Gurney Drive Transported to The Gardens MidValley

This post has taken a long time to reach here, as we have been busy with work, church and preparation for our wedding dinner coming June. So much so, it has somewhat affected my blogging habits. Whats a more fitting time though, that I have just recently come back from a Penang trip last week ( food reviews to be posted in time), memory still fresh to compare the food in Penang and at this Gurney Drive place in The Gardens.

Above: A very nice hard cover menu, that holds the menu, quite a substantial menu full of Penang's Hawker Favourites.
Below: Nice traditional sign board, gives you that very traditional rustic kinda feel. But the restaurant is of course nicely air conditioned, the seats and tables are spacious and comfortable. As we walked in, a nicely dressed customer service personnel will usher us to our seats. The restaurant setting is made like hawker stalls in a modern food court, but you do not order at the individual stalls. The entire restaurant is actually a restaurant, with table service....

This restaurant claims to serve authentic Penang Hawker food, but I am sure a lot of Penangnites who is willing to part with Rm15 - 20 for a plate of their favourite hawker fare, will probably tell you, nah... KL Penang food is never as good as the real one.

We ordered some drinks, but the stuff that stands out are these two, Penang Road Cendol, and Penang Ice Kacang. I just had two helpings of the Penang Road stall recently, and hmm... I thought at The Gardens, it did taste quite good. Maybe or perhaps they get it direct from the same Penang Rd proprietor who also has stalls in Subang.

I gotta, say though that their Ice Kacang was not as good as I like them to be.


We ordered two of the most Eaten hawker foods in Penang. Their Prawn Mee and the Asam Laksa. As far as I remember, I thought their Prawn Mee was quite nice. The soup base was quite rich, had nice big prawns, came with some pig intestines (not standard ingredient in Penang though), and a generous serving of bee hoon in it. Try la toptaste Prawn MEe at McAllister Rd, thats my favourite...

The Asam Laksa was done quite, well. The soup base again, very rich, and served with a spoon of Prawn Paste, just liek they would at Penang. Hmm... yummmy.......but my number 1, still try the Air Itam market's Asam Laksa (Kek Lok Si Temple), very tasty but also very dirty.
Now, their Char Koay Teo didn't disappoint at all. I thought it tasted quite good, but of course when you pay so much for a plate of something you can get for only Rm6 at Lrg Selamat, but it tastes quite nice. Much better than a lot of CKT you find in KL/Pj.

My dad ordered this Mee Goreng Mamak, on the menu I think it says RM18. Immediately when I saw it coming, it put my palm on my forehead. Alamak why you go and order mee goreng pulak. I normally don't like to order them because its usually salty, and too spicy hot.

I grabbed a fork and pinched some, and it was a pleasant surprise. Very very good mee goreng mamak. It is a must try...

O Chien , RM18, lousy....

I have very mixed feelings about this restaurant. I mean the seating and table arrangement will instantly give you the impression that its an expensive restaurant, but the stuff they offer on menu are hawker stall favourites from Penang. Its definitely a good place to bring your foreign friends to go try our local food, if they are afraid of eating at dirty stalls, at Jalan Burma, or Penang Road. Ok, prices were from 15 - 20 bucks for each plate of hawker favourite. Drinks were from 6 - 10 bucks each... wah damn pricey.... but the food here is definitely quite good, better than most of what KL can offer anyways..

When you go try their food here, try to ignore the price, and evaluate their food based on taste only.. If you ask me, definitely serves better quality food than the Little Penang Cafes....

Gurney Drive,
Lot T-201, The Gardens,
Mid Valley

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YowWazzup
Sabrinachan
MalaysianFoodBlog

Bukit Mertajam Food Crawl - Penang Dec 07

Now this post has been postponed once before, because, I lost my camera on one of those trips, Tamiya actually took me around hunting for food. Now back with a bigger camera, Tamiya, Rinoa and Ranjeet(dats me) partied up and wandered around the streets of Bukit Mertajam.

The idea of this food hunt @ Bukit Mertajam was quite far fetched until I spoke to our lawyers who happened to be from this area too. He was describing to me how from the Highway you drive past Pacific Mall, bla bla bla. I asked Tamiya one day and he said, sure we should go round here.

The first stop is Sunrise Coffee Shop. Its one coffee shop out of like thousands of coffee shops here along this Jalan Raja Uda. The main attraction of Sunrise Coffee Shop is of course its Char Koay Teo. The uncle who mans the shop has been frying this koay teo, since don't know when, even he lost count himself. He is also secretive and abit cautious to tell me things when he saw me taking pictures of his stall. He said don't write so terror-terror about my stall, scared of IRB going after him all.



After a bit of persuasion, our friend said, ok la, you take my back side. From the picture below, you can see our friend actually uses Coal Powered stove to fry the good stuff.

Tamiya and myself, we both ordered a plate each. Its only Rm 2.80 for biasa, and Rm 3.30 for a large serving. Of course one of the reasons why Tamiya recommended this place is because, its just outside his house, and its cheap.

Now this is the second time I have been back to this stall in as many visits to Penang. I believe this stall is actually frying up one of the best Penang CKT in town. Since most of us prefer to eat around the Penang Island, most of us will overlook completely about eating in these parts of Penang.



What I like about this CKT is that, you can get the "enough fire" (suppose to say in Cantonese) hope someone can help me out with the England. He did not over taruk the lard into his CKT, the sambal is hot enough, although it doesn't exude the redness in color. He actually put in a few pieces of medium sized prawns (Lrg Selamat being large), a few pieces of the waxed sausage, and a generous portion of koay teo and beansprouts. For RM 3.30, thats a hill of Char Koay Teo being served there.

Rinoa, ordered a bowl of fish porridge. It was quite good and tasty.

Then I looked around and saw the Satay stall. I asked the tauke, ada Satay Babi ka ? She said got. So I ordered 10 pcs, and found the satay to be very tasty. Its definitely marinated with some kunyit, salt, pepper, lemongrass (quite strong) and sugar. The peanut sauce was quite kau also. Even Tamiya did not know this stall actually sells Satay Babi....


Chai Leng Park


In my previous visit over here,we tried to come here but it was closed. This hawker center is located in an old abandoned cinema in Chai Leng park. So this time around we swung by and it was open.Ayam goreng belacan. This ayam goreng is superb. I first kena a dose of this ayam goreng belacan when I was walking around Kimberly St, in Penang Island. Ever since then, whenever I spot a stall selling this, I sure go for piece minimum. Thats RM2 bucks, and it tastes really nice. It smells like it has belacan, but when you bite into the chicken, you get the aroma of the fried chicken, with just a little hint of the belacan.

First stall was to to get the Asam Laksa... but found the laksa too watery, the fish chunks werent enough, but the gravy still tastes like it has tissue paper in it.
Standard, penang Asam Laksa ( tissue papery texture to its soup). This stall, I will pass the next time, unless you are hard up for Asam Laksa. Thats a plate of RM3 Asam Laksa for you. If you ask me, I'd still drive all the way to Air Itam market or to Balik Pulau for the better tasting Asam Laksa. Verdict: Nah!! just not as good as the island ones..... or maybe I just didn't know where to find the good ones


Then we ordered Penang Yong Tao Foo. Its cheap and the fish paste is white color wan. Definitely taste different from what we are used to in KL. Their YTF comes attached to pure fish paste. Otherwise it wouldn't be so white right ?

Their yong Tao Foo comes with additional vegetables also. Unlike in KL, where we only get chives, this flers get real vegetables that comes with their YTF. However so, when it comes to taste, the KL YTF definitely better.


I won't say so much as that the food on the Island is no good. But at least over here, the prices are still cheap, and servings still big compared to those on the Island. A plus point for me is that, these coffee shops have not started charging us 50 cents for sitting in their shop or something like in Lrg Selamat. I thought these two places is huge, Chai Leng Park area and The Food Stalls along the entire Raja Uda area... its just massive la....

Teochew Chendol @ Penang Road

Pic Taken from Fatman Seoul's Blog

On my last day in Penang, I told myself I had to pay a visit to the Penang Road kopitiam which until today I do not know whats the name. There must be three things to try at this Kopitiam. Their Asam Laksa, their char koay teo and the outside stall - Teochew Chendol.

When I arrived and found parking, I already notice people crowding around the Chendol Stall. So I took out my phone ( camera sudah hilang la )... and started recording.



Soon after I went into the coffee shop and ordered my laksa. The koay teo lady was no where to be seen, so had to wait a while la. I ordered my koay teo and everyone seems to understand cantonese nowadays.

So my laksa came, and hmm !! it was delicious. There is something different with this fella's asam laksa. I mean the soup tastes like it has tissue paper in it. Its suppose be the fish being mashed up and mixed up with the asam laksa soup. Yummy !! Quite Good i must say.

I also managed to record the Kung Fu of these Penang Char Koay Teo lady.
Short NOTE: This CKT used to be my No1 Pick !!!

The CKT arrived and I took a good look at it. RM3.50 for a plate, and her prawns are of quite decent size too. The first bite was quite inconclusive, so I took a second and a third. I hesitated a while, I told myself, today's Char koay Teo, not like last time's char koay teo already...

In the video, I also highlighted the little sticker they put on the table. It is clearly stated that they will charge you 50sen if you don't order any drinks.. KNNCCB. I ordered Chinese Tea Ice.. 60 sen ( sounds like day light robbery ). On Penang kopitiams will do this.....

Anyways I quickly finished my food, and proceeded out to order my Chendol. The young man taking care of the stall speaks good english and kept calling me sir... Fuiyoo, normally I call other ppl sir, now he call me sir !!!

Unfortunately for me, by the time I took one mouthful of it, the drizzle became rain... and guess what !! This Chendol Stall now has their own shop lot, to allow people to sit. That must have been the best news I have heard since I came to this Kopitiam.

Now you can BOYCOTT the Penang Road Kopitiam without having to boycott Penang Road Chendol. I mean to say, they don't charge you extra 50sen for sitting inside their new Chendol shoplot, unlike the kopitiam. The Asam Laksa really tasted like tissue paper, CKT punya quality also has gone down a lot recently.

Teochew Chendol - Really something to look forward to when in Penang

The Asam Laksa Stall

On a brighter note, you now no longer have to drive all the way down to Penang to taste their chendol. Just take a jam packed drive up to Giant USJ 1 and you can enjoy the same chendol. Lets boycott that blardy kopitiam... from now , and I will strike that location of my lists of must visit stalls in penang.

This trip I also didn't make it back for the New World Stalls. Must try and find that place next time hahahaha !!!

Fatman Seoul


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Toptaste Prawn Mee/Hokkien Mee @ Sin Kim Sun Kopitiam

This is the very much talked about Hokkien Mee in town. In the previous visit here, we had to come by a second time, because we came to this place at night, not knowing Toptaste opens only during the day.

Their stall is different. The front of the stall is pasted with newspaper articles about their food. They have been over covered, but what the heck, cover them again... hahaha....

This trip round, I made it a point to come back for breakfast. I reached this place by about 9am. The breakfast crowd had already left for work, while I was left with many dirty tables, full of prawn mee bowls. This must mean everyone is here to eat the prawn mee. A quick look around, I notice 7 tables, all has a prawn mee bowl on them. Business must be brisk.


I walked up to the stall, its manned by the lady and her foreign helper guy ( who speaks Hokkien already). I wonder why she asked me, add what ?(SOP meh to add stuff ?) I pointed at the weird looking praying mantis prawn ( I think thats what it is) , she acknowledged, " Herr Ko !!", then I nodded. Not bad, nowadays we can communicate to Penang people in Cantonese, but we get a reply back in Hokkien... muahahahaha....

The noodles came, with a jumbo serving of Mantis Prawns. Yummy !!! The soup here is not as thick as the ones compared with Ho Yee Kee, Kepong but it is spicy because of the additional chilli and very very sweet (prawn kinda sweet). Really can't make out why their Prawn Mee tastes so nice... perhaps Oldtown Chefs should come over here and find out how to improve their prawn mees.

I also ordered the old uncles CKT in the same kopitiam. It looks very authentically Penang CKT, but then the taste is just normal. The Myanmmar fella who fries CKT in Pandan Perdana I thought could come up with something nicer than this old man. But I noticed something different about Penang CKT fellas. All of them got quick hand movement when it comes to wielding their Wok Chan ( their wands). Unfortunately for me, not all of them can create magic, like the Red Hat Auntie in Lorong Selamat. Maybe we should call the Char Koay Teo in Lorong Selamat as Linux Char Koay Teo, because the auntie wears a RedHat... wakakakaka....



Ok, I got a very good shot of the location of this Kopitiam. I am standing at the intersection of Mcallister Rd, and Rangoon Rd. In the background is the UMNO building, and yes this place is in the vicinity of the UMNO building. If you are walking just walk towards the UMNO building and try find McAllister Road. Then ask around for directions to Sin Kim Sun Kopitiam.

I came back the next day to have one more bowl of Hokkien Mee, before I headed back to KL...
other reviews on Penang Food

BackStreetgluttons
the BSG blog is interesting as they actually go around and test the same food, at different locations and they try to come up with a winner. Definitely interesting to read and see where they have been to.
Food4thot
The most recent post on Penang Food was in June 2007. Some CKT posts, random eat about Penang food. This blogger also goes around, with a local Penang kia bringing her around to look for food.

Ayam Goreng Belacan , Kimberly Street, Penang

Since I missed the RPM class , so I decided to walk around looking for food, in other words, Jalan jalan, cari makan. I asked one very stupid question, where can I find food ah ? The recept replied, oh !!! you in Penang , food no problem. Walk this way, you will see Penang Rd... Ok so I walked that way reached Penang Road, I saw Odeon cinema, now showing: Sivaji !!... crossed my mind that maybe I should go watch a movie that night but no la... I think go cari makan better.

So Jalan along Penang Road, suddenly can see one road cordoned off, cars not allow to enter all. Then I saw a sign, Pasar Malam everynight, Medan Lebuh Campbell . So I thought ok la, Pasar Malam sure a lot of stalls... mana tau tarak !!!

Walk here there everywhere, suddenly I walked down Chintra Street, which then leads down to Kimberly Street. At the junction I saw this Belacan Fried Chicken Stall. I asked the stall owner, so if I buy from you can go into that food court and eat or not ? He said can , so I bought one piece from him.



One piece of chicken, only RM1.60... it was hot and cripsy when he handed it to me. It smelt like Fried Chicken, not really like that superb or something like that la. Then I took one bite, fuiyoh..... I don't know what to say.. .. it tasted like Fried Chicken, but then the Belacan taste comes in subtly after. Very clever this guy, the Belacan smell not very strong which was why I didn't smell it while he was frying, but instead it comes in after you bite.. Hmm... really nice !!


Thats the place I went to, to eat my Fried Chicken. Ordered a glass of Kopi C.. yucks!!! It tasted like terrible coffee.



I also ordered, Prawn Mee at the place, pictured below. Standard Penang practice, to save one saucer they dump all the chili on your spoon for you to mix it up. Not all Penang Prawn tasted very nice, and this stalls falls into that not so nice category. While I was eating that prawn mee, I was thinking to myself.... The Kepong Ho Yee Kee Prawn Mee, definitely better than this guys Prawn Mee....

Prawn Mee Looks Good Only, but tastes so so sahaja...

Penang Part 3
Penang Part 2
Penang Part 1

Penang Char Koay Teo @ Lorong Selamat

I had a long day today, and was looking forward to checking into the Hotel, before making my way to FF Penang for 7pm RPM class. Unfortunately for me, I have a problem, I don't know the roads in Penang well. So while looking for my hotel, I managed to find Lorong Selamat, so I thought since I might not find this place again tomorrow, I go tapao first la.



Which stall is this ? One Auntie's stall who is opposite the Koptiam Above.


In case you were asking, yes this one has 3 big prawns in it, and she charges RM5.50 for each CKT serving. I didn't dare to ask whats the 6.50 and 7.50 ones are for. I must say, it was pretty good CKT, and I just noticed something different about Penang CKT style of cooking. Its cooked on a Coal Stove, instead of a Gas Stove in KL.

There you go, the finishing touch , and I must have solved the code as to why Penang CKT tastes so good. You need kung fu for this and its captured on Film... The Hand must move fast enough to spread the Kuay Teo evenly on the hot wok, so that they can cook evenly..... wakakakaka....

On a more serious note, I have also received an email asking for a boycott of some coffeeshop in Lorong Selamat, for charging 50sen to patrons who don't order drinks in their kopitiam. The movement was started by Oliviasy.Net.

I've been to this Kopitiam also, nothing good to order from here, and the CKT is from the stalls outside of the restaurant. If you want to boycott the kopitiam, TAPAO la like me.. hehehe...