vkeong loves good food, travel and photography!
Penang
Everything about Penang
Lor Bak @ Kedai Kopi Seng Thor, Lebuh Carnavon
Jul 22nd
One of the oldest hawker stall in Penang that is still operating can be found at Kedai Kopi Seng Thor @ Lebuh Carnavon. Seng Thor is particularly famous its Lor Mee but I feel the Lor Bak here deserves a better mention. The uncle has been selling his home-made lor bak daily without fail for over 55 years since he was 12. Talk about dedication.
For the uninitiated, Lor Bak is basically a meat roll wrapped with bean curd sheet and flavored with five spice powder. Because of this, it is also known as Ngor Hiang in some other places like KL and Singapore. It is usually accompanied by prawn fritters, “tau kua” (fried bean curd”), Chinese sausage or any other fried seafood. Two dipping sauces are usually there for dipping, one being the gluey and starchy dark soya sauce and the other spicy and sweet chili sauce.
Penang is definitely the place to go for the best Lor Bak on earth, fact. If you think otherwise, well you are wrong lol.
Anyway, a customized platter for one person’s portion at Seng Thor was RM10 that included uncle’s signature lor bak, chinese sausage, prawn fritters and “tau kua” – very traditional and basic.
Q Wok Nyonya Curry House @ Taman Bayu Mutiara, BM
Jul 14th
A recent visit to Q Wok Nyonya Curry House at Taman Bayu Mutiara near Autocity had us delighted over the good and affordable home cooked traditional Nyona dishes. Most of the dishes have three sizes from small to medium to large and the pricing is justified for the clean environment as well as an efficient service (no service charge here!).
Kapitan Chicken (whole leg portion) @ RM7.50 was meaty and tender. Liberal use of coconut milk, belacan and lemongrass made the gravy really thick and flavorful.
One of my personal favorite – Curry Lamb @ RM7 for a small portion. Depending on your luck, you may get either meat or ribs. I guess we were lucky that day as we got two strips of lamb ribs. And better still, they were the soft ones, which you can easily suck out the juicy, tender meat attached. Tasted a little gamey just like it should, delicious.
If you’re having rice then Q Wok’s Sambal Udang (S) @ RM10 is very recommended for its appetizing flavor – the gravy goes very well with rice! I have to admit I was disappointed when the prawns arrived looking miserably small and different from what was shown in the menu. But then we were satisfied with the freshness and taste.
Ngor Hiang, or what we usually refer to as Loh Bak in terms of hawker food was a fair affair. Two rolls cut into eight pieces @ RM3 only.
Siam Road (Jalan Siam) Charcoal Char Koay Teow
Jul 12th
The Char Koay Teow stall along Siam Road, Penang has gotta be one of the best in town. And a good thing about it is you won’t be charged exorbitantly for a plate of Char Koay Teow – something that is supposed to be cheap and affordable but is fast becoming a gourmet priced food just because of huge prawns. But err, if you are a health conscious person you probably need not read any further lol.
Here, my requirements for a delicious plate of Char Koay Teow are fulfilled with flying colors – ingredients are pleasantly fresh, a lot of lard is used (just look at the size of the lard cube), cooked on charcoal flame and brimming with ‘wok hei’. The hardworking uncle would continuously add fresh charcoal into the stove and fan it vigorously to maintain the heat when frying. And to the long debate on whether charcoal flame makes food taste better and in this case produce better ‘wok hei’, I can attest and say “yes, it does”.
D Kuang Seafood Restaurant @ Kampung Baru, Bukit Mertajam
Jul 8th
For a cheap and tasty meal, D Kuang Seafood Restaurant at Kampung Baru (Bukit Mertajam) would be a great choice. Here, a dinner for a family of four would cost only a little over RM50 and you could have five dishes inclusive of seafood, meat and vegetable. Sounds good? Read on.
Kung Pao Mantis Prawn @ RM8 – one of the crunchiest and freshest mantis prawns I have tasted so far. The portion is small but definitely sufficient to share among three or four pax. One of the things I like about D Kuang is that they prepare the dishes’ portions according to your preferences. Some restaurants would deliberately prepare dishes in big portions in order to charge more in the bill later. Here, you get to specify the portion in headcount. No need to worry about being ‘chopped’.
Fried Squid @ RM8 for the smallest portion. About two large sized squids were used and they were great because of the freshness and not to mention the really crispy coating. Soggy coating is a no-no in any fried seafood caused by low temperature of the oil.
