Northan Beach Cafe 诺登美食坊

Of course, we wouldn't stop at just one place. Comparison is constantly required.

We drove around Gurney area in search for food and finally stumbled upon Northan Beach Cafe.

The car park was the reason we stopped by, it was all huge and full of cars, on top of that, most cars were registered in Penang, what did it say? This place is fairly popular among the locals.!!;-)
Despite the number of stalls, I believe sea view is the major attraction of Northern. The place was cramped and we were lucky enough to have a table that's facing the sea. BIL's nose is a sharp receptor, this is a lovely snack ordered by him, deep fried tofu stuffed with salted fish, yummy!While everyone is checking out the Penang delicacy, I suddenly had the urge to try this bakuteh. Must be curious why Penang Bakuteh and not Klang!? ;-PBeef noodle was for Moon, she somehow prefers the one from New Lane (next to Sunway Hotel), me too. FYI, this is no ordinary Char Koay Teow! It's fried with duck's egg but tasted quite ordinary though. BIL's remark is "The New Lane's one is better!" ( New Lane again ;-p) I think Penangites are very lucky coz the "hor hor chiak" grilled chicken wings are always available at almost every hawker food center. Grilled parrot fish (RM28) was new but not something I'd appreciate! the marinade was not done long enough. Texture of the fish is quite similar to talapia which is quite limp and tasteless. Definitely not my type of food! Overall, as you can see, the word "New Lane" has been repeated so many times, needless to say, New Lane is still better in term of taste. Nonetheless, the dining ambiance here is certainly an aswesome one!

Northan Beach Cafe 诺登美食坊
Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah
opposite of Northam Hotel (near Gurney)
Penang, Malaysia

Asam Laksa @ Pasar Air Itam (Kek Lok Si)

Kek Lok Si is the only tourist hot spot we visited this time coz we all were too busy with "cari makan".*lol* “Eat as you go” is always the attitude we carry along whenever we go travel. Sister used to say, our instinct is always more reliable than food guide. ;-)

By the time we came down from Kek Lok Si, we were all exhausted. Since we're here, no way for not paying a visit to the well-known Asam Laksa from Pasar Air Itam, right?

In KL, laksa generally refers to curry laksa but here in Penang, laksa means asam laksa.

No one actually told us, by looking at the number of customers dining there, we just assumed this is the right one! It’s on the left of the main road to Kek Lok Si temple which can be noticed easily.

The signboard says RM2.70 per bowl.

Garnished with shredded pineapple, lettuce, bird's eye chili, cucumber, onion, pink bunga kantan (ginger flower's bud) and Vietnamese mint's leave, asam laksa is a healthier delicacy compared to the others, I suppose!?

It 's simply addictive just sipping the hot & sour asam soup that slow boiled with flesh of ikan kampung in addition with a scoop of superior prawn paste.Fresh crushed sugar cane juice was certainly an ideal refreshment to go with laksa…

And, also muachi to sink your sweet teeth! A complete meal at hawker stall, here we go! ;-P

Pasar Road (Beside the Air Itam Market) 11500 Air ItamPenang

http://www.what2seeonline.com/2009/08/penang-assam-laksa-air-itam-market/

Macalister Road, the Heaven of Penang Street Food

When I told my friend that we're going to Penang for holiday, friend's reaction was, “Wah so nice ah, can eat a lot of nice food loh....”. Yes, it's indeed the main purpose of the trip. Penang is always linked to our famous Malaysian hawker stall food like Char Koay Teow, Penang Prawn Mee, Asam Laksa and etc, therefore "Penang = Food Heaven". ;-)

BIL was delighted that we chose to stay at Sunway Hotel Gerogetown, various hawker food stalls lined at the side of the New Lane (Lorong Baru) in front of Sin Yin Nam Cafe after dark, this area is undoubtedly a paradise for glutton and I bet BIL won't mind to come here for dinner every night! ;-)
Char Koay Teow could be found almost at every hawker center here in Penang and I know Penangites are particular about it. The Char Koay Teow we ordered was served on a piece of banana leave and it comprised prawns, cockles, egg and heaps of bean sprouts. The waiting time was approximately 45 min. See the white bits on top? Those are crab meat.

Grilled chicken wings were fantastic.....I need at least a PAIR.Come to this beef noodle, it was a true surprise! The broth was light yet went well with the tangy fragrance of cress and fried garlic. It was so good that prompted me to go back for supper the following night.....Kangkong sotong (water spinach with cuttlefish) is also a very popular street food in Penang, the cuttlefish was bountiful and very crunchy.......Yong Tao Fu stuffed with fish paste was so-so only but don't know why it took forever to arrive.... Sister spotted this fried intestine when our car passed by the lane led to Sunway Hotel, she ordered the porridge with fried intestine, century egg and liver. I thought the intestine was rather stinky but she said it was good.The only thing that we concluded as "NO GOOD" was the fried oyster omelet, coz it was way too starchy and none of us volunteered to finish it. The curry noodle on the tray looked tempting too.

So many good food yet our stomach has got so little space*sigh*, no way, not this time, next time!!!

Sin Yin Nam Cafe

New Lane (Off Macalister Road), Georgetown, 10400 Penang, Malaysia

Kedai Kopi Kong Heng 光兴茶室

We decided to stop by Ipoh for lunch while on the way to Penang….....

There are only few main streets in Ipoh, called a Ipoh Mari friend to get advice and he recommended Kong Heng.

Since we were getting late, in order not to waste time, we asked an uncle working at the patrol station for direction. After some detailed briefing, uncle gave us a tip. He said the shop next to Kong Heng serves the best Hor Fun in town.

It’s already 2pm when we arrived. Both Kong Heng and the shop next to it were full. In Ipoh, this is rather common phenomena, as long as famous it’s always packed throughout the whole business hours.

This Ipoh Chee Cheong Fun (RM2.50 per plate) reminds me an ex-uni mate from Ipoh. His family runs the Chee Cheong Fun ( flat rice noodle)'s business. During one of the semester break, someone hand-carried some Chee Cheong Fun back from his hometown. He was so generous to treat us a Chee Cheong Fun Feast in the dorm and until now, I still think that is the best Chee Cheong Fun I had ever eaten, exactly the same red and dark sauce, pickled chili , fried shallots and sesame, so nostalgic when I gotta relish this silky Chee Cheong Fun again. Ipoh's Hor Fun (flat rice noodle) is famous, we wanted to try the best one next door but the boss rejected to send it over ( uncle from patrol station said we could actually request to do so but obviously they do not provide such service during peak hours). The one selling sliced chicken Hor Fun at Kong Heng seemed not so busy, our Hor Fun soup was sent to us pretty fast. The broth was not bad though not many Hor Fun given. The price is RM3.50 per bowl if I'm not mistaken. Rojak (local fruit salad) served here is way different from what I used to have. Instead of mixing with the fruit, dressing was served as separate dip in a small bowl. Beside peanut, I believe the dip contents sesame which makes it pretty aromatic. The presentation of kangkung sotong (water spinach aka water morning glory and cuttelfish) is quite unique as well, the gravy looks more like a satay dip !? RM6 per small plate. By the time we left Kong Heng, had a peep at the shop next door which claimed to be the best Ipoh Hor Fun seller, it was still cramped with diners waiting for seats......According to The Star, it's best in the country....So, next time you go to Ipoh, you should know where to look for the best sliced chicken Ipoh Hor Fun soup by now. ;-)

Address : Jalan Sultan Yusuf, Ipoh, Perak.

Snakehead Fish Mihun Soup at Seremban 芙蓉生鱼米粉

Kedai Makanan & Minuman Wai Kwai Choi (长发美食中心）is one of my regular visit hawker center in Seremban. This hawker center is just next to the well known Seremban grill crab restaurant (芙蓉烧蟹海鲜村）along Jalan Tuanku Munawir (refer map). I was glad we came today(Wed) coz it's usually quite full in the weekends. There are only 4 stalls in this hawker center. Curious to find out what are the specialties I would recommend here !!??? ;-) Let's scroll down...

*Bingo* The snakehead fish ! It's known Ikan Haruan in Malay while Chinese call it Sang Yee (生鱼)。Malaysian Chinese generally believe that taking snakehead fish could expedite the wound healing, as such, snakehead fish soup is rather common supplement among the post-operation's patients. However, I think it's not a popular dish to be served at restaurant or hawker stall elsewhere. Slaughtering snakehand could be a cruel task and rather energy consuming, if you had the experience, you know what I mean....

Snakeheads Dancing in the Claypot;-)

I really admire the skill how the cook slice up the snakehead, so neat....This snakehead could either be served in porridge or thin rice vermicelli (mihun), you may also request one whole snakehead to be steamed.
Besides the snakehead, they also sell edible paddy frog (田鸡）and swamp eel (黄鳝). We ordered 2 servings of snakehead mihun（生鱼米粉） and 1 serving of paddy frog congee (田鸡粥）。All served in claypot for only RM17, taste good and save my trouble too. ;-)

Porridge cooked with edible Taiwanese frog

If Snakehead and paddy frog do not sound good, then I would suggest you to go for the Soong Kee Ipoh Kueh Teoh (宋记怡保沙河粉).The Kueh Teoh (rice base noodle) is silky smooth as good as Hong Kong style Chee Cheong Fun!
Silky Ipoh Kueh Teoh served with Char Siew(叉烧)Lastly, an icy cold coffee made my day complete! :-)

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Restoran Kong Leong 江隆茶室

Mr Ho highly recommended the stir fried pork intestine(宫保猪大肠） at Restoran Kong Leong (江隆茶室) Kuchai Entrepreneurs Park. Since didn't feel like cooking, Moon and myself decided to give it a try.
We give a B+ for fried intestine coz both of us dun really appreciate pork large intestine due to mentality factor. ;-o For "pork intestine lover", this dish is worth given a try!! The gravy was thick, not too spicy, the texture was as soft as "chee Cheong fun" and the best part is we didnn't find any awful smell of pork intestine. RM9 for such big plate, fair price , isn"t it?

Beside the fried intestine, there are wide range of hawker stalls selling different type of food. The stir fried short-necked clam with soybean paste and chili, which is known as the "Guai Mei La-La"(怪味啦啦）from Dai Ka Sing Fried Seafood (大家成炒海鲜) is also something I would like to present to you, delicious!!If you want to have something more filling, then you may consider to hv a bowl of hot pepper pork viscera soup (胡椒猪杂汤), it served with white rice for RM6.50 per pax, it's best taken in a cold rainy day, yummy! yummy! This is the outlook of Restoran Kong Leong （江隆茶室) .It' s located on the opposite side of Maybank K-Link (shown as B below) along Jalan 12/116B. Daily business hour starts from 6pm onwards.

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