Archive for the ‘Penang Food Trail’ Category
Penang Food Trail – Teluk Kumbar Seafood and Satay
Teluk Kumbar Good Friend Seafood Restaurant
Seafood by the sea – not a bad way to conclude our 2D1N Penang trip right? Off we went to Teluk Kumbar Seafood, located just between Bayan Lepas and Balik Pulau. Teluk Kumbar is a small fishing village, which houses the Teluk Kumbar Good Friend Seafood restaurant. The restaurant was just metres away from the sea, and our table was just situated on the sandy beach. Just beside the restaurant was a small makeshift satay stall, with fantastic reviews. Dinner that night was Satay and Seafood!
Makeshift satay stall
Satay
The satay was fantastic! The huge chunks of meat were topped with a spicy and flavourful sauce. It wasn’t like Singapore’s satay, rather it was more like grilled/barbecued chicken skewers. There was hardly any fats in the meat, just tender chunks of well-marinated chicken. Every piece was juicy and succulent.
(clockwise from top left) Lettuce; Deep Fried Calamari; Oyster Egg; Kailan; Fried Tofu
Clams
Chili Crabs
We ordered 7 other dishes, including 2 plates of vegetables, deep fried calamari, oyster egg, tofu, clams and chili crabs.
In general, the food is pretty average, similar to the standard of tze char stalls in Singapore. The lightly crisp batter went well with the calamari. The clams were fresh and went well with the slightly spicy sauce. The sauce of chili crab was lacking spiciness though, it was more towards the sweet side. The crabs were very fresh but rather scrawny; Singapore’s Sri Lanka crabs are still a winner. The tofu was soft, silky and not oily though it was deep fried. Perhaps we had ordered the wrong dishes, but we felt that the variety of seafood is rather limited for a restaurant specializing in seafood. The highlight of this meal was the fact that we sat barely a few metres away from the sea, enjoying the sea breeze and our sumptuous seafood dinner.
Penang Food Trail – Penang Road Laksa, Chendol & Ice Kachang
Penang Road Laksa
How could we visit Penang without trying their specialty – Penang Laksa! Penang Laksa is vastly different from the curry laksa we have in Singapore. Penang Laksa is a noodle dish in spicy and sour fish assam fish broth topped with various shredded vegetables, including cucumber, onions, red chili, pineapple, lettuce, mint and ginger. Accompanying it is also a spoonful of petis udang or 蝦羔, a thick sweet prawn/shrimp paste.
Penang Laksa
We tried Penang Laksa from a stall just at Penang Road and Lebuh Leng Kee. Well, I’m no fan of vegetables and the entire bowl of Penang Laksa was filled with shredded vegetables. However, the strong spicy and sour taste masked the taste of vegetables, so all I could taste was their crunchiness. Compared to Singapore’s coconut milk curry based laksa, Penang Laksa is slightly more refreshing and less overwhelming. But for Penang Laksa, we can drink the soup without feeling too sick or heaty. The added sourness also made the entire dish more appetizing.
Chendol
Ice Kachang
Other than Penang Laksa, Chendol and Ice Kachang were also served there. And on a extremely hot and sunny day, such cooling desserts really do taste and look appetizing. The chendol was not worth the extra calories and cholesterol. It was not thick enough, seemingly lacking in gula melaka and coconut milk. For better chendols, it is still better to head to Malacca (specifically to store 88, along Jonker Street). On the other hand, the ice kachang topped with ice cream was slightly better, though nicer ones can be found in Singapore. Something special about the Ice Kachang over here was the addition of Sarsi, which made it more refreshing and a great thirst quencher in hot weather.
Penang Food Trail – Restoran Kampar Fish Jelly
Restoran Kampar Fish Jelly
Penang’s kampar fish jelly is the equivalence of Singapore’s Yong Tau Foo 酿豆腐. This outlet recommended by our friends is situated at Jalan Jerjak.
(clockwise from top right) Deep fried Tau Kee and Chicken Wings; Hakka Noodles; Yam Rice; Braised Chicken Feet
Kampar Fish Jelly
We ordered some fried tau kee, chicken wings, hakka noodles, yam rice, braised chicken feet as well as 2 bowls of assorted fish jelly.
The fried tau kee was a crowd favourite; it was very crispy and slightly salty. The yam rice was also another crowd pleasing dish. The rice was soft yet not soggy. The yam taste was barely detectable and visually, there weren’t any obvious chunks of yam in the rice. And if we weren’t informed, we wouldn’t have known that it was yam rice. Every grain of rice was well flavoured and savoury. You could really taste that every rice grain had thoroughly soaked in the taste of the seasonings/sauce. The chicken wings, chicken feet and hakka noodles were pretty average, nothing too fantastic.
Yong Tau Foo is essentially fish paste stuffed into tofu or vegetables. The common vegetables include green chili, bittergourd, brinjals and lady’s fingers. For this place, one interesting thing was that fish paste was also stuffed into lettuces and even long beans!! Taste wise, the fish paste was pretty average, meeting the basic requirements of being fresh and springy. The soup was clear, not too salty or rich in flavours. It was a pretty light and healthy meal.
Penang Food Trail – Restoran Maxim
Restoran Maxim Dim Sum Restaurant
Breakfast on the 2nd day was at Restoran Maxim Dim Sum Restaurant at Taman Pekaka. The place was packed to the brim. We had to wait for a good 30 minutes for a table. And during the 1 hour that we were there, there was a constant flow of customers. The entire place was bustling with life.
Piping hot non-fried dim sum selection
Fried dim sum
Every table was given an ordering list. All we had to do was to pick up a tray, head over to one of the dim sum counters and tell the servers which dish you would like to have. They would then place your selection on your tray and write down your order on that slip of paper. There are around 3 counters – the steamed non-fried dim sum, the fried dim sum and the buns/rice rolls (chee cheong fun) section.
Maxim dim sum
The variety of dim sum seems rather wide, but on a closer look, you might find that certain items are more or less similar. Take the fishballs for example, there are at least 3 different kinds (steamed, deep-fried and deep-fried followed by steamed). But to us, the fishballs generally have the same taste. There were only slight differences between them despite the different preparation methods. The same goes for the siew mais – you have the standard kinds, as well as those with mushrooms etc. It is pretty smart of Maxim to do that, as everyone just gets so impressed and carried away with the huge spread. Though generally made of the same ingredients, the dim sum come in different shapes, colours and sizes, a great way to whet everyone’s appetites.
There were a few dishes which were pretty impressive. One of them being the steamed buns. The char siew bun was pretty good; the char siew didn’t have a strong pork taste and did not come with too much fats as well. The red bean and lotus paste buns were equally commendable; they were generally much bigger than the ones you find in Singapore.
Egg Tarts
Maxim's Egg Tart
The best dish from Maxim has got to be the egg tart, without a doubt. The crust of the egg tart was extremely flaky and crispy. The pastry crust had a mild toasted buttery taste and aroma. The egg custard itself was smooth and packing with the richness of eggs. It wasn’t too soft, and had a texture similar to agar. We totally love the egg tart, it is comparable and might even better than the ones in Hongkong.
Restoran Maxim is a good place for breakfast on a weekend morning. No doubt it’s a bit crowded, but the food is not too bad, the selection is huge and the egg tarts are simply to die for!
Penang Food Trail – Hammer Bay Ikan Bakar Special
Hammer Bay Ikan Bakar Special at Jalan Bayan Bay, Sebelah Kondo Gold Coast is a favourite haunt within the Malay community in Penang. This is where you can find authentic Malay barbecue seafood.
- 三味鱼
- Ikan Bakar
- Fried Calamari
三味鱼 was pretty good. The sauce was lacking in spiciness, more on the sweet side. The fish could be a little more tender though; perhaps the deep frying caused the fish to be slightly hard. The fried calamari wasn’t too oily. It was pretty addictive, once you start, you can’t stop. The batter wasn’t too thick, so we could still enjoy the chewiness of the squid.
The highlight of this meal was the Ikan Bakar, which literally means “burnt fish”. In this case, we opted for the stingray, which was marinated with sambal chili, and then grilled on a banana leave. The stingray meat was tender and had a mildly burnt/barbecued taste. The chili was the best! The sambal belachan was packed with spices; it was so flavourful and the spiciness gave an extra kick to the entire stingray. We could just enjoy plain rice with chili – that is how great the sambal chili was.
The Ikan Bakar was a nice conclusion to our first night in Penang.
Penang Food Trail – Crepe Cottage
Crepe Cottage
Crepe Cottage, situated along Gurney Drive, is popular amongst teenagers with its pancakes, crepes and ice cream. After some suggestions from the young waitress, we ordered 5 different desserts that night.
(clockwise from top left) Traffic Lights; Hot Apple on Ice-Cream Crepe; Gone Bananas; Sunburst; Chocolate Fever
Traffic Lights – Fresh kiwi, mango and strawberries with vanilla ice cream on crepe. The mango was pretty tasteless that night, likely due to the fact that it wasn’t the mango season and hence the quality of mango wasn’t too good. The pink crepe tasted rather unique, it was a very thin slice and complemented the ice cream well.
Hot Apple on Ice-Cream Crepe: Julienne and cinnamon-coated fried apple on a crepe roll filled with 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream. The fried apples were cut into long thin strips and resembled french fries. They were pretty generous with the servings of apples as well as ice cream. The crepe was well stuffed with ice cream. There wasn’t much cinnamon taste in the apples though, just a slight tinge of saltiness.
Gone bananas – Traditional banana split with chocolate, strawberry and vanilla ice cream topped with chocolate and strawberry sauce. Well, nothing too special about it. Banana splits can be found in most Western food chains.
Sunburst – Mango pancake with sliced mango, groundnuts and mango ice cream. Like mentioned before, the mango slices were virtually tasteless, which was a huge disappointment. We didn’t quite appreciate the pancake either. It was rather salty and was a queer combination with the sweet ice cream. We preferred the crepe over the pancake.
Chocolate Fever – 3 scoops of chocolate ice cream with nuts and raisins, chocolate balls and chocolate chip cookies drizzled with rich chocolate fudge. Well, I highly doubt we would really get a chocolate fever after this sundae. The different chocolate condiments weren’t very rich in chocolate, including the fudge. It would probably appeal to young kids, but not to us.
Overall, the ice cream served at Crepe Cottage was pretty mediocre. Taste wise, it was similar to that of Wall’s ice cream. We were definitely expecting something better, given the popularity of this place.
Penang Food Trail – Anjung Gurney
Pusat Penjaja Anjung Gurney
Pusat Penjaja Anjung Gurney 新关仔角小贩中心 is situated a stone’s throw away from Gurney Plaza. It is something like the Chomp Chomp hawker center in Singapore, with a collection of hawker stalls of various cuisines. But we were there to try a specific stall, under our friends’ recommendations.
麻芝
麻芝
Yes! We were there to try the Muah Chee! Muah Chee is a common street snack consisting of glutinous rice balls coated in toasted peanuts. It is commonly found in Singapore night markets. We felt that the muah chee from this Penang hawker stall was too soft and lacked the chewiness that we liked. It could also be better with a bit more peanuts. Better muah chee can definitely be found elsewhere.
Penang Food Trail – Gurney Plaza Dragon-i
Dragon-i
Our Penang food trail consisted mostly of hawker and street food and small family run eateries. Dragon-i (G-66/A1)is the only air-conditioned restaurant that we visited during our 2 days trip.
泥茸酥 Crispy Yam Roll
The 泥茸酥 Crispy Yam Roll was vastly different from that of Wong Kok’s. There wasn’t any char siew in the fillings, just pure yam. The outer pastry crust was crispy and flaky. Overall, there was nothing fantastic about it, the standard was still far from the ones we had in Hongkong.
奶皇流沙包 Custard Bun
奶皇流沙包 Custard Bun
Dragon-i’s 奶皇流沙包 Custard Bun was fantastic! Once we tore apart the bun, the dense molten custard started flowing out. The custard was smooth and slightly warm, and together with the fluffy bun, it was perfect and definitely comparable to the ones in Hongkong. The custard wasn’t overly sweet as well so you wouldn’t get too sick from it.
椒盐豆腐
椒盐豆腐 – Deep fried tofu cubes sprinkled with salt, pepper and chili powder. The tofu were nicely deep fried. It wasn’t too oily and beneath the crispy crust, the tofu was soft and smooth. However, the addition of salt, pepper and chili power made this dish somewhat too street snack style and seemed a little inappropriate to be served in Dragon-i.
蟹皇灌汤包
We were quite looking forward to the 蟹皇灌汤包. It is not something you can find in every Chinese restaurant and we were definitely hoping to be able to slurp up an entire mouthful of dumpling soup. Alas, it wasn’t our day after all. The 蟹皇灌汤包 was a nightmare. The soup within the dumpling had such a strong fishy and seafood taste that even seafood lovers like us couldn’t tolerate it. It was almost like we were eating live seafood in the middle of the ocean. I could virtually taste the sea. It was that bad. And there wasn’t even any crab meat. Gosh. And the skin of the dumpling was so thick that we didn’t even finish it. Taste and texture wise – the dumpling was atrocious.
腊肠北菇滑鸡蒸饭
腊肠北菇滑鸡蒸饭 – generous servings of Chinese sausage, chicken meat and mushrooms topped on rice. The chicken meat were well-marinated and very tender. But personally, I liked the rice. It had fully absorbed the flavours of the mushroom, chicken and mushroom.
水中花篮
An interesting find at Dragon-i – 水中花篮! There’s nothing fantastic about the taste of the tea, it was the typical flower tea. But it was the presentation which caught our attention. A small flower bud was first placed in hot water. And gradually, the little bud would start to bloom and increase in size. The water would then start to turn yellowish as well. It was interesting to observe the different changes.
Penang Food Trail – Wong Chau Jun Restaurant
Wong Chau Jun Restaurant @ Jalan Rangoon
Situated at 73 Jalan Rangoon road and only opened till 2.30pm is 王昭君小食馆. Its Wong Chau Jun Special 王昭君酸辣鱼头米粉 is a favourite with the locals. We were there at around 11am and the place was very packed. 7 of us ordered the following:
王昭君酸辣鱼头米粉
The specialty of the place – Wong Chau Jun Sour and Spicy Fish Head Noodle 王昭君酸辣鱼头米粉. But rather than order the fish head beehoon, we opted for the fish fillet beehoon. Both dishes are essentially similar, just using different parts of the Grouper fish. The fish fillet beehoon (thick rice noodle) was served in a claypot to preserve the heat. The grouper fish was very fresh and soft, it simply melted in our mouths. The clear soup was spicy and sour, with an uplifting fragrance of lemongrass. The soup was very appetizing. However, compared to the Thai clear tomyam soup, it was less sour and spicy. So for those who really enjoy that strong spicy and sour punch, stick to authentic Thai tomyam soups.
鱼片蒸河粉 (as served)
鱼片蒸河粉 (after mixing)
If you’re not a fan of sour and spicy stuff, you could try the Steamed Fish Slice Horfun 鱼片蒸河粉. Silky smooth horfun soaked in steamed special soy sauce – simply heavenly! The sauce was something similar to those you can find with Steamed Soon Hock in local Cantonese restaurants. It had a strong taste of soy sauce, ginger and Chinese wine. The horfun came with fresh Grouper fish fillets. Compared to the Grouper fillets in the fish head noodles, the grouper fish fillets were more tender, less soft and more chewy. Every piece of Grouper was smooth and succulent. The horfun itself was fresh and springy and after thoroughly soaking up the sauce, it tasted great! This is our favourite dish at Wong Chau Jun!
招牌豆腐
Our 2nd favourite dish has got to be the Wong Chau Jun Special Tofu 招牌豆腐. It is essentially deep fried homemade tofu with dried shrimps. It sounds pretty simple, and looks pretty simple too, but it tasted wonderful. The tofu was smooth and soft. The dried shrimps accentuate the taste of the sauce and when eaten together with the tofu, it added a secondary chewy texture. With the tofu soaking up the sauce, this unpretentious dish tasted great.
Mayonnaise Prawns Balls
Deep fried fish skin
Pork Ribs
The other 3 remaining dishes tasted average. The deep fried prawns with mayonnaise was a slight disappointment. The batter was too thick compared to the small prawns, hence masking the taste of the prawns. The deep fried fish skin was rather unique, it made use of the skin from the grouper. An efficient use of ingredients! Taste wise, it was average, but it did have the chewiness of collagen. The pork ribs were average fare as well, nothing too fantastic, it can be found at many food stalls in Singapore.
Penang Food Trail – Gurney Plaza
Gurney Plaza
Gurney Plaza, located at the Gurney Drive Promenade in George Town, is touted as Penang’s premier lifestyle mall. It houses many restaurants, cafes, fast food joints and small dining places. And hence our food trail carried on into Gurney Plaza.
Egg Tarts from Wong Kok Kitchen
Egg Tart from Wong Kok Kitchen
Crispy Yam Paste from Wong Kok Kitchen
We were enticed by the array of sweet and savoury pastries at Wong Kok Kitchen (B1-31/32). We bought the egg tart and crispy yam paste. The egg tart was pretty good, the crust was crispy and the egg custard feeling was smooth, with a strong egg taste. The crispy yam paste (香酥芋角) was a bit of a letdown though. The layer of yam was quite thin, hence the taste of yam was rather mild. We were never fans of barbecued pork or rather, char siew, and with the mild yam taste, it seemed like we were having crispy char siew pastry, rather than yam paste.
New York Cheesecake from Secret Recipe
Cheeze Choc from Secret Recipe
Secret Recipe (G-37) has got to be one of the more popular dessert/cake places in Malaysia which Singaporeans like to visit. The simplest reason being the cakes are priced exactly the same as that in Singapore, only in different currencies! That essentially means that every slice of cake in Malaysia is “half-priced” that of Singapore’s. We ordered 2 slices of cake and since the afternoon tea special was still on, we had 2 free cups of tea.
New York Cheesecake – Baked soft creamy cheese with chocolate cookie base. It’s our first time trying the cheesecake from Secret Recipe. And we were glad that we did. The cheese had a smooth, sticky and velvety texture, with a strong cheese taste. The cookie base was not too bad, a good complement to the cheese. This cheesecake is similar to the kind we like from Coffee Bean in Singapore.
Cheeze Choc – Soft chocolate mixed with baked cheese and biscuit base. The chocolate was rather creamy, which we didn’t like. In addition, there were extra toppings of whipped cream at the sides, which we didn’t like either. I guess, to some extent, chocolate never does go well with cheese. Though we are chocolate lovers, we preferred the pure new york cheesecake. The biscuit base wasn’t that crunchy, and was rather soft. Overall, it was the new york cheesecake which impressed us more.
2 slices of cakes and 2 cups of tea from Secret Recipe: RM15.10!
John King
- (clockwise from top left) Walnut & Oat Tart; Portuguese Egg Tart; Red Bean Egg Tart; Mushroom Chicken Pie; Hongkong Siew Pao
John King (B1-K4) sells different pastries and tarts. The Portuguese egg tart was pretty bad. The puff pastry was soft and not crispy at all. The egg custard was weakly caramelized as well. Generally speaking, the pastries we tried from there weren’t impressive, except for the Walnut & Oat Tart. We love oats and the walnut & oat tart packed a generous taste of oats. Coupled with the crunchiness from the walnuts, this tart is our only recommendation from this stall.
Penang Food Trail – Surprising finds along the streets
Vadai
Our hosts bought us some Indian Vadai for us. These Vadai aren’t bought from a proper dining place, rather it was sold by an elderly Indian lady who sets up her temporary makeshift stall at private estates. We had 2 different kinds of Vadai, 1 being more spicy than the other. The Indian spices and condiments tasted pretty good, plus the spicy kick, my first Vadai experience was pretty commendable.
Anba Coconut Trading
The weather at Penang can get really hot at times. Under the scorching and burning sun, we dropped by Anba Coconut Trading at Aboo Sitee Lane (off Burma Road) for some fresh, unpretentious coconut water. The stall owner armed with a curved knife, picks up a coconut from his cage and makes 3 cuts at 3 sections of the coconut. Each coconut was pretty heavy and overflowing with coconut water. It was a good way to hydrate yourself in such hot weather. But the water was really alot, and hence we highly recommend that 2-3 girls share each coconut. After finishing the drink, the owner would then cut a much bigger hole in the coconut, and using part of the husk, we can then scrape off the coconut flesh hidden inside.
Deep Fried 年糕 with Yam/Sweet Potato
You can find many makeshift food stalls along the streets of Penang. And honestly, the food gotten from such stalls are of pretty good standards. We bought some deep fried 年糕 from one such stall. Each piece of 年糕 was sandwiched between 2 layers of yam or sweet potato. We could not choose between sweet potato and yam, it depends on your luck. Regardless of that, we enjoyed this sinful and unhealthy snack. In Singapore, it is quite common to see fried 年糕 at households, especially during Chinese New Year. But fried 年糕 with yam/sweet potato, it is our first time trying that.
Joez Coconut
Coconut Jelly
Joez Coconut – The Coconuting from Penang. Its star product is the Penang Coconut Jelly which is made from pasteurized fresh coconut juice extracted from young fruits and passed through a “secret” process that turns the liquid into silky smooth jelly. The coconut jelly was indeed quite unique and refreshing. The jelly wasn’t as tough as agar agar. It was on the slightly soft side and it simply slid down our throats without much chewing. A definite thirst quencher on a sunny hot day.
Penang Food Trail – Battle of the Char Kway Teow
Our food hunt has ventured beyond local land and into the heart of Penang! Together with our lovely Penang hosts, we were on a 2D1N food trail! And this food adventured commenced the moment we stepped out of Penang International Airport. First stop – the battle of the Penang Char Kway Teow 炒粿条!
Ah Leng Char Kway Teow @ Datuk Keramat Road
Ah Leng Char Kway Teow
The first contestant in the battle of Penang Char Kway Teow is the famous Ah Leng Char Kway Teow located at the corner of Jalan Dunlop and Jalan Dato Keramat. There are a few differences between the Penang and Singapore versions of Char Kway Teow.
1) The Penang version does not use sweet black sauce
2) There’s only kway teow (flat white rice noodles) in the Penang version; no yellow noodles!
Ah Leng’s Char Kway Teow is really great! It is fried in batches of 2 plates at a time to ensure tip top standard and consistency. The prawns were rather huge, very fresh, succulent and juicy. The Char Kway Teow wasn’t overly oily and it was sufficiently spicy enough to whet our appetites. Compare this to any Char Kway Teow stall in Singapore, we’ll definitely choose Ah Leng’s.
Sisters Char Kway Teow at McAlister Rd
Sisters Char Kway Teow
The second contestant – Sisters Char Kway Teow at Lam Heng Coffee Shop, McAlister Road. One look at the plate of Char Kway Teow and you would notice the extra toppings of crab meat. However, this extra crab meat topping did nothing to accentuate the taste of the char kway teow. In fact, the crab meat had little or no taste at all. The prawns were not fresh as well and were not succulent. The kway teow, on the other hand, was slightly more salty but less spicy. It was also more oily than Ah Leng’s.
The winner of the Penang Char Kway Teow Battle: Ah Leng’s Char Kway Teow!
On a side note, at Lam Heng Coffee Shop, we tried the Nutmeg drink and Sisters’ Yam Cake.
Nutmeg Drink
Yam Cake
We’ve never tried Nutmeg drink before, so it was a rather refreshing experience. The nutmeg taste wasn’t too strong, nothing too special about it, but something which we can’t find in Singapore. The Yam Cake was quite unique too, as it had toppings of dried shrimps! I love dried shrimps! Little chewy savoury shrimps – I love the taste, I love the savoury smell too. They were also quite generous with the yam, we could see huge chunks of yam everywhere.
Ph.Ds of FOOD 