Asian BBQ at Komtar Penang

Steam boat is never on my Favorite Page, unless its an all pork spare part affair, & i can get to cook what i want, Not all dump in to the Pot at one go. Frankly speaking Goh Huat Seng is the place to go for steam boat for me.

There is this restaurant in Komtar Penang that has put together Steam Boat with Korean BBQ, Its call Asian BBQ, to me a perfect Match. My In laws can have steam boat, I can have my BBQ.

I ordered 2 sets, One Steam boat set, the other a BBQ set, for 4 adults, 5 children, with drinks that came up to RM98, to me a very reasonable price, considering what has been offered, Prawns, Bacon, Chicken, Fish on top of the usual fish ball etc. Nicely presented, though I find that they can put more noodles on the Set.

One thing that is disappointing for me is that Water is charge at RM1 per small glass, the same price as Chinese Tea. If you want to charge for water, that fine, provide those 500ml bts.

The Photo Above is the Steam Boat Set, While the one at the bottom is the BBQ set, What the difference? Just that the meat and fish is thinly slice for the BBQ set to make it easier cooking.

The Difference in this Restaurant, Over the other BBQ Steamboat Restaurant is the Griller, (forgot to take photo) is that the usual restaurant it that you have a pot in the center and the grilling part is at the side. This Restaurant it the other way round, you have a grill in the center which is half a sphere, with the soup in a small, narrow rim at the side. Juice, Fats of items you grill will run down in to the soup.

Also Provided is a pot for the steamboat, you can have a choice of Clear Soup or Tom Yam Soup. However at my table it seems not to be working properly, takes too long to come to boil.

if you are feeling Cold walking around in Komtar, this will be a nice restaurant for you to drop by, its not too pricy for the Average Man in the Street for a Family treat.

Back to Restaurant Chao Zhou, Butterworth

Restaurant Chao Zhou

@snapshots

Address : 107,109,111 Jalan Gan Chai Leng, Taman Chai Leng 13700 Prai,

Non Halal.

I forgot to save the GPS : Next Time ;-)

We came back for more as we were shopping in the Area. This time the damage is RM53, for 4 dish, and a Large Jug of Chrysanthemum Tea

Again unfortunately still no Kau Yoke, this time our order is for 4 dish which is Marmite Chicken, Pork Chops (Chinese style), Kailan with Kiam bak (Salt meat – pork) and Bean Curd with Crab Meat

Opinion, First off, My Wife love the all the food (which mean we will be back – next time we will try the steam egg), and find that it’s a reasonable price restaurant, air-condition, comfortable seating, and parking is easy. I do agree with here comment, For RM53 or slightly more, for all nicely cook meal, full service, air-condition is affordable and value for money treat for my family, instead of a fast food restaurant or hawker stall, will come up to around the same price.

Personally, the food this time do not really agree with me. Food is nice, but not my favorite, Marmite Chicken is nicely done, without the usual over powering Marmite Smell, The Pork Chops similar (my dauthers love this dish), To me the Kailan with Kiam Bak, was fibrous and the Kiam bak tasteless and not salty), but my wife like it, Bean curd was the home made type, nice but I did not seem to find the crabmeat.

Restaurant Chao Zhou, Seberang Prai Tengah

Restaurant Chao Zhou

@snapshots

Address : 107,109,111 Jalan Gan Chai Leng, Taman Chai Leng 13700 Prai,

Non Halal.

The 3 shop lot Restaurant, Photo taken in Night Mode.

I stumble across this Teo Chew Restaurant in the Web, in one of those food blogs, and said to my self I have to come here and try out the Kau Yoke (Braised Pork with Yam) and the Bitter Gourde with Salted Vegetable.

Well being in the area to purchase my new Nokia 5800, and to test the camera out (it have a reputation of bad photos in low light condition) I decided to treat my wife and kids and have our dinner here.

Interior Of the Restaurant and the Jug of Teh Bunga we ordered. Again in Night Mode.

We ordered the Braised Pork Leg (RM25), Deep Fried Squid (RN12), Braised Home Made Beancurd (RM10), and the Bitter Gourde with Salted Fish (RM10), the Kau Yoke is not available tonight, with a jug of chrysanthemum tea (RM7)

Overall - A excellent meal that cost RM65, my 3 daughters really enjoy them self tonight, the only thing is that 3 of the dish we ordered were cook with ginger. Is this ingredient essentially teo chew? Either way we enjoy our self, parking is convenient, indoor and outdoor seating is provided, and at RM65, not our of our wallet, as heading to the hawkers will cost us around RM40 plus, Pizza hut around RM60 plus for a dinner.

The Pork Leg is braised nicely with mushrooms, my only complaint is that it is not fatty enough, The Fried Squid is crispy, the Bitter Gourde do not taste bitter at all, in fact this unlikely paring of vegetable is superb. The homemade Beancurd is normal, but tasty.

Verdict : We will be back again for more.

Nokia 5800 Camera Test Verdict:

As with all camera under low light conditions , the settings, especially the ISO, Night Scene Mode, Holding the camera steady, and still, all comes into play: All the above photo is taken in Night Mode with out flash. My opinion : Not too bad, Not too bad, after all its not a dedicated camera, nor is it a DSLR.

On other items : Look like its cooling down a bit up here in Penang, Last few days it has been breezy though there is no rain.

Hardwicke House, Penang Daily BBQ Buffet Only Restaurant

Attention Update: When I pass by a few day ago, It seems that Harwicke House BBQ is now close. Jan 2011.

Blog (Viral) marketing works, this can be seen at the Packed Hardwicke House Nightly BBQ buffet, after it had invited around 10+ blogger to a free dinner at the Restaurant. When my colleague call for a reservation (around lunch time) of 3 person for a sat nightwe were inform that there is only a small corner table for us. At 30 min before the reservation time the restaurant call to confirm if we are coming.

Hardwicke House is a old mansion, now housing a restaurant within a compound/car park of a Skyscrapper just off Gurney Drive, Penang Nite Hang Out area. The Restaurant does not do alacarte, What it does is Buffet, There is a daily lunch buffet at RM18 ++ per person and there is a daily night buffet at RM38++ per person (I was thinking RM38++ is a very reasonable rate for a BBQ) and with all the Photos show, I and my colleagues were interested enough to travel over the water to partake the buffet, and to see what all the fuss is about.

Ambiance of the Restaurant is good, wine celler type of bar, and the rest was just like a colonial government servant house of yesteryears, ( I should know, I stay in 3 of those for a total 14 years)

So ladies and gentlemen, this is not a paid for post or a invited post ie makan free or you get paid for posting this, I spend RM131.10 for 3 persons, 5 hours of my time, and petrol and toll money coming over from the main land, so I will not post photos of the buffet as there are many already out there. (thankfully there were no traffic jam on this sat night)

The Buffet is shoe horn in to the restaurant tiny lobby, so when you step in the food is all there, there are alot of food verity with some of the cheffing dish sharing 3 individual items, the BBQ seafood were all dump in to one cheffing dish as well, and well non lineal laid out, all the sauce were with the salad, even sauce like mustard, the accompaniments (a lot) for the bar be que were place quite a distance from the BBQ items, the Roast Lamb were next to the desserts and fruits though not too far away from the main dish.

I must say that there is a lot of verity, (expensive and cheep) but even with the tiny lobby one could have a more lineal flow of the food, with the accompaniments being place next to each other.

What disappoint me is there is no appetizers other then salad and a generic from the can/tub cream of chicken soup, (not even bits of chicken in it) However there is a very large verity of salads, with a large verity of sauce and accompaniments provided. There is also a verity of fresh bread with butter.

Next were the main course, (I went 3 time to keep things separated) , first I took the Roast Lamb Leg drench in Brown sauce, I had mustard and mint sauce as well. Bake Salmon fish, I had the spaghetti with out the beef bolognaise sauce provided. topped with (Fresh) Parmesan cheese, and about the last piece of tandoori chicken. Ok I suppose, the lamb is tender thought a bit tasteless. The Salmon is slightly rough, But the Tandoori was superb.

Next were the BBQ items, No more Tandoori, I had the grilled lamb (sorry forgot to take a photo), some small bbq prawns, baby crab, (no squid left) and there were only shells of the shellfish left) , Lamb with the mint sauce is good, prawn though small is excellent in taste and freshness.

My third round of the main course were concentrated on the indian food. I took Naan bread from the BBQ section, and had it the the brinja sambal, dhall (sorry photo not so good) chicken curry, and the mutton curry. Suberb all of them. ( think that the chef specialize in India cusine) - After a long wait finally manage to get two pieces of chicken tendoori, fresh from the oven so to speak, very nice, tasty, tender, very definite not dry like some other places.

By the time we hit the wide verity of dessert, the buffet were almost out of the cake and jelly, there were a buffet of 6 verity of ice cream with 3 sauce, fruits as well, I had some nice ice cream, black forest and a piece of jelly.

Free Non Alcoholic Beverage, Now all this (and alot more) came to RM38++, with 6 verity of non alcoholic drink, Service in general is ok, not fantastic, there were some small hic cups here and there but generally satisfactory considering its full house, but what disappoint me was with all the bloggers talking about the wine and beer, no one bother to ask us if we wanted wine or beer.

Photo of a wine country (france) poster in the WC!

Pro

• service generally attentive though at time not so good, took 10 min to get the bill, saw a cook playing with his hand phone,
  
• Reservation reconfirmed
  
• Good Ambiance
  
• Food in General OK, though certain refill was slow
• No problems with parking, plenty of parking space. In fact the whole car park is yours even with a pack restaurant, good place to have a gathering.
  
• Large verity of food and drink

Cons

• Air Condition in my corner table is not so good as compared with the rest of the restaurant
• The main dining area have a slight cafeteria feel, (due to cramming in table and chairs) but the corner I was in is damm good for romantic dinner with a few right touches.
• Refill may be a bit slow for the buffet.
• no appetizers
  

Possible Improvements

I may be picking at small little things, I feel Hardwicke house can be further improve with a few more small touches.

• Firstly this is suppose to be a barbeque, and they also have a open outdoor space, so why dont do a open air bbq where passes by along the busy main roads can see?
  
• Reserve the corner I was in for Intimate Dinners, and rectify the air flow there for more coolness (there is a big split unit air con there)
  
• More Lineal flow for the buffet.
  
• Utilize the open air area and the Poach area for smokers dinners and space out the tables in the main dinning room a bit.
  

Conclusion

• A nice and affordable BBQ dinning Experience
  
• Good Crowd, Nice Ambiance
  
• Keep up the good work. i was just pickie on small little things.
  

Restaurant C ordinates N 5,25,39, E 100, 19, 13 cutesy of wikimips

all photos by Nokia N82

Sungai Bakap Tim Sum

in a renovated cinema, there is a hybird complex by the name of BK complex, a black and red building along Federal Route 1 from Butterworth to Ipoh. You cannot miss it as you pass by Sungai Bakap, Seberang Prai Selatan. Penang.

It's was renovated to be a the largest pub in Seberang Prai Selatan, however due to lisencing issures, it is now a kopi tiam, a snooker center, a phone shopee, a boutique, and a bird hotel.

In effort to make this place work, the owners have brought in a decent tim sum chef, the result is the best tim sum in town....... Speciality here are the egg tart and the siew long pau.









All the above plus 3 more baskets came up to RM27.00 .....

Revisit to Tree Shade Restaurant at Weld Quay

Refer to my past blog post and photos) of this restaurant here

While waiting for the Pesta Tanglung to Open, i park my car at bishop street at 6pm and with my entire family in tow, i walk towards the Tanjung City Marina for some photo taking. The weather was initially beautiful, but black clouds came in, as such seeking shelter and dinner we went into the tree shade restaurant.

As I am with my family this time, all our dish I ordered is with out chilli. I order 6 dish, all of them small with the total cost coming to RM87 for the meal with out drinks.

Plain Steam Garupa fish (the best dish of the night)

Fried Yu Char Koey, with stuffing and topped with Mayonnaise

Clam in Bean Paste

Oyster Omelet

Plain Stir Fried Bean Sprouts

Braised Pork Legs

Hand Noodles Restaurant, Bukit Minyak

Superb food, but some how the dish is ordered does not taste right to my malaysian taste buds........

Hand Noodles Restaurant in located at Krico Superstore at Bukit Minyak, its the branch, the original is located in Pulau Tikus Penang, and its serve mainly noodles of varios colour and types. Food here is superb, excellent, tasty, Ambiance is superb, excellent, Unfortunately I do not quite like it. I find the Food Strange.

Restaurant Entrance

The Restaurant

The restaurant is nicely set up with square table of 4's and round table of 6's and all the condiments (soya sauce, chilly flakes, chili sauces), cutlery's you need is all on the table for you to help your self. Ambiance - A Plus, there are a number of newspaper write up prominently place all over in side and outside the restaurant.

Prepared Mis En Place (F&B Speak for items ready in advance)

The food here seem to have elements from Taiwan, Korea and Japan.......... I ordered a BBQ Pork Belly Dry, with Beet root Raman what arrive is pictured below..... come with 2 side dish and a dessert RM13.90 +

What I got was a dark red noodles topped with kungpo (dry chili) sauce and fried pork belly.

My drink, some sort of tea, call Hawberry Tea, sourish taste, wife had the herbal tea together with set.

Children Set, French Fries, Jumbo Sausage, Ramen and a Tea Drink (Hawberrry) serve in plastic cutlery, RM 4.90 each X2

The Side Dish we ordered, we took two sets so we can order 4 side dish, 2 oyster omelet - good, small portion, no starch, one dumpling (superb, the best, If I come back to this restaurant this is what i will order) and Kimchi - a bit flat to my salty taste buds.

Above is the Seafood Hongkong set, 3 big prawns, green mussels, sotong, My wife give it the thumbs up RM21.50 per portion.

They also charge for Plain Water at RM0.50

Total Damage for us - RM54.55 , not bad

Again food is good, better then good unfortunately to me just not to my taste buds.

Good Eats at Weld Quay, Penang Island

Some time I just wonder why people will travel a long distance for good food when better food is available right at their door steps? In Penang Island right at the the Ferry Jetty is this quaint little restaurant that give 5 star restaurant a good fight for their money in terms of taste.

Weld Quay Tree Shade Restaurant is a non halal restaurant that is open for lunch and dinner, except for Wednesdays. I am ashame to say as a Penanite, that I was introduce to this restaurant by a KL boy. I will not provide a GPS Location, as this place is very easy to find, Go to the Penang Ferry Jetty and look on the other side of the road, you will find this place. Parking is easy, Park just infront of the Penang Kastam Office.

The Restaurant is set up, with the kitchen right infront and you will have a small passage way to walk past the Tree, the kitchen to the back where the seating is located. Business and the food here is good enough for them to have another "lot" for extra seating.

Ordering here is easy with all the Food Displayed right infront of your eyes when you walk in. Point and say how you will like to have it done.

We arrive quite late for lunch 2pm plus, it was quite but the verity of food avaliable is still there. We order 4 items, and it was serve very fast with total bill comming up to less then RM40/- .

Starter of Papodoms with a dip of curry gravy

Deep Fried Black Promfret with Bean Gravy

Sotong Kong Po

Curry Prawns

"Sa Lo Ma" Vegetable with sambal belachan

Now a word of warning, for those that are use to "high class" and "proper" restaurants, you should give this place a miss. this Restaurant is Clean, but there are those that are very "Fussy" don give this a try.

Super Fast Chinese Food at Federal Road 1, at Restaurant Soon Chi, Sg Bakap Penang

Coordinates N 05.13.970 E 100.29.469

Heavy rain at the Val d’or force us to run for it, and we started looking for a place nearby for dinner, located in the New Town of Sungai Bakap, is Restaurant Soon Chi.

As this our first time here, we basically left it to the order taker, who seem to be interested in pushing seafood items, but we turn him down, and we said we wanted a chicken, a pork, a vege and a soup for the 2 adults, 1 gowning up kid, and 2 kids.

His recommendation was Marmite Chicken (RM10), Sweet Sour Pork (RM8), a Broccoli (RM5) and a White Carrot Soup (RM7), which with two soft drink and Chinese tea for 2 persons came up to RM39.10. What surprise me was the speed of the food, it took barely the time for me to key in the Restaurant Name in to my Nokia N82, three of the dishes arrived. And the food is hot, not warm like it has been prepared earlier.

Marmite Chicken is basically Fried Chicken with some marmite stir fried with some curry leaf and whole chillies padi. Not too bad

Sweet and Sour Pork is the standard version you find every where

Broccoli turn out to be mix vegetables with broccoli.

The White Carrot soup with pork is nice .

So if you are in the area using federal road 1 and also in a big rush, this the perfect place to stop for your dinner. As I was playing around with the GPS I notice that there is a place that is name Soon Chi Seafood 150 meters away, but when I pass by, I did not see it. One more thing, the Deep Fried Pork Leg trotters look good..... that was order by a neighbouring table.

Location:

Coming from north just after the Simpang Empat Bomba, there is a fly over, and traffic light, go straight and turn right and turn left, proceed around 100 + meters near Bank Simpanan National (which is on GPS) and Cosway is the restaurant.

I found out why my photos get blurry with the Nokia N82, I usually shoot without the flash, as such set the camera on “Night Mode” to compensate for the low light, the thing is with Nokia N82 you cannot also enable night mode and close up mode at the same time. Looks I have to set it to close-up mode and disable flash and hope the photo turn up well.

Map : go here its the green dot