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!

Char Koey Teow @ Restoran Hans, Greenlane, Penang

Duck egg fried koey teow (RM4.00), this place was recommended by our late Uncle CM to hubby's mom a while back. We've been there a couple of times, and the dish is pretty good, if a tad oily.

Hans Restaurant is located along Batu Lanchang road in Greenlane., on the same row as the RHB bank and slightly opposite from the Lam Wah Ee hospital.

I'd say 3-bams.

Dragon-i Restaurant, Pavilion Mall, Kuala Lumpur (3rd Post)

We found out about the Dragon-i RM1.00/chicken promo which lasts till 30th April 2009, and had to go check it out.

This would be my third post on Dragon-i. The second post can be found here and the first post can be found here.

Since we went as a couple, we had to order a main dish in order to be able to enjoy the RM1.00 chicken promotion. (If you go in a group of 3, you can actually order the chicken, and nothing else!). We ordered the Mapo Tofu (RM16.00), which was a tad too sourish, though very smooth and tasty.

The soya sauce chicken (RM1.00) which was on promo was an average sized bird, braised in a sweet soya sauce gravy, which I really took to. The chicken was tender in parts, but the breast meat was as usual, fibrous. Eaten with steaming hot rice, this was really value for money!

The meal for 2 (inclusive of rice and water) came up to RM24.15. Not bad, for a meal at Dragon-i.

Dragon-i Restaurant Sdn Bhd

Cititel Hotel, Main Lobby,

Ground Floor, Mid Valley City.

Tel: 03-22820155

Fax: 03-22848155

3-bams!

Shi Fu Wantan Mee Restaurant, Taman Segar, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur

We kinda stumbled upon this outlet the last time we went to catch a movie at the Cheras Leisure Mall (the restaurant is just 10 metres away from the mall).

With all the red lanterns and black/dark brown deco, it was hard to miss.

Hubby's iced milk tea (RM2.00) was thick and frothy.

We both ordered wantan mee. I had the special thin, dry noodles (RM8.00) which came with char siew and prawn wantan.

Hubby had the fresh prawn wantan with thin, dry noodles (RM8.00) which was similar to mine, except that his plate had no char siew but had extra prawn wantans. The prawn wantan were really crunchy, springy and fresh. I loved it.

Our only grouse was that the waitress wasn't too attentive and despite reminders, we did not receive the tong sui which we ordered. We finally cancelled that order.

This place sells wantan mee with thick noodles as well.

Pan mee, bbq pork rice, curry mee are all on the menu as well.

Shi Fu Wantan Mee Restaurant

18GF, Jalan Manis 4, Taman Segar,

Cheras, Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-91314362


3-bams for the tasty, crunchy prawn wantans!

Kedai Nasi Ayam Tim Kee, Taman Connaught, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur

This restaurant is located in the row just behind Restoran Sun Ming. It's basically a chicken rice shop, which also sells a wide variety of ready-cooked dishes (economy rice).

Bayam, cos hubby needs his greens.

And pak cham kai (silky steamed chicken) for hubby.
Rice and greens for me.

And a plate of juicy sesame char siew chicken leg....yumm!

The bill came up to RM14.00, which was pretty reasonable.

Kedai Nasi Ayam Tim Kee

28, Jalan Waras 1, Taman Connaught,

56000 Cheras, Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03-91335685

3-bams!

Esquire Kitchen, 1-Utama Mall PJ and Plaza OUG Old Klang Road KL

Esquire Kitchen is one of the few restaurant chains where we can find Szechuan food in the Klang Valley.

LOCATION 1: 1-Utama Mall, Bandar Utama PJ

Shop, shop, shop, and then eat....

Fried Shanghainese noodles (RM8.90), with its springy texture and bits of pork, vegetables and a smoky aroma, has become a favourite of mine.

Hubby tried the pork strip noodles with char choy (RM8.90) which was sourish, soupy and reputedly a favourite with many female patrons. Pretty good, if you are into pickled vegetables.

Hubby liked the chilli paste with preserved beans which came with his noodles. I, however, found the taste kinda weird.


Esquire Kitchen
S335, 2nd Floor, 1-Utama Shopping Complex,
Lebuh Bandar Utama,
47800 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Tel: 03-77258160
Fax: 03-77254602
Email: esquiremktg@hotmail.com




LOCATION 2: Plaza OUG, Old Klang Road KL


Stir fried crunchy french beans (RM12.00), with bits of salty "choy poh" and minced meat goodness. We are simply addicted to this dish.

Pork slices Szechuan style (RM12.00) was another winner, with its sourish julienned yam bean (mengkuang), black fungus (mok nee) and strips of pork. Very tangy. My only complaint is that the portions here are a tad too small.

Esquire Kitchen

G5, Plaza OUG, Taman OUG,

Old Klang Road, Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03-79811645

Fax: 03-79831989

Email: esquiremktg@hotmail.com

Esquire Kitchen deserves a high 3-bam.

Dragon-i Restaurant, Pavilion Mall, Kuala Lumpur (2nd Post)

I am late blogging this.

Hubby got me a lovely bouquet of my favourite flowers on Valentine's. And we went to lunch at Dragon-i, before catching Benjamin Button (the movie, that is) at the Pavilion Mall.

This would be my second post on Dragon-i. The first post can be found here.

Ever since we tried Szechuan peppercorn chicken for the first time at Jiu Jiu, we've been craving it, unfortunately Jiu Jiu is way up north in the Penang state. Here at Dragon-i, there's a similar dish called sauteed diced chicken with dried chillies (RM20.00). It is basically a deep-fried boneless chicken dish, sitting in a basket of spicy, deep-fried dried chillies. Very piquant, but we still prefer the one we ate at Jiu Jiu, as it had a stronger taste of Szechuan peppercorn.

Fried hand-sliced la mian with sliced beef (RM16.00) had a very chewy springy texture, which I rather liked. The beef was tender and the dish was very peppery.


Steamed rice with minced pork and fried foo yung egg (RM15.00) tasted better the first time around. This round I found it to be a tad too porky for my liking. So hubby finished it.


Dragon-i Restaurant
Lot 1.13.00, Level 1,
Pavilion Kuala Lumpur,
168, Bukit Bintang,
55100 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-21437688
Fax: 03-21437588






Dragon-i deserves a high 3-bam.

Goodbye, Uncle CM.

May the road rise up to meet you.

May the wind always be at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

And rains fall soft upon your fields.

And until we meet again,

May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

- Old Irish Blessing

Restoran Green View, SS2, Petaling Jaya

Hubby's cousin flew in from the UK for a short visit recently, and very kindly treated us to a feast of seafood!

Sang har mee, with HUGE river prawns. This dish was eggy and crispy and very fresh.

Deep fried mini squid was another winner. Tossed with birds eye chillies, this was crunchy and flavourful.

Hubby's cousin was enamoured with the kangkung belacan dish.

Hubby liked the tangy, sweet and sour pork dish.

The fried man tou went very well with the sweet, sour & spicy crab gravy.
HUGE crab in sweet, sour & spicy gravy, usually my favourite way of eating crabs. I found the gravy here to be a tad too mild, and could not beat South Pacific's rich, eggy version. But the crab was good: succulent, fleshy and very fresh.

I preferred the crab cooked this way, with salted egg yolk. I just love the salty goodness of the rich, yellow yolk clinging to the shells. Finger-licking good!


Palm-sized crabs went for RM130.00/kg. The smaller ones went for RM70.00/kg.


I think the bill came to about RM400, or thereabouts, for the 7 of us.




Restoran Green View
#6 & 8, Jalan 19/3,
46300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Tel: 03-79581076, 03-79549263
Business hours: 11.00am-11.00pm





This restaurant is located near the Rothman's SS2 roundabout, opposite Lisa De Inn.



4-bams for the very fresh, and scrumptious seafood.