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!

Eating at home

Planning the dinner menu on an amost daily basis is challenging. As a norm, I prefer simple recipes that don't result in a dish that takes ages to materialise. Of course, every once in a while, I do get a bit more adventurous and try new stuff that may be slightly more labour-intensive.

Anyway, this is what our typical dinner spread would look like.

I made soya drink from scratch lately and decided to turn the soya bean grindings into mock meat for loh bak. It worked out pretty alright, abit mushy inside, but otherwise the taste was there. The chicken stock powder really helped!

This was loh bak made from a mixture of real minced meat and water chestnuts, as taught by hubby's mom.

My first attempt at ma pou tofu with loads of Szechuan peppercorn and minced meat. I think I should have used a softer type of tofu, but taste-wise, this was pretty close to the ma pou tofu that I've eaten in restaurants.

Plain fried tofu, eaten with lotsa HP sauce is how I like it.

Lotus root and groundnut soup which hubby loves.

Mango salad which hubby stayed away from because it was too vinegarish.

The usual greens.

Szechuan stir fried french beans with minced meat. Yummy!

Kangkung belacan, we are really learning to be good at this dish!

Assam pedas fish curry. Reminiscent of assam laksa because I used alot of daun kesum.

Curry chicken and eggs.

Mom bought us this new convection oven last Christmas and we have been putting it to good use, especially for broiling chicken. It's excellent; the fats drip off, the chicken is all crispy on the outside, while remaining all tender and juicy inside.

Broiled chicken leg on a bed of salad.

Ok this chicken may look good, but it was really our first bbq disaster. We smoked the chicken leg for a couple of hours in the bbq pit and it ended up tasting like charcoal. I mean, literally, I felt like I was breathing fire when I had my first bite. It had a very tart, acrid aftertaste. We tossed it. No more smoking food for us.

My latest experiment was potato and meat patties, marinated with all the Indian spices. Tasted almost like vadai.
Stir fried ginger and spring onions with pork slices. Hearthy and traditional.

Pork chops in sweet and sour sauce, our attempt at pai kwat wong, which turned out really well, actually.

We sometimes have one-dish meals too.....vegetable noodle soup with pork chop and fried egg.

Burgers!

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.