Chok Dee Thai Restaurant, Jalan Burma, Penang

On February 14th 2010, we celebrated hubby's grandma's 96th birthday at Chok Dee Thai Restaurant in Penang. It was also Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year, so this restaurant had its CNY Set Menu for 6 persons at RM198.00 + 10% Service Charge (rice and beverage not included).

It's a cosy little restaurant on Jalan Burma, same side of the road as, and not too far from, Heritage Hotel.

There were 5 of us consuming a set meal meant for 6, the portions were indeed generous. We started with the Seafood Tom Yam Soup, which the waiter efficiently divvied up between the 5 of us. They were pretty generous with the prawns. This was good although it could have benefitted from a more sour and lemongrassy tang.

The appetizer was fish/prawn cakes. These were pretty darn good, with a lot of fish sauce tastiness. I liked how the chilli dipping sauce complemented the savoury cakes.
 

The stir fried Thai style mixed vegetables was a simple dish, but very tasty and teeming with scallops.

This was my favourite dish of the night, stir fried chilli paste squid with salted duck eggs. Pieces of salted duck egg yolk were crumbled all over this dish....almost like a treasure we were all looking forward to finding in each spoonful of squid.  

Another hit was the Thai style lemon steamed fish. Loved the sour, sweet and spicy gravy on this dish. In fact we loved this gravy more than we did the Tom Yam, and ended up drinking this gravy like a soup!

So engrossed was I in the dining experience that I actually forgot to take a photo of the last dish, Thai Curry Paste Prawns with glass noodles. It was a big serving of wok fried large prawns and noodles in gravy that tasted like Chickadees (really!). Very addictively good! Too bad I don't have the photographic evidence here.

The meal, with rice and drinks, came up to RM246.30 for the 5 of us. Slightly pricey, but it was Chinese New Year + Valentine's Day after all.  

Address: 231-D Jalan Burma,

10350 Penang.

Tel: 04-2291492

 

4-bams for a terrific meal in cosy ambiance.

Al Fresco Hawker Area @ Lengkok Burma, Penang

Dad described this Lengkok Burma hawker area as "eating under the coconut tree". Intrigued, we had to go check it out.

It was indeed, al fresco dining, hawker style. Protected by big shady trees as well as a mini coconut grove, we soon got down to business.


From this elderly couple, we ordered char koey teow.

Hubby said it was the most complete char koey teow (RM3.00) we have had in Penang so far, in terms of ingredients. I would have preferred it to be more salty and "wok hei", but overall, it was pretty good, replete with all the stuff you would expect in a balanced char koey teow...chives, bean sprouts, cockles, large prawns, lots of eggs.

I had to have the Penang chee cheong fun, of course (RM1.60 small, RM2.40 large). Could have used more sauce! I love the "smelly" shrimp paste sauce.


3-bams for the morning al fresco dining in cool surroundings.

Dim Sum @ Corner Club Restaurant, Gurney Drive, Penang

Located next to Evergreen Laurel Hotel on Gurney Drive, it's hard to miss Corner Club, a bungalow with a large parking space in front. Since we were doing the whole food-trip repertoire, we took dad along to this restaurant for breakfast.

The prices for the dim sum dishes at Corner Club varies from RM2.20, RM2.50, RM3.00, RM3.50, RM4.50, RM5.50 to RM6.00. Pretty affordable for an air-conditioned "yum cha" restaurant, methinks.


Dad's favourite pau is the nam yee pau, with a fat slab of pork belly inside. So we ordered a basket of it. Having tasted it, dad maintained that Balik Pulau still has the best nam yee pau on the island.

Lor mai kai, they were generous with the meat and Chinese sausage.

This was one of my favourites. Deep fried large, springy prawns wrapped in crispy beancurd skin. Superb!
Fired radish cake with lots of eggs and pickled vegetables. Good!

Yam basket prawn salad. Dad and hubby feasted on this, since I fancy neither yam nor mayonnaise.

Hubby had the Hong Kong chee cheong fun with big prawns wrapped within, topped with a dollop of dried shrimp sambal and deep fried shallots.

Steamed pork ribs, very tasty and not overcooked.

Har kow (prawns dumplings), very good, this. The skin did not fall apart upon contact and the prawns were yummy.

Prawn siew mai, excellent! As you can see, I have a prawn fetish.

The total bill for the 3 of us came up to RM43.05.....very reasonable for good quality dim sum at a comfortable venue, cheaper than what this would have cost in KL.

Corner Club Restaurant

55, Gurney Drive,

10250 Penang.

Tel: 04-2282888

Fax: 04-2275764
Mobile: 016-4400868 (Alan Chew, Captain), 016-4066627 (Alice Tan, Captain)

A high 3-bam!

Siang Seng Seafood, Pemandangan Indah Jalan Tun Sardon, Penang

Dad, hubby and I were on a round island-cum-food adventure! Since hubby had never been to the other side of Penang, Dad took us round Penang island. On the hilly road somewhere between Balik Pulau and Relau, we stumbled upon this brand new gem of a restaurant when we stopped to get a bird's-eye view of the scenic Balik Pulau coastline at sunset.

It was opening day (this was on 4th April 2009) for this restaurant perched upon the apex of a hill, what serendipity! Done in traditional "kampung" hut style with dry coconut foliage draping the roof, the restaurant had a certain rustic charm to it.

That's the signboard.

Alot of fresh fish on display.

Live crabs and mantis prawns scuttling about in the tanks.

What a view it had.....the sun setting over the sea at Balik Pulau.

We ordered dry curry prawns (RM20.00) which were really fresh, juicy and had a lovely curry flavour that permeated the springy flesh.


Another house specialty was the braised spare ribs in lotus leaves (RM18.00). The portion was huge, and both dad and hubby were really digging into this dish, which was rich with chestnuts, mushrooms, carrots, and of course meaty pork ribs.

Seafood tofu (RM8.00) with crabmeat was excellent too; eggy, smooth and loaded with bits of crab meat, my ultimate favourite bounty from the sea.

We also had a big pot of watercress soup teeming with pork ribs (RM6.00), shown here is my tiny portion of it, dished out onto a smaller bowl.

Sweet, spicy and luscious bamboo clams in bean sauce at RM10.00, what a steal! They were super fresh, still alive in fact, just minutes before.

Food served here was hearty in portion, great tasting and value for money to boot. Total cost was RM65.00 for the 3 of us, and we had a feast! We'll definitely return for the good food and fabulous view the next time we are in Penang.

Siang Seng Seafood

Lot 0417 Mk5 Pondok Upeh, (somewhere along the hilly road between Balik Pulau and Relau)

Pemandangan Indah Jalan Tun Sardon,

Penang.

Mobile: 012-5646858

This delightful discovery definitely merits a 4-bam rating!

Curry Mee @ Chew City Cafe, Hillside, Tanjung Bungah, Penang

This is dad's favourite haunt for authentic Penang curry mee.

Hubby had to give it a try it since dad highly recommended it.

This tasted rather unlike the curry mee sold in KL. This had a lighter consistency, with a minty taste, and was very aromatic. It also had prawns, cockles and congealed pork blood in it. The cost? RM3.00 small, RM3.50 large. No wonder dad was such a fan!

Chew City Cafe (near the Esso petrol station)

Jalan Sungai Kelian, Hillside,

Tanjung Bungah, Penang.

3-bams!

New World Park Hawker Centre, Swatow Lane, Penang

Dad, hubby and I went to Swatow Lane to feast. With its large array of stalls, this is absolutely the best place to try a melange of Penang cuisine.

Hubby had to try the yam cake (RM2.00) which teemed with dried prawns and deep fried onion bits.

My eternal favourite, the "smelly", sticky, sweet Penang chee cheong fun (RM1.80 for small) swimming in shrimp sauce. Lovely stuff, which hubby totally avoids.


Lor bak (RM6.50) which is more suited to hubby's palate. I personally liked the deep fried tofu.


Dad had to have his fix of crispy cucur udang (RM3.00) which came with a big bowl of peanut sauce. Dad was really into this dish.

Nyonya food always attracts me, so we had to try the otak otak (RM2.00) which was spicy and piquant with daun gado leaves. Thumbs up!

O'chien (RM5.00) aka oyster omelette, another obsession of mine. The big juicy oysters made this dish worth every penny.

Fried koey teow (RM3.50), another perennial favourite of hubby and me. Good stuff!

Dad ordered this fruit named Lok Lok Thor (RM2.00) which he said can be found only in Penang. Its texture is somewhat similar to pink jambu, but its taste is really unique. Biting into it, I tasted an infusion of juices with a jasmine fragrance. Almost like eating fruit sprayed with jasmine-scented perfume. Really refreshing, and a first for me.

Dad had this huge bowl of ice kacang with fruits, topped with a dollop of ice cream (RM3.80).

I had ice kacang with generous slices of sweet, sunny mangoes (RM3.00). Excellent!

We love Swatow Lane!

Here's a map to this hawker centre.

A high 4-bam.

Sin Yin Nam Cafe, New Lane, off McAllister Road, Georgetown, Penang

Our first post on New Lane can be found here.

Back to our favourite hawker place in Penang, this char koey teow topped with bits of crab meat (RM5.00) was excellent....smoky and really tasty.

This is hubby's brother's favourite stall, chee cheong chuk (pork intestine porridge), with crispy deep fried intestines hanging in all their glory.

The porridge itself (RM 5.00) had bits of crispy salty intestines bits which hubby and his bro seemed to rave over....for me, it tasted ok, sort of like dried squid, but I guess eating intestines is a psychological barrier I have yet to cross completely.

A 3-bams!