To get to this place, you need to drive all the way from Tanjung Bungah, to Batu Ferringgi and up to Teluk Bahang. You need to drive pass Hard Rock Hotel and Tree Monkey is located about 600 meters away from Hard Rock Hotel which is located next to Tropical Spice Garden.

To access to Tree Monkey Restaurant, you need to climb for about 100 meters up hill. Those with disability and unable to walk, you can always request the owner to allow you to drive to the place that nearer to the restaurant. However, you are not allowed to park there and you still need to get some one to drive your car down.

Upon entering to the restaurant, you will realize that this restaurant has a mixture of modern and also traditional concept.

On the traditional side, this place has a combination of oriental and western concept as well.

The surrounding looks very Balinese and you feel like you are now back to the nature.

Even lamps on the walkway is also Balinese style.

For those who want to have some privacy, there are small huts with table for 4 in each hut at the side of the restaurant.

If dining in a small hut is not your ideal choice, you can also choose to dine under the tree with the nature.

If it is raining, there is always a big sheltered dining area for you to dine comfortably.

Before your meal is served, it is always a good idea to take a stroll around the restaurant to enjoy its beautiful garden.

If you happen to walk up to the pathway which leads to Tropical Spice Museum, you will be stopped by the owner as you need to pay to enter Tropical Spice Garden.

For those who wanted to get some spices or souvenirs, you can always visit the souvenir shop beside.

The decoration at the counter has a very Thai and Balinese Style.

Even the lighting is also very Balinese.

Now back to the feast of the day.

WELCOME DRINK: Sunset Paradise - RM10.00 (only available from 6.00pm-7.00pm). This is a special drink prepared for us and is currently not in the menu yet.

A refreshing tropical fruit mocktail. I could taste a mixture of orange, pineapple and lemon in it.

Sweet and sourish with a very fruity taste. The feeling was very appetizing.

Thai Tapas (choose any types of appetizers served with sweet chili sauce) 8pcs @ RM30, 12 pcs @ RM45, 16 pcs @ RM60 (max 4 pcs on each item)

(There are 12 options on this menu – Thai Toast, Money Bag, Herbs Chicken, Spring Roll, Pandan Chicken, Otak-otak, Mussels Salsa, Lemongrass Stick, Prawn Sarong, Prawn Sabai, Thai Fish Cake & Darling Crab)

• Mussels Salsa – Half shelled mussel steamed with chili lime salsa.
• Otak-otak -Steamed curried seafood paste in banana leaves.
• Prawn Sarong – Deep fried prawn wrapped with crispy rice noodle.
• Spring Roll – Thai crispy vegetables spring roll.
• Money Bag – Golden fried bag of minced chicken & vegetables.
• Prawn Sabai – Deep fried prawn wrapped with spring roll skin.
• Lemongrass Stick – Crumbed minced seafood wiwth lemongrass skewer.
• Thai Toast – Crispy toast with minced chicken & sesame.
• Thai Fish Cake – Deep fried curried fish paste with kaffir lime leaves.
• Pandan Chicken – Marinated chicken wrapped in pine screw leaves.
• Herbs Chicken – Deep fried chicken drumettes with lemongrass.
• Darling Crab – Half shelled crab stuffed with mixed seafood. (Not available in this serving)

This is one of the dishes which includes every thing in a plate. All the items in this plate are delicious. My personal preference are the Lemongrass Stick, Otak-otak and also Pandan Chicken.

A slice of squid which was found inside the otak-otak.

Asian Tapas (Choose any dish, served with 2 portions of Tumeric Rice) 8 dishes @ RM60, 12 dishes @ RM90 (max 2 dishes on each item)

(12 options on menu – Mango Salad, Satay, Nam Tok, Crispy Herbs Fish, Chili Paste Prawn, Sweet Bean Curd, Kang Kung Belacan, Son In Law Egg, Masaman Curry, Panaeng Curry, Tomyum Soup & Tomkha Soup)

• Kang Kung belacan – Stir-fried morning glory with shrimps paste.
• Panaeng Curry – Red curry beef, long bean, eggplants & kaffir lime.
• Crispy Herbs Fish – Deep fried seabass fillet with crispy spices & herbs.
• Sweet Bean Curd – Deep fried bean curd topped with sweet chili sauce.
• Masaman Curry – Red curry chicken, potatoes, onion & cashew nuts.
• Satay – Grilled chicken skewer served with peanut sauce.
• Nam Tok – North Eastern Thai beef salad with shallot & dry chili powder.
• Prawn Chili Paste – Stir-fried prawns with chili paste.
• Son In Law Egg – Deep fried boiled egg topped with tamarind sauce.
• Tomyum Soup – Spicy seafood soup with lemongrass & lime juice (not in this pic).
• Tomkha Soup – Creamy chicken soup with galangal & lemongrass (not in this pic).

The variety of dishes in Asian Tapas is as many as Thai Tapas. The few nice dishes are spicy herb fish, satay, prawn chili paste and Son in Law egg. I have just blogged about Mistress Bun last week and this time I encountered Son in Law Egg, all with the funny names .

Tumaric rice, this is served together with the Asian Tapas set.

Tomyam (left) and Tom Kha (right) soup as below. Thai Soup is also available in ala carte order, pricing is based on serving size and categories of either chicken, seafood or prawn.
Price ranges from small (single bowl) (RM8.80 to RM10.80),  medium (RM10.80 to RM19.80) and fire pot (RM20.80 to RM38.80).

Tom Kha – Creamy Chicken Soup infused with fragance of coconut milk and ingredients like galangal, oyster mushroom and dried chili. I personally prefer this soup over the tomyam, as the soup is more sourish, the spiciness is not too overwhelming and also the taste of the seafood is very rich.

Tomyum soup – Favourite Thai soup of many with lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime and chili & lime juice.

Although this soup is not my cup of tea compared to Tom Kha, I find that this soup is full of seafood and very spicy. It is meant for spicy lovers.

While we were relaxing over the hillside and enjoying nice food, at the same time we were also mesmerized by the beautiful sunset. It just took my breath away at that moment.

Thai Coconut Ice Cream (topped with jackfruit and sea coconut seed) – RM8.80. This dessert is very Thai, it helps to cool down your hot sensation after the Thai’s hot and spicy meal.

A romantic setback for a cup of chilling ice cream, with the candle light lantern on the side. Enjoying the orange glow of sunset that is fading away, that is the greatest moment in life.

Spice Tea/Coffee with Condensed Milk (Hot or Cold) – RM8.00

Frankly speaking this spice tea/coffee is not my favourite cuppa. The taste of spices has overwhelmed the original taste of coffee and tea. The cinnamon was too heavy and it has made my tongue felt numb.

Below is the picture of the owner of Tree Monkey Restaurant and also the organizer of this outing event. From left, the owner Mr. Pattkhor, his wife Miss. Wisakha and the organizer Waren.

Overall, the food is great and the ambiance is very relaxing and romantic. This is a great place to get away from the busy city life. There are a lot of parking places available by the road side of the restaurant. There will be free WIFI at this place soon. The only drawback is the accessibility to this restaurant which is not so disable-friendly.

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 (Open Concept)
WIFI Available

Operation hours: 9:00am – 12:00pm (7 days a week)
Contact: 04-881 3494
Address: Lone Craig Villa, Lot 595, Mukim 2, Jalan Teluk Bahang, 11100 Penang.

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.

Although the dinner started on Saturday, 6pm, it was still very hot and sunny out there just like in the noon and many floggers (food bloggers) were busy taking photos on the surrounding.

Strada Caffe serves not only beer and liquor for the people who come to watch football matches…

…they also serve coffee of all ranges for the people who come to this cosy place as a gathering and reunion.

Before the review session began, the owner of Strada had re-emphasized that this place is not meant for fine dining or very delicious food. Instead, this place is more for people to relax, having a cuppa and also some light food.

After the speech, followed by a solo unplugged guitar performance by one of the shareholders.

Besides the usual coffee bean range, Strada Caffe also provides the precious Kopi Luwak or Civet Coffee. Civet coffee, is a coffee made from the beans of coffee berries which have been eaten by the Asian Palm Civet and other related civets, then passed through its digestive tract. A civet eats the berries for their fleshy pulp. In its stomach, proteolytic enzymes seep into the beans, making shorter peptides and more free amino acids.

Green Garden Salad – RM8.90, the dish was mixed with lettuce, capsicums, onions, croutons, sun flower seeds, eggs and smoked chicken. Finished with house salad dressing. The taste of this green salad was very green indeed and was an acceptable starter.

Seafood Chowder in Bread Bowl – RM15.90. Chunks of seafood were simmered with potatoes, onions, celery, real heavy cream and a touch of butter and served in bread bowl. This dish was very special, but I feel that the price is slightly on the high side.

Kung Pao Chicken – RM9.90. Stir fried with kung pao sauce, served with cashew nuts, sunny side up egg, prawn crackers and rice. It tasted spicy and sourish.

Kam Heong Seafood Combo – RM8.90. Stir fried with kam heong sauce, served with prawn crackers, sunny side up egg and rice. This dish was more spicy compared to Kung Pao.

Salted Fish and Chicken Fried Rice – RM8.90. Served with prawn crackers, sunny side up egg and chicken wing. The salted fish fried rice was tasty.

Bao Zhiang Mien – RM11.90. Noodle in house-blended gravy, with minced chicken and 3-colored vegetables. The mixture of the gravy and the cold vegetable didn’t really blend well. In fact, after mixing the ingredients together the taste became cold compared to warm. It is not my cup of tea.

Tomyam Seafood – RM8.90. A choice of bee hoon or instant noodles. The taste was more spicy than sour. This is not my cup of tea either.

The Barista was preparing the brew of latte.

A nice decorative cup of latte.

Different types of decoration on the coffee.

Besides coffee there are many types soda and cocktails available.

Strawberry Kiss Frappes – RM8.90. A very standard strawberry milk shake.

• Fluffy Hot Chocolate – RM6.90, the chocolate flavor is not strong enough. It would be better if the chocolate taste is stronger.
• Choco Banana Frappes – RM8.90, acceptable drink for chocolate + banana milkshake.
• Chocolate Chips Frappes – RM8.90. Rich and nice chocolate chip milkshake.

It is not hard to locate Hard Rock hotel. If you are following the one and the only road from Tanjong Bungah to Batu Ferringhi, you will sure pass by The Ship and Eden restaurant. Keep driving for another 1km and you will soon see Hard Rock Hotel on your right.

Hard Rock Hotel and Cafe have four principles for all their staff to serve clients better, which are:

1. Love all, serve all. Have to love all the human and every living nature in this world.
2. All is one. Treat all human kinds as one society. As in the world of music there will be no level.
3. Take time to be kind. Time will brush up a person and make a person to be kind.
4. Save the planet. Heal the world and make it a better place.

Besides the service, the food rocks as well. As starter, below will be one of the recommendations from Hard Rock Cafe, Penang.

Starters:

Jumbo Combo – RM48.00

Each of the dish served with has their own sauce to be dipped with. Most of the sauce tasted fine for me. But there was one which was made of blue cheese really put me off. Even though I can eat the most exotic food in this world but I still can’t accept the taste of blue cheese.

The cut for the inner of the Santa Fe Spring Rolls was crispy and delicious.

Hard Rock Nachos – RM32.00

Fresh corn tortilla chips piled high with Jack and Cheddar cheeses and seasoned pinto beans. Served with sour cream, chopped green onions, pico de gallo, jalapeños and a side of fresh Hard Rock Grilled Salsa. Big enough to be shared.

The taste of the chips were great as they were made from high quality corns and cheddar cheese. However, the price for a plate of nachos chip is a bit on the high side. The chips are not refillable, only the dip is. The amount of the chips is just capable for 3 persons only. If the chips can be made bottomless, this will be perfect.

Set Lunch:

New Set Lunch On The Menu. We were honored to get invited to review the pre-launch set lunch for hard rock cafe. The price of each set cost only RM28++ for the 3-course meal. Thanks for Jason and Gill from Gourmet Garden for the arrangement.

First Week Of The Month:

• Soup Of The Day – Served with garlic bread
• Main Course:
  • Cajun Fish Fillet – Served with tartar sauce, seasoned fried and coleslaw
    • or
  • Chicken Chop – Topped with green peas, carrot and onion served with seasoned fries and coleslaw
    • or
  • Oxtail Stew – Served with steam white rice and fresh garden vegetable
• Dessert – Single scoop ice cream

The chicken chop was very juicy and the brown sauce was very classic and delicious. However, the batter was slightly on the salty side.  Anyway, it is best mixed with the salad.

If you dare to take the combination of the salad together with the brown sauce chicken chop, it’s very unique and delightful.

Second Week Of The Month:

• Side Salad – With choice of dressing, please check with the server
• Main Course:
  • Grilled Fish Fillet – Served with garlic smashed potato and fresh garden vegetables
    • or
  • Teriyaki Chicken Chop – Topped with fresh Julienne vegetables and served with steam white rice
    • or
  • Hawaiian Hamburger – Served with seasoned fried
• Dessert – Single scoop ice cream

Hawaiian Hamburger, the patty is medium to well done, it is not as juicy as the legendary burger.

However, the combination of the patty with the pineapple slices was delicious and appetizing.

Third Week Of The Month:

• Soup Of The Day – Served with garlic bread
• Main Course:
  • Stir-fried Seafood with Three Favour Sauce – Served with steam white rice
    • or
  • Marmalade Chich Chop – Served with garlic smashed potato and fresh garden vegetables
    • or
  • Beef Stew – Served with garlic smashed potato and fresh garden vegetables
• Dessert – Single scoop ice cream

Cajun Fish Fillet, you might probably want to ask what does cajun mean? Actually A cajun seasoning mix is used in many cajun recipes.  It is basically salt with a variety of spices, which are pepper, onion powder, garlic poweder, chili powder, thyme, sweet basil and bay leaf.

Cajun fish fillet is cooked in cajun recipes which taste slightly hot and spicy. Overall, the taste of the fish was fresh and well marinated with cajun spices. The mashed potato was one of the great side dishes. It was very creamy and rich.

Legendary 10 oz. Burger – RM40.00

This burger is the most famous at Hard Rock Cafe: It is topped with seasoned bacon, two slices of Cheddar cheese, a crisp fried onion ring, lettuce, tomato, and pickles.

The patty was juicy and full of aroma of meat. You will love this if you are meat lover. Serving together was the fried onion ring, instead of the calamari ring as it is the family of the octopus that manage to get all the result correct for this round of world cup. “Paul the Octopus”, just kidding.

Desserts:

Hot Fudge Brownie – RM26.00

Häagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream and hot fudge on a fresh brownie, topped with chopped walnuts, chocolate sprinkles, fresh whipped cream and a cherry.

Very delicious dessert and very filling. This dish will definitely melt you down. As we know that the ending of a meal is the most important as it will give you the strongest impression. In fact, this is a good ending.

Beverages:

Mango-Berry Cooler – RM25.00 per glass

A tropical blend of fresh mangos, strawberries, pineapple juice, orange juice and sweet & sour mix topped with lemon-lime soda. For non-alcohol lover, this is the one that you will want to order.

Fruitapalooza – RM40.00 per glass

Enjoy the fruity flavor of Malibu Coconut, crème de banana, sweet & sour and strawberry purée, topped with lemon-lime soda. It was very fruity but is not my cup of tea as it tasted a bit like cough syrup.

Triple Platinum Margarita - RM60 per glass

Olmeca Gold Tequila, Cointreau Orange Liqueur, Grand Marnier and fresh squeezed margarita mix come together to provide the ultimate margarita experience. Oh yeah babe, I love it. The shot gun of the liquor.

Hard Rock Mineral Water – RM3.00 per bottle, for those that is not fancy of any mocktail, cocktail or liquor, a bottle of “twisted” hard rock mineral will suit you best.

Kenny Lim, the kitchen manager for hard rock manager. He is not just good in cooking, and he rocks!

Elisa Saw, the Marketing Communication Manager. Her face looked stern when I took her candid camera. Anyway, she is very nice and friendly.

The bar counter inside the hard rock cafe.

ChunLi of Hard Rock. Yeah! What’s up!

One of the most expensive replica memorabilias at Rock World Penang.

Madonna’s memorabilia, there are only 5 replicas all around the world.

Beside the gallery, the main entrance of Hard Rock Hotel is also very attractive, the hanging LED really makes the whole place sentimental and cheerful.

The LED really looks like shooting stars of the galaxy.

The main lobby and also the pub merged as their counter.

The rock shop at the lobby.

We were so lucky there there were 3 pretty girls get us to take their photos. By the way, if some of you do know them please let me know

The ambiance of this place is great, while the food taste is very nice too. There are even plentiful of car parks available.  As the price of dining at this place is slightly on the high side. There are also no outside alcohol allowed in the cafe, each bottle with cost a cockage charge of RM200.

Editor’s Review (5 Stars Rank):

Taste
Price
Food Presentation
Service
Overall

Quick Facts:

Family Friendly
Parking
Pork Free
Alcohol
Corkage Charge (RM200 per bottle)
Credit Card
Smoking (after 1opm)
Reservation
Private Room

Operation hours: 11:00am – 02:00am (7 days a week)
Contact: 04-8811 711
Address: Jalan Batu Feringghi, 11100, Penang Malaysia.

Although sometimes I feel very tired and frustrated on finding and arranging for a place to dine, but I am used to this. As for this round, I suggested to dine at Little Cottage 2.

For your information, Little Cottage 1 and Little Cottage 2 are both under the same management. However, Little Cottage 1 is located at Burmah Road while Little Cottage 2 is located at Waterfall Hotel at Gottlieb Road.

The entrance to the restaurant is very classic and definitive.

The intimate and cozy ambiance inside the restaurant is very suitable for dating couples looking for some romantic restaurants. However, there is a drawback over this place. The background music which was playing  in the restaurant was repeating over and over again which was abit irritating.

Red/ White Wine Cooler – per glass – RM9.90. This is a refreshing and appetizing bubbly wine drink to open up your taste buds before meal.

Little cottage 2 always provides different set meals for different occasions. As for this case is Father’s Day Special, the selection of course included bun, soup, dessert, choice of main meal, coffee or tea.

The starter for the set, soup and bun:

The mushroom soup was smooth and creamy. It was just great.

The main course listed as  below:

Mix and Match Combo, select two (Tiger Prawn, German Sausage, Chicken, Lamb, Fish) - RM39.90+

Most of us ordered Mix and Match Combo as it was affordable and very attractive. Below was a combination of tiger prawn and German sausage. The tiger prawn was fresh and was baked nicely with butter and sprinkled with fried onions on top. Whereas the German sausage was long and delicious. One of the most attractive side dishes on this set was the baked potato with mayonnaise sauce and fried onions on top.

Next combo was the lamb and chicken. The sauce provided was brown sauce with some black paper. The taste of both chicken and lamb were excellent.

The following was the combination of chicken and prawn which the taste was similar like the previous ones.

The next combination was salmon with prawn. The salmon was pan fried, which tasted great after accompanied by mayonnaise sauce.

Tiger Prawn Picatta Spaghetti in Italian Tomato Sauce - RM29.90+. Besides the combo mix and match set, there was also picatta spaghetti with tomato sauce. It was a seafood delight and the taste is up to par.

There was also a lobster set priced at RM49.90+ with the below choices:

• Set 1. Lobster Combo Sepcial, select one (Salmon, Lamb, Chicken)
• Set 2. Lobster Spaghetti with Italian Tomato Sauce
• Set 3. Lobster Spaghetti with Olive Oil

The dessert for the set meal was a standard chocolate mud cake.

For those who enjoys better dessert, you can top up with RM4 for a tiramisu cake.

The ending with freshly brewed coffee or tea. What a nice ending.

Overall, the environment is very nice. Just that the background music needs to have a little bit more variety instead of keep looping the same song. The food is nice and the price range is acceptable. There is no problem on the car park as there are private and public car parks just around the corner.

Editor’s Review (5 Stars Rank):

Taste
Price
Food Presentation
Service
Overall

Quick Facts:

Family Friendly
Parking
Pork Free
Alcohol
Credit Card
Smoking (Separated Smoking Area)
Reservation
Private Room

Operation hours: 11:00am – 3:00pm; 6:00pm – 10.30pm (7 days a week)
Contact: 04-228 1128
Address: 31, Gottlieb Road,10350 Penang.

To get to this place, if you know how to get to Sunway Carnival at Prai, where Sunway is on your left and Old Town Cafe is on your right, you are now located at Jalan Todak 4. Just before reaching Sunway Carnival building, you will see Billion Supermarket is on the same row. Right before Billion turn left to Jalan Todak 3, you will see a row of shop houses with one red in between and that is the Clinic Cafe.

The entrance to the clinic cafe is like an entrance to the real clinic where you will see there are wheel chairs placed just beside the door and the seats in the restaurant are just like the hospital beds.

The hungry and thirsty patients are seated at their specified ward waiting to be served.

The doctor handed the menu to us while we are in place. Too bad all the nurses are on leave that day when we get warded

The choice of needles that you can choose when you are there.

The tissue holder for the patients.

The cutleries for the patients.

After taking the order the doctor or nurse will stick the order at the board so that the next shift of doctors or nurses will know what is going on.

Warning to kids, please do not follow the dangerous act below. Below stunt had been practicing for a long time and we had sought approval from the President of the Clinic to perform so. The lady on the picture below was acting like a patient and slept on top of the table to allow us to take a good shot of photo. She is the first lady customer to have done so in Clinic Cafe.

There are a lot of orders around in this clinic cafe. However, the most valuable for money here is the set lunch promotion.

This set lunch came with Ice Lemonade Juice.

Clinic Special Chicken Rice – RM13.80, Served with flavoured rice, boneless fried chicken, tomyam soup and fresh vege with salad. If compared this dish to the previous one, in terms of freshness, this is much better. The Fried chicken cubes were hot and crunchy and the portion was a lot. The tomyam soup was appetizing and desirable. This set of lunch is value for money.

Together with the set, the drink served was Ice Lemon Tea.

Prawn Dipper – RM7.80, the prawns were filled in the wonton skin and deep fried, the taste was acceptable. The specialty of this is the injection of the chili sauce. It was exactly like the medicinal tray for the patient. However, the price for a few dippers with such price is consider slightly on the higher side.

Overall, the concept and the theme of this cafe is very special and attractive. It is a very new concept in Penang. The price of the promotion set lunch is very reasonable. Another plus point of this place is they have free WIFI available. However, the price for the dishes that is not under promotion is slightly on the higher side. In order to attract more customers, the management of this place should consider reviewing their price again.

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: 10:30am – 11:00pm (7 days a week)
Contact: 04-399 1991 (K.K Ooi, Kelvin Chan, Jimmy Ching, M. Faizal)
Address:No. 7, Jalan Tadak 3, Bandar Sunway, 13700 Seberang Perai, Penang.

Jurin Express, currently this is the only one outlet in Penang which is located at the 2nd floor of Gurney Plaza’s new wing.

The surrounding of this place is very cozy with large windows panes for you to enjoy the nice view of  Gurney Drive and also all walks of life outside the mall.

Very Japanese-style menu.

The gifts provided by the organizer, Jason and Gill from Gourmet Garden and also Criz from Crizfood.

I realized that nowadays most of the Japanese restaurants seem to have modern and stylish chandeliers.

The price for the set meal for each blogger was RM50. However, I find it value for money as the portion was very big and can easily feed the stomaches of two.

The drink of the day was free flow of Hot or Cold Honey Green Tea. The taste was very special with the additional touch of honey to the green tea.

There were 3 types of appetizers:

• Tempura Kani
• Sushi Combo
• Sushi Fried Maki

Tempura Kani, this is the sushi roll with crab stick as the filling, coated with tempura skin. The taste of this dish was crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. It goes well with the Japanese sweet sauce and also some mayo.

Sushi Fried Maki, for this dish the nori rolled sushi is placed in in an extra layer of vinegar rice which has been topped with mayo and ebiko. It was a very appetizing starter. Actually, after tried out the 3 starters, we already felt very full and wanted to call for the day

Sushi Combo, a set of colorful sushi rolls. This dish combines all types of sushi. I just love the taste of hand roll sushi here as the sourness of the vinegar was not too heavy and also the compression of the rice was not too over. However, the taste might be vary from person to person. Some prefers the vinegar to be stronger and also the rice should be more compressed and sticky.

As for Set Lunch, there are 4 varieties of set lunches as below. These sets are only available during festive season, they are not commodities for daily:

Set A: Ginmutsu Teriyaki (Deep fried cod fish in sweet sauce), Chicken Ban Ban (Boneless fried chicken chunks served with Japanese sauce and mayo), Ebi Tempura (Deep fried shrimps in batter), Yaki Tamago (Sweet omelette), Garlic Fried Rice and Miso Soup.

Set B: Salmon and Tuna Sashimi, Unagi (BBQ Japanese eel), Tamago Kikurage (Black fungus with chilies), Yaki Tamago (Sweet omelette), Garlic Fried Rice and Miso Soup.

The salmon and the tuna slices were very fresh, but some food blogger claimed that the salmon and tuna were not fresh as they were a bit watery.

Set C: Salmon and Tuna Sashimi, Spicy Salmon (deep fried and topped with spicy sauce), Kakiage (Deep fried shrimps, squid and vegetables in batter), Yaki Tamago (Sweet omelette), Garlic Fried Rice and Miso Soup.

Set D: Karubi Beef (Stir fried beef with onions), Nama Ika Teriyaki (Grilled cuttlefish in teriyaki sauce), Karaage (Deep fried soft shell crabs), Yaki Tamago (Sweet omelette), Garlic Fried Rice and Miso Soup.

Desserts given to us were green tea ice cream with red bean.

Gill was showing the sponsored chili sauce and requested us to give comments after trying out.

Some of the food bloggers were chit-chatting while some were busy taking photos.

Some were ready to be served while some were staring blankly at each other.

“Here, let me pass you my name card”, Amanda was showing to Cheryl Wee, while her husband and Alvin were sitting wondering.

Chan Lilian was checking on her son if he was still intact.

Cariso was showing off her goodies while Mr. A was watching her from the opposite.

Lay Min was busy shooting while Kok Ann was checking on the goodies.

Criz Lai is planing to get a Lumix semi-pro camera like Sam’s, while Criz friend, Beh was looking elsewhere. Waco Chan was reading the menu.

The two beautiful girls Eunice and SY from Food Promotion got shocked when I took their photo.

Daisy, the owner of restaurant, was my ex-colleague and she is now the lady boss of Jurin Express while I am still at nowhere. Sigh.

Say cheese…. In present:

• Daisy Lee (boss) & hubby
• Alan Choong & Amanda Teoh
• Eunice, SY, Kelvin Tan
• CW Chan
• Criz Lai
• JK Beh
• Cheryl Wee & hubby
• Kok Ann, Lay Min
• Sam Ong
• Gill & Jason
• Steven Goh

(Not in photo – Carrie & partner, Lilian Chan & son).

Overall, the ambience here is very nice and cozy. The sushi rolls, tempura kani and most of the bento sets here are great, the green tea is very special compared to the usual plain green tea elsewhere. However, some of the dish like Set C is too localized and the dessert is just another OEM ice cream instead of  an impressive capture for the ending.

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: 11.30am-10.00pm (7 days a week)
Contact: 604-227 7112
Address:170-02-59/60, 2nd Floor, Gurney Plaza (New Wing), Persiaran Gurney, 10250 Penang

Though there are many restrictions to beef, there is one good place for beef lovers. In fact, this place serves variety of beef in different dishes and style. The name of this shop is called “Kang Beef House”. It is located at Perak Lane. If you are driving from Penang Bridge to town via Jalan Tan Sri Teh Ewe Lim, you will come to a junction which will turn left to Perak Road and right to Jalan Jelutong. Take the left turning where you will see the Police station is on your left. Keep driving for another 20 metres and you will see Kang Beef House on your right.

Kang Beef House is located within the town area. It is very easy to be spotted if you are driving via Jalan Jelutong. However, finding a parking space will be a challenge for those who visited this place during dinner time.

Mr. Kang was busy preparing the beef dishes. This beefy business has been passed down from grandfather to father. They were known as the beef specialists.

Crystal Beef Fried Rice (+ Meat Ball Soup) – RM12.80. You might think that this is a very normal fried rice with some slices of beef and some chili and veggie as garnish. However, this is not what you think. There is some meaning for the crystal. The fried rice had the texture of crunchiness rather than the usual rice texture. I have the feeling that the crunchiness of rice is either deep fried rice or dried rice.

Black Pepper Beef – RM15.00 (S), RM28.00 (B), the beef had been sliced into pieces and were fried with black pepper sauce. The tenderness of the meat was soft and the black pepper was not too overwhelming. Although to some the starch might not be enough, but to me the taste was just find and it was delicious.

Crispy Beef Ball (6pcs) – RM4.80. It was quite unique that the meat balls were covered with croutons and flour and then brought to deep fried. Dipping the beef balls with their home made chili sauce was very delightful.

Beef Koay Teow – RM6, 8, 10, 12, 15 is one of the koay teow soup which had a mixture of various beef parts like beef slices, meat balls and some intestines. The bowl shown below was the largest bowl. You can always order for smaller one if you think you couldn’t finish it.

For those that don’t eat beef, there is always other option for you to try out. The Dry Fried Hor Fun Kosong is one of it. There was no pricing available for this dish as they  seldom provide this unless requested. This was a purely vegetarian dish. The Hor Fun was fried with mushrooms and bean curd.

Other than all the dishes above the one which is the most famous here is the Beef Steamboat – RM20.oo each person. The soup base of the steamboat was boiled with radish and preserved vegetable. The taste was slightly sour and salty. It was very suitable to be cooked with red meat.

The ingredients for the steamboat include:

Tenderloin, one of my favorites. Texture was soft and tender, tasted great when dipped in the hot steamboat.

Raw Meat

Beef Intestines

Beef Tripes

Sirloin

Beef Balls

Beef Ribs

Enoki Mushrooms

The preparation of steamboat is very simple. First make sure the water is boiled and then place all the meat inside the hot pot and wait for it to be cooked.

For those who do not want their beef slices to be overcooked, use your chopsticks to dip the meat into the pot for 30 seconds.

Steve Kang, one of the marketers for Kang Beef House. Special thanks for his arrangement of this review.

Overall, the food here is nice and the service is great. This place is specially dedicated to beef lovers. However, the price of the beef is a bit pricey compared to pork and parking is a constraint for patrons.

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: 12:00pm – 2:30pm; 4:30pm – 10:00pm (Close on Tuesday)
Contact: 04-2810892
Address:474, Jalan Jelutong, 11600 Penang.