Corner of Sri Bahari Road

I think the most famous Loh Bak in Penang got to be at the coffee shop at the corner of Sri Bahari Road. Recently we paid a visit to the coffeeshop which is always packed with people. We wanted to customised our Loh Bak but to our dismay, we weren't allowed to do so....it's coz they had too many orders at their hand and tempers were flying high! So without much choice, had to settle for a plate of 'cham'- mixed.

A plate of 'cham' consist of 2 loh bak, 1 squid, 1 popiah, 1 taukua and 1 prawn fritters. In my opinion, it's slightly cut throat to charge RM 7 per plate! I also feel that the quality has dropped coz the squid used to have eggs in them and now they are E-M-P-T-Y anyways, i give them props for the way things are deep fried..
Since Fly FM has been on the search for the best satay in Malaysia...it left us craving for them 'chicken kebabs'! so we decided to try the satay. It's 50 cents per stick and I must say...it's rather tasty.

The satay is not oily and the meat doesn't contain fat - a BIG plus....The negative would be the peanut sauce is slightly on the runny side. I'll definitely go back there for their satay.
Lastly we ordered the 'chok' - congee which is yummy. Unlike the 'cham' loh bak, the 'cham' congee contains several things and it's only RM 3.50! 'Cham' contains chicken, fish, century egg and 'yew char kueh'

Mexican food

You must probably be wondering which place I'm gonna blog about on Mexican food...The place is...my home. I craved for Mexican food and what the heck..I haven't been cooking for a long time, I decided to give it a go..
I didn't give the ingredients and what food I'm gonna cook much thought and off to Tesco I go! After buying the necessary stuff I needed, I searched for recipes in my all time favourite website All Recipes. The preparation is hard work but I am a slow worker. I slaved the whole day in the kitchen and below is the results I got!

Clockwise from bottom left: tortillas (bought), sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, guacamole, beef and chicken mix, chili beans with minced meat and chicken and tomato salsa.

I couldn't find a recipe for chili beans, so I bought Old El Paso's mix which was terrific! I just added kidney beans, home made salsa, onions and ground beef and chicken.

As for snacks while watching the tellie, I made cheese dip which was quite flavourful but the seasoning from Chachos overpowered my cheese dip!
Nacho Cheese Sauce
Tomato Salsa
Chicken Fajitas
Guacamole

Chulia Street - Curry mee

This curry mee aka laksa (mind you, not Penang's assam laksa)stall sold along Chulia Street, in front of Dunlopillo is always surrounded by people and we decided to give it a try. Now I know why so many people wait at the stall! One bowl is only RM 2.30 and the amount of cuttlefish, tau pok, cockles aka ham they put in is more than you bargain for. Although this stall doesn't have prawns but they do give a huge fishball (I'm a H-U-G-E fan of fishballs!). The soup is slightly on the oily side but once you scope it away, the soup is fine. The waiting period is quite long and the lady may forget your order - if you sit along the alley. No worries coz she will stroll down the alley if anybody did place an order and she'll efficiently get the task done!

While waiting for our curry mee, we decided to try the taukua goreng, fried spring rolls and teochew chai kuih which was a disappointment coz it's no where near the teowchew chai kuih sold in One Corner Cafe. Each chai kuih is only 60 cents. The taukua goreng is not bad and the plus side of this order is the chili sauce which i particularly like coz of the amount of lime they put in.

The curry mee stall opens after dark which probably around 8-ish but the other stalls open much earlier.
Other food available around this area is Char Kuey Teow - the uncle selling it just loves the sound of banging wok coz every time we walk past his stall, he just knocks his wok with his spatula but doesn't really touch the kuey teow! The char kuey teow is also not bad. We have also tried the Char Hor Fun and Ee Foo Mee and we feel it's slightly expensive and your stomach is not satisfied after one plate and you long for more food! So, I wouldn't recommend it unless you crave for it!

Peppino

I'm so surprised I couldn't find a review of Peppino - Golden Sands Resort, specialising in Italian - GOOD Italian food! The ambiance is not quiet but it's acceptable.




Before the appetisers or food start rolling out, they serve you complimentary bread with butter. These bread are full of herbs and it's piping hot when served.
As appetisers, we had the spread of authentic Italian starters - RM 42.

It consisted of one succulent prawn, scallop, mussel, squid, grilled vegetables, parma ham and beef carpacio. The beef carpacio is delicious! I've never eaten anything quite like it and it tasted like berries..yummy.. There was this grilled 'thing' on the plate

Thinking it was a red hot chili pepper and I was thinking to myself...how hot is this little bugger...I was so scared when I tasted it! The first bite was....ummmmm...SWEET! It was a darn tomato! The joke was on us!

As main course, we had beef tenderloin with lobster tail and mashed potato - RM 72...The mashed potato is shaped as a round platform at the bottom, with the beef on top and the lobster all curled up at the very top. The lobster sauce is loaded with dripping cheesy sauce. Although the beef was slightly small but my other half was full!

I had the sirloin steak with mushrooms, herbs and roasted potatoes - RM 68 The way they grill the beef is the best I've ever tasted. All juicy and tender and tasty...Y-U-M-M-Y

After main course, they will wipe off crumbs and clean your table before asking if you would like dessert. Since I din buy a birthday cake for my other half, I decided to order a tiramisu - RM 26. It is so moist and light but the portion is very small and it came with star fruit and a slice of mango and a splash of chocolate and something else and it's not butterscotch or caramel.
After dinner we took a romantic stroll along the poolside as well as the beach and the nite would be perfect if you stayed there....
Overall, I would definitely go visit Peppino again as I really fell in love with the food. With Citibank credit card there is a 25% off the bill but promotional items are not discounted items.

Sebai Sebai - Thai cuisine

This authentic Thai food restaurant gives you a run for your money. Sebai Sebai is located at 1 Lintang Batu, Green Lane, Penang. It's on your left if you are coming from Gelugor, opposite the playground near to the KFC and CIMB bank in Batu Lanchang.They open from 11am - 3pm, 6pm - 11pm and it's pork free. You better to go early coz there's not much parking! We arrived at around 7.30 and it's almost full house but there are ample tables if you don't mind sitting outside without air conditioning.
We had Phad Chee Cheong Fun - RM 6. In layman terms, fried chee cheong fun. It's so delicious and the seafood in it is so big and fresh! Slightly oily but I guess it's a must to fry the chee cheong fun. Next on the list is shrimp paste fried rice aka belacan fried rice - RM 6. The portion is so huge fot the price, it makes Pastasia looks like baby food! The chicken is so darn yummy.

We then ordered the deep fried kangkung. This dish however was a bit disappointing coz it's salty and I didn't like the way they fried it - no style..Deep fried kangkung should be light and crispy but this kangkung is heavy, salty and not up to my expectation.
We actually stopped ordering there but the lady gave us an impression that the portion is small and we decided to order small tom yam soup - RM 18. We were expecting a bowl of soup and we definitely did not expect a steamboat like serving. The Tomyam is the best of the best. It's sour and spicy and no words to describe it. The best is, for RM 18 there were 2 fresh prawns, squid, fresh fish slices, half a crab and lots and lots of lemon grass, galangal and kaffir lime leaves.
In the end, we simply could not finish the soup and had to doggie bag it and we had a blast making tom yam with rice vermicelli the next day! The total bill came up to RM 39.20 and best of all, no government tax! This place is definitely a keeper!

Pastasia - Italian & Thai Fusion

Since we haven't tried this joint since it's opening and Citibank has a buy 1 for 1 free promotion till 31 August 2007, so why not, rite?
We went at 7.30pm - typical dinner time and there were nobody around! One glance at the menu, the prices are so so....expensive! We ordered the Spaghetti Nere Di Seppia - Squid ink spaghetti with prawns a prawn, mussels a mussel, squid and clams. For RM 29.90, you get one and only prawn that is not fresh, one mussel and lots of 'kepah'. The good??

Since it was buy one free one, I ordered something of the same price - Lamb shank cooked in tomato sauce and risotto. The amount of rice is so miserable and the risotto is undercooked.

The food tasted fine although the portion is slightly VERY small! What can I say, my tummy was not satisfied and HAD to go for Baskin Robbins after the meal. Overall, I will not go back there. I rather pay more and enjoy my Italian food in Mario's along Batu Ferringhi.

Kapitan Nasi Kandar - Pt 1

At Kapitan (the one 49 Chulia Street), you can see both foreigners and locals eating and enjoying the food. You will not miss this joint coz it's the most 'happening' shop among the three nasi kandar shops at each corner. The seating arrangement for this place is as such the first floor is air conditioned (but I don't like the environment). Anyways, it's not hot downstairs either. The place maintains their cleanliness...but I don't know bout the toilet. I guess the place is famed for it's Tandoori Chicken which starts from only RM 6.50 per set, depending on the type of naan you order! I shall go into detail in another post coz I don't have photos with me! However, I've tried the 'Roti Tisu'...'Roti Tisu' is plain Roti Canai that is tossed to paper thin thickness, rolled up and drizzled with condensed milk. Sad to say, the one in Kapitan is not up to my expectation. The 'roti' is not thin enough and as if condensed milk is not sweet enough, the pastry is coated with coarse sugar! So the crunchiness is not from the pastry!


Poorly rated..not worth eating this Roti Tisu.. However the Tandoori.........to be continued.........

Super Hokkien Mee

You may think what so "super" about this Hokkien Mee aka Har -Mee! Actually this special stall got it's name from the location they used to operate! Which was behind Super Burmah along Penang Road..Anyways, they have relocated to One Corner Cafe. As the name suggest, it is at the corner, behind Penang Plaza. The building used to be a fish shop! The broth for Penang Hokkien Mee is made by boiling pork ribs and prawns.


If you decide to go there for breakfast, I suggest you go even though you are not hungry coz I've waited more than an hour for a bowl of noodles! Beware, the owner of the stall doesn't like their customer customizing the ingredients!If you are there and you are extremely hungry, try ordering the pinkish kuih that has either 'bangkuang', ku chai or yam. Each cost 80 cents and I assure you, they are extremely tasty! One bite of it, trust me, you would want more! They are either sold as it is or pan seared. My picture may not look appetising but don't judge a book by it's cover!
The Hokkien Mee soup is darn tasty with portion is big, unlike other places in Penang! A 'normal' bowl of noodles is RM 3.00 and the prices increase by a ringgit for the increase in size..if you know what I mean.

FYI the stall only operates in the morning and usually finishes very early! Early bird gets the worm.....