Chicken Drumstick Mee Suah @ Kafe Mandarin

One of the delights of Penang is the abundance of coffee shops around the whole island that they seem to be popping out at you everywhere you go.

I was once told that Chinese-populated places are always, or almost always associated with food and food!
How true's that, but seems to be there's some truth since Penang and Ipoh are about the most famous places in Malaysia for their local food and delicacies.

People from the earlier generation; read, our parents and grandparents, uncles and aunties are all ardent fans of hawker stalls and dining in coffee shops where one meal costs less than RM5 or RM10; inclusive of drinks and they would hear nothing of paying more than that, let alone RM10 for a cup of coffee!

I guess that is one of the reasons that Penang seems to have no end of these hawker haunts; be it stalls or coffee shops.

Kafe Mandarin is a bustling coffee shop located in the midst of Island Glades; and is open for both morning and night business (unlike some coffee shops which are specific to either morning of night).


On one occasion when I just came back from KL and wanting something light and simple, I was here for lunch.
View of stalls available during lunch hour


Wantan Mee

It was nothing much to rave about; as it was just a simple plate of dry wantan mee, although it tends to be slightly bland in taste.


Fish Ball with glass noodles


I still prefer the version in Cecil road better =)

Come night time, and the place seems even more alive; or perhaps it was due to the bright lighting which makes the place so visible!
Variety of stalls available at night



A plate of Nasi Kandar like this could be a staple choice for dinner for most Malaysians; especially when you are in Penang, the haven for Nasi Kandar.



Now come another interesting hawker food; which was one of my Dad's favorite.
Duck Drumstick Mee Suah (Ark Tui Mee Suah pronounced in Hokkien) which costs at RM4.50 per bowl.
However, being health-conscious and perhaps also due to his sudden craving, he opted for a change; and chose Chicken Drumstick instead which only costs RM3.50

Duck is definitely more expensive than chicken, huh?

It was also not as oily as duck drumstick and was definitely a wiser option for them, says Dad




Wantan Mee in soup



Popiah


It was a slightly less tasty and lack of ingredients version; and the lady almost forgot to collect payment from us, but we went to her and paid our dues.
Honesty is the best policy, as she was surprised and beamed, thanking us continuously for remembering =)

Lor Bak




The lor bak was quite good, and also the fried prawn fritters; and the only drawback was the less-than-good sauce which did not complement the plate of fried stuffs that well.

Now I understand why there is such a crowd every night at this coffee shop; with so many varieties to choose from, one need not argue about what to have for dinner anymore, right?

Assorted hawker tastes at a market

Cecil Road is one of the most happening place in Penang; being the home to a wet/dry market and also a huge hawker foodcourt.

You will be spoilt for choices when you are here; as long as you can bear the noise and the heat underneath those aluminium roof.
Prices are truly unbeatable and the tastes here are classic (though I do feel some of them have deteriorated)

Penang Chee Cheong Fun (RM1.70)

The version of CCF here in Penang is different from KL or Ipoh; as they do not have fishballs or anything to go with but just plain flat rice noodles either rolled up or flattened with a toss of the sauce of your choice (usually sweet sauce, shrimp paste or plain soy sauce) and then sprinkled with sesame seeds and some oil on top before serving.

As you can see, it's an assortment of the rolled and flat rice noodles and with a mix of sauces.

Another Penang hawker delight which is also a variant from the Nyonya version; Popiah (rolled steamed spring rolls) RM1.60

It's stuffed with mengkuang char rolled with lettuce leaves before adding the outer layer of the popiah skin to the roll.
It's one of the healthy option; and I used to term it as the Chinese/Nyonya version of the salad.

Lam Mee (RM3)

This is a Chinese verison of mee bandung; and it has a Chinese taste to it.

Most of my family and friends enjoyed this and they prefer the stall here in Cecil Road:D

Jawa mee (RM3.50)

This is different from Lam Mee; the gravy is different and the ingredients are different.
The gravy is blended with light sour sauce (I think it's tomato) with some grinded peanuts in it.

They use the yellow mee for this with a half of a hard-boiled egg (actually a slice), along with cut-up fried fritters, bean sprouts and shallots as well.

Lastly, if you want to enjoy the Penang Ice Kacang which does not use coconut milk but with sarsi/syrup, then you can order one here too at RM2



So, if you are thinking of getting Penang food all at one go, this is like the one-stop solution!

**I feel like I should be paid for promoting...**

I will be compiling all the Penang food soon....hehehe, make it into a blogger-pedia...I like that name:D

Ampang Yong Tau Foo in a Penang Red House

Yong Tau Foo is one of the food raved about in the capital city; and one of the overrated places to find the best is in Ampang.

Well, not necessarily so anymore as the Yong Tau Foo has expanded its influence to the northern region in the famous Lorong Selamat in Penang.

Red House Yong Tau Foo, taking after the Ampang YTF fame has recently opened their outlet along this famous eatery lane.


It is so new that it still has that hint of fresh coat paint in the shop, and the brightly lit shop is always something to attract attention from passer-bys.


The menu is displayed for you to see and unlike KL, the waitress will still drop by and take down the number of pieces of YTF you would like to order.
(In KL, you fill in the forms on the table and the waiters will collect them)

We didn't order much, as the choices were rather limited (in my opinion) although they do have the basic fried dumplings, lady fingers, chilies, bean curd, fish balls, and fish cakes, priced at RM0.80 per piece


The fried fish cakes were not too bad

Freshly fried, the crispy skin and the fishy taste was enticing!
(Apologies to those who love the non-fishy fish..hehe:)

To me, the most important element in Yong Tau Foo is the sauce; as the food is easily found everywhere but the recipe of the sweet sauce and chili sauce differs from one to another.

I find this on the average too

The lady recommended their Assam Fish; priced at Rm2.50 per piece

Despite it being the highly recommended specialty dish, I find this Ikan Kembung in Assam gravy on the average only as it was rather oily and diluted.



Their drinks include the homecooked herbal longan tea and barley


I am not sure whether they are still too new or probably due to the rainy weather (it was raining when I was there) or the economy situation could be one of the blame factors, I don't see people patronizing this new outlet.
Perhaps, they just need more time.
Probably, they should try adding some new items to their menu as well; to introduce a more varied selection to attract the customers.

Just a penny for my thought *smiles*

Grilled Kurau @ Bee Hooi Coffee Garden

Who in Penang doesn't know Bee Hooi in Pulau Tikus?
It is like the most popular and overrated kopitiam on the island, somehow, compared to the other 10 kopitiam on the island selling the same old variety as well.

Bee Hooi, like others, offers the popular Lam Mee (or was it Loh mee), Char Koay Teow, Popiah.
On one of my recent visit, I was seated right in front of the western food stall and it is definitely not possible for me to ignore the menu signboard which listed their specialties.
To my surprise, the Grilled Kurau topped the menu.
Wow, I don't know about you, but I have almost never seen a western hawker food stall serve Kurau.
(Kurau was like the Jimmy Choos for the grilled fish sets in hawker stalls (the way the high class Jimmy Choo is for shoes, the kurau is the higher end fish for hawker western food stalls), no pun intended. I don't even know how did the Jimmy Choo come about:p)
Anyway, I decided to order it; being the fish-lover and furthermore, the price tag of RM7 is not too demotivating either



It appeared to be sliced so thinly that I can compare it to a manila cardboard and the latter would still win; in thickness

Hmmmm, still, I can't complain too much about a RM7 Kurau right?



When you're at a kopitiam, grilled kurau will not be all to order.
We tried the Pasembur as well (RM3)

This tasted rather good; and there lots of crunchy and fresh sliced cucumber and mengkuang


And the Or Chien here is good; or better than the rest we have tried so far.

Priced at Rm6, it had the perfect combination of corn starch, eggs and huge juicy oysters.
Not too starchy nor too omelette-like, it was really nice!


So, anyone who doesn't know Bee Hooi?
For those who does, what is your most-ordered whenever you're here?

This place may be slightly higher-priced compared to other kopitiam, but then again, this is Pulau Tikus, right?
The Bandar Utama of Penang:)