Kampar Fish Jelly Restaurant

Here is the catch, Kampar Fish Jelly Restaurant is not located in Kampar and Fish Jelly is not the signature dish served there. I wonder who is their advisor on branding. Anyway, it is located in Pantai Jerejak, Penang near Queensbay Mall and people make a beeline there for their Yong Tau Foo. It is particularly popular among university students and residents living nearby.

Chefs preparing food at the front of the restaurant.

Long queue at the shop entrance.

Once you reach there, be kiasu a bit and quickly split up your forces with one person queue up while another go into the restaurant to grab a table. Let your queuing friend in front know the table number so that he can inform the staff when he makes the order. Besides Yong Tau Foo, they also have herbal chicken in aluminum foil. My favorite has to be the deep fried beancurd sheets which is very crispy minus the oiliness.

Some of the must try items are fish paste stuffed vegetables and fish balls.

Hand made egg noodle (Hakka noodle) topped with minced meat accompanying the main dish.

Order their barley (Fu Chook Yee Mai) for drinks early as it finish selling very fast, this is their signature drink.

Opening Hours: Tuesday to Sunday
Morning: 10.30am - 2.30pm
Evening: 6.30pm - 9.30pm

RATINGS
Food                                           : 4/5
Service                                        : 3/5
Atmosphere                                 : 3/5
Value for money                           : 4/5
Chances of going back for more   : 3/5 
OVERALL                                    : 3.4/5

Koay Teow Th'ng @ Church Street

Koay Teow Th'ng or flat noodle soup is one of the favorite Penang hawker food. There are varieties depending on which place you go, some serve with chicken, some with pork while quite a few come with duck meat.Personally I prefer the one garnished with duck meat as the soup taste sweeter and richer compare to others. One particular place that I usually go is situated along Church Street and called Eng Loh cafe.

My favorite time to patronize this coffee shop is around 12 noon as it is not so crowded. Being in an old colonial building, the interior is very much cooler thanks to the thick load bearing walls around it. With cooler temperature, you tend to enjoy your food more, my personal feeling anyway.

I particularly like the silky smooth noodle that gives soothing texture in the mouth. It is a healthier hawker food as it is not too oily compared to the other usual fried dishes which Penang is famous for.

Best to be eaten together with the cut chillies to give an explosive impact and improve blood circulation at the same time. RM4.50 for big bowl.

I usually order big bowl with additional Koay Teow simply because it digest quickly and by 3pm in the afternoon you will feel hungry already if you take the small bowl.

The senior couple that have years of experience in preparing this dish.

The building frontage along Church Street.

After your hearty lunch you can just walk across the road to visit the renowned Pinang Peranakan Museum and savoring some Baba Nyonya culture. This is another reason why I like to come here. It is located right in the heart of George Town's heritage enclave where you can visit many beautiful colonial architecture all within walking distance. Places like Fort Cornwallis, the Esplanade, Town Hall and City Hall are just a stone throw away. However, just a piece of advice that you might want to bring along an umbrella with you as the afternoon sun in the tropics is not very pleasant.

Pinang Peranakan Museum

RATINGS

Food                                           : 4/5

Service                                        : 3/5

Atmosphere                                 : 3/5

Value for money                           : 4/5

Chances of going back for more   : 4/5 

OVERALL                                    : 3.6/5

For my other recommendation of this dish, refer to Hutton Lane Koay Teow Th'ng.

If you wish to learn how to cook this dish, refer Recipe Of Koay Teow Th'ng.

Pan Mee

Pan Mee (板面) is a kind of noodle that is quite popular in central Malaysia. But it is quite difficult to find a good one in Penang compare to other more popular local hawker food like Hokkien Mee, Char Koay Teow or Laksa. If you really must have Pan Mee in Penang then head to I Mum Mum at Macallum Street. From Weld Quay, go straight towards Tun Dr. Lim Chong Eu Expressway. Right after the first traffic light turn left into a small service road and start looking for a parking space. The shop is facing an internal courtyard but you should see people sitting around the place.

Pan Mee Soup - RM3.00

Spicy Pan Mee - RM3.40

Deep Fried Sui Kow

Deep fried wantan (炸云吞) is quite common in Penang but not deep fried Sui Kow.

The food is actually quite delicious compare to other Pan Mee in town. However, the place is simply too hot and stuffy for me as the heat from the kitchen seems to be unable to escape due to the low ceiling of the place. Hence the only downside is the environment, other than that everything is fine.

RATINGS

Food                                           : 3/5

Service                                        : 3/5

Atmosphere                                 : 1/5

Value for money                           : 4/5

Chances of going back for more   : 1/5 

OVERALL                                    : 2.4/5

Food Court @ Esplanade

Are you looking for cheap food at one of a kind location? Then you should check out the food court at the Penang Esplanade. Smacked right in between the open space of esplanade and Fort Cornwallis; this place offers variety of Chinese and Malay dishes. This place is very crowded during weekdays' lunch time as many offices, law firms and banks are located in the vicinity. Its environment is very unique because it is situated right in between the two most popular tourist spots in Penang. The food court itself is very interestingly located underneath a huge old trees that shelter the place from the intense heat of the afternoon sun.

Esplanade with the Town Hall and City Hall buildings as its backdrop.

Greeting you at the entrance to the food court is the famous Fort Cornwallis.

The food court underneath the giant tree.

As for the food, my recommendation is Hokkien Char (Hainanese fried egg noodle), Chicken Chop and Fish 'n' Chips. For drinks, you got to try out the Coconut Shake to cool off and refresh yourself on this hot tropical island. It is basically a coconut drink with a scoop of Vanilla ice cream on top. When the ice cream melt and blends in with the coconut drink, the mixture of taste is simply refreshing!

Hokkien Char (Hainanese Fried Egg Noodle and Bee Hoon) - RM4.20

Chicken Chop - RM7.50

Coconut Shake - RM2.50

RATINGS
Food                                           : 4/5
Service                                        : 3/5
Atmosphere                                 : 4/5
Value for money                           : 4/5
Chances of going back for more   : 4/5 
OVERALL                                    : 3.8/5

TAO Authentic Asian Cuisine

There are not many Japanese buffet in Penang. Most of the time you would have to go for A la carte menu in major Japanese restaurants around town. The only place that we usually go for Japanese buffet is TAO. 

TAO (道) restaurant at Juru Auto-City on the mainland of Penang has bigger space and nicer environment compare to the one on the island. It is better to always make a reservation first before going as it is quite packed especially during weekends. It is all you can eat but unlike normal buffet, you need to order your choice of dishes and the waiter/ waitress will bring them to you once ready. Of course you can order as much as your tummy can take. They serve fusion of Chinese and Japanese dishes. 

If you love Sashimi (raw sliced fish/ 生鱼片) and oyster then it is worth it. Total bill for 2 pax including taxes is RM123.95.

Clockwise from top: grill scallop, abalone, Sashimi and grill salmon

Clockwise from top: tempura, Shisamo and Prosperity Prawn

Baked oyster with cheese

grill Saba fish

Contact: 604-5017 826
Business Hour:
Monday to Thursday: 12.00am - 4.00pm / 5.30pm - 10.30pm
Friday to Sunday: 12.00am - 4.00pm / 5.30pm - 11.00pm

RATINGS
Food                                           : 3/5
Service                                        : 4/5
Atmosphere                                 : 4/5
Value for money                           : 3/5
Chances of going back for more   : 2/5 
OVERALL                                    : 3.2/5

Tok Tok Mee

In the past, a wantan mee seller will hit a bowl with a pair of chopsticks, making a sound like "tok-tok tok-tok" to announce his arrival and attract people's attention. Hence the origin of the name Tok Tok Mee. Today major hawker stalls in Penang will display the dish simply as wantan noodles.

Wantan noodle is probably the easiest hawker food to prepare. You just simply boil the noodle for an instant and toss it into a plate filled with soya sauce and pepper. The only tough part maybe the preparation of wantan or dumpling. Wrapping the wantan indeed needs skill. And the ingredients within it dictate the overall tastiness of the entire dish as the wantan is the main element of a wantan noodle.

As mentioned, wantan noodle is served with wantan (Cantonese word for dumpling) and vegetable. Wantan is basically a dumpling stuffed with minced pork and prawn which may be boiled or deep fried. It can be easily found throughout Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Guangzhou. The taste however, varies from place to place. In Malaysia alone, you will notice the difference from one town to another. I personally like the dish as it is not so heavy and I love noodle! If you are in town center of Penang, then you may want to check out this place along Burmah Road next to New World Park. It is known as Maria Wantan Mee.

A small plate cost RM3.00 and the business hour starts around 5.30pm in the afternoon.

RATINGS

Food                                           : 3/5

Service                                        : 3/5

Atmosphere                                 : 3/5

Value for money                           : 3/5

Chances of going back for more   : 3/5 

OVERALL                                    : 3/5

For recipe of this dish; visit:-

• Recipe of Tok Tok Mee

Annathai-Kitchen

Can you take hot and sour food? This is the question posed to us by this restaurant's owner when we were about to order. If you are a first timer to this place, don't worry if you don't understand the food name in Thai or you can't read images on the menu well as the boss himself will make recommendation to you. For the first time I think it is OK to let him recommend but if you go there the second time, I suggest you make the order yourself in order to control the amount written on the bill later on. The following images were the dishes recommended to us:

 Chef's choice - vegetable imported from Phuket; fried with egg. This is the best dish!

 Deep fried pork legs

 Glass noodle

 Steamed Lemon Fish

Thai style curry chicken

 Dessert

Drinks: Red Salak

Our bill for the evening (4 adults + my little one playing with food) came down to RM103. Generally satisfied with the service, ambience and taste. If you like Thai food, you should try this place.

Contact: 604-2277 599
SMS Reservation: 019-3108899
Business Hour: 11.00am - 2.30pm / 6.00pm - 9.30pm
Closed on Monday.

RATINGS
Food                                           : 4/5
Service                                        : 4/5
Atmosphere                                 : 3/5
Value for money                           : 3/5
Chances of going back for more   : 3/5 
OVERALL                                    : 3.4/5