vkeong loves good food, travel and photography!
Penang
Everything about Penang
Home Made Durian Ice Cream & Ice Kacang @ Kek Seng Coffee Shop
Jan 21st
Whenever people ask me for places to eat in Penang, Kek Seng will always be one of my recommendations. Old and nostalgic aside (they still preserve the square wooden tables and chairs), home made durian ice cream is a rarity nowadays and fortunately for us it is still available at Kek Seng. Also, their one of a kind ice kacang topped with ice cream balls and colorful jellies is such an eye candy and a nice treat during hot weathers.
At RM3.50, the default ice cream ice kacang comes with two scoops of random ice cream, which could be strawberry, corn or chocolate flavored. So if you want your ice cream to be durian flavored, remember to specify it. Kek Seng does not skimp on the ingredients, as you can see the ice kacang was flooded with sweet corn and red beans.
Then there’s the jellies or agar-agar, one being a little sour and zesty tasting like lemon and the other being a little sweet. My first time having Kek Seng’s ice kacang was three years ago and I am glad to say the quality is still there. However, it still remains second best to me because of the absence of sarsi flavor. Somehow it did not feel so refreshing compared to the other ice kacang due to this.
Azuma Japanese Restaurant @ Queensbay Mall, Penang
Jan 10th
On Christmas Eve me and my brother went to Azuma Japanese Restaurant at Queensbay Mall for dinner. I specifically chose Queensbay because it was one of the places I used to hang out a lot when I was still working in Penang, I wanted to see how much changes had taken place since then.
Well it seemed like quite a number of restaurants and cafes had established themselves in the mall, which is a good thing because I seriously felt that Queensbay lacked choices when it came to food. But I still don’t understand why they wouldn’t do anything about the open air car – the road condition is still bad!
While I am not entirely happy being having to work in Singapore because of the deterioration of quality of life, earning Singapore dollar means I get to spend more comfortably when I return to Malaysia. My brother is not much of a sashimi fan so I only ordered for myself – Kiku Sashimi @ RM35 that consisted of 8 pieces of assorted raw fish.
The sashimi was fresh and quite thick sliced, obviously something I am very happy about. I enjoyed the salmon sashimi the most and I think I am gonna order just that next time. Maguro is juicy but the texture is just not as great as salmon’s while I find Tako just too rubbery for my liking.
My brother had a piece of Unagi Kabayaki all to himself. RM22.
There was a promotion for pan fried salmon so we had one of it as well.
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.
