CRIZ BON APPETITE

Well, don’t get me wrong with what I had mentioned above. It was indeed the longest – the longest in terms of a Chinese Cruller or Fried Bread Stick (You Tiao) from Te Chang You Tiao Wang (Extra Long Chinese Cruller King). Ever since I had discovered this 14” crunchy golden brown and deep fried delicacy along the road side of Jalan Paya Terubong at the end of last year, many people, especially those from the local temples had supported this humble establishment. They had considered this product as a good omen as in the local direct “qin tiao – ??” means gold chain, a sign of prosperity. Some of the Penang floggers had the opportunity to try them out on last Saturday evening. Thanks to the down to earth boss, Mr. TH Tan, who was ever willing to share his success story with us.

Originally started in a small town in Kuala Perlis, Perlis, Malaysia, the business had expanded to Penang, giving Penangites the opportunity to try out what has been described as fusion-styled crullers. On top of being one and the half times the length of a normal You Tiao, the crullers came plain as well as stuffed with savory and sweets. The secret behind the crunchiness of the crullers lies in the usage of clean oil as well as this specially designed aluminum stove to ensure the evenly spread heat to cook the crullers.

Other than the stuffed crullers, one of my favorites would be the Black & White Sesame Twins (3 for RM2). The Black & White Sesame Twins is quite similar to Ma Keok (Horse Shoe Shaped Sweetened Crullers) except that they were kneaded differently with black and white sesame seeds. The outer layer of this cruller remained crispy (due to the sugar coating) while the inner part has a softer bite.

You would be surprised to know that both the different shaped crullers actually came from the same dough but with a different biting experience. Both depended on the different proofing time of the following dough.

Here are the crullers we had tried out. Let’s start with the Plain Cruller (RM1). It was long and crispy and one piece would be more than enough for my consumption unless I have something to dip in. LOL!

The Tuna with Mayonnaise (RM2.50) was my favorite. At least some moisture within the filling did make each mouthful smoother without much dryness. It had tuna flakes mixed with mayonnaise, chopped onions, cabbages and carrots. Simply crunchy and delicious!

They also do have Stuffed Cruller with Meat Floss and Mayonnaise (RM2.50). For those meat floss lovers, this cruller would be ideal as it has a generous amount of meat floss stuffed inside.

Children would love the next cruller which was the Stuffed Cruller with Sausage and Mayonnaise (RM3). It has two sausages stuffed inside and topped with lots of mayonnaise and chili sauce. You can opt out the chili sauce for those who cannot take much chili.

“Roti Bakar satu set!” meaning one set of toasted bread would be the last thing you would hear from this stall. Instead, they have a few other sweeter combinations of crullers for you to choose from such as Peanut & Butter, Kaya & Butter, Honey & Butter. Each set would cost you only RM2.

On top of that, they have warm Black Soy Bean Milk at only RM1. The crullers would be best taken when they are fresh and crispy. Leaving them too long with the mayonnaise stuffing would not ensure their crispiness. Moreover, they would become too oily and soggy. I had some problems at this stall due to the dryness from the crullers. In fact, I would think most of us there were also quite careful about our deep fried food intake as everything seemed to be rather dry. I would have expected at least some soup based products such as peanut soup, red bean soup or even congee to be served with the crullers. According to the boss, those were not in demand. I wondered what was the reason behind the lack of customers’ demands? I guessed most people would have had takeaways. The stall also lacked choices for beverage. Some Chinese tea would make a great compliment after so much of deep fried food. Thick and black local coffee would be another good option for those who like to dip their crullers, like myself. Worst still, not even a sign of any ice products on such a humid weather. I hope they would improve further on these few suggestions for dine-in customers.

If you are coming from Jalan Air Itam (near Kek Lok Si Temple) towards Jalan Paya Terubong, you would pass by SJK (Cina) Kong Ming 2 on your right and then East Coast Seafood Restaurant on your left. The stall is just a bit further up on your right before the Lintang Paya Terubong/Jalan Paya Terubong traffic lights. In fact, it is just next to the Paya Terubong Lao Foo Zhi Bak Kut Teh stall. This extra long Chinese cruller originated from Kuala Perlis. They are the main supplier of You Tiao to one of the famous seafood restaurants there. You could even try them out at their main branch in Kuala Perlis, Perlis, Malaysia.

Name: TE CHANG YOU TIAO WANG ENTERPRISE
Branch Address: 1250-A, Jalan Paya Terubong, 11060 Penang, Malaysia.
Contact: 016-433 7301 (Mr. TH Tan)
Main Branch Address: 76, Jalan Sarawak, 02000 Kuala Perlis, Perlis, Malaysia.
Opening Hours: 6.00am-6.00pm (Closed Alternate Tuesday)
GPS: 5.394278, 100.276451

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: 7.5/10 (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: 4% [?]

For the past two weeks or so, we had quite many restaurants/cafes opening in Penang starting with OldTown White Coffee at Penang Times Square in mid May to Palm Village Café on Sunday. The latest would be Aroi Thai Restaurant yesterday in Pulau Tikus, Penang. The restaurant had a simple layout without much fuss over having too many authentic Thai displays within the premises. It’s simple and yet comfortable for your dining experience with their cooks all the way from Thailand.

Basically, the food choices here were not as spicy and hot as the ones you would get from Thailand. Since it was just their first day of operation, I would think that they were still adjusting their ingredients usage to cater to the general taste buds of the locals. Let me share with you my experiences in this restaurant so that you could judge them with your own verdict.

As usual, I would start with the most basic dish in any restaurants just to know them better. The first dish that came was the Thod Man Pla (Thai Fish Cake – RM3.50 each). These were quite nice combined with the Thai chili sauce and plum sauce that were served except that I felt they should have added in some chopped long beans for that extra bite.

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Popularity: 3% [?]

The management of JL Steamboat Restaurant had individually invited some of us recently to try out their food. Instead, we ended up having a group review. It was actually a fun gathering with the wacky companies of some of our Penang floggers which consist of Steven, Buzzing Bee, Jian, Allen Ooi and Mary Teo. The place was rather cozy with soft music and yet dimly light cubicles. It would be a bonus for those people who love to dine in privacy. Each table would come with an electronically temperature control hot plate which you do not see much at many steamboat restaurants.

When reaching the entrance of the restaurant, you would see a worker cooking up varieties of delicious meaty and seafood grills. The aroma flowing through the air got me hungry while waiting for the rest to arrive. I guessed this was one way to stop everyone from coming out of the restaurant smelling like a barbequed item. What else would you expect from an air conditioned restaurant right? LOL! Moreover, it was the management’s special treatment to ease its customers from getting splattered with greasy substance. You can see quite a variety of meats and seafood on the spread, including teppanyaki seafood skewers.

Upon entering you can see rows of other items meant for steamboat consisting basically a lot of meat and fish “balls”, some meat and intestines, mushrooms and seafood.

One top of these, there would be some choices of noodles such as glass noodles, rice noodles, emperor’s noodles (???) and instant noodles. Other than fresh chicken eggs, there were also some vegetables such as Chinese cabbage, Cameron lettuce, cabbage and water morning glory (water spinach, kangkung, ??). I found one major vegetable ideal for steamboat missing here – the vitamin A rich crown-daisy chrysanthemum leaves (tang oh, ??). Maybe the vegetables were not in season then. Were they not or was it due to not many people liking the pungent smell? I won’t know for sure. The restaurant could also consider adding in some bundled spring onion stalks to widen the spread.

Prior to starting the meal or waiting for your other guests to arrive, you can have the option to start off with some basic side dishes. They may include dishes like fried rice, fried noodles, fried chicken wings, nuggets or fish cakes.

We started off the meal with two of the four available steamboat stock, clear chicken soup and fish soup. The chicken soup was thick and nice except towards the end it became a bit too salty. So was the fish soup which was served to us with a few slices of ginger to cut down on the fishy taste. The restaurant should have had someone around to ask us if we would like to dilute the saltiness with some boiling water but no one did that. If they were to look into providing better service, at least they should look into this aspect of getting feedback from us. Of the two, I loved the fish stock more.

The next batches of stocks were the herbal soup and tom yam soup. The herbal soup was nicely brewed with the right amount of herbs. There were some hints of wolfberries and ginseng roots and the taste was beautiful until the end of our meal. The fragrance and slight bitterness from the soup base would be ideal for those herbal soup lovers. Unfortunately, the tom yam soup was not up to my preference. It was too mild for my taste bud. It lacked the pungent taste and fragrance from some lemongrass stalks. I guessed I’m so use to the tom yam soup I had at Village Café.

If you were to ask me to rate my preferences, it would be the fish soup, herbal soup, chicken soup and tom yam soup. My note to the management on the aspect of healthy dining would be to maintain the soup as natural as they can as most of the pre-processed items on the buffet spread already had the saltiness, preservative and sweetness in them. Even the sugar levels in the free flow chilled green tea and lemon tea were a bit too much for most of us there. A non sugar and hot beverage item such as Chinese tea would be a great addition.

When it comes to sauces for steamboat and grills, I would say they have a great selection of pre-packed and homemade sauces. We had many choices such as tomato sauce, chili sauce, Thai chili sauce, soy sauce with bird’s eye chili, garlic oil, fresh chopped garlic, sate sauce, sambal udang tumis, Thai spicy green sauce and even Sukiyaki sauce specially meant for the teppanyaki skewers and grills. The sambal udang tumis which was somewhat like the curry mee chili paste, with added pounded dried shrimps remained my favorite.

Can you guess how much we ate that night? Frankly, we did not really eat that much as there were more ladies than men (even included my paying god-bro). We only had these for the 4 different soups.

On top of that, these grilled items were served to us almost continuously.

Although most of us are stuffed that night, we still did not forgo the dessert section. With the beautifully twisted marshmallow on a skew and finger biscuits waving at us, welcoming us to dip them into the chocolate fountain, who could resist the temptation? There were also jellies, fresh fruits and black glutinous rice dessert.

That was not the end to our enjoyment on top of our endless jokes and hilarious moments. All of us went back to our childhood years playing “masak-masak”. LOL! You can see some of us dripping saliva while trying to make something out from our “play dough”. Everyone wanted to have a hand in making their best decorated ice cream with the few different flavors of ice creams, chopped pickled cherries and rice candies. The results – everyone came up top… in their own category. LOL! Here are some of the masterpieces.

Their over 100 variety of picks buffet is at RM17.90nett (adult), RM14.90nett (senior citizen) for only lunch time from Monday to Friday. As for dinner and weekends, it would be at RM21.90nett (adult), RM16.90nett (senior citizen). Children would get to enjoy the buffet at RM8.90nett at all time and it’s free for children below 3 years old. Presently, they are still having their set lunch promotion (since April 2009) priced at RM6.90 which is inclusive of free flow of drinks and a dessert. You can click on the flyer below for a clearer view or check out www.jlsteamboat.com

Finding JL Steamboat Restaurant won’t be hard as it’s located within Nagore Place (nearby New World Park). Find your way down Jalan Burma and keep a look out for the red paint splattered designed Tune Hotel building on your right. Immediately after that would be the New World Park food court. Watch out for the 2nd junction on your right after that. Turn right into Jalan Nagore and drive until a cross junction (Jalan Bawasah/Jalan Nagore). You can see the restaurant on your right (next to Sugar Dynasty Food Delight corner lot) after the cross junction. Parking could be quite limited here during lunch time and you should have lots of loose change too as the parking meter would go on until midnight. If you do not want to have the hassle of driving around finding a free space, I would recommend that you park your car within the New World Park parking lot and walk up to the restaurant.

Name: JL STEAMBOAT RESTAURANT
Address: 27, Jalan Nagore, 10050 Penang, Malaysia.
Business Hours: 11.30am-3.00pm, 5.00pm-11.00pm
Contact: 604-210 1122
GPS: 5.421251, 100.326202

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: 7/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 7/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

Popularity: 2% [?]

Even before their signboard “Village Café” was up, I had paid umpteen visits to Siong Ho Fish Head Bee Hoon to savor some of their noodles and porridges. To show some appreciation to my frequent support, the boss, Mr. Teh (Ah Ho) had decided to throw in a small feast for a handful of us to try out all the seafood items he has in his café. Due to the choices of either clear or tom yam soup based dishes, just a few floggers had the privilege to get the invitation, namely myself, Steven, Gill & Jason, Buzzing Bee, NKOTB and Jian.

What was my reason for visiting this café for my noodles and porridges so frequently? It’s definitely not due to humid weather, the signs of feeling sick soon or my huge appetite for spicy food but the secret lied in the soup. It’s mono sodium glutamate (MSG) free! The soup has a specific recipe of chicken bones, some hint of dried shrimps and some of their secret ingredients. Even the tom yam paste they used was from a reputable brand from overseas.

To start your meal, you would have 6 options to your bowl of hot steaming dish. You can either choose thin rice vermicelli (bee hoon), thick rice vermicelli (cho bee hoon), wheat flour vermicelli (mee suah), instant noodles (maggi mee), soya noodles (tao chiam) or porridge (moey).

Next would be your choice of main ingredients such as large white prawns, grouper fish head, grouper fillet, fried “kalak” fish head, fried “kalak” fish fillet, mud crabs, flower crabs, mantis prawns, squids or frog. Some of the main items here would depend on market availability as the boss would only accept fresh ones from his suppliers. I will also like to give a short description here on the fishes. The grouper fish (kerapu, ???) is one of the most sought after fish locally due to the fine texture in the flesh. It’s also one of the more expensive fish in the local market. The “kalak” fish (ibu kerisi or goldband jobfish) as it is more commonly known as locally is loved for the softness in flesh and less fishy taste. Most local western cuisine restaurants would use them fresh for fish and chips rather than the frozen dory fish.

You could also have some addons to your dish such as pork kidney, minced meat, meat balls, fish ball, quail’s eggs and dried bean curd.

To spice up your bowl of noodles, you might get some of these vegetables and herbs.

No dishes would be presentable minus the colors of some garnishing. You could expect some cut red chillies, chili paddy and a bottle of dried fried chopped garlic available on each table for your preferred intake.

Let’s start the ball rolling with the presentation of the first dish which was the Tom Yam Prawn Noodles (???? – RM9 for 3 large prawns). This was served with instant noodles (Vit’s Mee to be exact). This dish had improved a lot since my last visit as the boss had taken steps to add in some tomato and abalone mushroom slices for the value-for-money bowl of noodles. The soup was thick and spicy enough for me with the fragrance coming from the added Kaffir lime leaves and mint leaves. The prawns were large and super fresh. It was a hit amongst us. Now you know why I love that brand of tom yam paste. Haha!

The next dish was the Fried “Kalak” Fish Head Noodles (???????? – RM5). It has many chunky pieces of fried goldband jobfish head served with thick rice vermicelli (bee hoon) in clear soup. This combination is one of the most favorite orders in the café. The sweetness in the soup and the freshness of the fish blended in real well.

Prawn Noodles in Clear Soup (?????? – RM9 for 3 large prawns) came up next. It came with the thinner type of rice vermicelli. I truly love this dish better compared to the earlier dish as the freshness and sweetness of the prawns brought out the best in taste in the bowl of soup. After all, better quality food sure cost almost double right? It’s really value for money considering the size of those fresh prawns.

We were then served with Squid Noodles (????? – RM5). This time, it was served with instant noodles. Although the squids were fresh and cooked just nice plus some with eggs (ooo.. the cholesterol level), the dish somehow tasted a bit bland due to the true nature of squids being tasteless. I would prefer them cooked with tom yam soup instead.

There’s nothing better than to have a bowl of hot steaming porridge served with fresh grouper fillet. That was what we had next – Grouper Fillet Porridge (????? – RM7.50/75gms). The texture of the porridge was just nice and combined with the freshness of the grouper fillet, it was delicious.

Another of their most sought after dishes would be the fresh Frog Porridge (??? -RM6/100gms). We had a large frog and this dish cost RM12. The flesh was smooth and tender as braised chicken meat. It was a delicious dish as well.

It was a surprise to me that the boss chose the largest crab he has for our next dish. The Crab Noodles (??????? – RM5/100gms), which came with thick rice vermicelli (bee hoon) cost just RM10. The unique freshness and sweetness of the mud crab indeed proved this dish to be another favorite amongst us. You can also opt for the blue flower crab (RM5/100gms – if available). You would be even luckier if you can get to try out another species by the name of Charybdis feriatus (???). This species is quite rare in the local water and taste just as great as the blue flower crabs.

The Fried “Kalak” Fish Fillet Mee Suah (??????? – RM5) also tasted great with the mee suah (wheat flour vermicelli) cooked just nice and not too soggy.

We were all quite full after gobbling down so many bowls of noodles and porridges when the boss decided to throw in another large bowl of Mixed Seafood Tom Yam Soup (RM17 based on the selection of ingredients) just for us. This dish was indeed a blessing to please our craving for more tom yam soup. There were lots of ingredients in it too with the availability of all the fish and meat balls, fried fish head and fillets, squids, pig kidney, etc without any trace of prawns. Can you guess the reason? The boss was so happy to see us that he forgot to add those in. He even showed me proof that he had without any intention left out the prawns. LOL! Anyway, the dish was good enough for our filled tummies. You can order this “only items based” soup if you crave for more delicious soup.

Village Café also served Hot or Cold freshly blended White Nutmeg with Plum (?????? – RM1.70/glass). This drink has been my favorite beverage ever since I had first tried it at Kedai Kopi Hwa Lam where I had their famous Hokkien Loh Mee. IT was indeed refreshing.

Here’s a rough summary of all the possible combination of ingredients and prices (either with noodles or porridge in clear soup or tom yam):
Grouper Fish Head: RM9
Grouper Fish Fillet: RM7.50
Prawns (3 pcs): RM8-RM9
Mud Crab/Flower Crab: RM5/100gms
Mantis Prawn: RM5/100gms
Frog: RM6/100gms
Fried “Kalak” Fillet/Fish Head: RM5
Minced Meat: RM3.50 – RM5
Miscellaneous items such as pork kidney, fish balls, meat balls and dried bean curd: RM3+ per item or combined

For those who are staying surrounding the Bayan Baru or Bayan Lepas areas, you might be interested to try out their noodles and porridge at their other outlet located at Sg. Tiram, next to Shell petrol kiosk in Bayan Lepas.

If you are coming from Prangin Mall along Jalan Dr. Lim Chwee Leong, drive straight pass the Lebuh Carnarvon traffic light. You will reach another traffic light (Lebuh Pantai). Drive straight again until you have reached the Weld Quay (Pengkalan Weld) traffic light. Turn left and drive on until you have reached the first left junction (Lebuh Melayu). The shop is just diagonally opposite the newly constructed building in brown color.

If you are coming from the ferry terminal, keep a watchful eye on the landmarks on your left, especially those Jetty signboards. You would pass by Lim Jetty (temple), Chew Jetty (hawker area), Tan Jetty (Xen Teck Café), Lee Jetty and Mixed Surname Jetty. Immediately after the Mixed Surname Jetty, slow down your car. The shop is just after signboard maker, Chuan Advertising and next to Chun Heng Auto Repair. You won’t miss it as the boss and his workers are all dressed in chef uniforms and cute Bermudas. 😛 You may find parking a bit hard along the heavy trafficked road as it’s the main road leading to the Jelutong Expressway/Penang Bridge. Try driving a bit further up to Yeoh Jetty. You should be able to see some open space there. If not, you have to drive a bit further up to Lebuhraya Merdeka where Ghee Seng Seafood Restaurant is located.

Name: VILLAGE CAFE FISH HEAD NOODLES & PORRIDGE
Address: 107-A, Pengkalan Weld (Weld Quay), 10300 Penang, Malaysia.
Opening Hours: 12.00noon-11.30pm
(Closed on 1st & 15th Day of Chinese Lunar Calendar)
Contact: 019-458 8693 (Mr. Teh/Ah Ho)
GPS: 5.411414, 100.336897

RATING:
Ambience: 7/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 7.5/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 8.5/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 7.5/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 9/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

Popularity: 10% [?]

Basically this is not a food post but just an awareness post that there is a new outlet in Penang, Malaysia, that would cater for all your basic business and personal needs. Located near Queensbay Mall and within the newly constructed BayAvenue, there existed a little corner café like shop by the name of Steven’s Hotspot. It was a privilege for a few of us to be invited by the marketing team of STG Resources Sdn. Bhd. to witness the soft launching of the latest hotspot outlet and a briefing on the history of the company by the Marketing Director, Mr. Michael Ng. Thanks Mr. Edward Tan for the special arrangement.

Initially started as a mamak stall by the name of Steven’s Corner in OUG Garden in the late 70’s, the business has now expanded with the opening of another two outlets in Pandah Indah and Setapak in Kuala Lumpur. To provide Malaysians with the experience of dining freshly concocted ingredients imported directly from India in a more comfortable environment, Steven’s Tea Garden was formed with the state-of-the-art ambience in major shopping complexes, namely Sunway Pyramid, MidValley, Bukit Bintang, AEON Ampang, AEON Bukit Tinggi and Semenyih TESCO.

To provide further services to the community, Steven’s Hotspot was formed with the first outlet being officiated in Kuala Lumpur, followed by Penang on 9 May 2009. Ipoh and Johor Bahru hotspots would follow suit within the next few months. The concept behind Steven’s Hotspot is totally different compared to Steven’s Corner and Steven’s Tea Garden. The setting up of the hotspots in strategically located prime townships within Malaysia is to ease the community in their daily running of errands. It’s a one-stop centre for business appointments with the facilities of having WIFI services, printing, photocopying and faxing of documents. Moreover, it also served as a utility, telecommunication bill payment and purchasing of prepaid outlet for your personal need.

In case you might want to grab something a drink while waiting for the arrival of your clients, you could always try out their 1997 & 1999 Malaysian Tourism Board, Mix FM and The Sun ‘Best Teh Tarik Award’ winning beverage, the Teh Tarik (Malaysian style pulled tea with milk – RM2.50).

There are other options too such as canned drinks and flavored tea.

There are also light meals and snacks supplied by quality Halal certified local food vendors available here. You could always try out their local delicacies such as Nasi Lemak and kuih-muih or cakes and pastries from the counter.

We had tried out their Tuna and Seafood Croissants (RM8/set), Blueberry Cheese Pie (RM6), Lychee and Tiramisu Cakes (RM8.50/pc). There were nothing to shout about on the taste and quality as their main concentration was based on providing convenient services as a business centre.

The mission and vision of Steven’s restaurant chain of restaurants is to expand the business with the expectation of 100 outlets in Malaysia within the next few years as well as to expand aboard. This can only be made possible with their Customer Loyalty Program managed by STG Resources Sdn. Bhd. There are four types of memberships available such as the Classic, Silver, Gold and Platinum memberships. If you are interested in any of their memberships and want to know the benefits available, you can check them out. There is also opportunity for you to own your franchise restaurant through their partnership program.

It would be easier to reach Steven’s Hotspot if use the Jelutong/Bayan Lepas Expressway. Just follow the direction towards Queensbay Mall. Drive on until you see an overhead pass when nearing the mall. Watch out for a signboard leading to Pulau Jererak Resort & Spa. Turn left into the road and drive until the T-junction. Turn right and drive on until the roundabout. On the way, you would see JJ café on your left. Drive 12 o’clock after the roundabout until you see a junction on your right where Shanghai Ding – House of Dumpling is located. OXO Café would be at the next building. Opposite the café (on your right) would be the newly construction BayAvenue business centre. Drive through the parking meter, drive straight and make a left turn at the first junction and you would see Steven’s Hotspot at a corner shoplot.

Name: STEVEN’S HOTSPOT
Address: B-16-1, Lorong Bayan Indah 3, 11900 Bayan Lepas, Penang, Malaysia.
Business Hours: 11.00am-11.00pm
GPS: 5.337456, 100.307114

RATING:
Ambience: 8/10 (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: 7.5/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 7/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

Popularity: 19% [?]

Although I do get my Mum the best food around town frequently, it was a special day yesterday to bring her out for some live-on-the-spot dinner. After all, it was Mothers’ Day and she ought to be treated like a queen. We ended up having Japanese food at Nippon Yataimura which is located in Pulau Tikus, Penang. From the exterior, it looked like a normal restaurant. As we stepped inside, it was totally another world by itself with lanterns hanging everywhere on little roofs just like in a village. Now I got it why they had named the shop as “?????”, meaning Japanese House in a Village.

There were just too many choices available in this restaurant with even a specially created 9-course set meal priced at RM48+ just for Mothers’ Day but we ended up ordering some other set meals with a few dishes from the Ala Carte menu. Let me share with you the set meals that we had ordered. One of the set was Saba Syioyaki (RM25). This is one of the most ordered fish dish in Japan where a small mackerel was grilled to perfection while maintaining the moisture within the fat. The fish had a nice grill and with a squeeze of lemon juice and grated daikon (mild flavored white radish), it was good.

Next were two sets of teppanyaki (???) style dishes. One of them was the Teppan Chicken (RM20). The dish came with some iron griddled mixed vegetables with some toasted garlic slices. The chicken slices were good with their special sauce and they tasted a bit like the spicy version of sate.

Teppan Salmon (RM24) was the other wonderful dish as the sauce was somewhat unique. It was slightly sweet and mildly spiced up. Even with the crisped sensation I had, the fish managed to retain its juice. It was beautiful.

Something caught my eyes in the set menu and I ended up ordering Pork Mayonnaise (RM20). The dish was real creamy with the flavors coming from the mayo and a hint of Lea & Perrin sauce. This dish was cooked with lots of sliced big onions. This would be good if taken with rice.

The above four sets came with side dishes such as a bowl of beautifully steam Japanese rice, Salad, Miso Soup, Chawan Mushi and fruit cuts. The Salad had a mildly gingered chili paste. The Miso Soup was thickly flavored with some tofu cubes and chopped spring onions in it. The Chawan Mushi (Steam Egg) came beautifully decorated and was silky smooth with a few chopped chicken meat pieces within.

Other than the above set meals, we also tried the Seafood Fried Rice (RM22). The dish came with freshly cooked squids, prawns and fish fillet. Although the taste of the rice was nice, I found it to be wet for my preference. It could be due to my liking for “wok hei” (high heat cooking) style of plain white rice rather than the usage of Japanese rice.

The next dish which was the Fish Ball Ramen (RM13) may look plain but one sip into the soup and you would yearn for more. The soup was richly flavored with a hint of fresh prawn juice. It was just like the Dobin Mushi I had at Penang Times Square. Even the portion of ramen served was rather filling. The dish came with fish balls, sliced wood ear fungus and some spring onions.

We also ordered some of the dishes from the Ala Carte menu and one of them was the Ocha Soba (RM13). We had a small serving of cold noodles served with cold soup, raw quail’s egg, spring onions and chopped fried garlic. We indeed left the quail’s egg untouched. One reason was that it was raw and the next was the 3640 calories it will bring into our bodies. The noodle was springy and blended nicely with the soup but somehow I still prefer the Tenzaru Soba I had at Penang Times Square as the soup was more flavorful.

Next side dish was the Agedashi Tofu (RM6). It was nothing special with some pieces of fried tofu garnished with nori (Japanese seaweed strips), spring onions and daikon, served in a pool of soy sauce but the tofu cubes were indeed silky smooth.

The Ishiyaki Kinoko Nomori (RM18) was my favorite amongst the rest of the side orders. The shiitake (Chinese black mushroom – ??) and enoki/enokitake (golden needle mushrooms – ???) mushrooms were stone-cooked so perfectly with their special sauce while maintaining the fragrant mushroom taste. The gravy for this dish tasted great with my rice. Both mushrooms are believed to be great antioxidants.

The most wonderful dining experience in this restaurant was their free flow of green tea, either cold or hot at no extra cost.

I felt that the pricing here is reasonable compared to the quality of ingredients and portion served. After all, I was really filled up with each set meal I had ordered. The service here was good considering that almost all the food came within minutes upon ordering. There are more dishes which I would love to try out next from their ramen (noodles), gohan (rice), sushi (vinegar rice finger food), sashimi (raw cold cuts) and dessert sections.

There is another branch of this franchise restaurant located within Queensbay Mall up in Bayan Baru, Penang. The main restaurant which I had visited in Pulau Tikus, Penang, is located next to a service road along Jalan Burma. If you are coming from Jalan Burma into Pulau Tikus district, you would see a police station on your right. Drive on until you have reached the Jalan Cantonment/Jalan Burma traffic light. After the traffic light, you would see a row of shop houses. Slow down and keep a watch out for a service road on your left. Turn in the service road and you would see the restaurant on your left just next to Teow Chew Meng restaurant. Parking can be quite limited during office hours and weekends. You can either try finding some behind the restaurant or opposite along Bellisa Row. The worst alternative would be within the Bandar Baru Supermarket car park along Jalan Cantonment and walk back to the restaurant.

Name: NIPPON YATAI MURA (?????)
Address: 403-A, Jalan Burma, Pulau Tikus, 10350 Penang, Malaysia.
Business Hours:
12.00noon-2.00pm, 6.00pm-10.00pm (Weekdays)
12.00noon-10.00pm (Saturday & Sunday – No reservation on these days & Public Holiday)
Contact: 604-226 6018
GPS: 5.432746, 100.310593

RATING:
Ambience: 8.5/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 8/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 8.5/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 7.5/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 9/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

Popularity: 6% [?]