Monday, July 28, 2008

Good Friend (How You) Seafood @ Teluk Kumbar

Whenever I think of seafood in Penang, one of the places that comes to my mind will be the Good Friend (How You) Seafood restaurant in Teluk Kumbar.
This place is a really popular place among the local working community particularly those who are working in the Free Trade Zone industrial area.

This restaurant is located in a rather out-of-the-way route from the busy roads of the FTZ or the town area and if you are not familiar with Penang or the Bayan Lepas area, it may be a little difficult to locate the restaurant.

One thing that is interesting about this place is its strategic location right by the sea.
It is really relaxing to look at the view of the open sea and feeling the light touch of the breeze on your face while enjoying the fresh seafood.
Remember to bring your camera (DSLR or digital camera) to capture that picturesque view during sunset.

Back to the food, during my last visit with my bunch of close friends, we enjoyed the al-fresco dining in How You ala Malaysian-Penang-beach style.

Fresh prawns cooked in Assam sauce (a rather sourish traditional style of the Nyonya)
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Fried noodles ala Hokkien style ( a local Penang cooking style using soy sauce)
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Deep fried beancurd which also happens to be one of their signature dish
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The beancurd was really fried to perfection; crisp on the outside and yet at the same time preserving the delicate softness of the bean curd inside.

Stir-fried rice vermicelli (meehoon) which was loaded with shrimps, squids, fishballs and vegetables.
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Steamed baby octopus (or pronounced as Too Bow Serng)
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The baby octopus was fresh and crunchy for bites.

To balance the meal, a dish of fresh vegetables stir-fried is just right for the palates
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Crabs cooked in the all-time favorite style; in sweet and sour sauce with eggs.
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Straying away from seafood, there were also satay sold in a small stall also run by the family just a hand's throw away from the restaurant.
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For more filling helping, there is also a plate of simple fried rice
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Lastly, a seafood meal is never complete without fish and the steamed red snapper fish ala Teochew style laden with sliced tomatoes, ginger and salted vegetables with soft beancurd.
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The stock in which the fish is steamed in tasted slightly sourish to complement the taste and texture of the fish which I found rather appetizing for a fish like snapper.

The overall meal was really filling and reasonably priced at only about RM150++ for all the above dishes, which explains why I really enjoy dining here; besides the seaview and of course, the less-oily cooking style.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Lunch @ Sushi King, Sunway Pyramid

Good ol' Sushi King started out as one of the prime Japanese fast food (sushi) chain here in Malaysia and I still remember their popularity.
Over the years, Sushi King has to stand against some very tough competition with the birth of new Japanese outlets such as Sushi Groove, Sakae Sushi, etc.

Even I myself personally prefer Sakae Sushi due to the variety and also the pricing which was reasonable and of course, the important factor: the quality and taste of the food.

So what happens when a Sushi King fan vs Sakae Sushi meet for lunch?
A toss of the coin to decide?
Haha...not really, we just proceeded to Sushi King for a walk down memory lane (as I was also not really in the mood for Sakae)

I love Sake Teriyaki (salmon fillet cooked in teriyaki sauce) and it is a must-order for me whenever I patronize any Japanese outlet.
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It is also one of the main things that I like and prefer to eat anyway.
I found this version in Sushi King lacking in the sauce to compliment the fish fillet; needless to say, I was rather disappointed.

The black pepper dory fillet cooked in teppanyaki was a rather filling and value for money lunch set.
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It was served with rice and also side vegetables, along with a cup of chawanmushi, miso soup and a Yakult yoghurt drink.
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A really healthy option for lunch; don't you think so?

The difference found between the original chawanmushi (ala carte order) and the chawanmushi served in the set; was the lack of mushroom slice on top of the custard.
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When you are in Sushi King, it wouldn't do much justice if you do not order their sushi
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The outlet was rather quiet despite it being lunch hour; or perhaps it was on a weekday?

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Sugar Dynasty revisited

Nagore Road is lined with interesting food outlets and one should not miss this little corner shop which was right opposite the Continental Bakery.

Sugar Dynasty (or pronounced as Tang Dynasty in Chinese) was once featured in the Chinese daily for their famous home dessert; the glutinous rice ball in assorted variety.
Besides the Tang Yuen, they also offer other common desserts such as this cooling and refreshing bowl of water chestnut cooked in sweet corn soup.
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Taken at chilled temperature, it is a refreshing drink especially on a hot and sunny day!~

For a hot bowl of dessert with beauty ingredients, this bowl of double boiled harsmar with ginseng and red dates is definitely a winner.
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A wide selection of soup to accompany the glutinous rice balls is available; and this is the red bean soup.
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There are also snacks and light meal options available on the menu.
You can try this; fried Lou Shu Fan (I can't remember the name)
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Friday, July 18, 2008

Bali Hai Seafood

Gurney Drive is a street lined with a setting of al-fresco dining due to its strategic location near the sea.
At night, this area is rather busy and happening with the lights and also all the operating restaurants.
Being near the sea, most of the restaurants here specialize in seafood.

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One of such seafood restaurants which attracts the attention with the huge lobster-like lighted ornament is the Bali Hai Restaurant.
These restaurants offer fresh seafood and owns a few aquariums in which they breed their own fish, prawns, lobsters and patrons are given the choice to select from the aquarium directly.

They will usually recommend their specialty fish such as Tiger Garoupa, etc which I find rather pricey (approximately RM16 per kg for one fish I was recommended).
My personal preference still is the normal Garoupa, no fancy stuffs steamed with a slight whiff of the Chinese white wine.
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The fish was rather fresh and priced at RM60, it was really good.

Not wanting to mess our hands on crabs at that particular time, we tried out the Stir-fried Squids in Kung Pow style; basically toss-fried with dried red chillies.
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This dish was rather tantalizing as well; and adds to the appetite.

A recommended and newly-introduced dish was this Scallop and prawn fried cakes cooked with half-boiled egg gravy and crunchy vegetables.
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It was a winner of the meal for that night; and I find the taste rather unique.
The scallops were really huge as well.
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Pricing wise, the whole meal was rather reasonably priced at RM90++ for two (my boss's treat) and I enjoyed the food here.
I will definitely come back to try the other dishes here:)

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Huge Chicken Sandwich

My bro bought this gigantic Chicken Sandwich from his university sometime ago....for RM5.50, this is really HUMONGOUS!
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Friday, July 04, 2008

Mummy's homecooked food

I haven't been posting on my mummy's homecooking for some time; for fear of boring most of you:)

Anyway, these are some snippets from some of the simple local and ethnic dishes
Fried beancurd with spring onions
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Egg Omelette
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Pork Ribs in Sweet and Sour sauce (Pai Kuat Wong)
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Stir-fried bean sprouts
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And these were some bought from stalls
(OKAY, I really hate this! No offense to some of you out there; but I can't stand internals!)
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This is a special dish passed down from my granny; but I still do not approve of the internals-thingy
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To be eaten as part of the salad; sandwich it with lettuce leaves
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BUT This is my favorite; Threadfin fish fillet in sweet and sour sauce; with lots of onions
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OR steamed threadfin fish fillet
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with spring onions
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Kangkung (before cook)
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Kangkung Belacan (Stir-fried Water Convulvus with shrimp paste)
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Stir-fried spring Onions
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Chilli paste
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Fried beancurd
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Another favorite dish; Lady Fingers
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And I love stir-fried spinach...POPEYE!
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And not forgetting soup!
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More seafood?
Sardine fish
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Squids
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Sweet and sour prawns
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Enjoy the "eyes-feast"!:D