* This article was published in the New Straits Times (Life and Times) on 6th April 2011.

One of the newest bakeries in town is FourSeason Bakery. Located in Straits Quay Penang, this neighborhood bakery offers freshly baked breads and a wide variety of other delicious cakes and pastries to fill your hunger cravings. It is also an ideal place for a light lunch or tea.

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Tags: Aqua Panna, Baguette, Baked Breads, Bakery, Berlin’s Bier Houz, Black Pepper, Bonne Maman, Bread And Pastries, Business Hour, Cakes And Pastries, Cheese Cake, Cheese Spread, Chewy Goodness, Ciabatta, Creamy Texture, Cup Of Coffee, Delicious Cakes, Earl Grey, English Breakfast Tea, Finest Ingredients, Finnegan’s, Flavors, Food Freshness, Four Season Bakery, FourSeason Bakery, Frankfurter, Freshness, Green Tea, Hot Beverages, Hot Coffee, Light Lunch, Neighborhood Bakery, New Straits Times (Life & Times), Parsley, Parsley Loaf, Perfect Balance, Petite Sausage Bun, Popular Items, Quality Ingredients, Quay, Red Bean Bun, Red Bean Buns, Red Bean Paste, Rm2, Rm4, Rm5, Rm6, Roma Tomatoes, Savory Sauce, Seri Tanjung Pinang, Skype, Sout, Straits Quay, Sundried Roma Tomatoes with Ham & Cheese and Red Bean, Sundried Tomatoes, Tanj, Tanju, Tanjung Tokong Penang, Tarte Normande, Taste Buds, Turkey Ciabatta

BY CK Lam

* This outlet has since closed down and replaced by Five27

The newly opened Agua is another addition to the booming food scene at Straits Quay, Penang. This restaurant offers Mediterranean cuisine with flavors from Morocco, Spain, France, Middle East and Italy. I recently visited this outlet as we celebrated the farewell of  beloved friends, Adam & Ryan.

We had our appetite well stimulated with several starters. The Agua Special was a platter of delicious imported sausages and ham packed with herbs and spices. Everyone enjoyed the taste of these finely sliced delicacies which was wonderful with the accompanied olives and cheese. This was indeed a perfect dish to start off with.

Agua Special RM42.90 – combination of meat and cheese

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Tags: Agua Mediterranean Cuisine, Anchovies, Anchovy, Baba Ganoush, Beloved Friend, Beloved Friends, Chicken Liver Parfait, Chickpeas, Ck Lam, Colorful Salad, Flavors, Food Scene, Hard Boiled Eggs, Herbs And Spices, Homemade Chicken, Humus, Lemon Flavor, Meat And Cheese, Mediterranean Cuisine, Mediterranean Flavors, New Straits Times (Life & Times), Pan Con Tomate, Pita Bread, Rm6, Salad Nicoise, Sardines, Straits Quay, Tahini, Tastebuds, Tasty Tapas, Toast Bread

*This article was published in the New Straits Times (Life & Times) on 15th September 2010.

I recently discovered the tempting taste of spices at Passions of Kerala. There are currently two outlets in Penang – one in Gelugor, and the other in New World Park.

The menu in the New World Park outlet consists of banana leaf rice served with an assortment of vegetable dishes as well as other popular curries and fried chicken, squid and fish.

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Tags: Assortments, Badam Milk, Banana Leaf, Banana Leaf Rice, Bitter Gourd, Cardamom, Chilies, Coconut Milk, Crab Masala, Curries, Curry Leaves, Gelugor, Georgetown Penang, Grated Coconut, Jalan Burma, Kerala Cuisine, Lassi, Milk Payasam, Mustard Seeds, New Straits Times (Life & Times), New Straits Times (Life & Times), New World Park, Papadums, Passions, Passions of Kerala, Rm5, Rm6, Tasty Bite, Tempting Taste, Tomato Rice, Vegetable Dishes, White Rice

Growing up in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, one place that I have frequented over the years is the Lai Foong Beef Noodle stall, located nearby Petaling Street. Many years has since passed, however when I make the trip back I will indulge in a bowl of the beef noodle!

Filled with ingredients of lean beef, tripe and beef balls, beef tendon, and beef intestine; the taste and quality has remained the same as Thomas Tan strives to maintain the beef noodle legacy of his late grandfather based on an authentic 80-year-old Hainanese recipe.

The chef hard at work preparing the delicious beef noodles!

Beef noodles that lasted the test of time, simply scrumptious!

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Tags: Array, Balls, Beef Noodle, Beef Noodles, Beef Soup, Beef Tendon, Beef Tripe, Best Time, Bit By Bit, Chinese Herbs And Spices, Coriander, Delicious Beef, Ham Soup, Herbs And Spices, Herbs Spices, Hs, Innards, Intestine, Jalan Tun H S Lee, Kaya Roll, Koay Teow, Kopitiam, Kuala Lumpur, Lai, Lai Foong Restaurant, Lean Beef, Legacy, Lunch Crowd, Offi, Penang, Petaling Street, Prime Location, Rm6, Rm7, Rm8, Smooth Texture, Soup Bowl, Test Of Time, Tripe

Kim Tavern is a newly opened cafe in the vicinity of Sunway Carnival Mall, Butterworth which serves meals and light snack throughout the day. A small group of Penang Food Bloggers with Taufuloh from Kuala Lumpur paid a visit to the place recently. It’s the first visit for all of us as it has opened its door less than two weeks ago. This cafe with casual settings is the second branch for proprietor Andy with the first one in Megamall. The upcoming branch in Kulim Industrial Park is expected to be open in this month.

After settling down comfortably in the cafe with orange, black and white color scheme Andy introduces to us the many varieties of food in the menu.

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Tags: Anchovies, Array, Asian Style, Cafe, Casual Settings, Chicken Dish, Chicken Meat, Chicken Rice, Chili Paste, Coconut Milk, Cold Drinks, Curry Chicken, D29, D32, D44, Fresh Fruit Juice, Fruit Smoothies, Hard Boiled Egg, Kim Tavern, Kulim Industrial Park, Lemon Ice, Light Snack, Megamall, Nasi Lemak, Nearby Vicinity, Onion Slices, Penang Bloggers, Penang Food, Plain Rice, Refreshing Beverages, Rm3, Rm5, Rm6, Rm8, Roast Chicken, Roasted Peanuts, Sambal, Smoothies, Spring Onions, Sunway Carnival, Sunway Carnival Mall, Wheatgrass, White Rice

Terubong Seafood is one ‘chu char’ that is tucked away in a row of shop houses facing the very busy Jalan Paya Terubong. This place specializes in seafood and is popular among the neighborhood!

Straight to the good stuff! They commonly serve this small prawns deep fried as prawns fritters. It tasted good dipping it in chili sauce.

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Tags: Air Itam, Array, Assam, Chili Sauce, Chinese Tea, Chinese Wine, Claypot, Coffee Latte, Coffee Shop, Crullers, Dips, Fish And Seafood, Fish Ball, Fishball, Fishballs, Fried Prawns, Fritters, Gps Coordinates, Grilled Fish, Kangkung, Lady Fingers, Lintang, Paya, Penang Food, Pork Dishes, Prawns, Red Blood, Red Snapper, Rm3, Rm6, Rough Texture, Sambal, Shop Houses, Signboard, Soft Texture, Spicy Chili, Sweet And Sour Sauce, Tamarind Sauce, Terubong Seafood, Tiao, Traffic Lights, Two Different Ways, White Rice

Yong Tau Foo is a famous hawker food in Ipoh and is commonly found in food court and coffee shops around the town. I personally find the Yong Tau Foo in Ipoh tastier, and was delighted when my friend KS introduced me to Nam Fatt Fish Ball Noodle House.

My family visited this air conditioned noodle shop which was located along Jalan Kampar on our recent Ipoh trip. Our meal started off with a plate of Stew Beef Noodles @RM6.80. It was served with plenty of vegetables, indeed different from those serve in Penang.

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Tags: Array, Bainun, Balls, Beansprouts, Beef Noodles, Beef Soup, Business Hours, Claypot, Coffee Shops, Crispy Coating, Curry, Distinct Flavor, Fish Ball, Fish House, Fish Paste, Fish Stew, Food Court, Food Courts, Food Pieces, Hawker Food, Hor Fun, Ipoh, Ipoh Perak, Jalan Kampar, Kampar, Kow, Nam Fatt, Noodle House, Noodle Shop, Permaisuri, Plain Noodles, Pork And Beef, Rm6, Savory Beef, Stew Beef, Tau, Variety, Vegetable Beef Soup, Yong Tau Foo

*** Update:  Kozue has closed

Since Kozue’s opening in Penang Gurney Plaza in December last year, business in this modern and chic restaurant has been good; and has since developed a solid group of regular customers. My family have been to Kozue’s several times and have tasted many of its innovative fusion dishes which can be seen in my previous post.

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Tags: Agedashi Tofu, Appetizer, Aromatic Sauce, Array, Black Sesame, Boneless Chicken Wings, Bonito Flakes, Chewy, Chic Decor, Chic Restaurant, Chicken Wings, Chinese Way, Chopped Spring Onions, Cod Roe, Creative Dishes, Crumbs, Daikon, Eel, Egg Roll, Favorite Dish, Feature Writer, Fried Rice, Friend Sarah, Garnish, Good Combination, Great Desserts, Green Tea, Gurn, Gurney Plaza, Gyoza, Halfs, Harumaki, High Chairs, Home Cooking, Home Style, Hot Dessert, Japane, Japanese Dishes, Japanese Food, Japanese Method, Japanese Restaurant, Kuro, Kwong Hwa, Kwong Hwa Daily, Kwong Wah, Lettuce, Lotus Root, Lunch Prices, Manageress, Mayonnaise Sauce, Mui, Newspaper Article, Ooi, Paneling, Penang Gurney Plaza, Pig Stomach, Plaza Gurney, Prefered Choice, Private Room, Red Beans, Rice Paper, Rich Gravy, Rm5, Rm6, Rm7, Salmon Roe, Sarah Lim, Sauce Mayonnaise, Sauce Mixture, Savoury, Seaweed, Sesame Seed, Set Lunch, Shitake Mushrooms, Side Dishes, Sittings, Solid Group, Specia, Style Dish, Style Dishes, Sweet Sauce, Tea Lovers, Teriyaki, Thin Layer, Time Sampling, Tofu Dish, Types Of Fish, White Radish, Yit

Another Penang food that most people enjoyed eating is the Penang Lorbak. It is an appetizer, a side dish of fried mixed stuff of fish fritters, fried beancurd, spring rolls, fried octopus, preserved century eggs and the lorbak roll.

The lorbak roll itself consists of chunky bites of marinated five spiced pork wrapped with bean curd skin (fu-pei). All these are eaten with a dipping of chili sauce and thick starchy lor sauce with beaten egg swirls.

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Tags: Array, Authentic Taste, Bahari, Bak Kut Teh, Bean Curd, Beancurd, Beaten Egg, Beef Noodle, Business Hour, Campbell Street, Canon, Canon Singapore, Chili Sauce, Chulia Street Penang, Ckt, Coffee Shop, Duck Egg, Favourite Place, Finale, Fried Noodle, Fried Oyster, Georgetown Penang, Gor, Gurney Drive, Hainan Chicken Rice, Hawker Center, Hawker Stall, Kampung, Kimberley, Kut, Leng, Lobak, Lor, Lorbak, Malabar, Mantis, Penang Food, Penang Hawker Food, Penang Road, Photography, Prawn Fritters, Prawns, Rm6, Rm8, Rojak, Shrimps, Side Dish, Singapore Food, Singaporean Friends, Singaporeans, Spice Powder, Spiced Pork, Spring Rolls, Tiau