chairs while enjoying the cool breeze from the sea. This is quite an ideal place for love birds as well as for small groups of friends.

The management can even arrange for BBQ by the beach for a minimum of 4 persons (RM25+ each), a group of 25 persons (RM25+ each plus a free bungalow stay) and themed buffet dinner for a minimum of 20 persons (RM25+ each) by the beach. You can check out more information on the promotion through any of their other restaurants, Nyonya Café (i-Avenue) in Bayan Lepas, Penang or Nyonya Café (New World Park), Penang.

My friend and I paid a visit recently and found the place quite relaxing except that you might find some stray mosquitoes biting since the place is dimly lighted and with a lots of decorative plants around. Both of us ordered a Shirley Temple (RM8) and a Kickapoo (RM4) as our drinks.

As for starter, I ordered a bowl of Mushroom Soup (RM4.50). It came in a big soup bowl with a few largely cut crouton. Not bad for the pricing but the soup tasted ordinary.

As for the main, I ordered the Chicken Cordon Bleu (RM10). The dish was presented in a simple way with the usual fries, salad, white plain bread (a quarter and non-toasted?) and the stuffed breaded chicken drumstick garnished with some mushroom sauce. Maybe it was my luck as the chicken was quite burn and dry and the stuffing has no taste of cheese at all. The mushroom sauce was rather bland too.

My friend ordered a Black Pepper Chicken (RM9). The garnishing was the same except that he got a larger piece of battered chicken drumstick with thigh. As for the black pepper sauce, I felt that it was rather diluted with not much of pepper taste in it. I still love the one at Yaw’s Roast & Grill.

My friend and I then ordered Love Boat (RM8) to share out as dessert. We were allowed to choose 3 flavors from the list of 6 flavors such as Vanilla, Coffee, Chocolate, Strawberry, Rum & Raisins and Mint Chocolate Chips. You can even order a scoop at RM3.50.

The total price came up to RM47.85 which included a 10% service charge. Overall, the place is not bad for drinkers. As for food, I would hope that the management would spice up the quality in order to gain more diners. I have not tried their other stir-fried dishes with rice or fried noodles yet. Maybe I might have other opinions of the taste and quality.

Most people, even the locals would miss this place as it is situated right inside the coastal area of Tanjung Tokong. If you are driving up from town area towards Tanjung Tokong / Tanjung Bungah / Batu Ferringhi, you will see the Penang Chinese Swimming Club on your right. Drive forward until you see a traffic light (Tanjung Bungah Hotel on your right). Make a U-Turn and drive towards the swimming club. Turn left into the road after the swimming club until you see Naza Hotel. The café is just next to the hotel. They do also provide budget motel here under the name Sea Wind Beach Motel. You can park right inside or just along the road. Parking spaces are rather limited within the compound.

Ever wonder where you would treat yourself or your guests to a sumptuous Peranakan (Straits Chinese) meal with great indoor and outdoor ambience? You should check out Hot Wok, a stunning Peranakan theme restaurant, which has just relocated right into the heart of Georgetown, Penang. Since the Nyonya restaurant started its operation in 1994, they have impressed many locals and foreigners with their quality food and great history on the Peranakan culture.

Walking into the restaurant is like walking back into time as the interior and exterior of the restaurant are beautifully decorated with intricate wooden carvings and fabricated windows of the heydays. The existence of beautiful marble top coffee tables, wooden chairs, hanging porcelain lamps and many unique artifacts adorning the walls within the restaurant will allow you to experience the feeling of dining as a Nyonya or Baba. If you are observant enough, you may find a few great museum pieces proudly being displayed along the walls. Some are originals as far back as the early 19th Century.

I revisited the place together with a friend of mine recently and found that the quality of the food served there has not change at all. Hot Wok has been one of the pioneers in Nyonya Cuisine in Penang. In fact, there are many other restaurants booming up to cater to the high demand on Nyonya food recently but what they lack in is the atmosphere and Peranakan experience that Hot Wok was able to provide.

We ordered a few dishes such as the Lobak (RM8), Jiu Hoo Char (RM8) and Curry Chicken Kapitan (RM14) to be taken with rice.

The Lobak (meat roll) is made out of fresh pork marinated in 5-spice powder with other ingredients and wrapped in tofu skin. The end product would then be deep fried to get the crunchiness and golden color.

The Jiu Hoo Char is a combination of cuttlefish strips stir fried with stripped turnips, carrots, mushrooms, pork and at times big onions. This dish is best eaten when wrapped in a fresh lettuce leaves.

The Curry Chicken Kapitan was indeed good. Choice pieces of thighs and drumsticks were cooked in blended spices, lime juice, Kaffir lime leaves and thick coconut milk. This dish was good compared to the rest of the places I have taken as the gravy was thick and nice.

We ordered some great desserts such as the Chilled Sago with Jackfruit (RM3.50) and Chilled Sago with Honey Dew (RM3.50). Both were topped with creamy coconut milk.

Since the boss also recommended their famous Hokkien Mee (RM4), we tried out a bowl and the dish was great. The sweetness of the soup is incompatible to those I have taken before. I could imagine the amount of bones and long hours they have taken to get the thickness of the soup. You can even have addons such as pork ribs as well as their crunchy roasted pork. The price might come up to RM7 but you sure won’t regret ordering such a quality bowl of Hokkien Mee. Anyway, you do not have to worry too as they will also allow you to use your credit cards on Hokkien Mee purchases. Well, I don’t think I know any other hawker stalls in Penang that provides this sort of services, do you?

Overall, the total price came up to RM53.70 which included a 10% service charge (RM4.90) for the appetizer, food and drinks. I won’t consider this expensive as Nyonya cuisine required a lot of preparations. Moreover, the food was of quality.

You won’t miss the restaurant as it is situated within two shoplots just between Nagore Place and Giant Supermarket along Jalan Burmah. As for parking, you can always find ample parking spaces within the Giant Supermarket compound or along Jalan Nagore.

It really amazed me how an elderly couple could work almost without any rest practically every hour of the day for years without ever taking time off to relax for their old age. You got me right! They have been selling Wan Than Mee 24 hours a day for years, only taking a 10-hour break every Tuesday from 12.30am until 10.30am. Gosh! I won’t want my life to be this way when I get old. Surprisingly, they still get a lot of supporters going for their Wan Than Mee at odd time as the pricing is dirt cheap! But there’s a catch, you might have to serve yourself as the old man could be rather slow in serving as it’s a one-man business.

Out of curiosity, my friend and I went over to try out the noodles. It was cheap indeed but the taste was just average. I guessed this stall is catering to those lower income groups as well as the TAR College students staying around that area. We ordered a dry Wan Than Mee (RM2.50) each with barely a few pieces of char siew pork and a slice of fish cake. It is quite expensive for a plate of almost nothing noodles. Maybe the rest of garnishing were added into our side orders. I’m not sure about that as it was my first time there. The noodles appeared to be as below.

We ordered a bowl of Wan Than Soup (RM2). There are about 20 plus Wan Than. The soup based was fine but the filling for the Wan Than was little and a little lack of flavors.

We also ordered a plate of Fried Wan Than (RM2 for 24 pieces). Instead of waiting for the old man to serve us, we did the frying ourselves. I saw quite a few people did that.. I guessed that must be the trend there as everyone willingly helped out the old man. Well, the taste was the same. The Fried Wan Than also lack of flavors as the filling were little.

Next was the mixed vegetable (RM2) with some dark soy sauce added. As for the drinks (RM1 per glass), we made our own. You can have a choice of Chrysanthemum, Nutmeg, Rose or Keat Poh. Overall, the noodles were just average but considering the crowd and orders, I guessed there were still many compassionate people out there who loved to support this old couples.

Just drive into the Tanjung Bungah Market and you can see only one stall in the hawker centre opening up for business during the wee hours of the night. You sure won’t miss it as there will be continuous flow of people patronizing the stall each night.

There are many businesses in Penang that had converted part of their business to food business. The latest being the Mellano Florist along Jalan Dato Keramat. What I do not understand is that how could a restaurant have only 3 main dishes and 3 main beverages to serve its customers. Customers would want more choices when dining in. The 3 dishes mentioned are the Broadbean Delight (RM3.50), Glass Noodles in Chicken Soup (RM3.50) and Shanghai Beef Noodles (RM6.00). The drinks are Mango Yogurt (RM2.50), Strawberry Yogurt (RM2.50) and Root Beer Float (not available)

The Broadbean Delight was just some flour cake (somewhat like our koay kak) cut into strips using wavy chee cheong fun knife. It came with some soy sauce, crushed peanuts and some chicken meat. It looked impressive but the taste was totally not Malaysian and not to my taste bud.

The Glass Noodles in Chicken Soup came with some chicken strips, wood fungus, and 3 chicken balls. The soup tasted real flat for those who do not consume chili powder. It is very Taiwanese style. Not to my liking as well and the portion was real small.

The Shanghai Beef Noodles came with only thinly sliced beef and some intestine. This was again without much taste and no side sauces came with it. The soup in fact was too diluted without the sweetness of bones.

The drinks were normal with the Root Beer Float being not available on the first day of launching. I guessed the owner should look into adding more choices and to ensure the satisfactions of its customers. Overall, it flopped my taste bud totally.

The restaurant cum florist is located just immediately after the Honolulu Restaurant (previously Federal Theatre) along the main road of Jalan Dato Keramat. Parking can be real scare over here even if you are on a bike. So, be prepared to park behind Honolulu Restaurant and walk up to the restaurant.