The Wok Cafe may sound familiar to many Penangites as this restaurant is the outlet to the Hot Wok Restaurant along Burma Road in Penang. It is housed in a corner shoplot situated in the bustling Kota Damansara township, a new residential and commercial address. Together with a few friends, we went there to savor their Penang Hawker Food and Nyonya cuisine, courtesy of Uncle Robert Yeoh and his son Mervyn (the chef).

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We visited Hai Onn located in Burmah Road, Penang. This coffee shop cum restaurant has been around for many years and is one of the few old style traditional Hainanese restaurant around Georgetown. Just beside Macalister Lane junction, this place has a hawker stall selling  koay teow soup in the morning (same as the outlet in Pitt Street Coffeeshop) which is a favourite Penang food among the locals. From noon onwards, this place operates as a restaurant.

They have a few signature dishes including the Hainanese Pork Chop and Chicken Chop.  Their version is done differently from those sold nowadays. It is really delicious! I like the flavors of the gravy which has some starchy potato in it. I opt for some toast bread to dip with the gravy. I strongly recommend that everyone try it.

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2nd August 2008 marked a very special day for all floggers in Penang! We collectively decided that this was the time to meet up and put a physical image on those virtual faces.

The dinner gathering was at Hai Nan Town Restaurant which offers “Nyonya and Hainanese” delicacies in town. Located by the jetty at Weld Quay with a stunning view of the marina, Church Street Pier and QEII, I reckon this beautiful seaside place needs not much introduction as many bloggers have reviewed about it. However, just briefly, this restaurant opened its doors in 2006 after their first outlet in Sungai Nibong . I arrived there earlier, taking the opportunity to go snap-snap before makan-makan.

Beautiful view of Church Street Pier, QEII and the marina from the restaurant.

Ten of us turned up that day looking splendid, and it was such a joy seeing everyone in person! Here are among the floggers who made it…

Buzzingbee and  Lingzie

Me and Carrie of Cariso – the birthday girl in pink

Gill Gill and Jason – the loving and friendly couple

The rest of the gang included Penang Tua Pui and Criz Lai – unfortunately they turned up that night with “photo shyness”.

Well, time was ticking and our tummies were growling already! Thus, time for dinner! After much deliberation, we made our choices and it wasn’t long before we were served. Dishes that we had were typical Nyonya and Hainanese cuisines – Fried Spring Roll, Asam Curry Fish, Mangkuang Char, Fried Mixed Vegetable and Inchi Kabin (fried chicken served with Worcester sauce).

These adorable floggers took some extra effort to share some sweets and desserts. Criz brought some mini-tarts while Buzzingbee shared her home-made fruit tarts with us. I have to say that it was absolutely delicious! We also celebrated Carrie’s birthday with this absolutely scrumptious green tea cake.

It was indeed a fun-filled night. I am really happy getting to know this new group of friends. To our new friendship, cheers! Really enjoyed myself. Here is a little token that I have made to commemorate this very first gathering for all you guys who attended this little party.

I was slightly disappointed to see that the other floggers could not make it; with commitments here and there as well. No matter, hope we can see each other on the coming gathering arrangement on the 20th of September! Lastly, a big thanks to Lingzie for organizing this event and making all this possible! Hope the semangat makan-makan among the floggers in Penang will continue on!

Hai Nan Town was indeed a great place for entertaining friends and guest. For those interested, the details are listed as follows:

Hai Nan Town Restaurant
Address: 8A, Pengkalan Weld, Penang.
Tel : 263 8633

Tags: Beautiful View, Birthday Girl, Criz, Delicacies, Floggers, Fruit Tarts, Green Tea, Inchi, Jetty, New Friendship, Penang, Physical Image, Pui, Seaside Place, Spring Roll, Stunning View, Tea Cake, Tummies, Virtual Faces, Worcester Sauce