BY CK Lam

SiTigun, located in two double-storey pre-war shophouses on Nagore Road, Penang is a wonderful cafe for a light meal and a cup of coffee. Tagged as “a bicycle pit-stop cafe”, it  is pleasant and relaxing.

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Tags: Bali Indonesia, Bali Robusta Coffee, Balinese Furniture, Bicycle Pit-Stop Cafe, Caf, Cafe, Cheddar Cheese, Cheezy, Cheezy Egg Jaffle, Chocolate Mousse Cake, Cinnamon Rolls, Coffee Aroma, Coffee Beans, Coffee Drinks, Coffee Roaster, Crash Coffee, Croissant with Smoked Salmon, Cup Of Coffee, Dijon Mustard, Espressos, Flavored Coffee, Generous Portion, Holland Fries, Ice Americano, Kopi Toebroek, Kopitiam, Nagore, Nagore Road, New Straits Times (Life & Times), Nutella Jaffle, Peanut Butter Jaffle, Penang, Pit Stop Cafe, Rm10, Rm5, Rm7, Robusta Coffee, Savory Taste, Scrambled Egg, Shophouses, SiTigun, Sitigun Cafe Penang, Spaghetti Bolognese, Sumatra Arabica Coffee, Tiramisu, Vast Interior, War Shop, Wate, Wheat Bread, Wooden Tables

***This place has since closed down

* This article was published in the New Straits Times (Life & Times) on 5th January 2011.

Penang is blessed with a plethora of cuisines, and lately we discovered a new outlet that really stands out among the masses. Figo’s Restaurant recently opened its doors in Jalan Sungai Kelian housing area in Tanjong Bunga. The restaurant is a short distance away from Ingolf’s Kneipe German Restaurant, Vintage Bulgaria Restaurant and the Medan Selera Mutiara.

Listed on their menu is an assortment of sandwiches and heavier entrees with flavors of New Orleans, Texas, Mexico and signature dishes of Nyonya and Malacca-Portuguese.

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Tags: Barbequed Spare Ribs, Cajun Spring Chicken, Chinese Influences, Curry Chicken, Devil Curry, Eurasian Food, Figo's, Figo's Restaurant, Flavors, Fresh Oyster, Generous Portion, German Restaurant, Homemade Bread, Ingolf’s Kneipe German Restaurant, Malacca, Malacca-Portuguese, Medan Selera Mutiara, Mexican Oyster Shots, Mexico, New Orleans, New Straits Times (Life & Times), New Straits Times (Life & Times), Nyonya Cuisine, Nyonya Cuisine, Plain Rice, Pork Cordon-Bleu, Pork Ribs, Portuguese Food, Restaurnt, Rice Casserole, Rice Dish, Rich Stock, Satchmo’s Pork Chop, Signature Dishes, Sungai Kelian, Tanjong Bunga, Tanjung Bungah Penang, Texas, Texas Barbequed Spare-Ribs, Vintage Bulgaria Restaurant

Chinese dumplings widely known in many countries as jiaozi, guoti and gyoza are also found in many restaurants and hawker stalls around Penang. One of the places that we do visit for the small bites is Pleasure Odyssey, a hawker stall in Northern Beach Cafe which is located in Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah. This stall focuses on homemade pan-fried dumplings, with little parcels of minced meat and diced vegetable.

We had different plates of dumplings. These meat pies stuffed with meat and vegetables were flavorsome. Fried in oil with a crispy skin, they were delicious eaten with the spicy ginger chili sauce, a concoction mixed just right, not overpowering. A plate of four pieces of piping hot meat pies cost RM5.

Piping hot meat pie, simply delicious!

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Tags: Chili Sauce, Chinese Dumplings, Crescent Moon, Flavorful Sauce, Fried Dumplings, Generous Portion, Guoti, Gyoza, Hawker Food, Hawker Stall, Hawker Stalls, Hot Meat, Jalan Sultan, Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah, Jiaozi, Lotus Root, Meat Pie, Meat Pies, Moist Skin, Northern Beach Cafe, Penang Hawker Food, Pig Ear, Pleasure Odyssey, Side Dishes, Soybean Paste, Spicy Ginger, Sultan Ahmad Shah

We were in Air Itam area on a lazy Sunday afternoon and since we were nearby Kafe Pantai Timur, we decided to stop over there for lunch. Located in the residential area of Paya Terubong, this coffee shop is home to many hawker stalls which mostly operate in the night. Among the sea of stalls includes the Pei Pa Duck stall.

It was relatively quiet, with only one stall selling Yong Tau Foo – an assortment of ‘ yeong liu’ which has fish paste stuffed in a variety of vegetables.

Crispy-crunchy right from the wok!

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Tags: Air Itam, Bitter Gourd, Black Vinegar, Brinjals, Chili Sauce, Chilies, Coffee Shop, Corner Coffee Shop, Dumplings, Endless Variety, Fish Balls, Fish Paste, Fishcakes, Generous Portion, Gourds, Hawker Stalls, Kafe, Kah, Kow, Lady Fingers, Lazy Sunday Afternoon, Pantai Timur, Paya, Personal Preference, Pok, Prawns, Spot Fish, Stuffings, Sweet Bean Sauce, Yong Tau Foo

Sin Kheng Aun Restaurant situated in Chulia Lane is one of the prominent Hainanese restaurants in Penang. This restaurant is very popular with the locals and tourists for its Hainanese food and also local dishes. Specialist of this restaurant includes the Curry Gulai Tumis, Kerabu Prawns, Hainanese Pork/Chicken Chop and many other selections of dishes.

My family and I have tried most of the dishes here as we have patronized this restaurant countless of time over the years. Their unique Haninese Pork Chop is a favorite and comes deep fried with an egg coating and paired with onions, peas and quarters of fried potatoes. The meat has a crispy exterior and went well with the slightly thick delicious gravy.

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Tags: Array, Beancurd, Belacan, Chicken Chop, Chulia, Cucumber, Curry, Delicious Gravy, Dining Area, Floo, Fried Potatoes, Fried Tofu, Generous Portion, Good Combination, Groud Floor, Gulai, Hainanese Food, Hainanese Restaurant, Holi, Keng, Kerabu, Leeks, Local Dishes, Lorong, Onions, Penang Restaurant, Pork Chop, Prawn, Prawns, Restaurant In Penang, Restaurants In Penang, Sambal, School Holidays, Shing, Sin, Stir Fried, Suan, Tasty Gravy, Tumis

There are several variations of beef noodles in Penang with the all time favorite beef ball noodles and the Hakka beef ball noodles.

This time the focus is on the Ngau Larm Mee stall (Chinese style braised beef brisket noodle) at Sai Lam, an old coffee shop at the corner of Chulia Street and Carnarvon Street. This delicious braised beef can be served with variation of noodles: springy thin or the broad wanton noodles or better still with hor fun.  Whatever the choice is, it comes with generous portion of flavorful beef pieces.

Dry Ngau Larm Mee with broad noodles

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Tags: Amp, Array, Bakery, Beef Brisket, Beef Broth, Beef Noodle, Beef Noodles, Beef Soup, Beef Soup Noodle, Beef Stew, Braised Beef, Business Hour, Carnarvon, Carnarvon Street, Carnavon, Char Siew, Charcoal Fire, Chilli Sauce, Chinese Style, Choices, Chulia Street, Closing Time, Coffee Shop, Coffeeshop, Commo, Creamy Sauce, Cucumber And Onions, Dry Noodles, Egg Noodles, Father And Son, Flat Rice Noodles, Flavorful Beef, Generous Portion, Green Onions, Handful, Hor Fun, Kampung, Lai, Malabar, Old Haunt, Peanut Sauce, Peddler, Penang, Penang Food, Pho, Pork Satay, Rainforest, Sai Lam Coffee Shop, Satay, Side Dish, Side Dishes, Soup Base, Soup Broth, Soup Noodles, Sour Plum, Stew Beef, Tan Tan, Tea Time, Tender Beef, Tender Pieces, Third Generation, Toast Bread, Variations, Vietnamese, Vietnamese Language, Wanton Noodle, Wanton Noodles, Wanton Soup, Wantons, Wet Version

***The restaurant has since closed down.

Check out Funky Monkey, the latest joint in Penang with the tagline, it’s all about good food, great value & a great place to gathered around. This outlet serving modern European cuisines is found in 127 Food Court along Burma Road. Do expect some interesting dishes with local flavors at this outlet concocted by the Chef Jeffrey, who learned the skill while working in various prominent hotels in Singapore.

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Tags: Apple Cinnamon, Array, Balsamic, Black Pepper, Broccoli Soup, Burma Road, Carbonara, Carbonara Spaghetti, Cauliflower, Chicken Breast Meat, Chicken Dish, Chicken Meat, Chicken Schnitzel, Chicken Wrap, Chicken Wrapped In Bacon, Class Mate, Conventi, Crispy Bacon, Cutlet, Deepfried, Delicacy, European Cuisines, Flavors, Food Court, Food Lovers, Food Stalls, Foodcourt, French Beans, Fries, Funky Monkey, Generous Portion, Gps, Gps Coordinates, Grated Cheese, Hotel In Singapore, Hotels In Singapore, Mash Potato, Mild Flavor, Monkey Soup, Oblong Shape, Pasta Dish, Penang, Pineapple Salsa, Purple Color, Road Food, Salmon, Scoup, Side Dish, Signature Dishes, Soup Bowl, Spinach, Stuffed Chicken, Stuffed Mushroom, Style Meals, Tagline, Time Class, Tomato Chutney, Top Chef, Western Cuisine, Western Dishes

The restaurant @The Sun  which was opened recently occupies the ground floor corner lot of the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Centre, Penang.  Although it is located in the busy Macalister Road,  the environment is relatively quiet. The decoration of the dining area is charming and inviting with importance given to the textures and colours.

While glancing through the menu, we were served with refreshing glass of welcome drink. The menu has a cool cover for each gender, one for the guys and another for the babes! As it it pretty new, the restaurant only offers  Western Cuisine set meals that is priced at RM28 nett. However, from the 24th November onwards, the restaurant will operate at full swing, which includes ala carte and set meals for lunch & dinner.

Many thanks to my best friend, KS, for introducing this new place to me.

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Tags: Banana Pudding, Capsicum, Ceasar Salad, Chicken Risotto, Coffee, Concasse, Cosy Ambience, Craft Pieces, Creamy Carrot Soup, Dessert, Dining Area, Garlic, Garlic Mash Potato, Generous Portion, Gift Boutique, Gifts Souvenirs, Grilled Chicken, Grilled Lamb, Lamb Loin, Lunch Experience, Macalister Road, Mango Mousse Cake, Mint, Mousse Cake, Penang, Risotto, Set Lunch, Soft Music, Starters, Style Text, Sun Yat Sen, Welcome Drinks, Western Cuisine, Western Cuisine