Archive for July, 2008

Jul

Penang Hawker Food – Cintra Street

Posted by: CK Lam in Bak Chang, Chee Cheong Fun, Chicken Rice, Chinese, Dessert, Dim Sum, Georgetown, Hainanese Cuisine, Hawker, Penang, Penang Restaurant, Street Food, Tidbits and Snacks, Tong-sui

For some of the best of Penang’s hawker food and snacks, pay a visit to Cintra Street – a bustling street located in the heart of George Town, Penang. Entrance to this one way street is via Jalan Dr. Lim Chwee Leong. Its located in the same vicinity as KOMTAR and Prangin Mall. You will be able to find many varieties of foods and snacks, from dawn to dusk.

As you stroll along this narrow street, you will find the famed Yau Char Kuai stall on your left. They used to run the stall on the ground floor of the People’s Park flats just behind this street. However, I reckon they moved out to the main road so that its more accessible to the public. Its available from late morning till night. They even supply it to other hawkers as well, especially to those selling porridge, bak kut teh and tong-sui.

Amazingly, the Yau Char Kuai (sometimes known as You Tiu) maintains its crisp nature even after a few hours. Definitely the makings of a good teatime, served with a cup of kopi-o kau.

The culinary journey continues! Wen Chang Hainan Chicken Rice shop; located just right opposite, sells traditional Hainanese Chicken Rice. Roast chicken, white chicken and loh bak are just part of its items. Other than chili sauce, they do have the grinded ginger which is a nice complement to go with white chicken.

This stall was previously located a stone’s throw away from the Dumpling shop (read below) and has since made it big; relocating to this shop of their own.

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Right beside the chicken rice shop is Ng Kee Cake Shop. This bakery shop sells a wide selection of freshly baked Cantonese biscuits and snacks. They also accept orders of the biscuits for special occasion – birthdays and weddings. I do drop in once in a while to treat myself to a box of pepper biscuit. The biscuit is crunchy with nuts, sesame seed and pepper powder.

A few doors down the bakery shop, you will come across the all time favourite Dim Sum shop, De Tai Tong Cafe. Dim Sum is served during breakfast and dinner, while there is an ala-carte menu for lunch. For noodle lovers, do try out their noodle – Yee Foo Meen, Char Hor Fan and Hong Toh Meen.

Opposite the dim sum cafe is a small stall selling pancake and steam rice cake. It may look modest and simple, but I reckon this stall sells the best Ham Chim Pang & Pak Tong Goe in Penang. Among the few varieties of Ham Chim Pang ranging from sweet tau sar, with five spice powder and with glutinous rice.

Just look at the amount of five spice powder which gives it a slightly salty taste. Been having it for years now, and still enjoying it every time.

If you happen to be in town earlier in the evening, you can buy it directly from their shop which is just located behind De Tai Tong Dim Sum cafe. Of course its always fresher when its just out of the frying pan.

Across the junction of Cintra/Campbell, you will see the popular Dumpling shop – Cintra Food Corner on your left. This place is famous for its bak chang, tau chang, yam cakes and red bean tong-sui boiled with dried Mandarin peel. Environment is much better now since it has shifted into this shop as compared to its earlier trading days by the roadside.

Cintra Street Ba Chang 4

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Two doors away from the ‘chang’ shop is the Curry Chee Cheong Fun stall. You get to savour this curry version with tender pieces of chicken (only drumstick) and soft potato for RM3.50. The spicy flavors of the curry chicken makes this a delicious meal. You are allowed to bring the CCF and consume it in the ‘chang’ shop

Spoilt for choices? Me too! Which food are you going to have, the next time you visit Cintra Street? No matter which, Happy Eating!

Updated on 14/10/2010 : There are two more food outlets just opposite the CCF – the chu char at Sun Yoon Kee Restaurant and the neighbouring chicken and fish porridge.

Tags: Bak Chang, Bakery Shop, Cake Shop, Cantonese, Chili Sauce, Cintra Food Corner, Cintra Street, Cintra Street Hawker Food, Culinary Journey, Curry Chee Cheong Fun, Dawn To Dusk, De Tai Tong Cafe, Dim Sum, Dr Lim, Dumpling, Hainanese Chicken Rice, Hawkers, Komtar, Kopi, Loh, Ng Kee Cake Shop, Penang Hawker Food, Pepper Powder, Porridge, Roast Chicken, S Park, Sesame Seed, Sun Yoon Kee Restaurant, Teatime, Wen Chang Hainan Chicken Rice

49 Comments

Jul

Frog Porridge – Penang

Posted by: CK Lam in Chinese, Georgetown, Penang, Penang Restaurant, Porridge, Seafood

There are many varieties and flavours of porridge in town but lately we were recommended to try out the frog porridge at a shop located in Datuk Keramat Road, Penang which was set up three months ago. Their main menu is frog porridge with three different portions – small, medium or large all served in claypots. They also have other dishes besides porridge.

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We had a medium pot of frog porridge (tin gai zuk) RM20. The porridge is very fine and smooth and comes with generous amount of frog pieces. It is topped with chopped spring onions, dash of sesame oil and strips of fresh ginger.

Apart from the porridge, they also serve eel and frog with kiong choong (spring onion and ginger) or spicy kung poh (dried chilies). These dishes makes a good complement with plain porridge or plain noodles, and similarly comes in three different portions too. We went for the medium pot of spicy kung poh eel (RM20).The eel which is stir fried with the ginger, onions and dried chilies really give a kick to the taste buds.

I ordered an extra bowl of plain noodle which cost RM1.20 to go with the eel. I find it a bit expensive for the plain noodle.

Another side dish of boiled lettuce with oyster sauce and bah hu (floss meat) RM4.

This meal is slightly expensive because frog and eel is considered exotic meat but we did enjoyed this tasty meal recommended to us by K.Leong.

This is their first outlet in Penang island with existing outlets in Kampung Baru, B.M. and Raja Uda in the mainland. You should hop over here for some steaming hot porridge which is specially fantastic taken on a rainy day.

Updates ! The addresses for their two other outlets…

3215, Jalan Kampung Baru
Taman Tampoi Indah
Bukit Mertajam
H/P 012-4786368

6172, Ground Floor
Jalan Ong Yi How
Raja Uda
Butterworth
H/P 012-4919099

Tags: Bukit Mertajam, Chopped Spring Onions, Eel, Flavours, Floss, Kampung Baru, Keramat, Medium Pot, Oyster Sauce, Penang Island, Plain Noodles, Porridge, Rm1, Sesame Oil, Side Dish, Spring Onion, Tampoi, Taste Buds, Tasty Meal, Uda

33 Comments

Jul

Flogger’s Makan-Makan Get-Together

Posted by: CK Lam in Events

Hurray, I have just received news from Lingzie that she has managed to organized The Flogger’s Makan-Makan Get-Together outing. This is the details…

The Makan-makan get-together
Date: 2 August 2008 (Sat)
Time: 7.00pm onwards
Venue: Hai Nan Restaurant at Tanjung City Marina (next to the jetty)

All floggers near and far are most welcomed to take part in this event! If you’re interested, do send your confirmation to her at lingzie@gmail.com by 31st July.

18 Comments

Jul

What2see – One year in a nutshell

Posted by: CK Lam in uncategorized

It was just yesterday night, I was just blogging and surfing when I sat there pondering. I’ve been blogging for a year now, and just sitting here thinking of all that I have gone through.

Initially when I started this blog, it was actually meant for my two sons, who weren’t at home at that moment of time. Hubby and myself just wanted to keep the boys up to date with happenings at home, and also show them the nice Penang food that they were missing out.

So much have happened since I first visited Blogspot in June 2007. Looking back on the archives really put a wide smile on my face. When I first started, I was so new to this; pictures were too small, some images blurry, words were not justified, titles not named properly etc all silly mistakes that I have learned throughout the months.

Today, What2See is already one year old. A feeling just came over me to say thank you to so many people. Really appreciate all the support from everyone! Ultimately, my Hubby who is always there with his trusty DSLR! Not forgetting my youngest son, ever ready with the back-up camera and assist me in the blogging! (by the way he eats/drinks the most as well )

Big shoutout to my blogger friends as well! Firstly, thanks Lingzie for your advice on watermarking. There was once when my blog posts were stolen, together with my images. Being a newbie, I sought for help and Lingzie was kind enough to teach me. Thank you my dear!

Also to CrizLai for creating the cute yellow blog logo for me! Really appreciate your sincerity, and will catch up with you real soon on our Genting trip!

I was excited to hear that there may be a blogger’s gathering as well, kudos to Lingzie and Penang Tua Pui for putting this in the works. Really can’t wait to see everyone in person too! Keep checking this blog for more updates, will put it up as soon as I get confirmed details.

Really proud about our Penang blogging community, who are really supportive of each other. All the rest of the Penang bloggers, whom I failed to mention in this post, you know who you are! Its only with your support that puts What2See where it is today.

Tags: Back Up Camera, Blog, Blogger, Drinks, Friends, Hubby, Images, Kudos, Logo, Newbie, Nutshell, Penang Food, Pui, Silly Mistakes, Sincerity, Smile On My Face, Trusty, What2see, Wide Smile, Youngest Son

17 Comments

Jul

Restaurant Kapitan @ Chulia Street, Penang

Posted by: CK Lam in Georgetown, Indian Cuisine, Penang, Penang Restaurant

For lovers of Nasi Briyani, do drop by Restaurant Kapitan at Chulia Street as they serve, I feel, one of the best claypot Nasi Briyani in Penang. There are many varieties and we chose the Chicken Briyani (RM7.00) and the Beef Briyani (RM6.00). The rice flavored with many spices is serve in a claypot and comes with a light curry gravy.

The image above depicts the Claypot Chicken Briyani while the equally superb Beef Briyani is right below – both meats are tender and tastefully marinated while the portion is relatively satisfying.

There were plenty of ready cooked dishes. We chose a plate of pickles and mix vegetable to go with our meal.

Besides the hearty rice, we added a plate of Chicken Cheese Naan costing RM8.50 which comes with some onions, mint sauce, reddish sauce and coleslaw. I personally prefer the Naan that I had in Sri Ananda Bahwan in Tanjung Bunga.

We had a peek inside the open kitchen where they cooked the Naans and the tandoori chicken in the clay oven. The kitchen is filled with the aroma of the grilled chicken.

For drinks, we tried something different. We had the hot Badam Milk (Almond Milk). The pure cow milk is boiled with grinded almond, cashew nuts and raisins in a big kuali. Sugar is added for the sweetness.

Before it is being serve, the milk is “pulled” from one teacup to the other, just like the teh tarik.

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The boiled raisins and cashew nuts adds flavor to this soothing and wholesome drink. This is the first time we had this drink and to our surprise, it turns out to be very pleasant indeed.

Just like most Mamak shop, it is open 24 hour and is located at 93, Chulia Street – a block away from the famed Bomba beef koay teow stall. It has a separate dining area, with upstairs fully air-conditioned. A great place for Nasi Briyani and of course a cup of nutritious Badam Milk.

If you can’t make it downtown, drop by their branch in Gurney Tower (outside Gurney Hotel) and another one near Queensbay Mall.

Click here for the Map Location.

Other food outlets along Chulia Street :
Ecco Cafe
Sky Hotel Roast Meat
Rainforest Bakery

Tags: Almond Milk, Badam Milk, Bahwan, Bunga, Cashew Nuts, Cheese Naan, Chicken Briyani, Chulia Street, Chulia Street Penang, Clay Oven, Cow Milk, Grilled Chicken, Kapitan, Kuali, Mint Sauce, Open Kitchen, Penang, Restaurant, Restaurant Kapitan, Rm6, Sri Ananda, Tandoori Chicken, Teh Tarik, Wholesome Drink

23 Comments

Jul

Friendship

Posted by: CK Lam in uncategorized

I was surprised and very touched to received this beautiful friendship award from Sweet Jasmine. It was very thoughtful of her. I appreciate it very much.

Throughout my first year of blogging, I have made many friends along the way. With their support, I manage to get by and stay on . I would like to take this opportunity to share this award with my fellow bloggers…

Criz Lai…..New Kid On The Blog…..Durianberry…..Buzzingbee…..550ml Jar of Faith…..Little Inbox…..Gill Gill.

Tags: Beautiful Friendship, Blogging, Criz, Faith, Fellow, Friendship Award, Jasmine, Lai, New Kid

11 Comments

Jul

The Bungalow @ Lone Pine Hotel, Batu Ferringhi, Penang

Posted by: CK Lam in Hainanese Cuisine, Hotels, Nyonya Cuisine, Penang, Penang Restaurant, Peranakan Cuisine, Tanjung Bungah

The Lone Pine Hotel is located along Batu Ferringhi and it is within walking distance to restaurants, shopping outlets and Penang’s famous ‘Ferringhi Night Bazaar’. It is a cozy place with its rooms facing the sea and the beautiful garden shaded by Casuarina trees.

There are two dining places in this hotel and we had our dinner at The Bungalow which offers local, international and also Hainanese cuisine. The restaurant has simple furnishing and decor. It offers outdoor and indoor sitting areas.

We requested for the outdoor sitting area under a big canopy so as to get a clearer picturesque view of the sunset and watch the on-going activities on the beach front. People were having fun riding up and down the stretch of beach on four wheelers and horses. This activities is hardly seen down town.

Enough of the scenery, now for what we came here for. Dinner!

When glancing through the menu, the first item that caught my attention was ‘The Bungalow Duet’. This uniquely named dish (RM19.80) is made up of deep-fried Hainanese Spring Rolls and Batu Maung satays. This dish is accompanied with a delicious spicy sauce, onions and cucumber pieces. I strongly recommend this appetizer dish.

I would like to emphasis on our next dish; the Chicken Macaroni Pie (RM24.00). The younger generations may not be well versed with this dish. Just ask anyone who have eaten it before, this dish might very well put a smile on their face.

How is this dish prepared? Well, this dish can be declared a true fusion between eastern and western culinary. Macaroni, carrots, button mushroom and chicken slices are cooked in a special sauce, and then baked with a layer of crust on top. The picture below may give you a better description. I find it not very original because as far as I know, tomato sauce was never use in making the gravy. Still my son love it and heard him saying “I wish I could have it every day!”.

Mouth Watering Curry Chicken Kapitan (RM24.00). This curry dish goes superbly well with rice. You can really taste the spices and herbs used to cook it.

Deep fried Inche Kabin (RM19.80), an all time favourite. No questions asked

Fried Ju Hu Char (RM17.80). This Nyonya dish was the vegetable that we had alongside our meaty dishes.

We were entertained by some live music performed by a triplet during the later part of the night. This was truly an enjoyable and relaxing outing for us, savoring delicious food and watching sunset at this charming place! The night scenery is equally as serene as the daytime.

The following is the location of the hotel, especially for those who are not too familiar with the Batu Ferringhi area.

Tags: Appetizer, Batu Ferringhi Penang, Beautiful Garden, Button Mushroom, Casuarina Trees, Chicken Slices, Cozy Place, Curry Chicken, Four Wheelers, Hotel Penang, Kapitan, Lone Pine Hotel, Macaroni Pie, Maung, Night Bazaar, Penang Hotel, Picturesque View, Shopping Outlets, Spicy Sauce, Spring Rolls, Tomato Sauce

35 Comments

Jul

Soya Pudding @ Prangin Mall, Penang

Posted by: CK Lam in Dessert, Georgetown, Penang

Chilled Tau Fu Fah with toppings? If you like this type of pudding, then make your way up to Number Two Refreshment Corner located on the 2nd floor, (Center Mall) of Prangin Mall, Penang. You will see a small refreshment outlet that sells this chilled soya pudding with a bar counter that sits about five people.

The chilled soya pudding comes in eight different flavours – original, almond, sweet corn, black sesame, coffee, carrot, cocoa and pandan. The texture is very smooth. There are a few choices of sugar syrup; brown, jasmine tea sugar and cane sugar syrup.

As for the toppings, there are multiple flavours of pearl balls, nata de coco and fruits. You can combine almost anything you want. Really need to spend some time choosing the flavours for the puddings and the toppings.

Finally we took two bowls of the original and one black sesame pudding. This is one original flavour soya pudding with toppings of jack fruit (nangka), nata de coco and pearl balls.

Another original flavour soya pudding with toppings of mix fruit, nata de coco and mix pearl balls. Very colourful and tasty.

Black sesame flavour soya pudding with toppings of rambutans and pearl balls.

It is very cooling, tasty and is one of the smoothest tau fu fah I have tasted so far. Overall an enjoyable dessert after a day of shopping. However for those who prefer the traditional hot tau fu fah, do drop by my earlier post which reviewed this dessert with ginger brown syrup.

Tags: Black Sesame, Bowls, Cane Sugar Syrup, Carrot, Cocoa, Dessert, Flavour, Ginger, Jack Fruit, Jasmine Tea, Nangka, Nata De Coco, Pearl Balls, Prangin Mall Penang, Puddings, Rambutans, Refreshment, Sweet Corn, Tau Fu Fah, Texture

16 Comments

Jul

Japanese Cuisine – Tonki Bento, Penang

Posted by: CK Lam in International, Japanese Cuisine, Penang, Penang Restaurant, Pulau Tikus

*** Update: Tonki Bento has closed

Irasshaimase! greeted us when we stepped into Tonki Bento. In Penang particularly Pulau Tikus area, there is a higher number of Japanese restaurants mainly due to the presence of Japanese expatriates staying around this buzzing area. Tonki Bento is one of the many outlets tucked in the quiet Lintang Burma.

Entrance of the restaurant is lighted up with red lanterns which you can’t miss. The interior decoration is simple yet nice; with soothing Japanese music playing in the background. The place is patronized mainly by Japanese and some of them were chattering away, giving this place a very authentic Japanese feel. We took some photos and browse through some Manga while waiting for our food.

This is my hubby’s Unagi Kabayaki – grilled eel. Grilled lightly brown on the outside with a sweetish sauce and yet soft on the inside. He likes the unagi for its rich flavour.

My Saba Shioyaki – Grilled saba with salt. The fillet was grilled until slightly char but not burnt yet maintaining the nice fishy smell. The skin was crisp and not too salty.

For an additional add-on of RM2.50, we get a set which include a bowl of rice, salad, miso soup, fruits and ice cream. This was a simple and tasty meal. They are introducing a new menu from this month onwards with more choices of sushi, sahimi and bento sets. Patrons could opt for delivery services too!

Tonki Bento is located in No. 2, Lintang Burmah, Pulau Tikus and it closes on Tuesday.

Tags: Bento, Bowl Of Rice, Burmah, Expatriates, Fillet, Fishy Smell, Grilled Eel, Interior Decoration, Irasshaimase, Japanese Cuisine, Japanese Music, Japanese Restaurants, Lintang, Miso Soup, New Menu, Penang, Rice Salad, Rm2, Saba, Tasty Meal, Tonki

27 Comments

Jul

Kuala Kangsar Road Chicken Porridge/Rice

Posted by: CK Lam in Chicken Rice, Georgetown, Hawker, Penang, Porridge

Fancy having a steaming hot bowl of chicken porridge or just plain white porridge together with two or three side dishes for dinner? We happen to stumble upon this stall located in a coffee shop at the junction of Kimberley Street/Jalan Kuala Kangsar (around Chowrasta Market) which sells this delicious food. It is open for dinner from 5.30pm onwards.

This bowl of chicken porridge/congee with chicken pieces and eu char koay cost RM3. It has the chicken sweetness in it and is served with some spring onions, dash of oil and thin strips of ginger. The porridge is very smooth and thick. I had one and a half bow!

This stall has a lot of other dishes to offer to its customers – specialties like pig trotter vinegar, curry wild boar meat, suen mui kai and blanch vegetables of choy sum. All these are great wonderful complement to the rice and plain porridge.

Hubby had his plate of rice with two dishes…. the ‘Mui Choy Chue Yoke’ which is actually pork cooked with preserved vegetable and BBQ chicken.

The BBQ chicken has an aromatic flavour. The meat is tender and tasty, infused with the soya sauce. This whole chicken drumstick cost RM6.

This place offers reasonable prices for their food…value for money.

Tags: Aromatic Flavour, Blanch Vegetables, Chicken Drumstick, Chicken Pieces, Chicken Porridge, Coffee Shop, Congee, Delicious Food, Food Value, Jalan Kuala Kangsar, Mui, Pig Trotter, Side Dishes, Soya Sauce, Spring Onions, Thin Strips, Whole Chicken, Wild Boar, Wild Boar Meat, Yoke

9 Comments

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Armed with a camera and a huge appetite, this food writer & her family travel around looking for the best food and events & happily sharing all the good eats with you in this Penang Food Blog