CRIZ BON APPETITE

savoring the best in town…

Navigation: Weblog / Archive: September 2008

Archive for September, 2008

HAPPY MID-AUTUMN FESTIVAL 2008

Posted by Criz Lai On September - 14 - 2008

MOONCAKEEJELLY01

Today’s weather has been good as I can see the big round moon shining brightly above the sky. This is the day where family members and friends would gather to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. Ideally, there would be lots of mooncakes, moon biscuits, pomeloes, nuts and so on for everyone. But I realized some evolutions this year. Many confectionary companies are trying to outdo each other this year to come out with a whole new concept for the mooncakes. There are Hello Kitties, heart shapes, mouse shapes, pig shapes, etc all over town. Now who wants to have some homemade moon jellies?? Haha… Anyway, Happy Mid-Autumn Festival everyone!

MOONCAKEEJELLY02

Popularity: 1% [?]

dessert

T-JAY CAFÉ @ THE GARAGE

Posted by Criz Lai On September - 12 - 2008

TJAYCAFE01

SORRY! THIS RESTAURANT HAS CEASED ITS OPERATION EFFECTIVE NOVEMBER 2008

T-Jay Café would be an ideal place for hangout since it’s located within The Garage, a place filled with endless flow of people going for a drink or some partying. You would see a lot of tourist enjoying themselves there too. What I like most is their flexibility of dining hours. I usually find it hard to dine out after 10.00pm (due to having to work up to after 9.00pm most of the time) as most of the restaurant would be closed by then. I recently paid them a visit after looking through all the menus of other restaurants and found their price list amongst one of the more affordable ones around that area. Moreover, much to my surprise, they do not charge any taxes.

Two of us went for dinner around 10.15pm. We were presented with a menu with so many dishes to choose from ranging from Western to Oriental. They have lamb, chicken, fish, beef and sausages in the Western food sections and local hawker delicacies such as Curry Chicken Rice, Kong Poh Chicken Rice, Fried Noodles and so on. We ended up ordering some of the recommended dishes. As for appetizer, we had soup of the day which was Mushroom Soup (RM4.90). The soup was creamy and had a bit of the herb taste. Very tasty compared to others that I had tasted before.

TJAYCAFE02

We were then served the Caribbean Cheese Baked Fish (RM19.90). Although the fish (Dory Fish) size was not as big as I had expected, it was baked with lots of Mozzarella, Cheddar and Parmesan Cheese. The dish tasted great with lots of salads and fries to fill up the tummy.

TJAYCAFE03

The Chicken Breast Supreme (RM12.90) came next. Two tender pieces of chicken fillet was served. Not big but the taste was great with the special sauce by the chef. The sauce tasted like BBQ sauce but had a milder taste with a combination of tomato and onion puree.

TJAYCAFE04

As for drinks, we order a Kickapoo Fizzy Soft Drink (RM3.90) and Oreo Chocolate Milkshake (RM8.90). In fact the Oreo drink was our own creation as there only offered Oreo Coffee Milkshake.

TJAYCAFE05

After resting out filled tummies while watching Astro’s Asia Food Channel, we decided to try out their recommended Choc Cake Ala Mode (RM6.90). The dessert came with a small piece of moist chocolate cake (a bit of Brandy taste in it) with a large scoop of Nestle’s vanilla ice cream topped with Hershey chocolate syrup and chocolate rice. It was real yummy.

TJAYCAFE06

Visiting this restaurant won’t be hard as it is within the compound of The Garage along Upper Penang Road. The only problem would be the parking as the place would be packed during weekends. The nearest place with ample car park would be the car park along Penang Road, opposite Cititel. Anyway, it’s good to take a stroll and watch for any happenings along this hot night spots area of Penang. On top of that, you can easily get access into the many bistros and pubs surrounding that area such as Fame, Slippery Senorita, Momo, Mois and so on after having your meal there.

TJAYCAFEMAP

Name: T-JAY CAFÉ @ THE GARAGE
Address:
LotA22, The Garage ( Upper Penang Road),
2 Penang Road, 10000 Penang, Malaysia.
Contact: 604-261 2188, 012-499 9311 (Mr. Terry Tan)
Opening Hours: 12.00pm – 3.00pm, 6.30pm – Late Night (Monday – Saturday)
GPS: 5.422955, 100.335088

RATING:
Ambience: 7/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 9/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 8/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 7/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 8/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

Popularity: 1% [?]

entertainment, penang, restaurant, review

SHARKFINS FLOUR VERMICELLI (MEE SUAH TAU) RECIPE

Posted by Criz Lai On September - 11 - 2008
Initially, I thought of cooking something simple with gravy for my dinner since I was still feeling a bit sick. I ended up cooking something not fit for a sick person. LOL! What would you do if you were to have a box of mee suah (flour vermicelli)? Would you cook a bowl of filled with meatballs or a bowl filled with yummy goodies? As for me, I rather have something rich in taste and good in presentation with what I have in my freezer. So typical of me… Haha! Well, here is the recipe to what I have cooked tonight… SHARKFINS FLOUR VERMICELLI (MEE SUAH TAU).

MEESUAHTAU

INGREDIENTS
1 box flour vermicelli (mee suah – 10 pcs)
250gms chicken breast meat (dice, marinate with pepper, soy sauce & sesame oil)
250gms prawns (dice, marinate with pepper, soy sauce, sesame oil & pinch of sugar)
1 piece thick fish cake (halves and cut into cubes)
6 button mushrooms (halves and slice)
20-30 gms sharkfins (boil to soften and marinate in 1 Tspn brandy/Chinese rice wine)
1 egg (beaten with a bit of soy sauce, sesame oil and pepper)
2 pieces artificial crabsticks (cut into 4mm thickness)
2 Tspn soy sauce
2 Tspn oyster sauce
2 tspn sesame oil
1 tspn brandy/Chinese rice wine
3-4 Tspn corn flour (mix with a bit of water)
4 soup bowl water (about 800ml)
Some oil
Some pepper & salt to taste
3 cloves garlic (chopped and sauté with oil for garnishing)

OPTIONAL
3 young corns (dice)
Some crab meat
6 straw mushrooms (slice)
Spring onions (chop)
Black Vinegar

PREPARATION

  1. Heat up the wok with low fire and sauté the chopped garlic with 4 Tspn of oil until golden brown. Dish out into a dish bowl and leave aside.
  2. Boil a pot of water. When it gets hot and bubble, put in the box of Mee Suah (10pcs). Stir for 3 minutes (or until soften) and sieve it dry. Distribute it into 4 plates. Mix in some of the garlic to ensure that it would not lump up later. (Optional: You can actually put the mee suah into the gravy before scooping out to serve. I did it this way so that it can be divided equally amongst 4 persons.)
  3. Heat up the wok again and put in 3 Tspn of oil. Stir fried the diced chicken meat, prawns, fish cake with 2 Tspn soy sauce, 2 Tspn oyster sauce and 2 tspn sesame oil with low fire.
  4. When you all the combinations are cooked, pour in the water. Let it boil.
  5. Add in the corn flour to thicken the gravy. If not enough make more as some brand of corn flour won’t thicken easily.
  6. Add in the brandy/Chinese wine and salt and pepper to taste.
  7. Put in the crabsticks, mushroom and sharkfins and let it boil.
  8. Stir in the beaten egg until it becomes creamy.
  9. Dish out onto the mee suah and garnish with some garlic oil and spring onions.
  10. You are ready to serve.
  11. You can add in some black vinegar if you like it to be sour a bit.

(Serves: 4-5)

YOU CAN CHECK HERE FOR MORE RECIPES.

Popularity: 1% [?]

recipe

I HAD PIZZA FOR SUPPER!

Posted by Criz Lai On September - 10 - 2008
After a long weekend of heavy down pour which caused my area being flooded, I finally had some relieves to be able to get out to grab something sensible to put into my tummy. Although I had some tummy problems the day before, the 5-pagoda Thai Powder did help solve it. Well, I better don’t get the post too disgusting as I’m still recovering from Sciatica which made my whole body aching in pain. Anyway, thanks to foodpromotions for sending over some discount vouchers for Domino’s Pizza’s new outlet in Krystal Point which had started their operations since 23 August 2008. It indeed saved me a lot.

DOMINOPIZZA01

What I like about Domino’s Pizza is the way they handle their customers. They are real professional. They even have my name printed on the order chit and pizza boxes. Although I was asked to wait for 15 minutes for my pizzas, both were ready within 12 minutes.

DOMINOPIZZA02

The amount you see there is correct. It was only RM23.90 for TWO regular 9” pizzas? First one was at RM23.80 and the second one was at 10sen only. Well, you need to have the special voucher for that and you should know who to ask for that right? 😛

DOMINOPIZZAVOUCHER

Anyway, eating in would be better for pizzas but the offer only applied for takeaway. Even though I went to the nearest place within 10 minutes to take my pizzas, the crust wasn’t that nice as it should be. Here are the shots of the pizzas I had ordered.

DOMINOPIZZA03

DOMINOPIZZA04

The shop is located at the last unit of the second phase of Krystal Point Complex. Make sure that when you come in from the main road leading to the Jelutong Expressway, you turn in the second turning on your left. Getting to the place should not be a problem. It’s the getting out that might cause some concern for those people not staying there. Since it’s a one-way street, you have to drive on and turn into the second turning on your left (Lebuh Bukit Kecil 3). Drive on until you see a playground and turn left into Jalan Bukit Kecil 2. Just follow the road all the way until the end. You will reach a “T” junction, turn left into Jalan Bukit Kecil 1 and it would lead you all the way to the Sungai Nibong main road. You can also check out the many restaurants such as Goh Teo Kee, Dav’s Corner, etc around this area too.

DOMINOPIZZAMAP

Name: DOMINO’S PIZZA BAYAN LEPAS
Address:
1-1-33, Krystal Point Corporate Park, Lebuh Bukit Kecil 6,
Bayan Lepas, 11900 Penang, Malaysia.
Contact: 1-300-888-333 (Delivery)
Opening Hours: 11.00am – 11.00pm
GPS: 5.330928, 100.299339

RATING:
Ambience: 7/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 8/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 7/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 8/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 8/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

Popularity: 2% [?]

penang, restaurant, review

BENG HEANG BAK KUT TEH

Posted by Criz Lai On September - 4 - 2008

BENGHEANG01

Beng Heang is another famous Bak Kut Teh shop located by the service road of Jalan Air Itam. Originated from the Klang style of Bak Kut Teh recipe, they have been operating at the present premises for over ten years. Although the soup base has a milder herb taste compared to those from Klang, this restaurant still maintained its steady flow of customers each night. Recently, I was there with 3 other friends for dinner and we had ordered a claypot of Bak Kut Teh (RM18). As we were there quite late, most of the choice pieces were already sold out, leaving us without the normal yao char kwai, soy bean stick, pig stomach and soft rib bones. I won’t blame them as we were there after 11.00pm.

BENGHEANG02

One thing good about the boiled Cameron lettuce (RM7) which they served was that it had a generous amount of meat floss garnished on top.

BENGHEANG03

On top of that you can also try out their side order such as braised chicken legs (RM2.50). The meat was tender and the taste was not bad at all but I would prefer the sauce to be thickened slightly more.

BENGHEANG04

The restaurant also served two types of rice – the dark oil rice as well as the plain rice. Most shops would have charged a bowl between RM1.20 and RM1.50 but they were still maintaining each bowl at RM1. Overall the bill came out to RM37, inclusive of the rice and drinks.

BENGHEANG05

If you are driving from the Penang State Mosque towards Penang Hill, you would pass by Chung Ling High School and Chung Ling (Private) High School on your left. Drive on until you had reached the traffic light (turn left would lead you to Sunshine Farlim). After moving about 20m, you will see an Indian temple on your right. Turn right into the service road and you will see the restaurant on your left.

BENGHEANGMAP

Name: BENG HEANG BAK KUT TEH
Address: 554-S Jalan Air Itam, 11400 Penang, Malaysia.
Contact: 604-829 1906, 012-475 5903 (Mr. Teh)
Opening Hours: 5.30pm – 2.00am (Close Alternate Friday)
GPS: 5.404891, 100.290220

RATING:
Ambience: 7/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 7/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 7/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 7/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 7/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

Popularity: 1% [?]

penang, review

TAIPING HUAN CHU LENG (GREEN MEE KOO)

Posted by Criz Lai On September - 1 - 2008

TPGMEEKOO01

Who would want to join me for tea? We can have some Green Aliens from Mars and a cup of Old Town White Coffee? Most people have not seen this so called fortune buns as they can only be found in one “Pasar” in Plaza Perbandaran Taiping, Perak (Taiping Bowling Centre is at Level 3). What are they called? They are called Huan Chu Leng (Potato Dragon in Hokkien dialect). Some will call these buns Mee Koo (Steam Tortoise Buns) as the texture for the Huan Chu Leng is exactly the same.

Tortoise is believed to have long lives and thus Mee Koo symbolized longevity. Mee Koo were originally made to celebrate birthdays, or given as an offering to the deities and to the King of the Hungry Ghosts during the Hungry Ghost Festival. It usually comes in the shape of a pink tortoise or peach. Sometimes, they do produce yellow ones for the birthdays of deities. You can get them easily anytime throughout the year. It has become a delicacy amongst the locals, whether it is eaten plain, toasted or fried with eggs like French toast.

Some of the Mee Koo are filled with peanuts mixture or lotus seed paste. However in this modern era, these traditional Mee Koo have evolved into something different such as the Huan Chu Leng which is about 14” in length and Pandan flavored. Moreover it has either kaya (coconut egg jam) or red bean paste rolled up inside as fillings, somewhat like Swiss rolls. The Huan Chu Leng also comes in other versions such as the plain white ones with the same fillings or the yellow ones with chocolate. Somehow, I still prefer the Pandan flavored with kaya which is only RM3 each.

TPGMEEKOO02

The stall is also famous for its Mini Mee Koo (RM3 for a pack of six) which is a round pink colored bun with a flower design on top. I did not manage to get them but it looked like the photo below but with a much more refined and thin flower designs.

TPGMEEKOO03

Unless you are familiar with the road into Taiping town, you would be a bit confused with the directions as Taiping has developed very fast within the last few years. The easiest way to find the Mee Koo shop is to use the Simpang way rather than to drive all the way to Kamunting (Lake Garden and Taiping Zoo). As you exit from the Taiping Plaza toll, turn right at the first traffic light. Drive on and you would pass through a few traffic lights before you reach the main traffic light at Simpang.

Turn left into Jalan Taming Sari. Go over the flyover and drive on until you see Bismillah Roti Canai shop on your left. Turn right into Halaman Pasar. Drive on until you reach a cross junction. Turn left into Jalan Kota. Drive on until you reach the second cross junction (CIMB Bank at the corner) and turn right into Jalan Tupai. Drive straight again after you have reach another cross junction. You will see the Taiping Hawker Center on your left. Take the first turning on your right and you will see the Plaza Perbandaran Taiping there.

The roads here are rather messy as many of the roads are one-way. If you are still unsure, just ask for the direction to “Plaza” or “Taiping Bowling Centre”. The Hokkien speaking locals would be glad to direct you there.

TPGMEEKOOMAP

Name: TAIPING HUAN CHU LENG (GREEN MEE KOO)
Address: Plaza Perbandaran Taiping, 34000 Perak, Malaysia.
Contact: 016-4511899 (Mr. Chong)
Opening Hours: 4.30pm – 9.00pm
GPS: 4.849453, 100.741882

RATING:
Ambience: 6/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 8/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 8/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 6/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 8/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

Popularity: 1% [?]

perak, review, snack

VIDEO

TAG CLOUD

RECENT