Gourmet Garden

Virgin visit to Xuan Xin Restaurant, Gurney Plaza

2009-09-09T10:11:00.000+08:00

We have heard a lot of the Xuan Xin Restaurant which newly established its self in the prime location at Gurney Plaza’s New Wing, some said their food & service is good and some said lousy. So who is the winner?

I ‘m now going to tell my true experience that we’ve encounter. The answer is Not Too Bad. Would it be due to the lesser dinner crowd as compared to the lunch’s crowd?

The Menu

We’ve choosen the Sliced “French Style” Smoked Duck @ RM12 to start our palate.

4 pcs of smoke duck breasts with it 4 steamed mantou (chinese steam bun), cucumber and fried beancured skin. I just wonder why they put the red sauce on top of the smoke duck? And the sauce is tasteless, its serve no purpose may be just color for presentation. By the way, the duck meat is pinkish in color.

Here is how I stacked the mantou first with smoke duck slice, followed by the cucumber, crispy beanchurd skin and of course top with the other half of the mantou. We did not get any instruction on how to eat this appertizer, is this the correct way? Shouldn’t they guide us to how best savour their dishes?

The mantou was moist and fluffy and dense, also good on its own. (oppss..sounds like gardenia slogan huh?) Thesmoke duck had a light smoked flavour and hint of saltiness. It is best eaten with only with the steam buns, not ideal to pack everything together. The fried beancurd skin was crisp and crunchy, but i find it was a little too thick for the combination.

The first bite you should experience the warm and soft buns covered with the crunch and salty beancured skin, refreshing cucumber and the smokey duck flavour, it should be wonderful. But our experince at Xuan Xin, the beancured skin is way thicker and saltier then the smoke duck, some how or rather the smokey duck flavour was loss (main subject). Dragon-i smoked duck is still my first choice.

Suggestion: It would be prefect if reduce the bean cured skin layer, and the enhance the duck meat flavor and moister.

Sliced “French Style” Smoked Duck: 3.8/5

Stir Fried Hor Fun with Sliced Beef @ RM12

My all time favourite “Stir Fried Hor Fun with Sliced Beef”. When I saw it in the menu, I had to order it.

The Hor Fun is slightly different from the local ones, its thinner and its cut similarly like koay teow shape, Bean sprout head and tails were picked (its a standard in Hong Kong Restaurant), slice onion, julienne slice scallion and thinly slice beef meat.

Wok hei comes from the first sense, second would be the sweetness from the dark soy sauce and caramelized onion. Hor Fun good in texture and smooth. Beef was bit of a let down as it was not Beefy in taste and the amount was countable, just aroun 8 slices. The Scallion was fiberish and doesn’t help much as it was pretty irritating and stuck in between the teeth.

Suggestion: Beef hor fun should have the beefy flavour. Priced @ RM12 should have more slices.haha… Should take note on the scallion.

Stir Fried Hor Fun with Sliced Beef: 3.8/5(for the wok hei and soya sauce taste)

New launch Food Items which separate from the menu.

We ordered Braised Crispy Noodle with Curry & Roasted Pork Belly @ RM12

Errrg…look at the presentation. It doesn’t look appertising ya?

Thick curry gravy poured on a bed of perfectly deep fried crisp thin noodles, served with long bean and roast pork belly chunks. Ok, did you see the different from the Menu and the presentation here? hah.

The only items that i like from this dish is the crispy noodle. I think they wish to do the similar of Japanese curry, but it doesn’t taste right to me. Its starchy and less spice from the curry. And the Roast pork belly was rough and dry. I personally doesn’t like the dish.

Something to praise, is the noodle has been cut like pizza slices which easgave ease in consuming it.

Suggestion:

The name of “Braised Crispy Noodle with Curry & Roasted Pork Belly” doens’t sound rights to me, as the noodle was not braised in curry but poured on. It would be right to name it ”Braised Curry Roasted Pork Belly with Crispy Noodle”, sounds better right?

I don’t know how to put a suggestion on this curry, may less starchy and more local flavour infuse in the curry.

Braised Crispy Noodle with Curry & Roasted Pork Belly: 3/5

Poached Chinese Spinach with 2 Kinds of Egg in Superior Stock @ RM12.80

This soup was delicious and the most enjoyable for us that night! We both enjoyed it till the last drop. The Spinach poached to just the right consistency where one could still feel the crunchiness. There were more then 2 kinds of eggs in this dish, it has chicken egg whites, century eggs and salted eggs and 3 of them has its unique taste, all flavor combine with the good soup stock….it was very delicious. This is far more better then many restaurants.

Poached Chinese Spinach with 2 Kinds of Egg in Superior Stock: 4.2/5

On average, I would rate :

Taste & Texture: 3.95/5
Money Value : 3.8/5 (its Reasonable, with the consideration of the price, location, serving)
Service: 3.7/5 (at least they asked your feedback for the newly launch menu. Fast and efficient when press the service button. btw, they served the appetizer at last, why?)
Cleanliness: 4/5
Atmosphere: 4/5

Delicious Cat Fish Gulai @ Jelutong Expressway, Penang

2009-07-01T01:11:00.002+08:00

Days back while driving through the Jelutong Express-way, we noticed a typical looking Malay eating outlet beside the ramp just after the old land fill area along the express-way. As we just finish the eLawyer seminar at USM and had no plans of where to have lunch, we decided to try out the Malay eating outlet that we saw previously. When coming from the Georgetown area, just keep to the left after the Jelutong xpress-way Shell petrol station. The “makan” area is just after the old land fill. But if you are driving from the Bayan Lepas direction, after Tesco stay to the left and turn right at the first traffic lights and you will see the “makan” area.

The name of the stall is “Ani Nasi Campur Gulai Sembilang”, and it is housed in the “Balai Nelayan Jelutong”. The stall open’s for business daily except Sunday and their business hours are from 11:30am onwards until everything is gone from their trays. It literally closes after all their dishes are all sold out, and would just take about 2 to 3 hours. We were there some where near to 2:00pm and everything was all sold out except for some beef, squid, and some fish curries.

And thus, that is what we had for lunch that faithfull Saturday. 2 plates of white rice, 1 nasi tambah, 1 curry sembilang head, 1 piece of curry ikan pari , 3 pieces of beef and some chilli squid. And the total demage is RM 17.00.

The “Ikan Pari” or stingray curry had some hint of “balacan” or fermented shrimp paste in it. The taste is of this dish is quite light but the gravy was creamy. It is a dish that I would not miss if the run out of stock on my next visit there.

Next on the table was the “Gulai Sembilang”, which is actually our local catfish cooked in their special “gulai” or curry. The gulai was light, sweet and full of fragrant of spices. As the gulai is light, it did not go well with white rice alone; one would need to mixed it with other heavier tasting gravies. But to enjoy it like one would do with soups would be a better way to enjoy the flavour the sembilang gulai has to offer. As for the sembilang fish head, it was creamy or “lemak” especially with those entire soft cartridge like flesh encasing the skull of the fish head. The mixture of spices used in the gulai was well balanced to rid the sembilang of any unappetising taste but yet left that sweet taste of fish still intact in the dish. No wonder Ani is famous for their “gulai sembilang”!

Wish to read more about the cat's fish curry? click here

Invited Review-Ivy’s Kitchen a-lar-carte Dinner Menu

2009-07-01T01:05:00.000+08:00

aaaaahhhh………Still remember Ivy’s Kitchen Combo Meal posted a month ago?

I feel a bit bad towards to Mr.Tan & Ivy for owing the a-lar cart dinner post for such a long time.

Ok now, Ivy’s Kitchen also have available dishes on a-lar-cart order for dinner time besides the lunch combos that cater to the OLs and OMs in the near by office blocks.

At Night they serve Chinese and Nyonya dishes, and the followings are my verdict for some of the dishes served for the invited review dinner do:

The Big Banner hanging in front of the restaurant is eye catching. Jason has given Mr. Tan some ideas to make the restataurant’s brand name more visible to attract those who drive on Jalan Chow Thye. One of them was to place a extended vertical banner similar to that used by Japanese restaurants to show-off its name because the current banner is slightly out of sight by car drivers.

Sweet and Sour Flower Crab (market price)

The sauce combination is thick and very flavorful, and i can taste the distinctive sweet crab meat flavor from the first mouthful.

The flower crab flesh was indeed very meaty & fresh, it is a testament to the quality ingredients that they used here. To be frank, is my first encounter with such a meaty flower crab. Usually flower crab ain’t that meaty. The dish is a good mate for a bowl of fragrant white rice.

It was good, but there was a slightly sweet after taste. Light handed on the sugar is necessary.

Rating for the dish: 3.9/5

Gulai Tumis Chinese Silver Pomfret (market price)

Gulai Tumis usually would be Malaysian’s favourite, when talk and think about the dish one would start begin to experience a saliva tsunami in the mouth. Hahaha…

What is so special about the Gulai? It is all about the spiciness of the chili paste, sourly taste of tamarind, pungent smell of lemongrass, light perfumery bungah kantan (tourh ginger) to make it became a mouth watering dish.

Above all ingredients, Ivy’s Kitchen version has additional Green Chilies and tomatoes. The Silver Promfret was fresh, but the fish was slightly over cooked because there some late arrivals due to the traffic situation. I personally would prefer the silver pomfret put into the steaming tray rather into the gulai tumis if the fish still extremely fresh. :)

Rating for the dish: 3.7/5

Assam Prawns (RM20 for 10 prawns)

Look at that divine caramelised colour!

There are 2 types of assam prawn, either with thick gravy or dried. And here they served dried and crispy assam prawn with wonderful flavors .

I would say this nyonya assam prawn was very authentic to me. Although here in Malaysia there are tones of restaurant serving the same dish, but rarely you would get the same “good” nyonya assam prawn.

But don’t be sad, you can now taste the very nicely marinated and pan fried to perfection assam prawn in Ivy’s kitchen. The tamarind flavour is not overpowering; sweet and sour on the right balance. Thumbs Up!

Rating for the dish: 4/5

check the rest of the food list and rating here

Old School Gandum Dessert in the heart of city

2009-07-01T01:02:00.001+08:00

It was a hot late afternoon and what the hack my appointment was canned, so we detoured to the old “Bubur” push-cart-stall on the sidelines of the busy Penang Road in the heart of Georgetown. The stall is no other than the famous “Kamblis Bubur” at the junction of Penang Road and Jalan Dato Koyah. It is just directly opposite of Ho Ping coffee shop and just at the door steps of the once famous Kayu Nasi Kandar.

It has been quite sometime since I last ate at this bubur stall. So you when there is an opportunity, I can’t resist. At the stall you can see people from all walks of live, from different ethnic group, of different skin colour etc enjoying a bowl of thick, sweet and rich “bubur” and mingling about the daily happenings. There is no tension or disharmony to be seen.

My favourite is their “bubur gandum” or wheat porridge in direct translation. The bubur gandum is actually whole wheat grains cooked in coconut milk and sweeten and seasoned to produce that seemingly sinful tea time snack for people of all ages, except the diabetic. A bowl of bubur with a scoop of glutinous rice only cost RM 0.70, but take-away would cost 30 cents more. The bubur gandum is only available on weekend(s), which I am not very sure. On week days they would cooked up other types of bubur which they daily changed so as not to bore their patrons with the same old thing everyday. It is a bit cliché; you can say it is like a pot of chocolate, you won’t know what is installed for the pot cover is lifted.

Want to know more where is this old school dessert located? click here

Blue Reef Revisited

2009-07-01T00:59:00.002+08:00

Last Saturday on (13th June 2009) we revisited Blue Reef, the fish n’ chip joint at 32 Permai off Vale of Tempe that we visited early this year. The revisit to Blue Reef was partially to meet a friend and also to find out whether their quality food is still consistent to that we had early this year. We had to find out for our selves because we have read some ‘not so good’ comments of the place.

It has been almost 6 months since we set foot in Blue Reef, and we didn’t know what to expect from them. Not much has changed since then, the only thing that we notice is the little drawings that were pasted on one side of their wall. It is good to see that our ideas were accepted and used, but the actual idea was to have the photos of patrons and their fun moments captured and enshrine on their wall. At least the idea was used in some way!

Currently there is an offer for a full meal option, excluding dessert, for an additional RM1. It is a good promotional strategy at this current economy phase. Many are looking for bargain and money saving deals for their daily needs and wants. With an additional RM 1 added to the cost of the chosen main course, I was served with a glass of ice-lemon tea and a bowl of the soup of the day.

The soup of the day that we had was their green pea soup. It tasted kind of earthy, nutty and sweet. There was some sandy texture to the soup which I find to my liking. Served with the soup, was piece toasted garlic bread. On seeing it, we thought that the bread would hard to consume due to the thicker shaped. But surprisingly the bread was quite manageable because it was crisp on the surface and moist and soft inside. Thus, it was not crumbly and hard to bite into.

For the main course, I had their Salmon Burger. The flaky salmon patty was well caramelised on the surfaces and yet retaining the juicy moisture. The seasoning of the salmon meat was well choreographed as it did not totally overwhelm the distinct taste of salmon. The crisp and soft sesame seed bun and the sauté onion toppings was a good combination to the salmon patty. There was only one thing that I felt bad about the burger was the amount of tartar sauce. I would personally leave the tartar sauce out and may be sauté the onions with some balsamic vinegar to give the burger some added flavour.

Gill had their Aglio e Olio as usual. But it was a bit of a disappointment for her because they have substitute the pork bacon for the anchovies as they are now a pork free restaurant. With the anchovies, it tasted a bit weird to us. We asked Chris why not use beef bacon, and he told us that it did not have enough flavour. Anyway, I guess we would be going back for try their Aglio e Olio again because the Chris mentioned that they might change it to Seafood Aglio e Olio. The previous trip to Blue Reef, the Aglio e Olio was excellent and the pasta strands were firm and springy.

No signs of beer batter fish? check it out here

Invited Review-Ko Fu Loft, Dim Sum in Gurney Plaza

2009-07-01T00:56:00.002+08:00

The Food Loft at Gurney Plaza has come and go. The lots are now being occupied by a new tenant by the name of Ko Fu Loft. When we were driving past Gurney Plaza and while looking to the vacated lots, I told Gill that if it were up to me, I would have occupied the vacated lots with a Dim Sum restaurant. Not long later, we got news that a dim sum restaurant would be opened to replace The Food Loft. There are numerous reasons behind the idea; the location, the type of crowd and potential customers, and the competition, but I won’t go into that here may be in my other blog.

I have yet to interview or have much information about Ko Fu Loft and their operations to provide a clear write-up of this place. Thus, it would be more of a pictorial post with focuses on the people, the atmosphere, the food and experience during the invited review that was held on last Sunday’s late afternoon (7th July 2009). Basically Ko Fu Loft took over the setup left by The Food Loft and made some minor renovation to suit their concept.

Let’s start with the people! This review saw some new faces that we have not personally met other than reading their blogs. We were overjoyed to have the opportunity to persanally meet up Christy from yumyumbites.blogspot.com, Cheryl from nuttyeve9.blogspot.com, L K Low from food-4tots.com, Eunice, Siew Ying & Iris from foodpromotions.com.my, CW Chan from noweating.com, and Chef Khoon(blog is still in the works) for the first time after reading their blogs for so long. In some way, the review was an occasion and opportunity to meet other persons that also shares the same passion for food.

Some how or rather, the majority of the food bloggers that attended the functions are women. Many would think that food bloggers would be like a 2 ton truck like me but you would be amazed to see many of them are like a SMART cars, petite and attractive to the eye. Other than having a smaller circumference, each and every one of these beautiful human beings are very approachable and easy to be with. They would be great companions to have at the dining table. We shared many laughs and ideas at the table, and time seems to fly by when there is great company amongst. Three hours seems like 3 minutes.

As we shared our laughs we also shared some pointer is photo shooting when the dishes were served. The moment the food was placed on the table we were all like bees to honey. Each one was trying to get the best angle and shot for our blog readers to feast on. The management and kitchen of Ko Fu Loft had generously prepared 14 types of dishes and a dessert for us to sample that range from appetizers and dim sum to ‘Poon Choy’ and fried noodles.

Crystal Spring Roll Skin Stuff with Vege & Chicken Meat(RM6.90), the presentation was average similar to many other restaurants that offered this kind of Vietnamese summer rolls. Taste wise it wasn’t appetising or refreshing as we have better experienced in Miss Saigon & Young Heart . This may be contributed by the powdery texture chicken meat and the vegetables that lack sweetness.

Steam Fresh Prawn Dumpling or ‘Har Kau’(RM5.50), taste and presentation was standard and comparable to some traditional dim sum restaurants.

Signature Steamed Custard Creamy Bun ((RM5.50), with one of the buns cracked opened it looked pretty nice golden yellow custard cream flowing out. But then was it supposed to be presented in this way? The buns were average in texture and taste except for the custard cream. The custard cream wasn’t smooth in texture; it felt sandy like an inclusion of duck egg yolk in the cream.

Szechuan Aromatic Duck (RM18.90), presentation average taste texture was below average. The duck slices were coated in some sort of batter and deep fried. But it may have been over cooked, thus the duck meat slices were dry and the lacks any aromatics and tastes. The accompanying egg wrapper was similarly dry and lacks that eggy taste.

Jingdo Pork Rib (RM14.90), presentation was average and for taste it was more like black pepper ribs than’ jingdo’ ribs due to the overwhelming pepper taste. In addition to that, there was a slight taste of soda on the surface of the ribs. But of all the dishes that were served it seems that the ribs and the following deep fried Calamari were my favourite as they have got some taste in them.

Rainforest Bakery, That is What I Call a Bakery.

2009-07-01T00:50:00.003+08:00

It was a sunny morning somewhere in March this year that we were invited to interview the owners of an unique bakery located on the busy Chulia Street in the Georgetown area, Rainforest Bakery. The bakery has been in operations since year 2000/2001 which at those days were only supplying their breads wholesale to eateries, etc. But as time goes by and from the request of their ‘door-knocking’ customers, Rainforest began to plan for a retail outlet which was finally materialised at its current location on Chulia Street in year 2008. At Rainforest, one could see that customers from all walks of life and nationality wondering and choosing their pick of the day from the selection of continental breads that are baked daily.

At current the bakery is being managed by a pair of identical twins, Jerry and Jesse Tan(short spiky hair do). Jesse whom entertained our question and answer session was actually MIA from Rainforest Bakery for approximately 3 years not for fun, but to work in London and travel around Europe to acquire the skills and knowledge that they require to differentiate their breads from the localised bakeries and to provide better and healthier loafs of wholesome organic breads to its patrons. The daily fresh baked loafs uses the traditional or organic methods of preparing the dough for each individual type of bread that they offer today. Organic does not only mean that the ingredients are organic, even the preparation and baking process must be organic in every way that is what sets them apart from the rest. What they are selling at the bakery is not only bread, but also the concept of healthy organic traditionally baked and non-localised bread.

The daily fresh baked loafs uses the traditional or organic methods of preparing the dough for each individual type of bread that they offer today. Organic does not only mean that the ingredients are organic, even the preparation and baking process must be organic in every way and that is what sets them apart from the rest. Enjoy with assurance that no preservative, no MSG or enhancers and no essence are use in their bread. Even the yeast they used is self-cultured!

Alot more bread to browse here

Left-overs:Bacon chips+sea cucumber+ABC soup=EXPERIMENT!

2009-07-01T00:45:00.000+08:00

What do left-over ingredients like sea cucumbers, bacon chips and ABC soup mean to me? EXPERIMENT! The raw sea cucumbers were left idle in the freezer since Chinese New Year and the bacon chips were acquire like two to three months back, couple with no other fresh vegetables and meat produce on hand I decided to make a quick dish out of these idle ingredient sitting in the freezer.

First thing is to do is to thaw the sea cucumbers, then boil it in just hot water and a few pieces of ginger to remove that fishy smell and taste. After boiling for a few minute, transfer it in to a colander to drip dry. Then it is time to put the thawed bacon in to a dry warm pan. Why dry warm pan? This way I would reduce the oil splatter. When the bacon is dry add in the cooking oil (was using peanut oil) and cook them till brown after which throw in a few cloves of garlic (here was using only 3).

After the bacon chips are brown or firmed up and the garlic starting emit that garlicky aroma, pour in the sea cucumber and stir fry until the liquid dries up. When the liquid is evaporated, I proceed to scoop some spoonfuls of last nights ABC soup to braise and further tenderise the sea cucumber and also to infuse more flavour into the sea cucumbers. The ABC soup is actually soup made of carrot, potato, onions, meat and flavoured with crushed white pepper corns. This time the soup had an added ingredient of sweet potato. In a way, this soup could also be used as soup stock to cook other dishes if the pepper corn is left out.

arrhhh....want to learn more about the new creation? click here!

Penang Delicacies-Joez Coconut Jelly

2009-07-01T00:39:00.000+08:00

We have heard and read much about the new fad in town, Coconut Jelly. Thus, during the Labour Day weekend after much request from our church members, we organised a ‘makan’ trip in the Georgetown and Tanjung Tokong area. And for the finally of the trip we brought them to the current food fad, Coconut Jelly, located in one of the old districts on the Penang Island.

Legend has it that the trend started from here at Joez Coconut. This Joez Coconut, under another business name, traditionally sells coconut base products like the refreshing coconut juice, coconut milk, etc. But after the son of the proprietor and yours truly, Joel Jeyachandran took over the business from his dad they begun to venture into producing and selling the now famous coconut jelly.

The coconut jelly is produced by heating and cooling the coconut fruit whole, no sugar or other chemicals and preventives are added. But sometimes a small amount of sugar would be added if the coconut fruit is too young or the meat is not ripe enough which would produce a sour end to this otherwise refreshing dessert. As the product is without any preservative, therefore it must be refrigerated to ensure that it can last at least 5 days.

The end product of the secretly kept recipe is a very smooth and silky pure coconut nectar jelly with fragrant coconut aroma and sweet flavor of ‘Pandan’. If luck is on your side, you might also get to scavenge mouthful of rich coconut flesh with every spoonful of jelly.

Get to know more about this new dessert? click here to read more

Tapas-Pan Sheared Scallop & Baccon

2009-07-01T00:35:00.002+08:00

It was on a busy afternoon, we just came back from a food review at Agryll Road and we had to rush for another gathering in Island Glade area. It was a pot-luck cum fellowship with the church’s young adult group. For our part, I decided on this untried recipe which I saw in the tele, which I modified to suit the ingredients that I had on hand.

It is a simple but time consuming recipe, pan sheared scallops and bacon. I begin by placing bacon strips in a shallow pan to just brown them on both sides, and also to collect the bacon drippings for my scallop.

After the bacon strips have been browned on both sides I then removed them and placed the bought boiled scallops on the pan glazed in the bacon drippings. The scallops were season with some freshly crush rock salt and black pepper. It would be best if fresh scallops are used as it produced a light sweet taste. Boiled scallops would normally have lost that sweet taste, and it is most often prepared with something that can give them flavour like the sweet sauce the Japanese uses for grilling.

After both sides of the scallops have been browned, remove the scallops and deglaze the pan with seafood soup stock, liquor or white wine. At this instance I was using vodka to deglaze the pan, but from the experience I would prefer wine because it would then infuse that fruity taste of wine in to the scallops. Vodka was a bit blend for the boiled scallops....

Interested to read more? click here

Desserts-Sungai Dua Ah Soon Thong Shui

2009-07-01T00:25:00.002+08:00

After a meeting with our business partners at Queensbay, I decided of bringing Gill to the Thong Shui stall that I used to patronise occasionally after meeting a client in the Sungai Dua area during my working days. This thong shui or dessert stall is manned a husband and wife team who started this business some 2 yeras ago. The stall is located directly facing the Sungai Dua Tesco Extra main entrance at the end of the ‘T’ junction opposite it.

The stall sells a variety of traditional hot desserts and some cold ones like ‘loh han goa’,'pak mok yee’, etc. Majority of the hot desserts are rotated or changed either daily or weekly depending on the supply of ingredients to give their customers a sense of surprise when they open up the pots to see what do they have install for them. Basically their desserts cater to those who prefer a taste of the old and those who do not wish to be overwhelm with to much sugary sweetness. To me it is a good cool-off place and ’snake’ for a while before continuing with the daily chores.

One of my favourites is the whole-wheat or ‘gandum’ congee. It is not as tasty as those famous ones in Georgetown but it do suffice the craving when it creeps up. The sweet taste of melted sugar and the bid like texture of the bloated grains of wheat is something that you would not forget.

The black glutinous rice congee or ‘or chu bee’ is also....

Click here to read more in our shifted blog @ gourmetgarden.com.my

Penang Street Food-Ah Hai Koay Teow Th’ng at Kimberley Street

2009-05-22T00:32:00.002+08:00

The remembrance of childhood tastes and food texture are some things that affect ones eating habit and expectations. I can remember as a young tod, my parents or siblings used to like to patronise a Koay Teow Th’ng stall located opposite the Air Itam wet market. It was a treat whenever we visit that place cause I like the texture of the mince pork patties that they cook up. Now I am nearing my mid-30’s and I still yarn for that feeling in my mouth again. I have ventured to many Koay Teow Th’ng stalls in Penang and in Kuala Lumpur in search for my nostalgic childhood memories, and the closest that I could achieve was at Peter’s Pork Noodles in Breikfields in Kuala Lumpur. But know I have found a stall that can fill that void, and it was all the while under my nose.

Me and my wife always travel to Kimberley street for ‘makan’ on Saturdays before our church fellowship, have never thought of trying out Ah Hai’s Koay Teow Th’ng which is next to the much talk about Ah Seng Eco Bee Hoon on Kimberley Street. Numerous trips there over the years and have not tried them, I should be kicked in the head for that kind of mistake!

Ah Hai’s Koay Teow Th’ng is the freshly cooked to order type where you could choose toppings like mince pork patties, slice pork, pork innards, fish balls, fish cake, whole egg, and not forgetting glorious crispy pork lard. And for the noodles there are a few choices too like ‘koay teow’, ‘lo shu fan aka bee thai bak’, yellow noodles, instant noodles and rice vermicelli. My favorite is still yellow noodle and koay teow mix, and Gill’s is ‘lo shu fan’.

continue to read on delicious Koay Teow Thng? click here

Arranged Review-Ivy’s Kitchen Combo Meals

2009-05-22T00:20:00.004+08:00

For Ivy’s Kitchen, an arrangement was made for some of us food bloggers to sample their spread of a-lar-carte dishes and combo meals. The a-la-carte sampling was held on a Friday night and the combo meals were arranged for on Sunday’s lunch. It was good because we could just waltz in after Sunday Service. The Sunday lunch sampling was mainly to introduce the various sets and combinations that Ivy’s Kitchen can dish out daily. Other than sampling the meals, we were also given the opportunity to put-up some personal feedbacks on the food and also give some thoughts on the possibility to utilise some of our know-how to attract and improve in certain areas ranging from food quality and business management.

The value sets or combo meals are specially created to cater to those who need to grab a quick bite that is value for their money. The combo meals are priced from RM 7.50 to RM 9.00 per set and what one would get is a rice set, a glass of freshly squeeze fruit juice and dessert, and for noodle sets they are accompanied with ‘thong shui’ and jelly dessert. You can say that their combo meals cater to both rice drums(fun tong) and noodle freaks.

continue this interesting food article in gourmetgarden.com.my

Penang Street Food-Cruellers Extra!!!

2009-05-21T00:56:00.006+08:00

A cruller in western context is a fried pastry made of dough which may resemble the shape of a doughnut or twister sticks with some cake characteristics. Crullers are often topped with powdered sugar or icing, but now-a-days with more sinful ingredients. Traditional crullers were being made and sold at Dunkin’ Donuts, not until 2003 when they decided to stop these delicacies due to the labour-intensive nature of the process.

In this part of the globe, crullers are almost the same as those found on the western hemisphere except that they are coated nor topped with any other ingredients. Chinese crullers or commonly known as 'you tiao' are sticks of dough deep fried till goldenly crisp, with the inners of the 'you tiao' should still retaining some softness. Last Sunday, after reviewing the Ivy's Kitchen and after picking Gill up at her friends', we went to this road side stall along the main road of Paya Terubong in search of the not-so-well-known 'Te Chang You Tiao' or extra long crullers.

The 'Te Chang You Tiao' stall is manned by Mr. Tan junior and his pretty efficient workers. Over here one could get a glimpse of how the traditional Chinese crullers are made. It all starts with a batch of dough which is then separated into smaller batches or blocks. Then the dough is left to sit or rise before they are prep for the fryer. What is so special of the crullers stall is that they produce extra long golden crisp cruller sticks which are around 14 to 15 inch. The normal Chinese crullers in town are half the length of Tan's crullers.

gourmetgarden.com.my

3 Generation’s Cantonese Old School Dishes - Sai Kee @ KL Chinatown Back Lane

2009-05-14T13:04:00.002+08:00

When ever we go to KL, my sister & brother in-law which was the permanent KL citizen will surely bring us to makan. I actual fact they need us to help 'hantam' the left-overs and to have more people to sit in so that they can try more food! They can't handle the big feast by themselves...lol

Sai Kee, was one of the pioneer in KL Chinatown as they had occupied here more then 50 years, as my title says, 3 generations, from grand pa, father and follow by son. But i wonder how and why they choose to operate the stall at the back lane for half a century?! Guess a name BACKLANE is not a ideal dining area right? Especially the old town house, you really can imagine how dirty, smelly, rats & roaches crawling here and there along the lane, and don't mention about dining there!

Alright, i couldn't believe my eyes when i heading to the stall. Guess what? 80% tables were patronized by the supporter! I was asking myself, are they really serving good food here, in a DIRTY BACKLANE? Well, lets fine out!

Dishes Rating:

Traditional Hand Made Fish Paste Soup with Vegetable Thong Ow: 3.5/5
Steam Pork with Salted Fish: 3.5/5
Roast Pork Stir Fry with Tofu : 3.7/5
Black Bean Fish: 3/5
Balacan (Shrimp paste) Brinjals: 4/5

Average rating for this place:

3.5/5 for value
3.8/5 for taste & texture
3/5 for service
1.5/5 for cleanliness (very dirty....at the back lane, what do you aspect?)
1.5/5 for atmosphere (back lane is very stuffy)

P/S: Teh Cehf has a heavy hand, 70% of the dishes are pretty salty, so do remember to ask for some adjustment to your liking OR opt for non salty dishes....lol. Actually, I dont like to dine here as it was really dirty to me.

For the full experience at Sai Kee, do visit our already not so new self-hosted food blog at:

http://www.gourmetgarden.com.my/2009/05/13/3-generations-cantonese-old-school-dishes-sai-kee-kl-chinatown-back-lane/

Invited Review - Haven Delight at Time Square Penang

2009-04-28T23:37:00.004+08:00

Haven Delight is located on the 1st Floor of Penang Time Square which has open its doors not long ago on 2nd of March and officially launch on the 7th, and started their buffet spread on the 20th of the same month. Words have it that Penang Time Square would hold their official grand opening in between the month June and August this year. Thus, Haven Delight would be one of the pioneer businesses to step foot into this mall. This outlet in Penang Time Square is the flagship restaurant conceptualised and created by Mr. B.T. Ng who is the Managing Director of this restaurant. And at the helm of the kitchen is their Executive Chef, Edwin Teo, who has in total 10 years of experience in the kitchen preparing various types of cuisines ranging from Japanese to local Malaysian cuisines. At the Haven Delight kitchen, Edwin has teamed up with Alex a Sous Chef who specialised in Hong Kong and Shanghainese cuisines, K.P. Lim a Demi Chef de Partie and Melvin Loo at the sushi bar.

Any person who steps into Haven will be greeted with their specially design decor and friendly crew of stewards who are ever ready help you on your orders and recommendations as there roughly about 200 different dishes to choose from the A la Carte menu. And if are undecided on what have, may be you would like to try out their Buffet Menu which would only set you back RM49.90++ per person for adults, as for kids under the age of 12 you can expect to only pay 50% of the adult rate. In the buffet menu there are around 90 different dishes to savour within the stapled two(2) hours ordering period. Although it is stated that the ordering period is only 2 hours, you are most welcome stay longer to finish the food that you have ordered within that period to prevent any waste of food.

Accompanying the abalone dish was the Unagi Tofu which is also found in the cold cut section of the menu similar to Hotzzz Abalone. The Unagi or eel in Japanese Restaurants are normally served with sweet sauce, at Haven Delight there is no exception. The only difference here is that the unagi sweet sauce was not too sweet like those found elsewhere. As the name says UnagiTofu, the dish is really just a cut of unagi resting on top of a small block of cold tofu dressed overwith sweet sauce and garnished with sprinkles of spring onion, sesame seed, bonito flakes andcrispy bits of garlic. At the first bite into the unagi, the texture was plum and firm and the taste was not excessively creamy. Then when I combine the unagi to the tofu, it gave another type pleasure to the senses in my mouth. The cold tofu with its sweet soy scent and cold creamy taste match well with the unagi cutlet, giving it a refreshing experience rather than a dull end. But one thing to point out was that the unagi’s skin was a bit chewy, otherwise it would be a fantastic starter.

After the two cold cut samples that we had, the steward crew started to roll out the main cause sample for our review. In all we sampled 7 main dishes during the event, which was started with their Chicken Ban Ban.

Wish to read more for this post? Read the following story , click here.

Wish to explore more interesting food post? please visit our self hosted blog @ gourmetgarden.com.my

Hawker Food at Seng Thor Kopitiam

2009-04-14T22:00:00.000+08:00

Last Saturday before going to our church for the blood donation campaign, me & Gill headed to Seng Thor coff shop for brunch. Seng Thor is an old rustic coffee shop or kopitiam in local dialect located at the junction of Carnarvon Street and Kimberly Street. We have been here for numerous times not for their famous Oyster Omelette nor the Loh Mee, but for the little known wantan mee. Basically at the Seng Thor coffee shop there are a five(5) hawker stalls(Koay Teow Th’ng, Loh Mee, Loh Bak, Wantan Mee & Oyster Omelette) in and around the shop and an economy rice stall(was not open that day or has ceased operations) operating at different hours. During the morning breakfast hours the centre of attraction is the Loh Mee and the individually cooked koay teow th’ng stalls. And in the afternoon until early evening hours, the limelight is on the Oyster Omelette stall. These 3 hawker food stalls are quite famous in Penang as many Penangites and outstation people like to patronise them, and little attention is actually given to the wantan mee stall there.

Today my attention is only on the Koay Teow Th’ng(KTT) and Wantan Mee(WtM) stall because that were what we had that faithful day. Let’s talk about the KTT stall which we actually tried before quite some time ago and this was like a revisit for us after reading about it in the blog-sphere. The KTT at Seng Thor is actually individually cooked upon order which is quite scarce and hard to come by now-a-days, especially good ones. Although the KTT was cook without or less MSG, Gill noticed that the uncle has a lot of rock sugar in stock in the cupboard below the stall. Rock sugar is normally used to give sweetness to soups, especially clear ones.

For last Saturday’s brunch we ordered a bowl of ‘Lo Shu Fun’ and a bowl of Koay Teow and Yellow Noodle mix, which cost us RM7. By looking at the toppings and the size of the bowl they quite worth the money paid as both bowls were requested to have additional toppings of pig liver, lean meat, minced meat, pork balls, fish balls and pig heart.

But the sad thing about these 2 bowls of KTT is that the soup base was not as tasty and ’sweet’ as we expected. My bowl of koay teow and yellow noodles weren’t that bad, with the additional innard toppings the soup had some ’sweetness’ to it. Other than the soup base the koay teow and yellow noodles was also a put down. The koay teow and yellow noodle felt limb and blotted(like noodles soaked i n water for too long).

Gill’s bowl of ‘Loh Shun Fun’ was blend with very little taste of ’sweetness’ although we had the same toppings and was cooked in the same pot. But the ‘Loh Shu Fun’ was of consolation because they were firm and full.

Because we were not satified with the brunch that we had, we went for the wantan mee that we usually patronise at the same coffee shop. This wantan mee stall is not very good or delicious, the main reason we like it is because it is cheap. The bowl of 12 wantan dumpling in soup and the regular size noodle only cost us RM5. Remember to ask for the dry noodles toss in only oil and dark soya sauce without or little soup mix, but the taste is some times inconsistent due to the dark soy and the lard oil.

Another attraction is the fried wantans which have a slight sugary sweetness to their crispy skin, one can even eat them like snacks on its own and on the go.

The fried pork lard bits are also a must at this stall, but you must ask for it as the proprietor seldom provides them without requests. The lard bits were actually more fragrant than the ones provided by the KTT stall.

On average I would grade the Koay Teow Th’ng stall:

* 3.5/5 for value(considered cheap in Penang standards)
* 2.9/5 for taste & texture (soup was blend and the noodles not firm and fresh)
* 3.0/5 for service
* 3.0/5 for cleanliness
* 3.0/5 for atmosphere (what do you expect from an old rustic kopitiam man by seniors)

And on average I would grade the Wantan Mee stall:

* 4.2/5 for value
* 3.8/5 for taste & texture (not consistent on the dry sauce)
* 3.5/5 for service
* 3.4/5 for cleanliness
* 3.0/5 for atmosphere (what do you expect from an old rustic kopitiam man by seniors)

GPS Coordinate: N5*24′91″ E100*20′07″

It’s A Crime To Let Food Go To Waste

2009-04-14T09:31:00.001+08:00

I found this write up is good to share with, very useful tips especially for those cooking beginner.

Have fun and enjoy your cooking!

Words by Nora Sands (Jamie’s Magazine)

In these cash-strapped times, its vital to be cost-conscious in the kitchen. When i was learning how to cook, as a girl in Ireland, thrift was second nature to us. My family bought no food from the shops - we grew it all ourselves, apart from the meat, which we got from local farms. Whatever we had we used and we’d lay up food for winter. Fruit and vegetable would be jarred or bottled. We used to dig pits in the garden to store out potatoes, parnips and turnips. We were poor. That’s how we survived.

Of course you don’t have to grow all your own food to feet your family frugally. And it’s not about having less or scrimping on ingrediants - it’s about changing the way you approaching shopping and cooking. First, it’s good to plan your meals in advance. you might decide to have a bolognese one night, then make a pie with the leftover mince the next. Or have roast chicken on sunday, leftover chicken curry on Monday and soup made from the bones on Tuesday. Planning your meals means you only buy what you need and there’s no waste.

Sometimes it can be good to actually plan to create leftovers to be used later. You’re cooking pasta for dinner? Why not a bit extra? It can be nice lunch the next day. Just add a lbit of ham, or peas, or some mayo. The same with rice. You can egg fried rice as super the next day, you just have to add a few vegetable.

It helps to befriend you butcher, too. He can give you great advice about cheaper cuts, which can be justas nice but need abit more cooking. I love neck of lamb, it makes a beautiful stew. Or oxtail. I always ask the butcher to put me in a bone, which i’ll boil the stock.

Stock are a great way to add flavour to your cooking. You dont have to buy staff to make stock. i throw in the peelings of carrots, the end of celery, herbs stalks, then reduce it right down and keep it in an old jars ion the freezer. Any vege that doesn’t go into the stockpot goes on the compost heap, which helps to grow parsley, thyme and rosemary the next year. Herbs are another great cheap way to bring flavour to your food. And you dont have to be in house with a graden to grow them, you can do it in a windowbox.

I never understand people who say the havent got time to cook, who grab a ready meal on the way home from work. In the time it takes to go to supermarket, wanderround aisles and stand in the queue you could have cook your dinner. Just straight home and do it! it saves you time ans it saves you money. We are have rice or pasta in the cupboard and bit of vege. More peoplewill have frozen peas ot tinned sweetcorn. You can do omelettes, you just need some eggs. you use everything up and nothing goes out of date.

To someone of my mother’s generation it’s a crime to throw away food. She’s 82 now and still cooks as she did when i was young, planning her meals, with leftovers from one meal often forming the basis of the next. She’s a canny old bird. and she would never waste thing.

———————————————— @ @ @————————————————-

* click on the picture to get to learn the knowledge of safe our environment and food *

www.lovefoodhatewaste.com

Now, after reading all the above tips, does it help?

Well, for me, before i read this article, Jason always “lecture” me with his mother’s moral, have make full use of the leftover, bones, and cheap cuts….lol.

Its really save your money, as you do not need to cook a dish from scratch with leftovers, just simply reheat, add in some sauce, ingrediant and wahlah….turn up a brand new dish. It save your gas and time. And leaftover makes Jason to be a “Leftover King”! no one can bit him in the house….lol

For bones for soup, it will automatically goes to my doggies stomach at last. heeee.

Vege and fruit’s skins….for your dog or cat OR turn it into compose and fertalizer.

i guess the knowledge of fully ustilise the wastage of food is gaint from the experience of cooking. And do remember, in another end of the world is still EXTREAMLY LACKING OF FOOD! We should appreciate that we borned in the land with full of NUTRIENT, with stable weather and Thanks for good harvest.

picture from apexstudentsadvocatingpeace.org

picture from moonbattery.com

Do you feel repentent after seeing this fat boy and the african’s child? We sould appreciate every mouthfull that God’s given to you and we shall contribute and help the others that is starving for years.

Thanks God that we still have food to eat in the time of economy crisis .

* click the picture to get a better view *

This is for American’s, What about Malaysian? do you have any idea? and could you imagine the wastage of the food for the whole world? Damnnn….

Wish to Human, Good luck!

Our Past & Future

2009-04-06T22:57:00.003+08:00

t has been a week since my last day of employment with my previous job as an Area Manager for a German Lubricant company. And I guess it is time to get back on track with our postings and also daily work and responsibilities as business owners. In fact we have been hibernating for the past few weeks to recollect our thoughts and re-chart our future plans and directions for our business, which involves Business Marketing Management, Restaurant Marketing, Web Applications and Business Outsourcing, and our food reviewing methods, blogging styles and also photography skills.

We actually started our food blog way back on the 18th of August 2006, but due to our work load and commitments it was rather irregular, not until May last year(2008) that we begin to put in more time and effort on our blog. In our ‘about us’ page, we have introduced ourselves, our blog and our expectations in our food blog. In fact, we find that we are more of a food critic than just a food promoting blogger. From past postings, we try our very best to provide critical, actual and factual observations and experiences and anything related to food. When we first venture into food blogging it was more of a hobby for me and my wife, but then we found that there are still a lot of space for growth in our local food scene. Thus, our direction changed and we hope that our blog could bring up the standards of the culinary quality in Penang and if possible Malaysia by sharing good and bad experiences that we have encountered.

Many or some may wonder why did we chose the blog url with a ‘.com.my’. Well we have two(2) registered business licences since March 2006, and one of them is Gourmet Garden which we initially wanted to use to set up our own restaurant, but luck has it money was the problem. Any person who is into blogging or net surfing would know that to get a ‘.com.my’ domain and it would need to have a registered business licence in Malaysia. Our plans have not changed but just merely delayed.

Occasionally, people do ask us whether we are blogging for money or blogging for fun. My answer is neither! Our blog is more of a tool for us to gain exposure and also an ice breaker of sort. By saying this, there will be doubts that what we blog about aren’t factual or non-bias, we would let our past and future reviews speak for themselves. At least we can say that we do not sugar coat or give fictional accounts just to promote and publicise any restaurateurs for a quick buck. Or to induce higher traffic flow to our blog the get more money. But then our profession or business scope is to assist the below average restaurateurs to create more revenue and brand name through our services that are catered to make-over and improve the food quality and service standards that will give the businesses profitability in the long-run. In fact it would be a conflict of interest to be a food critic and marketer, but the objective of our food blog and business shares a same mission that is to improve and upgrade the food quality and service standards. Thus, we still will be neutral in our reviews so the community will get quality information on good food finds and suggestions from our preference and thoughts.

We would like to emphasise that there will be no hidden agendas or motives in our reviews or entries, all reviews will be professionally done without any biasness. We pray that GOD is watching on us and will help us in our every day life, we also pray that every meal that we have is as enjoyable and savoury like home cooked meals prepared with passion and flavours. We also hope that we will be able to taste and experience delicacies that the world has to offer, and to continue blogging without prejudice and politicking.

Blue Reef’s Beer Batter Fish n’ Chips

2009-02-23T23:33:00.002+08:00

Some time back on December 20th 2008, me and Gill by curiousity drop by the new place in 32 Permai off Velle of Temp, Blue Reef Fish & Chips. In fact we were forwarded their online flyer by one of my good friends weeks before their opening. The business is run by two beautiful persons, Swen and Christopher. Blue Reef Fish & Chips as the name has it is specialised in fish and chips, but not the common everyday road side or cafe type fish and chips. A brief introduction to what I call true fish n’ chips, the Fish n’ Chips is a popular take-away food that originated in the UK. It consists of deep fried fish, traditionally of cod or haddock, that is coated in batter or bread crumbs and served with deep-fried chipped or slab-cut potatoes. At Blue Reef you are able to savour both batter coated or bread crumbs coated fish fillets deep fried till golden and served with chips, not french fries. Up till now we have only tried their special beer batter coated fish n’ chips.

We are more interested in the beer batter coated fish n’ chips because I have tried my hand in preparing it before quite some time ago. It was a recipe that I concocted myself after I saw it on the television. It was successful at he beginning, but the crispiness could not stay long. The choice of fish used is also very important other than the composition and preparation of the batter.

Other than helping ourselves to a serving of fish n’ chips, we were also privileged to try their Paparika soup and Anglio Olio with Prawns and Bacons. Gill enjoyed both soup and pasta too, especially the pasta. Normally our standard testing for pasta starts at Olio, theirs passed the grade with flying slurps. The angel hair pasta strands had the right cooking time, moisture, texture and firmness, and the stir frying resulted in an aromatic and fragrant piece to be savoured.

Read more in our self hosted blog @ gourmetgarden.com.my

Kangsar Road Tender Soft Poached Chicken, Cheaper & Tastier Than Cintra Street

2009-02-22T22:32:00.003+08:00

What an interesting post title! Kangsar Road Tender Soft Poached Chicken Cheaper & Tastier Than Cintra Street??

Many of you would asking, sure or not? :P~

i guess you have to prove it yourself as i & Jason were really unsatisfied with the value of money and quality has been served at the Cintra street’s chicken & fish porridge. A bowl of porridge yet just have few pieces of thinly slice fish meat it cost us RM5. Same serving and price for the chicken as well.

They are using LOWEST GRADE grain of rice (or even is crush rice) to cook the porridge. Just simply make a comparison with theirs and your home-cook porridge, and you would know the different of low grade and high grade of grain for the porridge.

If you are around town and have the urge and craving for chicken rice at night, should give this kangsar road corner coffee shop house chicken rice a try.

Kangsar Road is a slip road to the Kimberly Street & Kuala Kangsar Road, which just opposite the chowraster market exit.

Poached Chicken

The chicken is simply succulent, smooth & tender. The skin is slightly smooth and springy. Dash of fragrant sesame oil has added in the flavourful Soy sauce mixture and it was simply salty, sharp and appetising to match with the chicken, porridge & chicken rice too. Do opt for the whole leg if you love the smooth and tender texture. But for those who are unlike the pinkies near to the bones, do choose the breast portion, it has no sign of rough and tough feeling at all. And i like the way they serve the poach chicken with lots of finely julienne spring onions.

i would give 4/5 for taste & texture.

I would not say they are using quality grain to cook the porridge, but this would be definitely tastier and smoother then the cintra street’s porridge. Porridge came with humble portion, and it has a mild chicken flavour (dont get me wrong, the chicken flavour is not from chicken stock/essence. the taste is genuine and came from the chicken itself) inside the porridge , and sesame oil, preserved vegetables (dong chai) , julienne ginger, spring onions & chinese cruller was served in the bowl.

Simple and nice, but the porridge can be watery pretty fast, so better finish it when its still warm.

i would give 3.8/5 for taste & texture.

read more in our self hosted blog @ gourmetgarden.com.my

more in this post...Sweet Vinegar Pork Trotter, Braised Chicken Leg, Fried Chicken with Plum Sauce,BBQ chicken...

Queensbay Mall Shoplot for Sale

2009-02-22T22:27:00.001+08:00

The on sale unit is located at the first floor, next to Breeks Cafe.

Approximately: 856 sqft, Corner Lot, Lot No.155

Selling at RM1.2 million (negotiable)

Anyone interested?

Kindly contact me at gill@gourmetgarden.com.my

Louis Cafe a Place To Consider for Valentines

2009-02-15T21:23:00.002+08:00

Last Sunday we were invited to Louis Cafe for a review, and week after we visited that place again to give them the photos that I took for the day and was requested by the propreitor during the event.

From this visit, we got to know that they are all geared up for tomorrows Valentines celebration.

We also heard that they have received quite a number of bookings for tomorrow’s event, and they are prepared to extend their kitchen closing time to cater to the celebrating couples who are out of luck to find a place that can satisfy the gastronomic needs on this romantic occassion. Other than offering good food tomorrow, they have also prepared some flowers, heart shape cakes and special liquor for those who need that last minute BOOSTER to CATCH that lady or man of their heart.

As a food blogger, we are glad to hear that our concentrated efforts to introduce places that can provide good tasting food have paid off as there were numerous enquiries about the place and food served after we published our posting about this place. We wish them all the best and we hope that they keep up the standard that they serve us with last Sunday. And we have to keep our “Penang Foodies Power” goes on and on… XD

Invited Review-Louis Cafe, Argyll Road Penang

2009-02-15T21:10:00.002+08:00

Last Sunday afternoon we attended an invited review at Louis Cafe at Argyll Road Penang. It was an arrangement Lingzie and Madam Teoh(the proprietor) came up with. It was not much of a review, but more of a taste and comment type of event. Thus, my posting will just do that without being bias. Actually, the chef and the proprietor were very interactive and very receptive to the comments and ideas that we gave in terms of the taste and flavour of the food and also the marketing ideas to improve their customer turnover.

Some of the other bloggers that have attended the review have or will be displaying photos of indoor set up and decor, thus I would just leave that out or it will add additional length to this long post. I will focus more on the food and on the people and action of the review cum get-to-gather. This is the 3rd official invited review that we Penang bloggers attended as a group after we all first met and decided to organize this kind of activity and events for the benefit of all, bloggers and business establishments. And we hope that there will be more to come.

The appetizer, Scallops with Apple Salsa.

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counter clockwise - Pumpkin Soup, Tomato Soup, Cream of Cauliflower, Cream of Broccoli & Wild Mushroom Soup

Chicken Tortilla

Baked stuffed chicken

We bloggers and Mdm Teoh and her daughter Sue and their staff.

Interested to read more? kindly visit our self hosted blog at gourmetgarden.com.my

Hokkienese Cuisine Nan Yang Chinese Cuisine, Penang

2009-02-15T20:27:00.003+08:00

Nanyang Serve Authentic Hokkiense Cuisine.
The restaurant is located at the Protected Heritage Area in Georgetown, is a corner shop house at the cross junction of Lebuh Armenian, Jalan Masjid Kapitan Kelian & Lebuh Cannon. Its exactly opposite the Yap Kongsi.

Fried Kuih, it is something like Stir Fry Char Hor Fun in dried version. I never expect the Kuih come in brown color.
Look at the kuih, although the kuih came dark in color but you still be able to see how transparent it was while its under the sunlight from the picture. The kuih was thin, springy and chewy. Oriental Stir frying with leeks, cabbage, black fungus, chicken meat and prawns. Simply yet delicious, and full with char-grilled taste (in cantonese it’s call “Wok Hei”). i like it.

Oyster Pancake / Omelette
look at the oyster, so eye catchy huh?
Fresh and juicy oyster was lightly stir fried and layed on the bed of crispy golden and flavouful omelette. This Oyster Omelette is pretty different from what i had from those hawker stall. I can sense the meaty flavor from the omelette but you cant even get a pcs of meat from there. I think they used meat broth to ehance and give the richness to the omelette, which make it so special from the others. It was pretty starchy in the omelette. But did not feel yucks at all.
Highly recommended

Interested to read more? kindly visit our self hosted blog at gourmetgarden.com.my