Malaysia/Penang food review with map and GPS

When I worked in my first company, there was once my lunch partners and I travelled from mainland to Penang island just for a food, 观音亭卤面 Loh Mee. What so special about this food? It is actually yellow noodle mixed with pork, fully boiled egg, etc and served in soup made of five spices (五香粉) and egg york. You can add some side orders such as chicken legs, pork hands, and extra eggs. You can find Loh Mee stall in many coffee shop but the key of different is on the soup itself.

The shop is at Pulau Tikus. If you travel from Midland Park (in which Adventist Hospital is on your right), continue travelling until you see the shop at one corner on your left (see Wikimapia link below). There are other stalls there also if you are not in the mood of having Loh Mee. There is a new stall in which you can order a variety of steamed rice + main dish. I ordered steamed rice with steamed fish but the fish slices are super thin and few. A “No No” for big tummy like me.

Wikimapia

Last Friday (19-Sep-2008), I had my lunch with my friend at HK Wong Kok, Queensbay Mall, Penang. Friday is a good day for restaurants there as many factory workers and slaves like me like to go there for slightly “luxury” lunch. Many restaurants had been queued up so we quickly picked HK Wong Kok even though it is almost full as well.

We ordered the following items and luckily the wait was not long:

沙参玉竹马蹄露水 Chestnul Herbal	招牌炒饭 Salt Egg Fried Rice	正宗香港波罗包 Po Lou Custard
招牌鲜虾云吞面 Wanton Noodle	上海菜肉锅贴 Pork Chinese Dumpling

元肉冬瓜水 Logan Winter Melon (RM3.90) – A herbal drink served chill.
沙参玉竹马蹄露水 Chestnul Herbal (RM 3.90) – A herbal drink served chill.
招牌炒饭 Salt Egg Fried Rice (RM9.50) – A tasty fried rice mixed with chicken, vegetables, salt eggs, and prawns.
正宗香港波罗包 Po Lou Custard (RM1.50 each) – A must try side order when visiting the restaurant.
招牌鲜虾云吞面 Wanton Noodle (RM8.30) – Another specialty of the restaurant even though the noodle is kind of small for big tummy like me.
上海菜肉锅贴 Pork Chinese Dumpling (RM6.00) – A tasty dumpling stuffed with pork and vegetables.

Definitely the price is at higher end. There is even a fried rice called “Rich man fried rice” (有钱人炒饭) which costs about RM16.90 excluding 10% service tax. With the same price, you most probably can eat 4 plates at hawker stall until enter ambulance car. However, you should try their custards especially the Po Lou Custard as recommended by my friend. I also noticed many people order custards at a counter in front.

When Queensbay Mall first opened, one of the hot topics people talked about is restaurants inside the mall. T.G.I. Friday is one of them. T.G.I. actually stands for “Thank God It’s”, basically means Friday is a happy day. After analyzing, there is nothing special (such as 50% discount… buy one free one…) if you dine in on Friday. It is just the shop name. In fact, you usually have to queue up on Friday. The management style as well as the menu items are very similar to Chili’s.

Shrimp Martini	Summer Cyclist	Tortilla Fish
Friday's Mushroom	Mud Pie

It had been a while since my last visit to T.G.I. Friday on Dec-2007. However, it is memorable as I recalled that the mud pie which is included in 3 course meal, is tasty and very big. The main dish is Tortilla Fish which is just average in size and taste. The fish fillet is fried with tortilla chips which can be found in junk food section of supermarket. For the entree, I chosen Shrimp Martini and it is kind of unique as it is served in a wine glass with 7 shrimps in it. I was told by my friend that some customers only get 2 shrimps. Nice experience even though it is served in cold. The 3 meal course is RM39.90++.

The drink, especially ice-blended fruit mix, can be too sweet for some persons. For example, my friend ordered Summer Cyclist, a mixture of orange and strawberry juice, and had to add in some water as it is too sweet. We also ordered Friday’s mushroom and it is as good as the one in Manhattan’s Fish Market.

As a whole, T.G.I. Friday may offer cheaper price compared to Chili’s but the dishes may not as big as the later. It is much depended on food you choose from 3 meal course. The choice is yours.

Name: T.G.I. Friday
Address: Lot GF 131 & 139, Ground Floor,
Queensbay Mall,
100, Persiaran Bayan Indah, Bayan Lepas,
11900 Pulau Pinang, Malaysia.
Tel: 04 – 641 3363
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.fridays.com.my

I remembered this restaurant’s first outlet is opposite of Bukit Jambul complex. After Tesco acquiring Makro at Sungai Dua (nearby USM), Tutti Frutti moved its outlet to the new location. You can’t miss the restaurant in Tesco Extra as it is just next to the main entrance with clear glass. Speaking of clear glass, it would be better if they make it as semi transparent so that customers have more privacy when dining there.

Wo Tie 窝贴

Le Chicken Noodle 烂鸡面

When I first visited to the new shop, I ordered Le Chicken Noodle (RM6.90) which is noodle served in a claypot with oyster mushroom and boneless chicken. It tastes good even though the Chinese name sounds funny (is called 烂面鸡). The Fried Gyoza (RM7.00), however, is just average and the price can be cheaper.

It had been a while since my last visit (on Sep-2007) to the restaurant so the food may be different now. Most of the time it only has few customers. Most of them are teenagers and USM students. Perhaps it is due to the fact that it is non-halal and lack of privacy since it is near to main entrance. People walked by can see what you are eating through the glass.

Surprisingly it has a good website.

Name: Tutti Frutti
Address: L1-01, Tesco Extra Sungai Dua, No. 675, Jalan Sungai Dua, 11700 Sungai Dua, Penang, Malaysia.
Tel: 604 656 8861
Web: http://www.tuttifrutti.com.my/

If you taking the road to Penang airport but turn right at the traffic light at Jalan Tengah (to Giants of Bayan Baru), you will notice a row of shops on your right hand side after turning. It is called Taman Sri Tunas and there are many banks there. There is one restaurant next to a vegetarian shop and is called Tai Fuu Chinese Restaurant (大富小食馆). This shop actually changed many owners. One of the reasons I seldom go there is because it is hard to find a parking there.

Mango Chicken

招牌豆腐

招牌面

The food, however, considered okay. There are many set lunches for 2 or more persons so it is more appropriate to go there in group. Going solo like me will ended up just order a dish and a rice. My last visit is on 11-Sep-2008 and I ordered one Mango Chicken (香芒鸡) (RM8.00). It is little spicy though. It has its own specialties such as Tai Fuu Tofu (RM8.00) and Tai Fuu Noodle (RM4.00) as well. The noodle served with fresh prawns so it is worth the price.

The menu’s prices are quite fixed (e.g. RM6.00, RM8.00, RM10.00, etc). Unlike other restaurants, this air-conditioned shop does not feel too smokey. You should try it one day if you pass by there.

Name: Tai Fuu Chinese Restaurant 大富小食馆
Address: No. 20, Ground Floor, Taman Sri Tunas, Jalan Tengah, 11900 Bayan Lepas, Penang.
Tel: 04-6437885, 016-4227885
Opening Hour: 11:30am – 2:30pm, 6.00pm – 10:00pm (Thursday open from 11:30am – 2:30pm only)
Wikimapia: http://www.wikimapia.org/9893157/Tai-Fuu-Chinese-Restaurant

When I got my very first digital camera back in Sep 2007, I remember the first food picture I took is from Chili’s. I was ordering Firecracker Fish Fillet (RM28.95++) that time. I was informed that the dishes there are usually big. Unfortunately, this is not the case for the fish fillet I ordered. Kind of unfortunate for the first visit.

Firecracker Fish Fillet

Chili's Dining Area

Another uniqueness in Chili’s is that you can enjoy “bottomless” soft drink, fruit juice, and potato chips. Just call for waitress and they will help you refill the glass.

Time flies by and I had entered Chili’s 4 times. During my 2nd visit (Jan 2008), I ordered “Fajita Quesadillas” (RM 24.95++). I was asked to whether or not to add rice + black bean. Chinese man like me sure say “yes”. I regretted later as I underestimated their dish size. It consists of 8 slices of “kebab ayam” a-like fajitas (and rice! and bean!) and I had to take away some as my dinner that day. This is what we called “BIG”.

Chocolate Banana Smoothies

Tequila-Lime Fish Steak

Bottomless Apple Juice

Chicken Crisper

For 3rd visit, I ordered “Tequila-Lime Fish Steak” (RM26.95++) and again is a small dish (taste okay anyway). I ordered Chicken Crisper on my latest visit on August.

Overall, all the food mentioned tastes good even though it is at expensive side. You should visit Chili’s if you have big stomach and look for big dishes. In fact, their burgers are quite big as well. Many foreign visitors like to visit the place due to “bottomless” drinks and big dishes. I heard that their reservation system is kind of weird as they don’t entertain non-full party and you are not allowed to bring in food from outside. Also, the official website don’t have local menu, which is a minus for cheap slave class like me to prepare enough coins for the meal.

As a result, while waiting for the food to arrive, I copied down some menu items and created a PDF file here so that readers can take a look on the items and prices. It is incomplete and I am not intended to finished it. Always refer to the restaurant’s menu for the latest update. Thanks.

Chili’s menu/price list compiled by me

Name: Chili’s Grill and Bar
Address: Gurney Plaza, Persiaran Gurney, Georgetown, Pulau Penang 10250, Malaysia.
Tel: 04-2101111
Web: http://www.chilis.com/

Few weeks ago I talked about a foodstall in Queensbay Mall called Shilin Taiwan Street. Before the foodstall is opened, there is actually another Taiwanese restaurant at the same floor called Taiwan Bull. My first dish there is seafood stone rice back in 2-Apr-2008, in which personally I feel it is slightly dried (lack of a tasty sauce… a BBQ or kimchi sauce would be nice) even though it has variety of ingredients. The prawns and mussels are fresh anyway.

Recently, thinking of comparing the XXL Crispy Chicken between Taiwan Bull and Shihlin, I revisited the shop again and I ordered the stuff. Most workers are our friends from neighbour country and I hope they are hygiene enough as I “detected” usual odour when the waiter pass the menu to me. Strangely, even though there are many waiters around, you still need to fill in the form and walk to the counter by yourself to pay for the bill first. Even though it follows Taiwanese culture, I feel it is better to let the waitress handles the task and pay after the meal due to different environment and culture here.

I also ordered a dessert called Papaya Coconut Sago 木瓜椰糖西米露 (RM4.50), which tastes like cendol and is quite nice. You should give it a try if you are okay with santan (coconut milk). When I placed my order, I was asked whether or not to include a rice for my XXL Crispy Chicken 超大鸡排 (RM6.90) for additional RM1.00. Chinese likes rice so hell yes! I was worried the dishes will be too dried but luckily there is a soup provided when the dishes arrived.

Papaya Coconut Sago

XXL Crispy Chicken 超大雞排

XXL Crispy Chicken (served with rice and soup)

When the crispy chicken arrived, however, it was chopped into pieces (DUH!) so I can’t compare the size of it. When I tasted the first pieces, immediately I felt that Shihlin’s one is better than this as this one is too dried and not fragrant. It may due to the fact that it had been kept in refigerator for quite some time. Shihlin’s one is juicer and the meat is more tender. Since Shihlin is RM0.90 cheaper, definitely I will go for Shihlin.

However, Taiwan Bull provides more choices in the menu, including the stone rice, noodles, desserts, etc I mentioned about. The dining hall is ample as well compared to Shihlin in which you have to squeeze your balls and bumper to get a seat. By focusing on improvement on existing specialties, Taiwan Bull can be an excellent restaurant around that area.

Name: Taiwan Bull Restaurant
Address: LG45-46, Queensbay Mall, Persiaran Bayan Indah, Bayan Lepas, Penang, Malaysia.
Tel: ??
Web: ??

I noticed this shop at Jalan Hutton when I look for lunch in New Word Park during my birthday. It was nearly 3PM and the lunch hour almost finished so I plan to visit it in other day. When I walk away I noticed a young girl dressed in pink maid custume… uh… uniform walked out thanking leaving guests. 8o I wonder whether there is Sailor Moon inside….

Anyway, here came Friday (15/Aug/08) in which I snake out earlier at 11:30am (in fact, consider “normal” as that is my usual lunch time… wahahaha) and went to the shop to have a try. There is no customer there yet and probably I was their first customer that afternoon… *gulupp* After flipping the simple menu I ordered Nabeyaki Udon & Salmon Temaki Set. At the mean time I snapped some photos…

KissA Koyotei Cafe (Bar Counter)

KissA Koyotei Cafe (Dining Hall View)

Nabeyaki Udon & Salmon Temaki Lunch

The dining hall is spacious with a bar counter serving sake as well. I managed to snap a photo of the maid preparing temaki for me 😳 The girls is wearing short pink maid dress which make this place probably a nice place for guys…. *woohoo*

Getting back to business, the set lunch (RM23.00++) I ordered is not bad as they come with 2 x salmon temaki, nabeyaki udon, chawan-mushi, and fruit. The maids are friendly as they greet you when you arrive, and “arigato gozai masu ta” when you leave.

An area of improvement is perhaps the menu itself to make it informative and attractive enough. For example, I was not aware that green tea is actually free until I received the bill. In the menu, it says additional RM2.80 is required for coffee, english tea, and fruit juice (set lunch), but never mention about green tea which is common in every Japanese restaurant. However, with the attractive maids, who care how much is the addtional cost. Just order Hennesy V.S.O.P and drink with the maids! 😆

Name: kissA Koyotei cafe
Address: No. 148, Grd Flr, Jalan Hutton, 10040 Georgetown, Penang.
Tel: 04-2266272, 04-2264272 (Fax)
Web: http://kissa-koyotei.com

After having a nice hiking this Monday (25-Aug-2008), I took a bath and quickly went out to cure my empty stomach. Thinking of it had been a long time since I tried Red Chopstick Restaurant at i-Avenue, Penang, I planned to try it again that night.

In my opinion, previously the food is just okay. This time, the restaurant decoration seems improved. Also, the restaurant seems “diversify” itself to include even more cuisines. I even saw pasta in the menu even though it looks like Chinese restaurant. Anyway, after flipping through the thick menu, I ordered rice wine chicken claypot set meal (RM9.90), otak-otak poh piah (RM6.00), and cendol with atap chee (RM4.90).

Red Chopstick Restaurant Trademark

Cendol with Atap Chee

砂煲米酒鸡 Claypot Rice Wine Chicken

Otak-Otak Poh Piah

The cendol came first. The ice, however, is not properly shaved as it became an ice ball and I have to use spoon to “dig” it… if versus with the one at Thai Station, I still prefer the later one. For the rice wine claypot, unfortunately it tastes like chicken cooked with sweet ginger soup. I am expecting it to have little wine+spicy taste but it is too sweet. For the otak-otak poh piah, even though the skin is well fried, the otak-otak, including the fish, was tasteless. Perhaps the chef should make it juicier.

As a whole, even though the menu items had been increased, Red Chopstick should focus on identifying their specialties, and improving them from the feedback of customers.

Name: Restaurant Red Chopstick

Wikimapia

As mentioned in my previous post, I had my lunch at Gurney Driver during my birthday… alone. It is Mr. Pot at Gurney Drive. When I arrived there at 3PM, there are quite a number of customers there, with some of them bring a laptop surfing net and some of them meeting friends… talking business.

Sandwich Cordon Bleu

Mocha Banana Smoothie

After flipping through the menu I ordered one Sandwich Cordon Bleu (RM 12.50++) and one Mocha+Banana+Hazelnut+Vanila Smoothie (RM9.80++). The Cordon Bleu is just an average chicken Cordon Bleu stuffed with cheese and ham.

However, judging on the fact that this restaurant is running 24 hours, it is expected the price to be slightly expensive. The menu comes with other local cuisine as well as variety of toasts good for breakfast. It should be a place for friends to hang out and chit chat.

Gurney Drive (Tunnel)

Gurney Drive (Skinny Birds)

Gurney Drive (Low Tide)

After leaving the restaurant, I took some photos on ugly beach of Gurney Drive. When I was small, my parents used to bring me here for food, especially chestnut. The food is sold along the Gurney Drive but now is no longer available.