NEW YORK 2013 ~ Minni's Shabu Shabu and Habachi

On the Friday night, my buddy and his New Yorker friend decided to have some shabu shabu and I thought that this is probably one of the best times to have this as the weather was so cold and this will definitely warm us up. So he headed to Flushings, at 38th Avenue to this placed called Minni's Shabu Shabu and the first thing when we arrived to see was that there was a long time for people to get seated and you needed to get a number. But to me, a queue is always a sign that there is something good to be had, thus no complaints.

This is one of the best shabu shabu I have had as the ingredients were top notch! Read on to find out more ya

This is the standard bunch of ingredients that every diner gets. Its what else thats special!

NEW YORK 2013 - Haiku Sushi Restaurant, Red Lobster and Smokey Bones

Frankly, I didn't take as many food photos as I thought I would have. Probably was because I was hungry and the cold weather just restrains me from taking off my gloves to compose that perfect shot. But anyway, this post will have a combination of food which I managed to try while I was in New York.

Haiku Sushi Restaurant is located on the E Main St of Riverhead town. Its not exactly Japanese as its actually operated by Chinese though the food there is pretty decent. The place is cozy and food price not overly exorbitant. Do check out the photos!

Sashimi platter

Trip to Sabah 2012 - Food at Filipino Market

In the main town of Kota Kinabalu, there is a famous place for locals and tourists alike for awesome and affordable food. Be it seafood or others, the Filipino Market has it all. Well, the people here are not Filipino's la, but I would guess that almost anyone can sell their food or goods here. Its a great place to check out and its open daily from the evenings till late night every day! So do have a look as some of the photos I managed to get. By the way, as you scroll down, you will be able to see my dinner for that night! The largest prawns I have eaten in my life!

Fried or BBQ seafood. There are various stalls selling this and the seafood is first BBQ or deep fried. Its not cooked fully and if you choose it, they will then reheat and finish the cooking for ya! Just look at those huge tiger prawns and even lobsters! 

This other stall has crabs, squid and lots of choices of fish waiting to be feasted.

Orchid Live Seafood Restaurant at Singapore

What would be an extraordinary lunch? Well, for those in Singapore, really envy you all as I do not see any similar place like this in Penang which serves lobster porridge for lunch. Yes, you heard me right, that is no ordinary porridge but live fresh lobster porridge! 

When I first heard of it, I thought that it would be those like big prawns but boy was I wrong when I arrived at this place. For your information, this place is located in the outskirts of Sembawang in one of those farmers places. As you reach the place, you will see many aquariums filled to the brim with lobsters. Hardly one will see so many lobsters placed in 1 aquarium and I guess they have so many because its consumed fast! They have both an indoor and outdoor seating place and I was told that they are pack in the evenings! So do read on for those looking for something special for their lunch treat!

Just look at those yummy lobsters! We ordered a portion  for 2 person and each person got 3 lobsters, though in different sizes. Looking at the photos is making me drool now! The meat was so springy and sweet and they purposely remove it from the porridge when its serve to ensure that the lobster do not get overcook!

So many of them all crammed up in there. Only fresh lobsters may apply!

Hai Boey Seafood Restaurant @ Teluk Kumbar

I was very lucky to be invited out for a seafood dinner last week and was fortunate enough to have brought along Apple's camera which I could conveniently stuff in my pocket. Thankfully she loaned it to me that night else I wouldn't have photos to post here.

Anyway, Hai Boey is located on the road leading to Gertak Sanggul on the southern tip of Penang island. The roads leading to this place is pretty dark at night so do drive slowly. It's easily spotted with the huge signboard with its name on it. For those heading there from Bayan Lepas, its on your left.

So on with the food. Since this was my first time there, I let my friends do the ordering and just be prepared for any surprises which will come along. The first was "Chi Leh" or spiky shells. Its cooked by just blanching it with hot water and we use a toothpick to pull out the meat of the shells. Its like a type of snail from the sea. Nothing too special here.

The 2nd dish was fried meat with brinjal. The brinjal and meat was held with skewers and then deep fried with a light batter. It was pretty refreshing and there was pork and prawns in the mix. I couldn't taste much of the brinjal though as it was sliced pretty thin. Probably would have been good if it was abit thicker. I still like it though.

3rd came my drink for which I ordered a coconut. Thankfully it was from the fridge so the juice was cold! Great. But the coconut was very old and the meat was hard and not very nice to eat. So I ended up just drinking the coconut juice. OK la for a drink.

4th, happens to be the 4 heavenly kings. No we are not talking about canto pop but this is basically 4 types of vegetables fried with Belacan or fermented prawn paste. This was really good and the Belacan was flavorful and it has just the right amount of spiciness to it. The vegetables was also well cooked and you can tell it was cooked over high heat (wok hei).

The 5th dish caught me by surprise. We had lobster, and it was huge! I'm not really a big fan of lobster as I feel that lobster meat is abit tough. The lobster was prepared ala local stir fried lobster with cheese. The meat was cut into large chunks and I got a pretty decent piece. It smelled good and looked menacing. But as I thought, it was abit tough to the bite. It's just not as tender as it is with a tiger prawn. But I guess for a lobster, it was pretty well prepared. Cooked anymore and it would be really spoilt. So a pretty good attempt though its not something I would eat everyday.

6th is their Char Hor Fun. Now this I have to say was a really good noodle dish. The noodles was well fried and flavorful and the sauce that is filled with seafood like squid and prawns was made just right. Highly recommended I would say. Later the captain did mention that their signature was Char Hor Fun with lobster, but that would then mean a really expensive plate of Char Hor Fun.

7th is steamed marble goby. This was probably the best dish of the evening. In Chinese, this fish is also known as Soon Hock or Lam Goh. Its a fresh water fish which is carnivorous and it used to be affordable until everyone realize how good it tastes. The flesh is very smooth and like a silky texture to it. It was also steamed just nice, perfectly cooked and the soya sauce that compliments it just give it a sweeter taste to the fish. Very good indeed.

8th is another vegetable dish. This time its steamed bitter gourd with meat stuffing. Yeap another vegetable with stuffing but for those that like bitter gourd, this one is really pretty tasty. The bitter gourd is steamed till its soft, and then its poured with a sauce. Its cut when its served at the table. The sauce goes well with the bitter gourd and the meat just adds some sweetness to compliment it.

9th is stir fry baby kai lan. This was just cooked with garlic and it was pretty normal. Nothing to shout about here.

10th and 11th are the last dishes and they are both crabs. There was BBQ crab with honey glaze and then there was the crab cooked with salted egg yolk. I preferred the BBQ crab more as you are able to savour the sweetness of the crab meat. I felt the one with the egg yolk was abit overcooked and the meat of the crab didn't turn out so well.

All in all, I must thank my friends for this lovely, and expensive meal (the lobster probably cost half of it). Hai Boey is surely a good place for some good food and the place was actually pretty packed with people even on a weekday. Try this place out ya. Do leave some comments too especially if you have been there and maybe have some food to recommend.