After a long shopping trip and tiring walking, this stall will release your craving for tasty cold drinks. There is a vast variety of cold drinks for you to choose from, be it fruity yoghurt drinks or bubble milk tea.

 The price list is as below:

Among the many bubble milk teas I have tried in Penang, most of them were unable to compete with the authentic taste from Taiwan. However, the iced pearl milk tea at Each A Cup is one of the very few ones that able to be on par with Taiwan’s standard. The milk tea was not too sweet and was milky yet the tea fragrance was remained. The pearls were chewy unlike other competitors’ which were sticky and soft.

No doubt the name of this stall is e-cekap when speak fast as the drink was served just within 10 seconds after we placed our order. They have special weekly promotions to attract customers. As for this week, the promotion is on Yoghurt Series which cost RM3.00 for any yoghurt drinks and Rm3.50 for Sunrise drinks.

Overall, to quench your thirst in a quick way, this stall is a great option. The taste of the drink is on par with Taiwanese’s preparation style and the hygiene of the stall is well taken care of. It is located inside the mall which is in one of the strategic locations. It is a simple and easy concept stall.

Editor’s Review (5 Stars Rank):

Taste
Price
Food Presentation
Service
Overall

Quick Facts:

Family Friendly
Parking
Pork Free
Alcohol
Credit Card
Smoking
Reservation
Private Room
WIFI Available

Operation hours: 10:30am – 10:30pm (7 days a week)
Contact: -
Address:1st Floor – North Zone of Queensbay Mall, Penang.

Despite that, I insisted to go for a good meal on that day. I remember I received an email from someone saying about moms eat for free. At first I though it was a hoax, until I called up the restaurant to clarify that it was for real.

The place that made such a great promotion is Manhattan Fish Market, Queensbay Mall.

“We love mommies, so moms dine for FREE”, all the mum will get a complementary main course, soup of the day and ice lemon tea. I wonder what will happen if there are more than one mom in a table, will they make money?

Below is the history of The Manhattan Fish Market. I only managed to capture the picture but haven’t read through. If you need the article ping me, I will read them if they are “The history about Jelutong Bansan (means wet market in Hokkien)”.

Luckily I made a booking for our lunch earlier as the restaurant was full on that day.

In fact, even outside of the restaurant was also almost full.

The surrounding looks like a high class market place overseas.

The counter to buy your fish.

Fish market serving now, please wait to be seated.

Their slogan “Delighting your tastebuds with a sea of the freshest catch”.

The seasoning provided, mayonnaise, garlic and chili sauce with garlic flavor.

Orange Juice – RM6.90, the price is slightly higher than usual places, some more the juice is not freshly squeezed, instead it tasted like orange cordial. I rather buy 5 oranges and squeeze them myself.

Gentlemen start your fire. If you ordered seafood platter, you will get the chance to see the crew that torch up the food just in front of you.

The torch is to heat and melt down the cheese on top of the shrimps, while the rest of the dishes will remain un-burnt.

Grilled Gala Platter for Two – RM46.90. Perfectly grilled shrimp, fish, calamari rings and mussels served on a bed of chips and garlic rice. As what you can see on the picture, the portion is actually for more than 2 persons. If you are just an average eater, 4 pax would be more ideal to share this platter.

Cheesy shrimp, delicious and filled with rich cheese. The shrimps are fresh and portion is acceptable. The aroma of the shrimps with the cheese is so strong and tempting after being torched.

Grilled fish, is served together with their home mixed mustard, the fish tasted fresh and is covered with crunchy outter layer.

Next will be the mussel which is also covered with flour and deep fried. The taste of it is very unique and nice as if you didn’t read the menu you will not know that it is a mussel.

The calamari ring that doesn’t taste like squid as well. Most probably due to it was soft on the inside inside and crunchy on the outside and it makes people mistaken it as as something else.

Mediterranean Baked Fish Set with soup of the day and ice lemon tea – FREE complementary meal in conjunction of Mother’s Day. The bake fish tasted a bit like Thai style steam fish. There isn’t much feeling of Mediterranean , instead the hot and spiciness made this dish a signature Thai dish instead.

Ice lemon tea.

The creamy mushroom soup that came together with the set as well. The soup had a very smooth and milky texture and it was very delicious.

Overall, the food are big in portion and value for money. The dishes are fresh and the taste is up to standard. The killing point is the price of the beverages. If they are charging so much for the drinks, they might want to consider free-flow for the soft drinks.

Editor’s Review (5 Stars Rank):

Taste
Price
Food Presentation
Service
Overall

Quick Facts:

Family Friendly
Parking
Pork Free
Alcohol
Credit Card
Smoking
Reservation
Private Room

Operation hours: 11:00am – 10:00pm (7 days a week)
Contact: 04-646 1620
Address:Lower Ground, Queensbay Mall, Penang.

Ah Hai Hokkien Mee and Loh Mee stall is located at Top Taste Restaurant in Kampung Jawa. For those who are working in Bayan Lepas area, surely you will know this coffee shop.

Ah Hai Hokkien Mee and Lor Mee Stall is located inside this coffee shop. Although Ah Hai sells both Hokkien Mee and Lor Mee, I like the Hokkien Mee better. Each Hokkien Mee and Lor Mee cost RM2.5o (Small) and RM3.00 (Large). You can order Hokkien Mee or Lor Mee, or you can also order a mixture of Hokkien Lor Mee.

Ah Hai was seriously preparing my bowl of Hokkien Mee while I was asking him to pose for my shot.

Delicious Hokkien Mee to start off my day although I am not used to take spicy food for my breakfast. It is so irrisitable and so tempting to try it out as soon as I arrived. It is essential to mix the chili with the Hokkien Mee as this is the main ingredient that makes the excitement of this dish. Ah Hai’s Hokkiem mee tastes so much better than the average Hokkien mee stalls aroud. This is because Ah Hai has been preparing Hokkien Mee for more than 10 years. For those who love hot and spicy food for the start of the day, please visit this stall.

Overall, I love the hokkien mee more than the lor mee from this stall. I feel that the hokkien mee is up to standard and is incredible. If the portion provided could be bigger then there will be additional points added to this stall.

Editor’s Review (5 Stars Rank):

Taste
Price
Food Presentation
Service
Overall

Quick Facts:

Family Friendly
Parking
Pork Free
Alcohol
Credit Card
Smoking
Reservation
Private Room

Operation hours: 8:00am – 6:00pm (Close of last Sunday of the month)
Contact: Ah Hai
Address: Lorong Kampung Jawa, Bayan Lepas, 11900 Penang.

Friend: “I tell you the restaurant is like a 5-star hotel. If I didn’t tell you this is just a normal restaurant, you might think that it is a high class restaurant in the hotel.”

Me: “Are you sure? I never knew about this place, is it located at rural area? How many people can it cater?”

Friend: “SP Setia is at Sungai Ara and the restaurant that can cater for 30 tables. It has a common hall which can cater for another 80 tables. The hall is very grand and elegant.”

Me: “Never heard about that, if I had the chance I will try it out.”

Right after my friend told me about this place I got a call from Gill from Gourmet Garden the following day for an invited food review at SP Setia Pearl Palace Restaurant. I am thinking what a coincidence as I have just asked my friend about it last night.

To go to Setia Pearl Island, you need to move further into Sungai Ara. For more details, you can contact them using the phone number provided or refer to the google map below. The restaurant that we are visiting is Pearl Palace Restaurant and it is located at 2nd floor of Setia Pearl Island.

Upon entering the entrance, it gave us a classical and oriental feeling.

All the exclusive sea horses and sea dragon are being displayed along the entrance.

The enormous abalones and scallops were displayed at the rack.

The giant sea cucumber and also the shark’s fin were placed on top of the same rack. The price of the items on this rack are no doubt extremely expensive.

If you think the items on the rack is expensive enough, check out the thousand-year old of ginseng, it may cost you a fortune. The price of this masterpiece can simply cost you a terrace house.

The cozy and relaxing ambiance on the overall restaurant.

The view outside of the restaurant. You can see the airport and also the development of Penang.

Fish Steamboat 鱼锅 (Medium RM45) was our starter. The reason for its name is due to the majority of the ingredients are fish. The soup was fish-based. The serving of the meat was garoupa fish and in the soup you could also find some fried fish fillets. The soup was milky and full of fish taste. It is great for someone looking for a healthy and non-fried dish. Personally, I love this dish.

Steamed Beancurd with Salted Egg and Prawn 百花蛋香豆腐蒸凤尾虾 (Small RM25, Medium RM35, Large RM45). Another healthy dish which has the combination of steamed Japanese beancurd, fresh prawn and salted egg slices. However, I personally feel that the arrangment of this dish and the previous fish steamboat has made the flow of banquet a bit dull. It would be great to have something in contrast  such as a spicy dish or some fried dishes after a bowl of fish soup.

Braised Fresh Mushroom with Bamboo Shoots 浓汤竹笙扒玉菇
(Small RM15, Medium RM22, Large RM35). This dish is a combination of enoki mushrooms (金针菇) on top, bamboo shoots as base and tomatoes at the edge. It is a good choice for vegetarians. However, to distribute this dish evenly to all the diners on  the table was another challange as the enoki mushroom were sticked together.

Braised Dried Abalone and Sea Product in Claypot 小干鲍烩海味煲 (Small RM80, Medium RM160, Large RM220). As for this dish it was cooked with Japanese dried abalones, scallops, sea cucumber, dried oysters and green peas. It was an exclusive dish to have. The abalones were cooked long enough to absorb the taste of the seafood. After the ingredients were braised for sometime, the dish was served hot in a claypot. I personally love this dish especially on the exclusive abalones and scallops.

Deep Fried Chicken With Marmite Sauce 妈蜜鸡 (Small RM12, Medium RM20, Large RM30). The chicken was marinated with marmite and was then deep fried. The aroma was nice and it really lured you to try out. The taste was slightly sweet and it would be perfect if it was less sweet.

Pomfret in Two Preparation 俩味斗昌 (Market Price). For fish lovers like me, you are going to love this. The fish was fresh and  wa served in both pan-fried and steamed version. What an excellent combination to have!

Fried Wet Hor Fun with Slice Abalone 鲍片湿炒河粉,  the hor fun was cooked with slices of abalone. This dish with abalones was specially prepared for this review. The abalones tasted great although they were from the can.  However, the hor fun was not very fresh as it stranded after a few stirs. There is still room for improvement for this dish. Price for Hor Fun without Abalone slices (Small RM12, Medium RM24, Large RM38).

Double Boiled Aloe Vera with Red Dates 冰糖芦荟红枣 (Small RM8, Medium RM18, Large RM30). Ladies, if you care for your skin and want to be good-looking, this dessert with aloe vera, red dates and wolf berries soup will fulfill you needs. For some it might be too sweet, but to me it was just nice.

Overall, some of the dishes at this place were excellent while some still have room for improvement. The price with such an exclusive and high range dining ambience is considered value for money. The price of wedding packages are also available as below:

• For year 2010 (including ballrooom rental) available in RM368+, RM428+, RM588.
• For year 2010 (excluding ballrooom rental) available in RM338+.

Editor’s Review (5 Stars Rank):

Taste
Price
Food Presentation
Service
Overall

Quick Facts:

Family Friendly
Parking
Pork Free
Alcohol
Credit Card
Smoking
Reservation
Private Room

Operation hours: 11am – 3pm and 6pm – 10pm (Close on Monday)
Contact: 604-643 9888, 644 9355 Fax: 604-645 9888
Address: 8 Persiaran Kelicap, 11900 Bayan Lepas, Penang.

View Pearl Palace Restaurant – Setia Pearl Island in a larger map

Durian season only comes twice a year but when it does it will create much excitement among Southeast Asians. While the strong smell may put off some people, the taste can literally bring you to a higher dimension.

It is important to know how to choose the right Durian. If it is too ripe, it may be overly bitter and pungent. If it is not ripe enough, the flesh will be hard and probably tasteless. To choose a good Durian, it is a subtle art that involves smell, hearing and touch. Below are some useful guides:

Shake and Listen

Assuming that the Durian is not frozen, the first thing that you should do is pick the Durian up in both your palms. Do this gently, and if the thorns hurt, use a couple of towels to protect your hands. Place the Durian next to your ear, and give it a gentle shake, not unlike shaking a maracas to some soul music. If there is no sound, it means that the fruit is too ripe. If there is a hard knocking sound, the fruit is not ripe enough. What you want to hear are dull, subtle knocks.

Touch and Smell

After identifying the right knocking sounds, you want to narrow your choice down further with the right smell. Put the Durian about an inch from your nose. Take a whiff. Can you smell the slightly fragrant odor? If it smells raw, like an unripe fruit, then the Durian is probably not ripe. If the smell is strong and over-powering, it is probably too ripe and the flesh is likely to be soft and gooey. It should smell just so – neither too raw nor too strong.

If the above steps are still very tedious for you, there is another easier way to get good Durian, which is to find a good Durian seller and ask him to recommend for you. One of the recommended Durian stalls that I am going to introduce is Ah Joo’s Stall which is located at Teluk Kumbar.

By following the road of Jalan Bayan Lepas to Teluk Kumbar, you will by pass a secondary school on your right which is (SMK Teluk Kumbar), by moving further you will never miss the Teluk Kumbar Mosque on your left. Just after a few hundred meters ahead, you will see a small hut which has placed a lot of durians and other local fruits in front the stall. That would probably be Ah Joo’s Stall.

A blue-roofed house is landmark to identify the right stall.

Just name the local fruits and you will probably find them all here - Rambutan, Mangosteen, Langsat and Cempedak. The Durians and some other local fruits are supplied from Gertak Sanggul whereas the rambutans are from Balik Pulau.

Ah Joo has been operating for 17 years on Durian business. There is no HAND or LEG sign. It is just an very simple stall that simply sells good Durian.

Inspired by Cariso all the Durians can be classified as different types of girl.

Ang Hae / Udang Merah / Otak Udang 红虾 “Red Prawn” (RM10-30). For this durian it can be described as the Superstar, it is outshining, consists of both strength and idol features. “Ang Hae” got its name from its orange coloured flash. It is smooth, fine and sweet and it even has a slight bitter taste. The flesh is thick with small seed. It is one of the awkward spicies. Of course just like tackling a Superstar it come with a price. The price for “Ang Hae” is slightly higher comparde to the others. but still it is one of my favourites.

Hor Lor 葫芦 “Calabash” (below RM15). This species can be described as an elegant and prestige girl born from a rich family. The taste was fine and gummy. It tasted sweet in the beginning (at the outer part) and it got more and more bitter when towards the end. Of course, it is like dating a rich girl, you will need to spend more. At first you will feel sweet and happy with her but at the end of the day you will feel bitter as your wallet gets empty.

Kim Poh “Golden Treasure” ( below RM15, less than Hor Lor), this one can be classified as mistress, the flesh is fine and creamy. The texture is like ice cream but when you pull it up and taste deeper it is rather bitter. It is like a man trying to keep a mistress. The mistress is soft and tender, she will treat you nice with pleasure. However, once you are hooked you are hard to pull out.

Ooi Kiau Ong / Kunyit Kuning 黄姜 “Yellow Tumeric” (below RM10). This one is like the official wife who always cares for your feeling, follow you through up and down. The colour is fade-yellowish, slightly bitter and creamy in taste. The taste is smoother compared to the rest, even the price is also cheaper compared to the previous few.

Chae Pui 青皮 “Green Skin” (RM8 -RM20). This can be classified as an Independent Career Lady. She will let you know the meaning of work hard first and enjoy later. Which is bitter first with sweet ending. The taste is slightly bitter at first and once you get used to it, you will feel that actually it’s very sweet indeed. The color of the flesh will determine the bitterness of the durian, if the inside shows greenish it will be bitter.

Tatt Kar Chui 塞屁股 “Stucked Ass Hold” (below RM10). This one tastes like country girl. This is a creation by Ah Joo. I am not sure why they gave this name. May be someone is having constipation after eating this Durian, that is why the name came as it is. The taste is sweet and the odour is not too strong. It is like a shy girl that just came out from country side.

There are other durian species available here too. Kor Teh “Bitter Tea”, Kucing Tidur “Sleeping Cat”, Capri “Racing Bike”, Susu “Milk”, D15, D2, COB, Ganja “Marawana”, Qi Xian Nv “Seven Godess” and etc.

Other local fruits available are :

• Cempedak (red meat) – 1kg/RM3
• Langsat – 1kg/RM2
• Rambutan – 3kg/RM5, 1kg/RM2
• Mangosteen – 2kg/RM5, 1kg/RM3

For those who love local fruit and lazy to drive out you can even call for delivery service, provided it is within Penang Island with minimum of 10 durians. Delivery is available for weekends while weekday is preferably after 5 p.m

Fruit Buffet will also be available @RM25 per adult, RM15 per child. Unlike normal durian stalls which limit you to the numbers of branded durians, over here all durians for buffet will be strictly branded (including Hor Lor and Ang Hae). Do call for booking if you can gather at least 5-10 persons.

Quick Facts:

Family Friendly
Parking
Pork Free
Alcohol
Credit Card
Smoking
Reservation
Private Room

Operation hours: 10am -12 pm (7 days a week)
Contact: 017-4222248 (Father, Ah Joo) / 012-4531812 (Kelly, For Delivery)
Address: 1238, Jalan Bayan Lepas, Teluk Kumbar, 11920 Penang.

View Where to Find Best Durian in Penang @ Ah Joo’s Stall, Teluk Kumbar in a larger map

Today is the greatest day in my life. Steven’s Hotspot, one of the largest chain cafes had a grand opening in Penang and all these chain stalls are owned by me, Steven Goh. I am now one of the richest men in Malaysia. Everyone of you who visit my chain stalls will have a 50% discount.

Alright, that was just another dream of mine. I am still Steven Goh the food blogger. I didn’t own Steven’s Hotspot or any other chain stalls. I just own StevenGoh.com and a small car.

Steven’s Hotspot is owned by Steven’s Corner. Steven’s Corner was founded in 1976 by an Indian couple. Steven’s Corner is a mamak restaurant located in Overseas Union Garden, off Old Klang Road, Kuala Lumpur. Steven is the nickname of Silan, a member of the family. The original stall sat on a shop corner, hence the name Steven’s Corner.

The first Steven’s Hotspot in Penang is located inside BayAvenue, Bayan Lepas of Lorong Bayan Indah 3. As mentioned, Steven’s Hotspot is under the management of STG Resources Sdn. Bhd., this goes the same with Steven’s Tea Garden. Sigh, all the Steven’s name had been taken up. Next time I could only use the name Steven Goh’s Corner, if my dream comes true.

Steven’s Hotspot, is a place targetting business people and also young working adults. The idea of Steven’s Hotspot is slightly different from Steven’s Tea Garden. Usually, Steven’s Tea Garden and Steven’s Corner offered Mamak’s Dishes and Rice, Roti Canai, Nasi Lemak and Mee Goreng. However, Steven’s Hotspot only offers some of the menu above but excluding Mamak’s Rice and Dishes.

The main selling point of Steven’s Hotspot is on it’s Business Center. Steven’s Hotspot also provides a comfortable place for chit-chatting, relaxing and to have light meals.

Trendy and colourful environment with most of the crowd consist of business people and also young working adults.

According to the Marketing Manager of STG Resources Sdn. Bhd., Michael Ng, Steven’s Hotspot is focusing more on lifestyle and ambience rather than on food. The food here are supplied by high-quality vendors instead of from its own kitchen. All the food being sold here are purely Halal.

Steven’s Teh Tarik (RM2.50), one of the signature drinks in this shop. The taste is slightly sweet to me, it is very suitable for sweet tooth people. As for the pricing for all the food here, it is still not fixed as the management has not finalized on the pricing yet.

Blueberry Cheese Pie (RM6), the taste of the pie is just like a normal cheese cake, nothing too special.

Lychee Cake (RM8.50), slightly sweet but still at an acceptable level. It is one of the best of all.

Tiramisu Cake (RM8.50), the taste for this cake was a bit plain. I still prefer the lychee cake.

Tuna Sandwich (RM8), a usual tuna paste filled into croissants.

Seafood Sandwich (RM8), with crab-flavoured sticks and mushrooms.

For those who would like to join the membership of Steven’s Hotspot, there are a range of cards from Classic, Silver, Gold to Platinum.

Overall, the Steven’s Hotspot focuses more on environment and lifestyle. For those who want to find a relaxing place for business talk or place to chill out, Steven’s Hotspot is the place to be.

Operation hours: 11:00am – 11:00pm (7 days a week)
Address:B-16-1, Lorong Bayan Indah 3, 11900 Bayan Lepas, Pulau Pinang.

Introduction of today is the special Malay style chicken rice located at Batu Maung beside the Pos Office.

By right most of the people working in Bayan Lepas will know the post office, just in case you are not sure where is the actual location, please refer to the Wikimapia GPS below:

http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=5.2853234&lon=100.2860141&z=17&l=0&m=a&v=2  

The entrance to the stall from Batu Maung Pos office is a small hut and usually packed with people during lunch time. My advice is you either go there earlier or later. The bad timing to go is from 12noon – 1:30pm. Also, this place will not have chicken supply on Fridays due to Muslim prayers. If you want to enjoy the full set of lunch, please do not visit this place on Fridays.

Again, this place is for the people looking for good food but not too worry about the environment as there are kittens walking pass you and few small flies circling around looking for the “best” landing spot. Check out the boss who was busy preparing and ordering.

The price of the chicken rice is not that expensive at all. I am not sure if this price will still be the same after the petrol price hike?

The chicken rice set came with rice, chicken, chili and soup. The chicken was dipped with home-made soy sauce. The soup tasted like any Mamak stalls and the best was the spicy and sour chili paste to be eaten with the chicken rice. That was great combination. The only imperfection was the chicken meat portion was too little. For guys who are not not on diet, you should order extra meat.

For those not looking for plain chicken rice, there are other options - Fried rice with chicken. They have 2 types, either special or normal set. The normal set is fried rice with fried chicken, a piece of fried egg with their special made chili sauce on top and also a bowl of soup. The special set is the same but with “pasembur” as an additional side dish. The taste is very special too.

Editor’s Review (5 Stars Rank):

Taste
Price
Food Presentation
Service
Overall

The location is at Batu Maung near OCBC Bank. Below is the Wikimapia GPS link:

http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=5.287345&lon=100.281415&z=18&l=0&m=a&v=2

The menu display shows that there are plenty of Fried Rice to choose from, you have Hatyai Pork Leg Rice, Tomyam Soup Rice, Pineapple Fried Rice and etc. This stall is originally from Kim Choon Coffee Shop, and I know the stall owner as he is a very nice person. They just moved to Sin Kim Seng Cafe a few months back as there are some disputes with the previous coffee shop owner.

My lunch today is the Pattaya Fried Rice and it cost RM3.50 which I find is quite reasonable.

The one that I have ordered is Pattaya Fried Rice. Check out the picture below they make an omelette to cover up the fried rice. They also place chili sauce on top of it. Anyway, when you order the fried rice remember to ask the cook to separate the chili sauce from the omelette as you can see it is too much and it actually spoilt its original taste.

On top of the omelette is some salad made of cucumber cubes and inside it the ingredients of the fried rice is cooked with chicken slices and also tomyam paste. Therefore, you are having main course and dessert together and surprisingly the taste is quite nice.

Editor’s Review (5 Stars Rank):

Taste
Price
Food Presentation
Service
Overall