Chuan Bee Kopitiam

There are over 12,000 prewar buildings within the historic enclave of George Town which was the heart of this UNESCO Heritage City. If you are not local you may not be able to locate some of the best coffee houses (or more commonly known as kopitiam in local Hokkien dialect) that are hidden and scattered around the maze like street network of this heritage town. 

There is one such place located along China Street (Lebuh Cina), it is the road right across and run perpendicularly to the famous Kuan Yin Temple  (觀音亭). 

The appearance of this modest little shop doesn't look very impressive at first. In fact it may even put off many potential customers who wish to be in newer and presentable premises. This is where you always need the locals to bring you to places like these that never appear in your Lonely Planet travel brochure.

Kopitiam in Penang Hokkien means coffee house. However it is unlike Starbucks or Coffee Bean which specializes on variety of coffee. The name derives from the fact that the locals always enjoy their local Penang coffee in places like these where they can also dine in and chit chat with their friends. The local coffee served here is particularly good and I never fail to order a cup. The mixture of bitterness and sweetness is just right in my view.

Pomfret Fish Curry

Stir Fried Bitter Gourd with Egg

Like many other Kopitiam in Penang, you can find the standard Chu Char (煮炒) menu here like fish curry, stir fried vegetables, fried Hokkien Mee etc. But one dish that you MUST order when you are there is their 金香雞 (pronounced as Kam Hiong Kai in Cantonese) where the chicken is deep fried into golden brown color in their secret recipe spices. I've been trying to find out what are the spices that they use but I was not successful so far.

 金香雞

A Taste of Penang In Sungai Petani

Penang hawker food is world renowned for its flavour sensation thanks to the variety of spices easily available in this part of the world. It is only natural that the demand for Penang food is even greater when you do not live in Penang.

Sungai Petani, the second biggest city of the Kedah state is located just a mere 45 minutes away by car from Penang Island. Take the North-South Expressway after crossing over via Penang Bridge, exit at Sungai Petani Selatan. After the first traffic light, turn left then go straight until you approach another traffic light, you will then find the first kopitiam on your left called Restoran Choon Nam. Look for a stall selling Curry Mee, Hokkien Mee and Lo Mee. To get a taste of Penang when you are living in Sungai Petani, this is the place to go.

Curry Noodle

Prawn Noodle Soup or 'Hokkien Mee'

The chili and fried onion are home made to ensure their freshness and fragrance intact. Each bowl of these delicious and mouth watering noodle soups costs a mere RM3.00! You won't get the same portion of it with that price in Penang Island! The husband and wife team start their business everyday at 7am and will usually sell out all their noodles by 10am! So wake up early and make sure you don't miss out!

Minced Crab & Prawn Meat Ball

Gurney Drive Penang, world renowned for its offering of all hawker food you can find in one location. Tourists and locals flock to this place every weekends just to savour the gourmet delights that Penang is famous for. Penangites who are seasoned food hunters of the local food environment will tend to stay away from the famous roundabout food court due to the higher price that the hawkers charge over there as many tourists patronize the area. 

Therefore, as far as the roundabout food court is concerned, I believe many people have wrote about it and we are not going to discuss it here. We are going to find food the Penangites' way. If you have been to Gurney Drive, you would have notice that there are small eating outlets scattered along the 2.2km stretch from the roundabout all the way to Gurney Hotel. And you would find that you usually come across tourists in these places when they are accompanied by locals. The area I'm talking about is located between Jalan Birch and Jalan Lim Chin Guan just before the Evergreen Hotel if you are coming from Gurney Plaza. There are four small food courts namely: Song River, Public, Carnation and New Zealand. You can find Bah Kut Teh, Seafood Noodle Soup, rice dishes and variety of local hawker food here.

In Public Cafe, there is this stall called Loke Sok Seafood. You can order rice with variety of Chinese dishes and it is value for money compare to eating in a restaurant. I'm not going to divulge the full list of their menu here as I'm only particularly interested in one dish that I never fail to order every time I visit this place. It is the deep fried minced crab & prawn meat balls, or it is called Cim Co in Hokkien. I suggest you order it in Hokkien to avoid getting something else in surprise. The minced crab and prawn meat are mixed together and wrapped up in a roll with bean curd skin ( 腐皮). The roll is then cut into several pieces and then deep fried in steaming hot oil. I also suggest that when you order it, tell the waitress that you don't want the meat ball to be cut in half. It is because from my experience when it is cut in half and then deep fried, it tends to be dryer and the tasty juice of the meat is lost. The price is $6 for 6 pieces, $8 for 8 pieces, $10 and $12.

Buffet @ E&O Hotel

Most people enjoy going out for buffet for various reasons. Some like it because they think it is really value for money especially if they are those who can eat a lot. But there are also some like myself who simply loves the idea that you have so many choices spread out for you from entree through to dessert that you can take your own sweet time to finish them. It is a brilliant concept of giving people tremendous freedom of choice. And the atmosphere is always cheerful with crowd of people that make you feel like you are not just going out for lunch or dinner; but you are actually participating in a feast!

There are many places around Penang Island that offer buffet lunch and dinner in most hotels. Most of them serve good food. But I'm a strong believer that when we go out for dining, it is not just the food that affects our experience. The gourmet experience is the combination of food, presentation, service and environment. And the one place that come straight to my mind is the E&O Hotel in Penang.  

Firstly, you will be spoilt for choice with the huge array of various delicacies spread out in the newly refurbished Sarkies Corner at the E&O Hotel Penang. It is a mixture of local, international and Japanese cuisine. There is the salmon sashimi (my number one favourite), grill dori or salmon fish, grill lamb or beef, roasted duck, fresh oyster, baby lobster,various kinds of salad and sushi, smoked delicacies including the Unagi, deep fried seafood, dessert, tropical fruits and they even have local favourite like Char Koay Teow and curry fish head which I think are pretty good! So in terms of food, I definitely tick the box of approval.

Secondly the presentation is always great especially when you are in a 5 star hotel setting. And now with the new Sarkies Corner that offer a much spacious interior space, presentation wise is above average. 

Thirdly you can expect good service from E&O as they have a name to live up to. However, due to the large crowd especially during weekends, sometimes the crew can be overwhelmed which I think is still acceptable.

Finally, it is the environment that E&O stands out from all of its competitors. Located right at the northern strip of coastline of Penang Island, it offers a breathtaking sea view overlooking Butterworth and as fas as Gunung Jerai of Kedah! The garden along the entire sea frontage of the hotel is well maintained and is a favourite place to take a walk and explore the beauty of the surrounding. With heavenly view coupled with great food and architecture, E&O will remain at the top of the buffet food chain for a long period of time!  

Famous Penang Char Koay Teow

Curry Salmon Fish Head

Fresh Oyster

Grill Saba Fish

Salmon Sashimi

Coconut @ Abu Siti Lane Penang

Travel advertisements always paint pretty pictures of tropical destination as if you are visiting heaven on earth. With swaying palm trees, golden sunshine and the hypnotic effect of waves repeatedly washing up the sandy beach; how can anyone resist the temptation of this wonderful place? 

It may be true if you are just visiting for a holiday. It may be another story altogether if you are to stay there permanently. The intense heat and humidity on a daily basis all year round is not an easy feat for anyone to endure. Welcome to the land of eternal summer! Fortunately, nature works in mysterious way in making sure that there is always a balance to everything. With the intense heat, nature gives us the coconut!

Located along Abu Siti Lane in Penang is Anba Coconut. They have so many coconuts everyday that their stall physically spills onto the street. It is a very popular place among the locals where people will just park their car by the roadside and buy a coconut or two to cool down from the extreme weather.

The ordinary coconut is good enough to cool you down but I will suggest you go for the pandan flavoured coconut as its taste is simply wonderful. Its hints of pandan fragrant simply adds to the sweetness of the drinks. For an extra 50c to RM1 I think it is really worth it. Coconut drinks (椰水) is definitely my thirst quencher in the tropics.

Air Itam Curry Fish Head

Asia is renowned for hot and spicy food that you can never find in any western country. And Penang being the street food capital of Malaysia has it all! Curry fish head (咖喱鱼头) is one of Malaysian's favorite delicacies that is enjoyed by people of all races. You can find curry cooked in Indian, Malay or Chinese style; all with their own unique flavour. 

Close to one of the most famous tourist attraction of Penang; the Kek Lok Si Temple is a little stall located in the food court section of Air Itam market. It is a mixture of Chinese and Indian curry that makes it unique around this area. 

Besides fish head, you will also have lady fingers and tomatoes. Once the dish is cooked, it is garnished with sliced onions and mint leaves as the final touch. The fish head is usually steamed before being cooked in the aroma packed curry soup.

The soup is rich in flavour with all the spices that have been tossed in. And the best thing is they are not stingy with their soup. You got more curry soup than you actually need and you can take away the left over and cook your own curry fish head the next day! This is indeed value for money! 

Hor Chiu Hai Fish Head Bee Hoon Seafood Porridge

Burmah Road has been the major thoroughfare that connects Pulau Tikus all the way to the city center of George Town, Penang. Therefore it is by no surprise the whole stretch of Burmah Road has been haven for commercial activities. With the existence of trades comes people, with people comes food! It is also along here that many famous Penang hawker food can be found such as Hokkien Mee at Swee Kong Coffee Shop and Kek Seng Chicken Rice around Pulau Tikus area. Towards the city you have the New World Park Food Court and Hainanese Chicken Chop at Hai An just to name a few.

And if you prefer something less oily and healthier, then you definitely have to try the bee hoon soup at the junction of Burmah Road and Codrington Avenue. It is located right in front of a Chinese temple ( 大伯公廟 ). It only open for business in the evening.

You can mix and match the ingredients as you wish. They have fish head, fish fillet, pork liver, pork kidney, minced meat and much more. If a bowl of bee hoon soup is not enough for you, there is this stall right next to it selling Yong Tau Foo which is quite tasty.

 

For other recommendation of bee hoon soup, read:

• Penang Road Bee Hoon Soup 
• Xiang Xia (鄉下) Bee Hoon Soup

 

Avocado Milk @ Tanjung Pagar

It is relatively easy to find Avocado Milk (酪梨牛奶) all over Singapore. However, some tasted too sweet; some too much milk; some not enough avocado; some cost too much and it is quite tough indeed to find the perfect balance.Fortunately I have tried one that to me seems to have just the right balance of all the ingredients. It is not too sweet, the ratio of avocado to milk is just right and comes at an affordable price too.

This stall is located along Enggor Street in Tanjung Pagar within walking distance from the nearest East-West line MRT station. The coffee shop name is called Realty Food House and they have a variety of economical hawker food stalls inside that are very popular among the working class people during lunch break. The drink and dessert stall that sells avocado milk is right in front of this coffee shop and you sure will not miss it.

If you want to make sure that you get a cup of this delicious healthy drink, go there early in the morning or during lunch time as it is usually sold out right after lunch. This clearly tells you the popularity of this drink!

Among the benefits to health of avocado include:

• Stroke Prevention (预防中风)
• Prostate Cancer Prevention (预防前列腺癌)
• Increase Immune Defense against Oral Cancer
• Lowering Cholesterol (降低胆固醇)
• Healthier Heart (健康的心脏)
• Enhance Nutrient Absorption (增强营养吸收)
• Rich in Vitamin E (富含维生素E)

Stir Fried Crab With Salted Egg @ Sembawang

There are many different ways to cook a crab and the most common three are either baked, steamed or stir fried (炒螃蟹). For the stir fried way, there are many varieties as well, you can choose to stir fried the crab with cheese, black pepper, chilly and many other spices depending on where you go. But my all time favorite is to stir fried the crab with salted egg (咸蛋)!

I first came to know this when I stumbled upon a very modest food court in Singapore. I like the smaller scale of this food court as it is not very crowded compare to other food courts located in shopping malls all across Singapore. And this wonderful dish was sold at a crazily affordable price at the Broadway Food Centre, Sembawang, Singapore. It is surrounded by HDB flats and within walking distance from the Sembawang MRT Station and Sun Plaza, this place is easily accessible. If you stay in one of the HDB blocks around the vicinity, you can just take a relax stroll to this place and order two crabs for just S$25! 

The flesh of crab itself already has great taste, but when its natural sweetness combines with the saltiness of salty egg, it is simply magical! This is the wonderful thing about cuisine, it is all about the combination of tastes to take the fabulous dish to the next level so that people simply can't get enough ot it and desire for more! Cooking is much like composing music; when different notes are put together, a new melody is created. Cuisine is indeed an art!

Besides the melting pot of tastes, the end result of a dish is also very much depends upon the way it is cooked. Sometimes inexperienced chef who overcooked the crabs would make the flesh sticks to the shells and taste dryer at the same time. To make someone completely satisfies with his dining experience, first the environment of the place has to be comfortable, the food is well presented, delicious and finally it must not be a hassle while eating it. If you were to spend half of the time struggling to get the flesh out of the shell, do you think you will enjoy it? This does happen to some other places I have been to but not for this stall in Sembawang. Although stir fried, the flesh can still be easily separated from the shell while the juiciness of it was retained at the same time. When you have finish devoured all the flesh within the shell, you will find yourself licking the gravy around every single shell that has it, it was much more 'finger licking good' than KFC. It was that good! 

Toast Box @ Changi Airport

Airports around the world are infamous for their pricy food which are higher than the market rate at all time. An orange juice can cost you $8 when you can just get it for $2 in the city. Most people would refrain from dining at the airport unless it is really necessary.

The good news is now you can find cheap decent food if you happen to visit Singapore's Changi Airport next time! It is called Toast Box and they mainly serve breakfast style meals which is good enough if you just wish to get a quick bite after you have arrived from a long hour flight and do not wish to wait until you get to the city to eat.

The Soft Bun Set - S$4.20

The interior of the place is sort of antique yet modern style kind of design. All the furniture were painted white. There are many Toast Box outlets all across Singapore and there is one at Woodlands where they play nice soothing music which really makes you feel calm in this hectic city. Unfortunately the one at Changi Airport does not have piped in music. Nevertheless, it is still a good place to visit for affordable food at the airport.

 

It is located at the Arrival Hall of Terminal 2, Changi Airport and opens 24 hours.

Contact number: (65) 6214 9580 

HIGH SOCIETY @ Marina Bay Sands

Marina Bay Sands; Singapore’s Integrated Resort right at the heart of the city center is a must visit for whoever travel to the island. As its name implies, the entire complex and public spaces are envisioned to be the perfect hangout place for everyone in the family. It has a world class casino, museum, retails, hotel, public park and of course eating outlets which I’m only interested to write about for this blog.

The shopping mall complex at Marina Bay Sands is huge; you can basically do your workout simply by window shopping the entire building! Yes, it is that huge. A building that big definitely has plenty of choices to offer to its patrons in gastronomical terms. There are many restaurants with various cuisines. There is also a food court which most people decided to go to due to its more affordable prices.

However, due to the huge crowd at the food court and the near impossible chance of securing a table for myself, I opted for a restaurant nearby instead. It is called High Society right next to a CD shop outlet. It is a music themed restaurant that serves mainly modern western and Asian fine dining cuisine. 

Entrance of High Society

Restaurant's chic interior.

You will be greeted by an extremely friendly waitress who keeps smiling all the time. I ordered the Summer Set Menu which she repeatedly recommended. There was a list of entre and main course for you to choose from. I ended choosing the Smoked Salmon as entre and Wagyu Beef Rump as my main course. I was then politely told that they have sold out their Wagyu beef and will replace tenderloin steak for me instead. I was initially hesitated as I have never tasted Wagyu beef before and really want to try it. However, I decided to take the risk and accepted their replacement.

First came the soup of the day to get your saliva flowing. The soup did not leave me with any unexpected impression as I only prefer mushroom soup which they were not serving on that day. Then came the Smoked Salmon entre. The thinly sliced salmon taste fantastic and together with the salad on top, this is the perfect dish for entre as your body can absorb all the nutrients of the vegetables. The saltiness of the smoked salmon worked very well with the relatively tasteless but juicy fresh vegetable.

Soup of the day.

Entre - Smoked Salmon

Then the main course arrives which I have initially lowered my expectation as it is not Wagyu beef. The presentation of it is really creative. Instead of the usual solid green peas and cut potato, they served mashed potato and green peas as well. I’ve seen mashed potato but not mashed green peas. And they were spread out in two broad strokes on the plate as the base for the beef. It is a good contrast with the dark brown color of the beef. The two small tomato that sat on top of the beef give the final color accent to the whole plate. So far so good, the presentation was creative and above expectation. I then cut a piece of the beef and inserted into my mouth. I simply could not believe the tenderness of the beef! It was soft, juicy and without the meaty smell. Needless to say, I was glad that I’ve picked this as my main course. After finishing your meal, you get to choose your dessert from the display counter at the front of the restaurant.

Wagyu Beef Rump

Earl Grey Tea

Strawberry Cheese Cake.

Located at B2-43, Canal Level of the Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands.
Telephone: +65 6688 7522
Business Hours:
Sunday - Thursday: 10am - 11pm
Friday & Saturday: 10am - 1am

Just like Gardens by the Bay, you can get there by exiting at Bayfront Station of the Circle Line MRT.