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Archive for January, 2010
Lean Gaik Hokkien Mee @ Chai Leng Park – Avoid it
Jan 3rd
If you happen to chance upon Lean Gaik Hokkien Mee at Chai Leng Park, all I can say is avoid it. Years ago when I was doing my industrial training at Perai, I went there once or twice before and decided that their Hokkien Mee was above average at best, didn’t really like it at all.
One of the reasons Lean Gaik is popular is because they let you add additional stuff into your usual Hokkien Mee like roast pork, mantis prawn (now no more) and Teochew fish balls. This proved to be an effective crowd puller back then.
Yesterday, I was at Chai Leng Park and decided to give them another try given that one’s taste bud could change over time. Turned out that I still didn’t like it and worse still, I hated it even more simply for two reasons: Hiring of Indonesian maids to prepare the food and excessive use of MSG.
Alma Char Koay Teow @ Bukit Mertajam
Jan 3rd
After delaying so many times, I finally went to Alma to try the Char Koay Teow (Malay style) that was highly recommended by some fellow BM readers. Let’s just say I could kick myself in the head for not trying it earlier because it was indeed a good one. Well recommended and thanks for the tip!
Luckily the location was easy to find thanks to a very notable landmark – Alma’s Wonderful Mini Market. While driving along Jalan Rozhan, I noticed a lot of smoke and flames emitting from stalls with many customers queuing. That was a clear hint for me that I have found the Char Koay Teow stall.
Anyway they are called Alma Char Koay Teow, consisting of a team of three chefs, a beverage stall, a cashier and a few waiters. It’s quite a big operation from what I could see, there are at least 15 tables scattered along the five foot way and road side, all being occupied. Business is doing really good for them.
Before I went I did a brief research and knew that their normal portion is really small so I went and order the big one @ RM3.50. And as you can see, the portion is really little considering I ordered a big one.. I think an average person would take only 5-6 mouthfuls to finish the whole plate lol.
Duck Thigh Noodles @ Pun Chun Chicken Biscuits & Restaurant, Bidor
Jan 1st
Happy New Year 2010 everyone! Overall, 2009 was quite a sad year for the world. Let’s hope 2010 will be a good one!
Mention Bidor and food like duck thigh noodle, chicken biscuit (Kai Jai Peng) and ‘Sat Kei Ma‘ (squarish, sweet dessert made of flour and chicken eggs) immediately come to mind. For frequent travelers along the North-South Expressway between Ipoh or Penang and Kuala Lumpur, Bidor is surely a familiar town.
The last time I drove back to Penang from KL, I decided to make a stop at Bidor’s famous Pun Chun Restaurant for dinner. Instead of trying to finish the journey as fast as possible, sometimes it is nice to visit some small towns along the way, have some food and feel replenished to continue.
Pun Chun was very easy to find because it is located along Bidor’s main street, which is only about 5-10 minutes’ drive from Bidor Toll exit. Upon reaching the restaurant we were shocked to see the number of people eating at the restaurant, what a buzz!
We finally found a table and made our orders but then we were told that we had to wait at least 30 minutes due to the sheer number of customers at that time. Well, I didn’t really mind actually because it would give me some time to nose around the restaurant and observe their operation lol.
A lady busy blanching noodles for orders that came in non-stop.
To complete the order, individual double-boiled duck thighs are taken from a huge cooker and served together. Double boiling ensures that no water loss will occur and it also locks in the flavor and essence of the ingredients.
