Sri Malaya Heritage Restaurant @ Penang

Well, it was by chance that I managed to meet up with Ocean Teh, owner of Sri Malaya Heritage Restaurant located at Jalan Pintal Tali, or Rope Walk in Penang. Sri Malaya is housed in a restored heritage building, along the historic Rope Walk, which was famous in the past as the place to get ropes :)

Back to Sri Malaya. Here they serve a mixture of Western and local menu. Its interesting to see that you can have an affordable and delicious meal for under RM20 at such a nice restaurant setting. What catches my eye immediately was that they have great lunch promotions :) A free drink with any meal order. WOW.

My family and I ordered a few items when we were there. For drinks, we ordered fresh mango and it was the start to a great evening. The mango juice was thick and you know its made with real mangoes and not some syrup.

First entree to arrive was the wild mushroom soup. At first the soup looks like any typical mushroom soup, but once we tried it, we were immediately hooked to the taste. It was fresh, full of mushroom flavor and more importantly, even my 3 year old daughter was giving the thumbs up! Now you can't cheat a 3 year thats for sure. The soup has a nice texture and you can really bite into the finely chopped mushrooms. I have yet to find out what types of mushrooms were used and will probably need to return to find out more.

Next we had the Lamb Shank. After the delicious and appetizing soup, we can't wait to see the Lamb Shank as its supposedly one of their top dishes. When the staff brought the plate to the table, our eyes widened. The plate was big, and more so what was on the plate. The Lamb Shank was a sizeable portion and it was sitting on top of a good helping of mash potatoes. Oh I forgot to mention, when you order a main course, you get to choose to have fresh garden greens or roasted garden greens. Basically how you would like your vegetables at the side. We chose to have fresh garden greens and got a good amount of fresh salad. Besides these, it also comes with big chunks of roast potato and nice cherry tomatoes. Just talking about the plate of Lamb Shank makes me hungry. Now to the taste. Before biting into it, I can see that the meat is well stewed. The lamb was falling off the bone which is a good sign that its nicely done. And yes, I was right. The meat was very tender, not tough at all, and I can taste the marination and herbs going through my mouth. A scoop of mash potato plus a slice of lamb together, excellent combination. I was very happy with this Lamb Shank and with the portion, it will definitely fill you up.

The other main course that was ordered is the Seafood Platter. As one would expect from the description, it is a combination of grilled seafood. Hmm, mouth watering indeed. Again, when the plate arrived, it was a very nice portion. Big chunks of fish, large prawns, muscles and a big helping of calamari (yeah nice name for Sotong!). Now the trick with grilled seafood is that there is always a worry that one will spoil the taste of the fresh seafood. But I was not disappointed here at Sri Malaya. Their chef got their timing right on. The fish, is cooked nicely, with the outer layer nicely scorched. The fish is surely fresh to begin with too. Nice. Then the large prawns, has the shells cut at the back to make it easier to dig in. No regrets here too. The muscles, were grilled well too, and I was enjoying myself thoroughly using a knife to make sure I get every bit of the muscle. Finally the calamari. I must say this is the best grilled calamari I have ever had. The calamari was just so juicy and tender, not at all tough to the taste which is very common. I must applaud the chef for being able to cooked it so well. There must be some secret method of cooking it. Oh, for this, we ordered grilled garden greens and got a combination of grilled broccoli, cauliflower and carrots. The vegetable was just nice and went well with the seafood.

To end the evening, we had the cake of the day, which was chocolate cake. One can have it serve hot or cold. It was coated in chocolate and looked very appetizing. On first bite, I could taste the richness of the cake. It was moist and the the combination of the chocolate on the coating makes it very filling. The family enjoyed this cake very thoroughly indeed.

Before I end this, I would like to highlight some of the uniqueness of this place. It has an upper floor, which was initially planned to be the home for the owner. But to overwhelming response from diners, he will now make it into a private dining area or place for gatherings or parties. Prior booking for its use would be best to avoid disappointment.

Besides that, the restaurant also have a side door which lead to a very nice garden. Ocean has made a very nice vertical garden from some of the salvaged building material and it looks marvelous. Ocean definitely have green fingers when it comes to plants too.

All in all, Sri Malaya is definitely a new place to have a good meal and would suit all. Do check it out!

Their details

No. 1 Rope Walk (Jalan Pintal Tali), (Opposite Air Asia @ Chulia Street)

Opening hours : 11.45am-3.00pm, 6.00pm-11.00pm, Closed on Tuesday

Phone : +604-261 3763

Getting there:

Get to Chulia Street and turn into Jalan Pintal Tali. You need to get in from Chulia Street as Jalan Pintal Tali is a one way street. The restaurant is 30meters on your left after turning into Jalan Pintal Tali. Its the bright yellow building. Can't miss it!

ps, tell them you heard about it from an email recommending the place :)

Long time no post

Wow, its been such a long time since I posted into my food blog
Hopefully more will be coming soon

Tian Wai Tian Buffet Steam Boat @ Ximending Taipei

After about 3 months hiatus, I'm finally back to blogging on this food blog of mine. It has been crazy schedule after schedule, and the good news is, the archive is overflowing with food goodies to share. During this past 3 months, I was fortunate enough to have visited Shanghai and Taipei, and also have some very homely meals during Chinese New Year.
Without delaying, this is a recall of a place which I wish was available in Malaysia. Its something that everyone in Malaysia is familiar with, and its Steam Boat. So whats so special about another steam boat right. Well, for starters, I had this in Taipei. Ximending to be exact. Tian Wai Tian, serves buffet steam boat and so far, I have not encountered one that serves such quality food for steam boat such as theirs. The price varies according to the time that you visit. Kids are also cheaper.
Here, there is a selection of 6 type of soup, from spicy hot pot (Ma Lat in Taiwanese) to mild tomato or lemon grass soup. I actually have been to this place 2 times now, hahaha, so I have tried the hot pot, lemon grass and tomoto soup myself. Its very good soup, not like some watery ones which are so common. Now, the big deal here, its the selection of condiments available. There are meat, seafood, vegetables and many more. My pick, lamb slice (because I don't take beef), pork meat balls, scallops (yes!), bamboo clams (they are huge), prawns, slipper lobsters, and some local vegetable. And then we have the dessert, a large array of sweet stuff as well as cakes. More importantly, free flow of Haagen Dazs ice cream with 12 flavors to choose from. Mouth watering yet? A definitely must try if anyone stops by Taipei Ximending. Price is deemed to be well worth the value!
Rating : 5/5

More photos : http://www.apples-studio.com/gallery/TianWaiTian_Ximending_Taipei/index.html

Wikimapia link : http://wikimapia.org/#lat=25.0463621&lon=121.5058064&z=20&l=0&m=s&v=9&show=/15658405/ ~ Do take note that I might have got this wrong else it should be one or 2 blocks away.

Wedding Dinner at Sun Li How Fook Restaurant @ Ipoh

Well, last weekend my good buddy Jen Sen got married and held his wedding reception dinner at Sun Li How Fook Restaurant at Ipoh. Yeah, its not near thats for sure. Since I wasn't shooting the wedding, I focused instead on the food. Hehhehe.
Well, the restaurant was really big with 2 levels. We were at the upper floor which was smaller, I think there was about 20 tables in total.
As with all chinese wedding dinner, its a typical 8 course meal
I will go through each of these with pictures to follow in my link.
1. Appetizer : Four Season platter
This four season platter basically have a combination of hot and cold dishes. As the name implies, there is 4 varieties here. When I first saw the platter, there was a lobster shell on it. I was like, wow, lobster. Alas, it was a recycled lobster shell. Was a good deco though. So there was a cold jelly fish with mini octopus and mango salad. I liked this one. The jelly fish was cut in big chunks giving it a good crunchy taste. The octopus are those standard mini ones which have been marinated in the red sauce. Too bad they cut it in half and not whole pieces.
Then there is a baked prawn with cheese. This really tasted like a fusion dish and nothing chinese traditional about it. The combination of the prawns and the cheese was good.
Next is chicken stir fried with hand made fish ball. This one was rather plain, and not very exciting.
Last on the platter was fresh scallops wrap in fish paste. I felt that the amount of fish paste was abit overwhelming and voided the taste of the fresh scallops. But nonetheless, it was pretty good with the chef adding some kei chi on top.
Rating : 3.5/5
2. Sharks Fin soup was next. Well, I can't recall if the menu mentioned sharks fin or not but there wasn't any sharks fin for sure in the soup. It was mainly fish maw, chinese ham and crab meat. The good thing was that besides the usual vinegar, the restaurant took the trouble to serve a bowl of whisky together. This I like. So with some whisky mixed in, it gave the soup some needed oomph.
Rating : 3.5/5
3. Steamed white pomfret followed. Now this is a very nice fish if its fresh and big. The one we have on the night was of a pretty decent size. It wasn't super big but enough for the table. When the fished arrived, it looked abit firm. I was correct, the fish was overcooked. Oh well, can't be perfect. The fish was not superbly fresh as well as can be seen from the eyes and taste. The good thing was the chinese cilantro and light soy sauce blended in well with the fish.
Rating : 3/5
4. The next dish was interesting. The item which they put on the table was a glass of fresh spring onion stalks. I immediately wondered if this was to go with the suckling pig. I was right. The funny thing I don't get it is how do they expect people to eat such a big stalk of spring onion? The buns and suckling pig was much smaller in size, so even though it looked good, it was not practical or tasted nice as well. The suckling pig on the other hand was pretty good. I like the fact that they left some meat besides the skin as this gave it much more flavour. The buns though were not that great and tasted like those u get from the super market.
Rating : 3.5/5
5. Next up was prawn fried with soya sauce. Now finally the seafood was fresh. The prawns was succulent and juicy and you can easily peel the shell. For this kind of cooking, one must make sure to peel the shell with your teeth to be able to taste the slightly crisp soya sauce coating. If the prawns used were XL size, I would give this a 5.
Rating : 4/5
6. Lo Hon Chai, of mix vegetable. This is a disappointing dish. There was no gravy, and hardly any flavoring at all. Dry dry dry.
Rating : 2/5
7. Steamed rice with chinese wax sausage in lotus leaf. Yeah super long name. I'm not a fan of chinese wax sausage but I can tell you that the rice was poorly cooked because when I ate the rice, there was hardly any taste of the wax sausage. This means that it was probably not cooked well enough. Mostly this was fried earlier and then just wrapped in the lotus leaf and served. there was no hint of the lotus leaf as well.
Rating : 2.5/5
8. Dessert was last. It was a pancake and beancurd skin with gingko nut thong sui. I didn't try the pancake but my friends mentioned it was the best dish of the night. I did try the thong sui and BIG failure. How can the restaurant serve gingko nuts without removing the bitter stem in the middle? When I took a bite of the gingko nuts, any feeling of niceness about the thong sui disappeared immediately. Else it would have probably been better.
rating : 1.5/5
Overall, I had a hearty meal as my table only had 8 person. Jen Sen, no offence ya but I'm a food critic ma. I'm sure the restaurant should serve better when its not a wedding dinner as the chef could probably pay more attention to the food. Cheers and leave some comments too

More photos : http://www.apples-studio.com/gallery/ww50.6_09_dinner/index.html

Wikimapia link : http://wikimapia.org/#lat=4.58451&lon=101.0909128&z=18&l=0&m=b&show=/14750539/Sun-Li-How-Fook-Restaurant

Yam Rice with Salted Vegetable Soup @ Chai Leng Park, Prai

This post is way overdue mainly in part to a very busy work schedule as well as the fact I went on a week long holiday to Taiwan in November. Yes, there will be a Taiwan foodie report out soon, I promise. Hahha. OK, back to this lunch.
Even though it was a while back, almost a month and a half, I can still vividly remember how the food tasted. Why? Simple. The food is great. Yes, a simple yam rice with salted vegetable soup with all the internals of the pig thrown in. My favourite.
The yam rice has very good texture and flavor, thanks to an abundance of dried shrimp thrown in. The yam was also plentiful and the flavoring done just nice.
The soup was also excellent. Not too salty with plentiful of stuff in it. And the added bonus is that the soup is refillable. Yes, drink away as much as you possibly can.

Sorry not much pictures as we were on our way to a photoshoot at Autocity that day :) Definitely a place to return
Rating : 4.5/5

Wikimapia link : http://wikimapia.org/#lat=5.3842848&lon=100.3917789&z=17&l=0&m=b&show=/1513471/Yam-Rice-Restaurant

Lunch at Sakae Sushi @ Queensbay Mall Penang

Well, like in my previous blog, I did mention that I'm on a home run for good food and today I think is another one. Got a friend who brought us to Sakae Sushi for lunch. Well, I decided that today I will not order any of the heavy meals and just have some maki's. So I ordered a few premium makimono (which is a sushi roll instead of just the typical sushi).
I would say that all the items which I ordered is good today. The ones I would like to point out would be the Unagi Maki which I feel would be something most would like as there is no raw items here and would work well on most palates. If you like salmon, then the Ura Maki is definitely a must try as it not only have salmon sashimi but it has fried salmon skin wrap in the middle.

Also ordered was the soft shell crab crepe and another new premium makimono which I forgotten the name. Of course, side dishes ordered were salmon sashimi and also Ajitsuke Idako or baby octopus. I'm gonna rate the place overall as I think it deserve it.
Rating : 4/5

More pictures : http://www.apples-studio.com/gallery/ww43.3_09_lunch_SakaeSushi/index.html

Wikimapia link : http://wikimapia.org/#lat=5.3407882&lon=100.3024292&z=15&l=0&m=b&show=/608887/Queensbay-Mall-Jusco-Penang

This is the Ura Maki
Unagi Maki
The one I forgot the name

Zim Sum Dim Sum Restaurant @ Anson Road

Well, seems like my friends have been here many times but this is my first. When we arrived, it looked like any Dim Sum place, big, many tables, self service for faster food, etc. A typical dim sum restaurant.
With that, heheh, we go to the food.
Now as with any dim sum place, my take would be 2 basic items which is Har Kau (prawn dumpling) and Siew Mai (pork dumpling). Typically if this two items are good, that will set the standard.
So my take on the Har Kau is that it was just ok. This is definitely not the better ones I have had. The prawns were not particularly big or tasted super fresh. The skin was abit thick and was not well made as you can see from the picture, the dumpling was not even properly made.
Rating : 3.5/5

On the Siew Mai, this was another so so dim sum again. First, it was cold. It was not even put on the steaming trolleys. Then there is just too much fat instead of a good pork meat mixture.
Rating : 3/5

We did have a bit of other dish such as fried carrot cake and also some fried prawn role. Not too bad. Overall for 4 person, total was RM33 which is not a bad price. Will definitely try some place else before returning.

Links to more pictures : www.apples-studio.com/gallery/ww42.6_09_bfast_ZimSum/index.html

Wikimapia link : http://wikimapia.org/#lat=5.4195434&lon=100.3238976&z=18&l=0&m=b&show=/14219450/

Thank God Its Friday! Lunch @ TGI Friday

I guess almost everyone knows about TGI Fridays. Its a franchise western food place which serve a variety of dishes and some nice cocktails. Too bad its a Friday lunch time and we still have to be back to work in a well mannered state :p
Anyway, these few weeks really have food god on my side as got so many nice food treats. The lunch today is also on my good friend who so happen to have lost a bet ... heheheh. Moral of story, don't gamble la.
Some appetizers, which is Mac & Cheese and Chicken Fajita Nachos were ordered. The Mac & Cheese was pretty good, though it was only 6 pieces. I guess its ok as too much cheesy stuff really would fill up the stomach really fast. The macaroni and cheese is fried with some batter with the cheese still nice and soft inside. Something which I think is worth trying.
Rating : 4/5

The chicken Fajita Nachos compared to the Mac & Cheese, the portion was really huge. Not sure the price la but I think there was so much that we could not finish it all. Basically this is chicken meat and bell pepper spread on nachos and topped with melted cheese. The dish was good when it came still hot, but after it cools, it isn't that appetizing anymore.
Rating : 3.5/5

Jack Daniel's Chicken & Shrimp set was my main meal. When it came, it sure looked good and appetizing. When I tasted it, pure disappointment. The chicken breast was overcooked, tough and dry. The sauce was way too sweet and the shrimps were clearly those from the frozen category, with the shrimp (aka prawns) abit tasteless and obviously not the fresh kind (unless its the reared kind). Maybe the steak is more suited for this, but sadly, this is not on my list if I ever visit TGI Fridays again.
Rating : 2.5/5

Mocha Mud Pie was probably the best item I had for this lunch and it was complimentary as it was Boss'es day. Wahaha, how lucky I was. The mud pie was just so rich and good that it would be hard to finish it on its own by a single person unless you are bumming around for a couple of hours. But at least we know now, that at TGI also got some good stuff to eat.
Rating : 4.5/5

More photos : http://www.apples-studio.com/gallery/ww42.5_09_lunch_tgiFridays/index.html

Wikimapia link : http://wikimapia.org/#lat=5.3407882&lon=100.3024292&z=15&l=0&m=b&show=/608887/Queensbay-Mall-Jusco-Penang

Hardwicke House BBQ & Buffet Restaurant

Well, we got an email telling us about this new place called Hardicke House and actually this was not where we initially planned to go. Last minute decided on this place since we can have a lunch meeting at the same time and buffet seemed like a good idea, also thanks to WC for the treat.
So this place is having a opening promotion right now where its 4 for the price of 3. Its till 30 November 2009 so don't miss this. Their lunch price is RM18++ and 38++ for dinner. There is a 15% tax for service and government charges.
So, we didn't expected much from the food for the price but since they have the promo, what the heck, well worth it right.
When we arrived, the place was packed. All the tables were taken or reserved. We were about to leave when the owner or chef asked us to stay. We decided that sitting on the outside was ok as well since it was not hot or sunny (the place is shaded). So there was 8 of us today and we started our way to the buffet.
There was a salad spread, dessert in the center and a buffet line. When we reach, it was already almost 1pm and I think the first round of food was already finishing. Luckily we still managed to grab some good briyani rice and also salmon cooked in cheese. These were really good. I tried the Puri bread (like roti canai), the chicken vindaloo, fish curry, lamb rajol, salmon in cheese and the sweet and sour fish.
The lamb and salmon was what I like best. The lamb was so soft and tender that it was falling off the bone. I had second helping of this with spaghetti as a base instead of rice in the second time. The salmon was also pretty good,. It tasted as like the salmon had been precook and the put in a cheesy sauce. There was also beef rendang and beef bolognese for the spaghetti. Overall, there is suppose to be a choice of chinese, malay and indian cuisine/dishes serve differently everyday. Not bad, salmon for RM18++.
Then I went for the dessert, had an egg tart, which is pretty good, some nyonya kuih, assorted local fruits and ice cream. They have free flow of pretty good ice cream with 5 flavors in total.
Overall, I would rate this place a winner for the folks who works around this area, and advise is to give a call and book a place in advance and arrive early for the first round of dishes. This is advise as we found the second replenish round of the dish were of lower quality.
Rating : 4/5

More photos : http://www.apples-studio.com/gallery/ww42.1_09_lunch_hardwicke/index.html

Wikimapia link : http://wikimapia.org/#lat=5.4268598&lon=100.3201103&z=18&l=0&m=b&show=/14115916/
The interior
Salad spread
My platter, first round

Chicken Rice and Asam Laksa at Genting Restaurant, Island Glades

Ai, I just realize I forgot to blog about one of my Friday lunch escapades which happened about 2 weeks back. Hehhee, nothing special just had chicken rice and asam laksa. Actually there are many good food here but this is what I had today. But I did include pictures from what my buddies have in the photo gallery.
So another chicken rice. Hehe, actually the chicken rice is pretty good, with the chicken not very rough and the rice pretty fragrant. But still can't beat the one in town which I blogged before. But nonetheless if looking for no frills pretty good chicken rice, this one suits the bill
Rating : 3.5/5

Now the asam laksa here claims to be that from Ayer Itam, which I have also blogged about before. I will use that one as the standard. This laksa, had the thick soup, but the mistake or maybe just my luck that day, there was too much prawn sauce added, making the soup sweeter than sour. That aside, the soup had quite alot of blended fish and I did finish every drop of the soup. I would say this would have been a good one but just watch out how much prawn paste the cook puts in.
Rating : 4/5

More photos : http://www.apples-studio.com/gallery/ww40.5_09_lunch/index.html

Wikimapi link : http://wikimapia.org/#lat=5.3825758&lon=100.3039742&z=17&l=0&m=b&show=/9657732/Kedai-Kopi-Genting