Guest Post by L: Delicioso

This is another guest post from my dearest friend, which I would use as an escape for me from my own proper posting. Enjoy again on Penang food fare, but this time something of a hole in a wall, hidden even from most Penangites. It is no hawker food, but once in a while, even the most hawker food lover needs a break for some fresh style. Now let us see what L has brought us.

What’s with Mexican food? For one, I loved it to bits. And second, there’s never a joint here for Mexican till recently. Or at least, just recently, I found it. Penang isn’t just about the finding food at the usual places; it is the “Hole in the Wall” thing that appeals more to me.

So, it was a gloomy evening as my friend and I made our way on foot from Upper Penang Road to Little India. I love Little India as well. I will try blog about it in the near future as there are unanimously good banana leaf restaurants there.

As we sneaked our way through Chulia Street, we passed the Blue Diamond Inn – a backpackers place and one which serves Western and Mexican food! This isn’t the usual restaurant one would stop by for a meal, at least for me. It looks shady and ‘questionable’ but the sight of a Mexican food sign nailed outside the Inn is enough to convince us to stop by after our ‘trip’ to India.

The place was mostly young tourist lads. I wanted fajitas as I love anything with tortillas but *Pedro, a bandana clad moustache dude told me there was none. So I parted with the beef enchilada while my friend ordered chicken quesadilla.

I’m just kidding. The cook, *Pedro is obviously nicknamed by my friend and I. Heck, his picture is even on the Mexican food menu. Check that out if you are ever there. We wanted to believe that *Pedro was a runaway from Mexico after he accidentally murdered someone there. So with a glimpse a better future here, he opened his Mexican food joint here in Penang.

When he brought us our food, my friend asked if he’s from Mexico. All he did was looked at us and shook his head with cold gleaming eyes. Alright, he is obviously Malaysian who is pissed all the time. But hell, he cooks really good Mexican food.

My Beef enchilada is the best I ever had. The portion is huge. With minced beef, button mushrooms cooked in lots of spices wrapped with warm tortillas, I was struggling to finish it up. It was really delicious.

While it was the first time I tasted quesadilla, I loved it as well. Sandwiched between crisped, toasted tortillas are bits of chicken sautéed with tomatoes, capsicums, lettuce and cheese, topped with some chili sauce, it was spicy

Hey, this is probably the second to best authentic Mexican food ever here in Penang and given that *Pedro is Malaysian, he must had known what us Malaysian folks like – spicy food!

Then, it rained in between our meals. The heavy downpour ‘blessed’ our seats but we were too reluctant to move, indulging in our food. While we were dining, an older gentleman began serenading us with his ‘Kapok’ guitar. Obviously drunk, his intro to his song is 15 minutes of yapping, which he then proceeded to strum a couple of lines and went back to repeating the same words.
I loved the place! So down to earth and of course, a budget meal!

My enchilada is RM7 while my friend’s quesadilla is RM6. Don’t think there could ever be a more colorful meal – good & cheap food, dining in a backpacker’s inn, getting the feeling of being a tourist and getting entertained by a drunkard. I would definitely come back here for more action.

P/S: Mr. Drunkard is actually one hell of a guitar player. He once played in Oktoberfest, Munich. Boy, I’m sure he drinks everyday on his trip.

Blue Diamond Inn
Chulia St. Penang

Penang Food Diary: Part 3

Life has been really busy and my kitchen had been feeling pretty lonely lately, but my tummy is still filled contently. This would be my final part of Penang food endeavour, which I had held off for far too long. I hope I would be at least posting once a week from now on unlike my recent absence, for my job load is high and my weekends are spent relaxing or having fun. But I have no intentions to abandon this blog of mine, which had just celebrated its first birthday! Oh no, where is the cake? It will come, I have no doubt but when is the question. It deserves a cake (or maybe a cupcake) and a post on its own, so do look out for it. Now off you go to drool on more Penang food fare.

2.32pm
Off we head towards the outer sides of this island, where the road is long and winding, and the sea runs along the side. We stopped halfway just to have a glimpse at the sea, though not really clean and beautiful, but still we needed a breather. Cheekily, we stopped right beside this sign, which I seen for the first time and found it pretty interesting.

2.59pm
Then we head on winding around the hillsides, searching for a hill which J said have spectacular view, with lovely set up and a Thai restaurant. On the way, we passed by a huge dam, which was a good place to stop for fresh air and clean view.

3.19pm
We continue our way to find our special hill, when suddenly we saw a huge signboard saying “Fruit Farm 1km” with an arrow pointing the way. On a whim we decided to give it a visit. We drove up at a turning up a steep road for few turns, and then we found the fruit ‘stall’.

The place was packed with local fruits that are currently in season. There is also a counter which serves freshly squeezed juices and sliced fruits.

We opted to just get some local fruits, some for a friend we would be visiting later and some for us to lug home. J and I was attracted to the black (or dark red) banana, which we have never seen before in our local markets back home. We enquired and the shopkeeper explains that it is nothing special in taste but the color causes many not to plant it due to superstitution. (Here locals believe that banana tree are prone to evil, thus a black banana would certainly be much worst that its yellow counterparts). So we happily bought a bunch back home to try.

4.04pm
Off again we go in search again and finally, we found the hidden way up to Genting Hill! Yes, there is such hidden gem in Penang, which even most localites do not know. The way up was pretty steep and scary, especially for my little black car to brave, but we did nonetheless and were certainly thankful we did. The view was certainly breathtaking, the place lively with funky designs and woodwork of Thai influences.

We found that this Thai haven also offers Thai massage and reflexologies, being crazy, we decide to go for the Thai massage (we do not know what effects will it have judging we just had reflexologies few hours ago) but we came out refresh and rejuvenated. Then we sat down by the restaurant’s balcony, just a top the beautiful scene below.

The meal was alright, just like a cross between Thai food and Mamak (Indian-Muslim) style of cooking. We had green curry chicken, which was a bit water down and with slices of chicken meat which seemed like pre-cooked and then thrown into the gravy for a little while before serving. Then the salted fish green vegetable, which I suppose should be Thai but tasted deceivingly like a Malay dish I know, and lastly was the Mango Kerabu, which was totally disappointing, nothing like the authentic tangy salad but instead very sweet (I suspect liberal sprinkles of brown sugar here).

Then we ended the meal with a Thai jackfruit with chestnut dessert, which came in a really small portion, which was not too bad. It tasted real coconuty with a little sweetness from the jackfruit and chewy-crunchy jelly-covered-chestnut. Given the credit of beautiful scenery, I really enjoyed the meal.

Bukit Genting (Genting Hill)
Off the road between Teluk Kumbar and Balik Pulau
(take a left turn at the huge water storage tank)
04-8279805
11.30am – 10pm daily

6.30pm
It is time for us to go back down to Penang, I am starting to miss the hawker food again. We went straight towards Kek Lok Si, to my one-and-only-favourite laksa in town.

I do not need to describe more of this wonder bowl, which I had featured before. Beside this stall, there was another mini stall selling fried popiah, which we found crunchy and tasty from our previous trip. We had it as starters while waiting for our laksa.

Laksa Stall
Pasar Air Itam

(Kek Lok Si)

12pm-9pm

Close: Tuesday

6.54pm
J remembered I mentioned that I wanted to try out Penang version of Chee Cheong Fun, which I learnt from L’s post long ago. So he took me to a nearby hawker stalls to try it out.

Chee cheong fun, apart from a smooth, slightly chewy and soft texture, the sauce is one of the most important part of the dish. This one comes with heavy take on heh kor (a sweet thick prawn paste, usually served with assam laksa; the black sauce drizzled on my laksa up-close shot above). Heh kor taste is usually acquired, it can be smelly to some, a taste really hard to be describe other than you taste it yourself, just like rojak. The chee cheong fun was not bad and certainly something new and different, although I still prefer the Taiping-style tim cheong (sweet sauce) best.

I forgot to note down the address but it is the restaurant not too far from Kek Lok Si where there are few more with the name in numbers. This one is a corner shop with the name of a year.

8.00pm
Our last stop is not any hawker stall or any fancy restaurant, but instead J’s friend’s house. Being a gracious host, they had prepared a full course delicious home-cooked meal, Penang style for us. Our eyes bulge at the amount of food they prepared, cursing our whole day gluttony. Yet being gracious guests too, we devoured everything, even though we were already filled to the brim. But it was not too hard as the meal was fantastic.

I did not get to take much picture, as not to be rude. The picture was sneakily taken while our hosts are bringing more food from the kitchen. We had the smoked chicken, prepared specially by the lady host, which later when I asked her, she explained that the chicken was rubbed with mixes of spices and then smoked with rice and coffee beans. It was certainly the star dish of the evening; with the deep smoky flavour embed right into the bones while the meat was juicy and sweet. I can still imagine it now. Then there was the dry beef curry, with slices of daging bakar (barbequed meat) with thick curry with kerisik (pounded dry-fried grated coconut, like those in rendang). It was really addictive too. then there was the tom yam fish head, which was the huge bowl you see there, that was good and really spicy after some time. Then besides that, there was another fish dish, which was Teochew steam fish, the fish was really fresh and the simplicity of the dish brought it out. Then we also had some stir-fried vegetables to complete the meal. When we just came we chit-chat with the hosts’ son on the topic food (of course, he is a penangite after all) and he asked us what was our best meal in Penang so far, that time I answered Laksa, but after the wonderful Penang-home-cooked meal, I had to re-declare that it was the best meal I had so far in Penang! Nothing beats home-cooked meal isn’t it, and to top it off, this one is by one of the food-critics in Malaysia.

11.39pm
After the meal we had long hours of catching up and talking about everything under the sun. Finally when we leave, we have slightly digested and did not feel like a walking wate-balloon. Then J get on with the final itenary, which is of course food, this time is for kuey teow kerang (fried flat rice noodles with cockles). This one surprisingly is not made by Chinese, but from a Malay stall, that had adapted the infamous char kuey teow into a slightly wetter version with much much more of cockles.

This kuey teow dish was certainly thick with cockles taste, though I am not a fan of it but this one was certainly yummy. It was slightly spicy with loads of fresh cockles drowning the white kuey teow, which was soft and smooth. It is certainly a dish well worth the extra space in my overload tummy.

Kuey Teow Kerang Stall

Jalan Sungai Dua

12.00am
Finally when the day has ended, J and I packed into my little black car and head back home, discussing all the way about all the food we had and some extra funs we had thrown in. Definitely a trip to remember by, else my expanded waistline will remind me anyway.

Penang Food Diaries:
Part 1
Part 2

Penang Food Diary: Part 2

11.02 am
J and I got Jalan Penang (road) for a fix of something icy, this time it is cendol. But it is not like the ordinary cendol we can get others places as this one apparently is Teochew style.

We ordered for a bowl and got into the restaurant, where this stall is parked right outside. This restaurant, charged extra rm0.40 if you ordered the cendol into their premise. I guess they can’t earn much judging that everyone drinks from the stall outside instead of their drinks. We obliged nonetheless as we wanted a place to sit and cool down.

The cendol came, looking ordinary, but once I tasted it, I found that it is milder in coconut taste than the usual Indian cendol and also there are more red beans. I can’t say this is the best cendol, in fact I still love the one back in PJ, still it is a cool refreshing drink to down the thirst.

Then J spied on a char kuey teow stall in restaurant and wanted to give it a try. After all we could not have the famous one at Lorong Macalister.

The plate of char kuey teow came, Penang style with huge prawns, cockles, lap cheong (Chinese sausage), fishcake, and taugeh (beansprouts). It tasted great, even better than the one we had at Kek Lok Si. So J quickly cleans out the plate.

Joo Hooi Café
475 Jalan Penang
Opens 10-7.30pm

After that, I still yearns for more icy stuff and told J about a famous ais kacang (local shaved ice dessert) nearby at the next street. Just outside the restaurant, is the junction to four famous streets in Penang. We walk over the overhead bridge, which connect all four streets, one of it leading towards Komtar (shopping mall), towards our destination.

11.31 am
Down the street from the overhead bridge, we got into Kek Seng restaurant for its famous ais kacang. We ordered for one and it came looking really special.

It tasted great too, unlike anywhere else I get, with sweet corn, red beans, huge jelly and two dollops of ice cream. The ice cream is even freshly made, as I saw a huge sign showing they have their own-made famous durian ice cream here, which was served with the ais kacang. Indeed the ice cream tasted great and complimented the ais kacang well.

Feeling bit nibbly, we ordered the popiah (Chinese spring roll) to go along. The lady came to serve asked us whether we want to pour in the broth (first time I encountered broth for popiah) then we agreed and it was poured over the popiah. It was a little bland but the texture was not bad.

Kek Seng Coffeeshop
384 Jalan Penang

11.55am
Feeling really filled up we decided to have a little break from our eating frenzy and head over for some massage and reflexology. It is located at the same row with Joo Hooi Café, at the other end of the row of shops. Here, they offer massages and reflexology by the blinds. Nowadays, it is really popular in Malaysia, for the blinds to learn reflexology, from a school which is catered to them specially. Going to these places always makes me feel that I had helped them in a way, where they can earn their own income. I opt for the reflexology while J went for the massage. The service was great and both of us enjoyed it. I would recommend you to stop by if you ever had a chance to be around town.

Aroma Reflexology
Jalan Penang
(same row with Joo Hooi Café)

1.49pm
After an hour and half of relaxing, we are ready to eat again (surprise!). So J and I got in the car and sped off in search of Char Kuey Kak (stir fried radish cake) and Or Chien (oyster omelette). I read that the one near the Chinese school was famous so we went there and alas again, we found that the stall was not open. Then we guessed that it is only opened for dinner. So we sat down and ordered har mee (prawn noodle) instead.

The noodle was great, expectedly as har mee is another famous dish hailed from Penang itself. It came in a superbly rich prawn broth, with prawns, sliced pork, eggs and beansprouts. It was good; we eat and drank the soup dry (we would not want to count the calories here).

Opposite Penang Chinese Girl School
Jalan Gottlieb

So, feeling satiated again, J and I decided to head on to some site seeing. I just found out, thanks to J that, besides the glorious food, it turns out there are some hidden places to visit in Penang.

To be continued….

Penang Food Diaries:
Part 1
Part 3

Penang Food Diary

I have just notice that one main reason of the scarcity of post is not just because the lack of free time, but also my own expectations from it. Every time I wanted to rush to post up something, I would in the end put it off or did not even start due to the fact that I know I would not be able to give my best. I guess its time to change my mindset a little, after all, when it comes to blogging it should be about the flexibility, the freedom to express oneself and most of all, it should be enjoyable. Of course I do enjoy writing, but sometimes I might just be too hard on myself. Enough of self-ranting and let’s get on with the food. Oh yes, I promised you my food excursion up north, didn’t I?

Morning 8.00am
Drag myself off the bed to the bathroom, wash up and dress up hastily. Got into my little black car with J and sped off northward bound. Did not have enough sleep but strangely felt seriously energized, thinking of all the food to come (the wonders of being tham-jiak).

9.25am
Finally crossed the Penang Bridge and had arrived at food paradise. The air seems mixed with sea breeze and food smell. Now it is probably the morning sickness or it is just that I am really hungry. Finally, after just a short search, we got to our first food destination. We stopped by for the infamous Sg. Pinang Ark Thooi Mee Suah (Duck Leg with Fine Wheat Noodle). We ordered for it and after some time, it still has yet to arrive, I got agitated, went over to reorder then they told me ark thooi has just finished and they recommended me to take keh thooi (chicken drumstick) instead. Oh well, I just obliged as my stomach seems to get grumpy.

This keh thooi mee suah also came in the same broth as the famous ark thooi, which is double boiled yok choy (herbs) soup. The ingredients, I believe should be of the usual yok choy herbs such as kei chi (wolfberries), tong sum, wai san, ginseng and so forth. It was really energizing as a breakfast, and certainly fueled me with enough energy to wander around whole day in my food adventure. The mee suah deserves a mention as it was exceptionally soft and smooth, without the floury coating which can be found in commercially made mee suah, and certainly complements the yok choy broth well.

Oon Swee Hoe
Duck/Chicken Drumstick Noodle
Jalan Sungai Pinang,
10150 Penang

9.55am
After that good and hearty noodle soup, our hopes are high as we gaily drive to the next destination which was just a few streets away. We got over to get some less heart healthy stuff which the famous Penang char kuey teow (stir fried flat noodles) at the famous Lorong Macalister but alas, when we got there, the store was close. So we head on next to another killing delicacy that is the famous Penang curry mee (noodle). This one we got off the internet from Penang Haven, which she mentioned that this stall is known as the brothers curry mee. This is because the stall, which was passed on by their father, is run by a sibling. I just had to go there to see what the fuss is all about to be able to remain reputable for two generations.

The noodle came, just like how authentic Penang curry noodle should be, with prawns, cockles, pig's blood cubes, sotong (squid) and beancurd. J tasted the noodle first and found nothing special about it (I guess he is accustomed to the KL style ones) thus he took the liberty and add huge dollops of sambal, available at the table.

After that J announced that now it was good and so I have a try at it. I love the spiciness (thanks to J) and also enjoy the extra flavours from the ingredients aforementioned. Certainly different from other curry noodles I used to have.

Brothers Curry Mee,
Lorong Seratus Tahun,
(access from Jalan Macalister)

10.24am
After sweating all over from the spicy curry noodle, we got back into the car and drove down several blocks to Lorong Bangkok (Bangkok Lane). Here, is specially taken by J as he had tried it once, following a Penang food-lover friend, as a typical Penangites, who took him there before. J swore that this stall has the best mee goreng (fried noodle) you can ever find in Malaysia. We arrived at the humble restaurant, where the mamak stall is located. J ordered for the mee goreng in Hokkien, as the mamaks there in fact had learnt to speak this ubiquitous dialect of Penang. I was certainly impressed.

The noodle came looking redder than the usual mamak mee goreng. One bite and I am totally won over, I was never really a fan of mee gorengs of any kind, but this is certainly different. As the stall also sells mee rebus (literally boiled noodles), which comes in thick sauce (consisting of potatoes, curry, soybeans, shrimps and peanuts), which usually comes with marinated sotong, tau kwa(firm tofu) and beansprouts. Judging from the taste of the mee goreng, I can guess that they had used the mee rebus kuah (gravy) to fry the noodle. Eating it you will find sotong (which was marinated well before hand, thus extremely flavourful and without the fishy taste at all) and mashed up potatoe. It is certainly hard for me to explain how special this plate of mee goreng is, I guess the best way is for you to head on there for a try if you had the chance, I personally recommends it.

Bangkok Lane Mee Goreng
Lorong Bangkok
(Located in the coffee shop at the junction of Lorong Bangkok and Jalan Burma)

Then filled up with spicy fried noodles, I am thirsting for something refreshing, something icy. J and I got into the car and sped off once more in search for more.

To be continued….

Penang Food Diaries:
Part 2
Part 3

Taking On the World

"When you leave here, don't forget why you came." Adlai Stevenson, to college graduates

I have finally graduated. Oh yes, it had been sometimes since the days I left my universities, hanging around, looking for job, shift to new place and getting into this new job, but somehow, only after the convocation, I felt that I have finally officially leave my student-hood behind me. Now armed with a scroll, I am ready to take on the world!

Reminiscing, it seems like only yesterday that I had step out the comfort of Taiping into this middle of the peninsular. I can still remember vividly the time Y and I ventured into the bustling area of Wangsa Maju. We were so excited that on the first night itself we just walk out and wander around the area. We do not even know where we are heading or what we are searching for. Instead, food found us. We are in midst of all sorts of food, cheap yet good eats. We are introduced to so much new hawker food fare that can never be found in our home sweet hometown, among those are like kampar fishball noodles, pork ball noodles, curry mee KL style, chee cheong fun KL style, nasi lemak ayam from the numerous mamak stalls, claypot lou shi fun, my favourite banana leaf and yu tau mai (fish head noodle). People say that good food cannot be found in Klang Valley, but I digress, as good food might not have originated from here, but it seems to have found its way here from all over Malaysia. Food connoisseurs set up stall claiming from somewhere famous like Penang Char Kuey Teow, Kampar Fishball Noodles and so forth, making this place a food haven, where you can get the best of everything under one roof, technically. In my opinion, if you know where to look, you are sure to find good eats around Klang Valley. Nowadays, with foodblogging fever catching on in Malaysia, I have been reading numerous Malaysian blogs that features a whole bunch of good eats around Klang Valley, which had been extremely informational and also not to mention dangerous as it makes me want to go out and satisfy my desires right away.

Typical of this tham jiak girl to start ranting about food while reminiscing of her days long gone. Let me get back to my graduation, ah yes, the convocation. It was certainly a once in a lifetime event, that my parents came, along with my Pho Pho accompanied by my aunt. How sweet of them. Although I had not been as excited about it the day before as I should, but during the time in the event itself, I was overwhelmed by a multitude of feelings. During the time we were waiting to go in the hall, I saw parents rushing around; once I saw a couple calling their child on the handphone, looking lost, I felt touched that how parents would come our of their own comfort cocoon to this unknown world just to see their child up there taking a piece of paper. This is how huge parents love is. Later, during the moment standing in the front row waiting for the time to go up, I felt honoured and proud that I have finally made it through the way I would I want it to be. I hope my parents are proud too.

J’s convocation was in the afternoon session and so he did not get to attend mine, but in the wee hours of the morning he had took me there, how sweet, and then he came again later in the afternoon to pick me up. I had let my parents leave early as the place was packed and I wanted to take more pictures with my uni-mates. Well, during the time he picks me and before his own convocation starts, we squeeze in a bit of time to go out to lunch. Oh yes, time to talk about food once again. J took me to end my desires about this superb yu tau mai (fish head noodles) that he had been raving about; it’s nearby his office, which I would preen with jealously every time he described it to me. KL has loads of good food but I, living near the PJ suburb seldom have the luxury to try it, therefore this is one of those golden times I get to, just the right time to celebrate my graduation, with food of course.

The place that J took me to is a little stall, off Jalan Raja Laut, that seems like it had been there since eons ago. When you got into it, you can see that it is filled with localites, looking like regulars who certainly had been coming back again and again. We took a sit near the side and ordered like how everyone would, yu tau mai and yit cha (brewed Chinese tea) for two. The yu tau mai comes in a huge claypot, the soup still boiling hot.

Yu tau mai is actually fish head noodles, where the broth is boiled from the fish bones with ginger and milk, and then the fish meat would be deep fried separately before being added into the soup along with everything else, depending on variations. This particular yu tau mai’s soup tasted really good, unlike some thick over-milky ones out there, this is surprisingly light yet not lacking in taste. Then it is filled with loads of liu (ingredients) such as fried fish head (of course), soft tofu, yam cubes (I seldom encounter this outside), beancurd, lala (clams), fishballs, homemade rice noodles (thicker than the usual meehoon but softer) that are garnished generously with parsley. The soup is really addictive, with J and I nearly finishing all of it, and the homemade noodles are springy and good, which sets this bowl (or rather claypot) of noodles out from its peers. Certainly a gem found in this quaint little stall hidden behind the busy bustling KL. I wish I could have the address to give, but I hope you are adventurous enough to find this stall (the one with yellow red stripe canopy), at Jalan Tiong Nam, behind the row of shop houses along Jalan Raja Laut, on the same side of Wisma Sime Darby. Good luck and may the good food be with you ;)

Ong Lai
Jalan Tiong Nam,
Off Jalan Raja Laut,
Kuala Lumpur

P/S: I found another review over here at Wantan Production which have some extra directions.

Updated with the information from Wantan Production and babe (in comments).

Guest Post, Again, by L: SOHO

Come weekend and with a friend from mainland visiting, the first thing that I wanted to do is EAT! Naturally - since my dream during my final year here in university is to review as many restaurants as I can. Although money is always a constraint, but dining out once a week should very much be allowed.

Soho, in the UK is well known to be a red-light district and boosts a similar name elsewhere across in New York. Here in Penang, it is very much a British concept pub, which serves food typical to the public houses in the UK. Located at Upper Penang road, Soho is a half club/half pub and a restaurant all in one. A hard to be missed double story building which is usually choked with tourists.

I had been there for drinks but never there for its food until recommended by a Penangnite who frequents it. So last Friday, I needed a place to eat and to review and decide to give Soho a try.

The lower floor has a bar, pool tables, dart boards and a dance floor and upstairs is mainly for dining purposes. I always loved the upstairs of Soho, with its lush interior wall carpeting, mini chandeliers, deep red curtains which boosts a very grand atmosphere, a solid wooden bar and my favorite part of it, an old fashioned balcony overlooking Upper Penang Road – the place where Penang’s party scene happens.

I was told that Fish & Chips lovers will not be disappointed with the one in Soho. Deep fried fish fillets to the scrumptious, in crisp yellow batter, with a dash of salt and pepper, - It is simply delicious. My friend ordered just that and another pal, ordered the roasted herb chicken. Roasted chicken that comes with a serving of homemade mashed potatoes and boosts thick gravy, a recipe by Soho itself.

I had Grilled lamb chop which honestly, the best lamb chop I had in years. Delicious lamb chops that is first marinated in their own concoction, served in mint sauce, chips and a garden salad. The chops are thick and succulent and grilled to perfection.

Soho is also the only pub in town that serves Kilkenny beer, all the way from Ireland and I was told that this waterhole probably boosts the cheapest beer in town. So if you are from out of Penang, looking for both cheap booze and the party scene, Soho is the best place to be.

Guest Post by L: A Girl's Night Out

One of the exuberance of youth to me is going out on dates. It gives you this surge in self confidence as you know someone had actually asked you out and would like to know you better. It’s a great feeling when someone takes an extra interest to you and there’s the whole dressing up part for the wooing and dining which is always fun.

Sadly it had been a long time since I had dates and in an impulse attempt to revive it, I asked a friend out. A dear friend of mine, PY whom also had been a lil’ drained in the love department. There are so many reasons to ask her out, for one, she’s a great companion and then, there’s the part I know, there’s never a chance that she will bail on me.

So we went out. A day before, I asked my local Penangnites friends on where can I go for good food, good ambience and all must come with a fair price due to the constraints of being a student. I was then referred to this small restaurant located right in the middle of Georgetown called Pintail. It is on the same row as Cititel Hotel, right opposite Oriental Hotel.

Pintail, sandwiched between the old buildings is dimly lighted and with a signboard that isn’t too prominent for new diners to come to realize. My date with PY happens on a Wednesday evening where both of us took a little initiative to dress up for dinner and then, dancing later on.

It wasn’t hard locating it but it was not prominent like I mentioned. Just a shop lot on its own, and a very warm ambience upon arrival, it was pretty packed on a Wednesday night. We were lucky to get the final table and as I realized it was mostly backpackers, tourists and some locals dining there.

I ordered rosemary lamb with a serving of sautéed vegetables in butter and pepper and mashed potatoes. PY had a half done steak with diced potatoes and sautéed greens as well. I would give a lot of credits to their selection of drinks which were made up of fresh fruits juices, on its own or a mixture and even alcoholic beverages at a fair price. My honey lime got me hooked as it was made perfectly for the sweet tooth that I am.

I wasn’t too pleased that my lamb was all chopped up for me upon arrival but I love the vegetables and mashed potatoes. PY’s steak was a little chewy and her potatoes were rather blunt. It fascinated me that she could eat it all with her braces.

But overall, I love the ambience and the service is extremely friendly. Cozy, warm and serves good food at a fair deal, I will definitely go back to that place more often. The bill for our meal was a little over RM60. Last order of the day is at 10.45pm and the restaurant closes at 11.30pm.

Pintail restaurant
84, Penang Road
10000 Georgetown
Penang

For reservations call: 04 264 2694
Opens whole week except on Mondays. From noon till night.

Tastes of Yesterlife

If one's life can be determine by food preferences, I believe that I might be an Indian in my past life. As much as I love Chinese cuisines, I am strangely drawn towards Indian food, my five senses transfix on the myriad of spices, smells, tastes and textures. Indian cuisines are complex. Even the simplest cooking involves clever blends of various spices. But of course, there are some simplicities, such as its roti (bread), which ranges from easy to long preparation and the choice itself is numerous! Every roti is different from one another; some made with rice flour, some gram flour and many more that I have yet to learn and discover.

After bouts of exercise early one morning, the first thing that hit my mind for breakfast is some Indian fare. So I walk all the way through The Curve (shopping mall in Malaysia) to Restaurant Penang Nasi Kandar, right outside Tesco, for my Indian breakfast fix. On the way there I had already picture tosai in my mind. Why, I love the taste of tosai, slightly tangy and its texture soft to bite, crunchy on the outer layer certainly plays one palate

I like my tosai with the coconut chutney (on the left) and the middle chutney, I can't make out what it is but it is tangy, from tamarind I believe, and some spices, hope someone can enlighten me here. It pairs real well with the tosai, adding more to the tanginess and sourness. Of course I would also eat it with dhal (on the right); then again, I eat my dhal with every other roti.

Then its time for lunch, my hunger pang starts playing with my head again. I crave for more Indian fare. Then I thought of banana leave, from a shop I once was recommended to by a friend, which I found the branch right here in my neighbourhood. Banana leave is actually a kind of meal where your food is serve on a clean banana leave, and the perks are, you can ask to refill as many times as you want with no extra charges. It consists of only vegetarians fares but you can separately order other meats. When one eats banana leave, one tends to indulge a little bit, as it is addictive and the thought of able to fill to one's content is extremely inviting. Therefore, as I am set on getting fit before work, I think twice bout this choice of lunch.

I drove aimlessly there, park the car, still deciding on whether to enter a Chinese hawker restaurant, but somehow my feet got me over to Sri Paandi, a restaurant serving Andhra cuisine. I sat down, I asked for banana leave, I take a quick snap of picture, devour, ask for refill, and then proceed to clean it off. Then I was really full, but just enough place left in my tummy to clean my palate with the really tangy fresh yoghurt. The thought of fitness somehow just got suck into the black hole in my mind, he-he. Then the pictures did not turn out well, due to my gluttony thus the impatient take of picture. So on another day, this time, I drag both my good friends there again (vowing not to refill), in aim to once again answer my cravings and of course to take more pictures! Ah, all in the name of this blog, and my tham jiak-ness.

The meal was great. I absolutely love the vegetable curries. The usual fare are the lightly spicy long beans, tangy and superbly spicy brinjal with black-eyed peas, one mild veggie (on the right, which I'm not sure what it is) and the light yoghurt cucumber (I forgot the proper name for this) which is really refreshing. Then there comes the condiments, coconut chutney (again), and one really salty and sour chutney where I accidentally bite into the sour fruit (not sure what fruit, now I sound like an Indian food enthusiast who knows nuts). Then there are the keropok (chips), where there is the ever famous papadum (though I have tasted better ones out there) and also the potato chips, which tasted like heaven, sliced thinly, heavily spiced and deep-fried. Ah, such indulgence. Then you can opt to drown your rice in dhal or chicken/fish curry. Lastly, there is rasam and one light tangy milk (in the picture, which I don't know what it is, if someone can tell me I'll be so grateful, never mind if its just a guess) and also yoghurt to soothe off all the spice, which are now madly meld on your tongue and in your tummy. Take note that, they will charge an extra dollar for the yoghurt as we had asked to clarify when we saw it on our bill. In addition, my friend ordered a mutton curry, which is reasonably priced with good portion and which of course, tasted good.

Maybe I was an Indian in my past life, but indeed much of my knowledge on the food must have been loss during my transition to this new life. I cannot really name most of the food yet or even to cook them, but one thing for sure, I absolutely love to eat them. One day I might just be able to learn the secrets of Indian cooking, but of course not to forget my own origins. I always think the spices and condiments have some kind of drug in them that makes one keep going back for more, but to me, that's a good thing. Oh no, I am addicted.

Restaurant Nasi Kandar Penang
Tesco
Damansara

Restaurant Sri Paandi (TTDI)
36, Jalan Tun Mohd Faud 1,
Taman Tun Dr Ismail,
60000 Kuala Lumpur
03-7726 8581

P/S: I went to Sri Paandi again last two night, and found the selection less than lunch time, condiments must be requested, no yoghurt or rasam, and the chips were already ‘lau fong’ (soft). So go only during busy lunch time where the service would be even faster and better!

Cham-cham of Cultures

Rojak is one of the unique cuisine of Malaysia. The word rojak is of Malay origin, which means, cham-cham, that is the mixture of things. Who would ever know that mixture of this and that from each culture would form such a medley wonderful tastes that excites the palate. There are two distinct rojak here in Malaysia, one is the Chinese version which is we called the rojak buah (fruit rojak), which do have other stuff besides fruits such as vegetables, tofu and keropok. These are then mix in a dressing, made up of belachan (shrimp paste), sugar, chilli, lime juice, dark sauce, prawn paste, black bean paste and so forth, with each rojak comes in its own variation and then top with chopped peanuts and bunga kantan (torch ginger). As for the Indian rojak, which is commonly known as pasembor here are mainly consists of fried dough fritters, hard boiled egg, prawn fritters, fried tofu and cucumbers all mixed in dressing of spicy peanut sauce, usually comes in stall that also serves cendol; one day I will talk more about this. I had discussed with J whether the idea of rojak is originated from the Chinese or the Indian culture. But for sure, it is truly a unique Malaysia cuisine. Come to think of it, rojak is actually a mixture of the three main cultures in Malaysia, since the use of belachan, which is a Malay paste and of course, the name itself is a Malay word.

One of the best fruit rojak I have tasted in town is this rojak stall in my new neighbourhood, which parks right opposite KFC. This is just a coincidence that it is in my neighbourhood, as I have long been hooked to it way before I shifted here. My cousin is the one who first brought it for me one day, when I was craving for some rojak, and I was hooked. Thus, fate must have somehow got me to stay here, and so one day (a recent one) on the way home, I took diversion there to get a pack for tea time snack. I ordered the usual Rojak Special, without the sotong (squid). I spied a newspaper cutting of a review of the stall, pasted there, which titles something like “the tastiest rojak in town”, I could not agree more. Since it’s so yummy, naturally you have to wait a little as there would be people all around. So I took the time to take some pictures of the stall and then the owner (the guy on the left with the apron) caught me in the act.

“You working for any press or organization?”

“Oh, no! I write all this just for fun.” I laughed

“For fun? How?”

“Oh, I write it onto the internet.”

“You can do that? I would love to see it.”

“Uncle, you play internet too?” I was shocked.

“Nah, but my son does. You can write this up for free?”

“Oh yea, you can post it up for free and then whoever reads it, uh - reads it.” Mentally whacking myself for not being able to describe blogging properly in Chinese.

“Oh, I must do too, as promotion for this stall” He smiled.

The thought of a blog, dedicated to promote a rojak stall cross my mind in a flash. “Sure you can, uncle” I said, flashing a big grin at him.

“I can leave my address for you, and have your son show my site to you. He can learn from there.”

Out of sudden, the wife who has been quiet all along, agrees with this, open the drawer and whips out a pen and a paper. Still in a faze, I wrote down my address, keeping in mind I better write this review quick, or they will be viewing with disappointment.

Then finally I got my pack of rojak, which the wife prepares all the while when I am chatting with the husband, and bid goodbye. I left with a smile on my face and their faces too, from the lovely conversation and also of course, the thought of able to devour my favourite rojak when I got home.

I open the pack of rojak and boy was it yummy looking. This rojak is consists of fruits, such as pineapple, guava, and many more that I forgot. Then there are the veggies, such as cucumber, sengkuang (jicama) and kangkung (water convolvulus). There are also tofu slices and the usual Indian keropok found in most rojak. The specialty that sets this rojak aside from the rest is the addition of fried youtiao (dough fritters) which is fried to the crisp (in oppose to the usual softer chewy ones), and the dried squid which gives a whole new dimension of taste to the rojak. But overall, as usual, the tastiness of one rojak lies heavily on the sauce itself, and this sauce, is absolutely yummy, enough belachan spiciness and the right sweetness. The sauce is coated all around the medley of fruits, veggies, tofu and keropok and then generously topped with chopped peanuts. Oh, yummy! It is hard to describe how a rojak taste like, until one taste it themselves, so go try it, if you are one of the lucky people who are in Malaysia, best yet in town to try out this stall.