**Updated  July 2011** – The place has since closed down!

BY CK Lam

In the past few years many old heritage buildings in Penang has been restored new leases of life while maintaining the old world charm. One such project is the Straits Collection in the core zone of the UNESCO Heritage Georgetown.

The restored shop houses in George Town’s heritage enclave along Stewart Lane and Armenian Street was bought back to life with a mixture of retail, cafe, public reading, film space and short and long term residences.

The restored Straits Collection

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Tags: Armenian Street, Bon Ton, Chinese Shop, Core Zone, Eclectic Style, Film Space, Goddess Of Mercy Temple, Heritage Buildings, Heritage Properties, Heritage Resorts, International Awards, Kopi Cine, Masjid Kapitan Keling, New Leases, New Straits Times (Life & Times), Old Charm, Penang Heritage Hotel, Press Articles, Public Reading, Reading Film, Restaurant Kapitan, Shing Kheang Aun, Shop Houses, Sri Mahamariamman Temple, St George Church, Stewart Lane, Straits Collection, Temple Tree, True Style, Unesco Heritage, World Charm

Canon Singapore recently organized a Photography & Food Hunting Trip to Penang early this month. The group headed by Canon’s  Jino Lee, comprises of seasoned photographers and bloggers including Singapore leading food blogger, Dr Leslie Tay of ieatishootipost.

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Tags: Armenian Street, Array, Bbq Chicken Wings, Bloggers, Blur, Brown Sugar, Buddha, Burmese, Canon, Canon Singapore, Chinese New Year, Ckt, Coconut Milk, Crips Pictures, Crushed Ice, Curvatures, Delicious Fish, Enclave, Fish Ball, Fishball, Flora And Fauna, Food Trail, Fried Oysters, Funicular Railway, Google, Hawker Food, Heavy Equipments, Heavy Guns, Heritage Celebration, Hwa, Itam, Jetty, Jino, Joss Sticks, Kek, Kek Lok Si, Kek Lok Si Temple, Khoo Kongsi, Kidney Beans, Kueh, Kwee, Laksa, Leslie Tay, Lion Dance, Lok, Lorong, Lorong Selamat, Lunch Time, Macro Lens, Majestic Temple, Makan Makan, New Year Dinner, Night Photography, Night Rest, Penang, Penang Hill, Penang Road, Photographers, Phtos, Picturesque View, Pitt Street, Police Station, Pulau Tikus, Reclining Buddha, Sametime, Singapore Famous Food, Singapore Food, Singaporeans, Tikus, Tumbs, Yummy Food

Chinese New Year is just around the corner and many of us will be celebrating this special event with our loved ones. As in all festival, there are bound to be plenty of food and Chinese New Year is no exception. I am sure all of us will be having a fun time eating and tasting variety of cuisine.

I like to take this opportunity to wish all the readers of What2see, GONG XI FA CAI and thank you all for your valuable support. May you be blessed with happiness, success and good health in this coming Year of the Ox!

******

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Tags: 28th Of January, Armenian Street, Array, Burma Road, Chili Padi, Chinese New Year, Coat Of Paint, Coffee Shop, Coffeeshop, Doors, Duck Meat, Eel, Exact Place, Fish Ball, Fishball, Fishballs, Garlic, Garlic Oil, Gong Xi Fa Cai, Gourmet Garden, Heng Seng, Jalan Masjid, Kapitan, Lion Dance, Location Owners, Map, Map Location, Masjid Kapitan Keling, Meat Slices, Mother And Son, Mother Son, New Coat Of Paint, Onn, Pitt Street, Popular Hawker Food, Pork Lard, Pork Meat, Premises, Sherry, Signboard, Year Of The Ox

Penang bloggers are organizing a gathering this month and all bloggers and non-bloggers are welcome to join in this occasion. The gathering cum dinner will be at a charming cafe with a pleasant and cozy environment… Edelweiss Cafe.

Place : Eldelweiss Cafe
38 Armenian Street
Penang

Time : 7.00 PM

Date : 27th September (Saturday)

Do drop an email for any enquiries and confirmation to me, lingzie, penangtuapui or gill gill.

Updates

Enclosed is the map showing the location of Edelweiss Cafe and a peek of the food.

Tags: Armenian Street, Bloggers, Confirmation, Cozy Environment, Cum, Email, Floggers, Map, Occasion, Organizing, Peek, Penang, September Saturday

The interior of the restaurant is beautifully decorated with antiques.

Now for the food that we came for……

Being pork lovers and don’t mind consuming a bit of fatty meat once in a while, we tried out the smoked pork belly which is rarely found nowadays. The meat was succulent and the smoked aroma was very strongly embedded into it. It was served up with salad and mashed potato mixed with cheese.

The plate of barbeque spare ribs marinated with plenty of seasonings were very tasty and I could not resist eating them using my fingers!

Dessert not to be left out. The apple flan was served warm with a scoop of Swiss Mövenpick ice cream whereas the pumpkin cake with fresh cream.

We also had the caffeine-free Madras coffee which is very soothing and smooth. The coffee cream looks lovely with a heart shaped sign made up of cocoa powder. I think it would be very romantic having this cup of coffee on Valentine’s day!!!

If you are looking for Swiss cuisine, desserts or even for a drink in a pleasant and cozy environment, just drop by this lovely restaurant located in Armenian Street.

Tags: Armenian Street, Barbeque Spare Ribs, Cocoa Powder, Coffee Cream, Colonial Restaurant, Cozy Environment, Cup Of Coffee, Fatty Meat, Ferns, Flan, Fresh Cream, Green Plants, Pork Belly, Pumpkin Cake, Restaurant Edelweiss, Restaurant In Penang, Smoked Pork, Swiss Cuisine, Swiss Restaurant, Valentine S Day

***The restaurant has since closed down.

One of the attraction of this place is the airwell – decorated with many potted plants. The airwell which is airy and bright makes the place very cooling to sit around even in a hot afternoon.

We had our mind set on ordering their Hainanese dishes. From clockwise – Chicken Curry Kapitan, Curry Lamb, Mixed Vegetables, Sweet and Sour Fish and Yam Duck (ark ore) in the center. And the rice came steaming hot in a coconut shell (yah kak).

Tags: Airwell, Armenian Street, Art Gallery, Art Pieces, Chicken Curry, Coconut Milk, Coconut Shell, Colonial Restaurant, Curry Kapitan, Desserts, Good Friend, Hot Afternoon, Lamb, Penang Restaurant, Potted Plants, Sweet And Sour Fish, Tiam, Topped Tables, Yah, Yam

Believe it or not – Eel Fishball??? That is what we found out in the Rasa-Rasa Penang book. It feature a Koay teow thng (koay teow soup) stall in Lebuh Pitt which sells fishball made from eel (mua hoo in Hokkien) meat. In order to kill our curiosity, we just have to try it.

It is the “lone ranger” stall in Heng Seng Coffeeshop at Pitt Street and Armenian Street junction.

A basic bowl of Koay teow thng comes with slices of duck meat, sliced mince meat and five balls. The fish ball is not as “bouncy” as those sold by most of the stalls and the smell is not that strong. The clear soup is a chicken and duck based soup. The sliced mince meat was tasty. Extra ingredients can be added on to your liking.

The chili padi that are served to the customers are ready mixed with garlic and soak in soya sauce. It enhance the taste of the soya sauce.

Updates : The stall has since moved to another shop further up the road in January 2009. Click here for the       new location.

Tags: Armenian Street, Balls, Chili Padi, Coffeeshop, Curiosity, Duck Meat, Duck Soup, Eel, Eel Fishball, Fish Ball, Fishball, Garlic, Heng Seng, Koay Teow, Liking, Lone Ranger, New Location, Penang, Pitt Street, Pitt Street Koay Teow Thng, Rasa