Food Review : OXO Queensbay

We walked into the newly opened OXO Cafelab (check it out at http://oxo.com.my/). The website was very attractive and we were very impressed when we walked in. The decor in the place is excellent - most of the dining area seating is on couches which looked very comfortable. We picked the couch on a raised dais near the entrance. Good impression so far.

The manager however was a different story. We were passed a set of "express set menu" - basically it is just a piece of paper with about 5 different sets ranging from RM11.90 - RM22.90. The set comes with soup, bread, a drink, dessert and ice cream. When we requested to look at the ala carte menu, he told us not to order it as it will "take a long time". Somehow he was very reluctant to let us see the ala carte menu - why?!? It doesn't hurt to check out the choices, does it?

Anyhow, we browsed through the menu. Prices are notably steep - the standard chicken chop that you can normally get outside for about RM7 is selling for more than twice the price (RM15.80++). When our friend arrived to join us at the table, we were scolded by the manager for not telling him that we had a party of 3 as they had to re-set the extra set of utensils on the table. And this was after we had informed the waiter that we had 3 people in our party. We're obviously ticked off by his attitude.

The final straw came when my friend spotted about 4-5 flies sitting on the bread that was placed on our table. As we had been browsing through the menu, we had not noticed that they were on it. Yucks! The place was really infested with flies! When we requested to change the bread, the manager informed us that it's normal because of the swamp nearby. Erks... does this mean all the food has been visited by the flies before?

That's what we decided that enough was enough and took a walk... out of that restaurant. When the quality improves to something beyond just the decor, we'll be back. Until then, it needs some serious upgrades in terms of customer service and cleanliness.

Food Review : Zi Wei Yuan Steamboat

This steamboat place is located in Butterworth, Jalan Raja Uda to be more specific. We had heard that this place was a very popular steamboat destination as the soup is boiled with yam. Pretty unique. When we arrived, the place was pretty packed.

The choices that was given were not a lot, and the choices are not scaled down to the number of people eating. Even if you come alone, you will need to order a standard plate which will easily cost you from RM4 - RM20, depending on the dish. For example, a plate of vege will cost you RM4, whereas a plate of scallops will cost you RM20. It would have been better if you can order a dish for 1 person, or 2 persons depending on your table party. Else, ordering a few dishes will easily cost you over RM100 and the amount is too much for 1 person to consume.

The soup was quite salty, it doesn't taste like anything special. Just that you will be able to see chunks of yam floating around. Also, probably I've been spoiled by all those steamboat buffets and huge amounts of food. Limiting oneself to a few choices does make the steamboat feel less grand.


The interesting thing is that the restaurant uses charcoal, so there were bits and pieces of ashes flying around and sometimes into the soup as well. Yuck. Not to mention that the sides of the steamboat tend to get black and flake into the soup. Double yuck.


Give me normal buffet steamboats that are cheaper and cleaner!

Food Review : Miss Saigon, E-Gate Penang

I've been craving for some tasty Vietnamese noodle soup, so I was excited to go try Miss Saigon - the Vietnamese cuisine shop at E-Gate. It was opened mid last year but I only had the chance to go recently.

Miss Saigon was pretty deserted when we went by, so we spent a few minutes debating whether to actually go in and try. The style of the restaurant was quite inviting though with soft lighting and interesting decor.. we ended up giving in to my craving. They even have the traditional coffee makers for sale (check out the stash at the back of the counter).


Of course, once we have stepped into the shop, what else could I order but the traditional Vietnamese beef noodle soup? The pho was going for RM14.80, we felt it was pretty pricey for the dishes. However, the taste was pretty authentic and tasty, else it would have truly been a waste of money! The presentation was nice too, and the restaurant was not stingy with their vegetables.

Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup

We tried another dish as well - too bad I've forgotten the name. It is chicken wrapped in the traditional leaves and served together with fragrant rice. Looks delicious and presentation was great, but the taste.. not so nice.

Unknown dish

Our rating :
Food : Go for the traditional soup dishes and the Vietnamese rolls (range from RM7-9) is not bad too.
Food presentation : If only it tastes as good as it looks!
Ambience : Very quiet and cosy.
Service : So-so. The lady who served us (believe she was the owner) was not very friendly and was casually attired in t-shirt and pants, the sight quite spoiled the environment!

Altogether, this restaurant was not that bad, just that it's quite highly priced for normal food. Only go for this if you're having those cravings like me and can't find another Vietnamese shop nearby.

Chinese New Year Break!

What else would be a better excuse for a break from blogging than the 15-day Chinese New Year? :) Having days to eat and visit relatives, friends and even those people that you have no idea that you were related to.....

Of course, no Chinese New Year would be complete without my auntie's most famous Lam Mee. Yum! I look forward to eating this every year... It is definitely the best, and of course that would be my most unbiased opinion.... LOL!

Loaded with prawns, vegetables, mushrooms, eggs and crab meat... it is a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach! The secret soup makes everything come together and it tastes the best when mixed with ultra-hot sambal.

The Ultimate CNY Dish

And of course, a closer look at the ingredients....!

YUM!

Food Review : Sisters Char Keoy Teow

One of the famous char keoy teow spots in Penang, the Sisters Char Keoy Teow is located along Macalister Road. It's tucked away in an unassuming corner of the road. Sisters started off with 2 sisters (hence the name!) as the pioneers and now the stall has been inherited by one of their son. Besides the famous char keoy teow, they also have jawa mee, wantan mee and an assortment of kuihs.

We ordered the medium plate of char keoy teow, it was a pretty small plate when it arrived. But there were 2 big prawns in the plate and the overall taste was wonderful! There was a bit of crabmeat at the top which it was originally famous for. For RM4, it was a pretty satisfying meal. Ditch that overrated and overpriced char keoy teow from Lorong Selamat and head over to Sisters. :)

Ultra delicious Char Keoy Teow

We also ordered the Jawa Mee and it is supposedly the original Jawa Mee in Penang (not sure how true is this claim). It was a bit pricey for a normal Jawa Mee at RM3.50. Anyhow, it made for good eating too. A good experience in one of the oldest coffee shops in Penang!

Just go for the char keoy teow. :)

Food Review : Kenny Roger's Roasters, Queensbay

It's always a struggle thinking of what to eat in Queensbay Mall, Penang. Anyhow, we decided to head to Kenny Roger's on the basement level, despite some bad reviews that we've heard about the place.

It was pretty quiet in the restaurant, with just another table taken up by a couple. We hesitated but then decided to take the plunge and go ahead to order. We chose the 1/4 black pepper chicken with 3 sides and muffin for RM17.90++. We chose the mac & cheese, mashed potatoes and fresh fruit salad for our sides. You get to choose from 3 different flavours of muffin as well - banana, vanilla or chocolate. We asked for extra black pepper sauce which made the meal extra spicy and yummy.

Slurpilicious!

So, the story ends with a happy ending... fortunately! :)

Food Review : McDonald's Cheeseburger

With food prices still being on the rise despite decreasing petrol prices, one can only wonder where to get a good and reasonable meal. Well, for sure, it would not be at McDonald's.

We ordered a large McValue meal and a cheeseburger a la carte. The cheeseburger alone cost us RM4.20 with the 5% government tax. Just check out how "huge" it is in comparison to the drink. :) Definitely not food that you can eat to fill up your stomach. Sure enough, we felt hungry again after 2 hours. Guess our tummies didn't need the regular 4-hour schedule to process that food.

It is not the first time I've felt that McDonald's just isn't worth the money (check out my previous post). Guess I'm going to be avoiding McDonald's for a while now. At least until the portions get bigger, or the prices get smaller. Both of which may never happen... but I can always hope.

Food Review : Victoria Station, Penang

Ahhh... what did Penangites eat for upscale Western food before TGIF and Chili's landed in Penang? Where else but Victoria Station, that restaurant famous for its train theme and confusing train schedules? (Has anyone else looked at those schedules and tried to make sense of it?)

Just to refresh those good-ole-days' memories, we headed back to Victoria Station for lunch. They had a fresh flower on our table, which felt like a class above Chili's and TGIF. We ended up ordering one of my usuals, the Fisherman's Platter which boasts of an array of seafood -scallops, prawns, fish and squid. And of course accompanied by the salad and fat fries on the side. The dish would not be complete without tartar sauce to dip all those fried seafood! The dish cost about RM27.90++ which I think is pretty reasonable for the choices of seafood that I got.

Cholesterol-inducing Fisherman's Platter

We got a plate of Baked Salmon as well, which came with baked potato (one of my favs!) and corn. Don't forget to ask for more of the potato fillings when they come around. The portion was quite big for the price (RM34.90++) and delicious too.

Baked Salmon, yum!

It was a good walk down memory lane. Personally, I'd still keep this place on my list of to-go places.

Food Review : Ryoma Japanese Restaurant

Located along Jalan Tanjung Tokong, Ryoma is housed in an old refurnished bungalow and boasts of an authentic in-house Japanese chief chef. Incidentally, the website seems quite outdated compared to the actual menu provided at the restaurant. Make sure to flip through all the pages of the "real" menu if you go there - it has some hilarious captions in addition to the pictures of the food there.

Must be very nice, dear!

After entertaining ourselves with the captions, we decided to get down to the real business of ordering our food. The prices were quite steep if you compare it to "fast-food" Japanese restaurants like Sushi King or Sakae Sushi. The service was quite good however, we were given a private room and served with ladies fingers as an appetizer, free of charge!

We finally settled on the Ryoma Gozen bento set - the main attraction being the 4 blocks of raw salmon and one deep-fried salmon. It also comes with teriyaki chicken, vege tempura and salad. Since we chose the set, it also came with a bowl of rice, miso soup and chawanmushi. The price for this was RM48++. It was quite worth it to order the set. Ordering the dishes individually would have cost us much more as the chawanmushi cost RM10 if ordered ala carte style.

Ryoma Gozen

We also ordered the kake ramen for RM16++ (I tried to change the ramen noodles to udon instead but it would cost us RM6 charge for changing noodles, so no way!). The amount of food was just nice for the both of us and the green tea comes free of charge as well. The ambience of the restaurant is really nice especially when it starts to get dark. Remember to take a walk around the restaurant outside after dinner - it's a good way to exercise as well as enjoy the lights and scenery outside.

Walking it off around Ryoma

Food Review : Bravo Italiana, I-Avenue Penang

We went for lunch at the somewhat newly opened Bravo Italiana at I-Avenue Bayan Lepas. The set lunches start from RM16.90++, which consists of their homemade soup, a main meal, drinks (choose from tea, coffee or iced lemon tea) and ice-cream for dessert. It comes with complimentary garlic bread, which was freshly done and warm from the oven.

We ordered the Black Pepper Chicken set lunch, which was the RM16.90++ set. The soup arrived first - it was homemade broccoli soup. Pretty tasty! The black pepper chicken was average - just the normal sauce over the fried chicken. It came with the usual sides of mixed vege and fries.

Black Pepper Chicken

We also ordered the Spaghetti Carbonara, which was nicely presented and delicious as well. Usually I tend to avoid creamy sauces because it does not taste good once the dish gets cold, leaving me with a mildly nauseated feeling. However, the spaghetti here was pretty good.

Spaghetti Cabonara

The Spaghetti Al Capitano was excellent - tomato based sauce and seafood. What could be better? The seafood was nicely cooked and did not have the "stale" smell that comes from old seafood. Make it a point to order this dish!

Spaghetti Al Capitano

Lastly, we ordered the tiramisu for dessert. The price was a bit offputting at first at RM12.80. We were wondering whether it would be nice enough to merit that price. However, it did not disappoint as this is really something that is a must-try!! It was creamy and had a pretty strong alcohol flavour to savour.

The delicious creamy tiramisu

Overall, I'd definitely recommend this place as the price is not that expensive and the food is excellent.

Food Review : TGIF Queensbay Mall

We went for lunch at TGIF Queensbay. For once, I skipped over my regular choice of the RM39.90++ set meal and went for the Jack Daniel's steak. It comes complete with the signature Jack Daniel's sauce, mashed potatoes (which were a bit too dry this time around) and some greens. I ordered my steak medium done so that it wouldn't get too rubbery.

Yum! Jack Daniel's Steak

We also got the Jack Daniel's Glazed Ribs (yup, we were in an alcoholic mood!) which wasn't as good as the steak. Probably the meat was not tender enough so it required some strength to saw through the meat. Should have just opted to use our hands and pick off the bones ala barbarian style. :)

Jack Daniel's Glazed Ribs

Took the Premium Fresh Orange which was a tad too sour for my taste buds. All in all, TGIF delivers great food as usual. But skip the orange juice if you prefer your drinks to be more sweet.

Food Review : Economy Rice

A short review of the general hawker food in Penang. Food prices seem to still be going up (I seem to be running into a lot of high priced food these days!) although fuel prices are coming down in the past 2-3 weeks.

Here's a sample of the economy fast food rice we had the other day at Golden Hawker Center near to I-Avenue, Bayan Lepas. The dishes were a spot of ikan bilis, some vege and a few fried chicken bits. The price? RM3.50. Seems a bit steep to me for that bit of food.

Economy Rice Fast Food Style

What do you think? Was the price worth it?

Food Review : Prosperity Burger at McDonald's

Yup, it's the end of the year and the Beef Prosperity Burger is back! Usually launching around this time of year to coincide with the Chinese New Year, the burger comes complete with twister fries and a drink in the McValue meal. The burger is just overflowing the signature black pepper sauce which may come across as too spicy for some folks.

The Beef Prosperity Burger

The burger size, however, seems to be shrinking every year while the price is ballooning up! A large McValue meal for this has shot up to an amazing RM14.88 (excluding tax) and McDonald's has introduced the Double Beef Prosperity Burger meal for something along the lines of Rm18.88.

Perhaps that is the reason why they do not put the prices on display at their McDonald's website.

Unless you make it a point to grab the seasonal Prosperity Burger when it launches, I would recommend giving this meal a miss. Personally, I would rather fork out my RM15 bucks for some Christmas shopping rather than an overpriced burger and fries.

Food Review : Butterworth Cafe

We went to this pretty hidden cafe along the main road of Jalan Bagan Ajam. The first impression I got of the place was a pretty rustic feel. The entrance was particularly fascinating, as it had that cowboy swing doors that made you feel like rushing out to get your cowboy hat and spurs.

The swing-door entrance

The food on the menu looked normal. It is the standard western fare that you would be able to get from most cafes. Price-wise, it was not very expensive. All in all, a normal cafe feel and price.

We ordered chicken cordon bleu and the fish cordon bleu too. What can I say, can't get too much of a good thing!

Fish Cordon Bleu

Pros :
1. The place looked clean and well-kept.
2. The old-style feel was a nice constrast to other cafes which emphasize on modern furnishings.

Cons :
1. Not sure whether the food stock was new because of the low turnover.
2. Hard to spot although it is along the main road due to the poor signage.

Conclusion : Good to drop in for a visit if you are in the area, but not worth travelling far distances just to get to this place.

Food Review : Lunch at Nando's Gurney Plaza

1/4 Chicken with Rice at Extra Hot Peri-Peri level

I ate this today at the recently-opened Nando's at Gurney Plaza. The place was crawling with people since the new wing of Gurney Plaza had opened just last week. The chicken was tender and not overdone on the grill. However, it still did not meet my Extra Hot level expectation... when Nando's first opened, the Extra Hot Peri Peri was mindblowing, but these days it has calmed down to a tamer level. The rice was excellent as usual, I've always loved the Mediterranean rice with the onions, peas and carrots in it.

Pros :
- No complains on the food.
- The ambience was good, we had a good view of Gurney Place due to the wall-to-floor glass walls.

Cons :
- No plain/warm water provided, I would expect a restaurant of Nando's level to be able to provide its guests with some drinking water, it was not provided despite 3 separate requests for warm water (we brought our 78-year-old aunt out for lunch). A BIG con in my view.
- Service was poor, could be due to the branch being new and all.

Conclusion : All in all, I'd recommend to give this restaurant a miss until they get all their operations and customer service in order.

Food Review : CRC Penang

Recently, we attended a relative's birthday lunch at CRC Penang (located near Burmah Road). It was supposed to be a 7-course lunch, but they ended up serving us several of the courses all at once! Luckily we were all hungry and attacked the food with gusto...

One of the highlights of lunch was the fish! Cooked "teow-chew" style, with a lot of garnishings on the side (check out the mountain of greens on the side of the dish!). It even comes with a waitress that will debone the fish and cut it into manageable pieces. :) One good thing we noted about the dish was that it did not come with the typical candle under it to keep it warm, and so the accompanying black sauce did not evaporate. We had plenty of sauce left to go around!


The birthday mee was served with mega mondo prawns, and they tasted quite fresh too. At a time like this, who cares about cholesterol?! Good thing the prawns were half-shelled, so no messy fingers :)

Check it out.. who can resist this dish? :)





We ended the lunch with a warm honeydew soup dessert with dates and "peh kuih" - it was a first for me. Isn't honeydew dessert always cold and served with sago?? It was pretty weird tasting to me but edible nonetheless. The price for a table of 11 persons? Over RM500 which was pretty steep comparing to some other restaurants.


Pros :
- Food was delicious, if based on food alone, I would definitely give it a high rating!

Cons :
- Atmosphere was noisy and sounded like a market place.
- The staff seemed understaffed and overworked.
- The courses were served in random order.
- Pretty pricey.

Conclusion : I'd give it a rating of 6/10 due to the noisy atmosphere and unhappy staff.