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.