Bagan Prawn Village Seafood, Tambun

Rather secluded…..and errr….quite hidden – those are the words I will use to describe the location of Bagan Prawn Village Seafood. The main entrance of the place looks tiny, but once you descend the stairs you will see an array of sea creatures placed in aquariums and basins.

The place looks pleasing to me and it actually looks out into the river. You will see boats passing by. Surprisingly, there wasn’t any stench.

I have no idea what this is called. I ordered it just by pointing to a photo of it which I snapped on my way in. It is boiled and then eaten with chilli sauce. If you ask me what it tastes like I would say balitong or escargot. (Price RM8) -Not bad!

This is steamed crabs with eggs (RM44). The crabs were fresh and as such eating them was a great delight.

Stir fried baby kalian with garlic (RM6) . I love the fact that this dish wasn’t too oily and it definitely had sufficient wok hei.

Steamed giant garoupa (RM36) – wow! I label this as the star of the day as it was simply perfect. Despite being just steamed with some ginger and oil, this dish was heavenly.

How I wish I stayed close to this place so that I could come here more often!!!

 Address: 672 Bagan Bukit Tambun

14100 Simpang Ampat,

Penang

Tel:04-5880541, 04-5872206

Opening hours: 12pm-, 5.30pm-11pm.

Master, Visa & Amex accepted

Zui Xiang Lou Restaurant, 醉鄉樓大飯店 ,Bukit Mertajam

Located across the iconic St Anne’s church in Bukit Mertajam, Zui Xiang Lou is a restaurant with ample parking space. With the meaning ‘Drunken Village’ it is therefore no brainer that this place serves beer! And the powerful air conditioning was certainly something we loved in order to escape from the sweltering heat outside.

I was there recently with a friend for an early dinner. Although the kitchen crew only start work at 6pm, we were there early and the lady boss allowed us in. We ordered 3 dishes:-

Steamed hong pan  (RM35)–  fish steamed with ginger and garnished with parsley is something that I have always loved. The Zui Xiang Lou version is highly recommended as the fish was very fresh.

Stir fried baby cabbage  (RM8) – with sufficient amount of charring from the high heat of the wok used to stir fry this dish, I really enjoyed every tiny bit of this vege!

3 taste tofu (RM10) – the tofu was deep fried and then some sauce is poured on top. This is the first time I have  this dish and I really loved the crispy crust of the tofu. The tangy yet  spicy sauce made the tofu taste so much better that when I sank your teeth into the tofu what I tasted  was a combination of sourness , saltiness  and spiciness.

 

Address: Lot 1431 Jalan Kulim,
14000 Bukit Mertajam

Tel: +60 4 538 8732

GPS Coordinates: N5 21.022 E100 28.660

Master & Visa accepted

Da Ban Chinese Restaurant 大班中國風味館, Penang

Located on Jalan Zainal Abidin and within walking distance to lots of eateries, Da Ban is often ‘overshadowed’. What I mean by this is that the other eateries are mostly much larger hawker centres  which are more easily spotted by anyone looking for a place to eat whereas Da Ban, famed for Szechuan cuisine and steamboat  is located on a quieter road.

I was at Da Ban as I have been longing to come back since my last visit 2 years back which have indeed made a lasting impression.

With a gold and black signage and red lanterns hanging down, I would say Da Ban looks quite ‘pretty’ from the outside. When you walk in, you will walk past a bridge in the restaurant and see some fish swimming in the aquariums on your right.

The interior is pleasing and I am overwhelmed with a sense of serenity as I walk in to a place that is nicely decorated with bamboo and traditional Chinese furniture. Soft music in the background can be heard as we were ushered to our table.

Appetisers  are served immediately. We had lotus roots which I found to be a tad spicy and some shrimps.

I ordered honey dew juice (RM5) which looked like milk with lots of foam. Well, if the looks of the drink was a let down, I must say the taste was definitely not so. I loved the honey dew juice - it was very satisfying and refreshing.

This is casserole ginseng chicken soup. With a hefty price tag of RM38 this soup was worth every sen. An entire ginseng is stuffed into the chicken and boiled – the end result was 3 bowls of wholesome, nutritious and truly scrumptious soup.

This is steamed ladies fingers (RM9.90) – the ladies fingers are steamed and garnished with  minced pork cooked in red rice wine. I never in my wildest imagination ever thought that the tastes of ladies fingers and red rice wine could go so well together!

Siganture tofu (RM12) – deep fried tofu, crispy and crunchy on the outside yet soft inside is what this dish is all about. When dipped into  chilli sauce, the tofu was simply tantalizing.

Address: 84 Jalan Zainal Abidin
10400 Georgetown
Penang

Tel: 04-2272777

Opening Hours: 6pm – 4am

Mastercard & Visa accepted

Old House Restaurant, Penang

After visiting the Cheong Fatt Tze mansion I felt like a ravenous wolf. I walked on for some 10 minutes or so and ended up at this beautifully decorated place called Old House Restaurant.

The Buddha statue outside the place was smiling away as if inviting me to go in, and that was exactly what I did.

“Wow”, I was  amazed.    The place really looked very nice. With paintings from the Manchurian era decorating the walls of the restaurant and antique chairs and tables plus the air conditioning (it was at least 37 degrees outside!), I really felt welcome.

I was told that they only served set meals at RM13.80 per pax. Left with no choice, I agreed to try the set menu. The photos below show what I had:-

'6 taste' soup

Bak kut teh

Steamed fish

Herbal tea

Address: 52 Kimberley Street

10100 Penang

Tel : +604 262 2113

Opening hours : 12 pm to 3pm, 6pm -10.30pm

Kim Asam Laksa @ Nan Guang, Balik Pulau

Touted as the best asam laksa in Balik Pulau, Kim asam laksa was what my GPS led me to when I keyed in ‘famous asam laksa’. Before entering the shop, I noticed that right across the road, there was another asam laksa stall.

I walked into Nan Guang & realized that there are 3 versions of asam laksa here. First is the normal asam laksa, secondly the santan laksa & the third is called ‘Mix’ i.e asam laksa mixed with siam laksa. A small bowl costs RM3 while the big one is priced at RM3.50.

I ordered a small bowl and a glass of umbra juice (RM1.60). The juice was refreshing but could have been better if it hadn’t been so dilute.

Now let’s have a look at the asam laksa. Very aromatic indeed! The noodles were very tasty. I love the texture of the noodles which certainly was made of more rice than tapioca flour. As for the soup – the word to describe it would be perfect. The soup was just right – not too spicy – the amount of tamarind sauce was reasonable and the soup was bursting in flavour from the generous portion of fish in it. Add in a spoonful of shrimp paste to sweeten the entire bowl of soup ….and what you get is a ‘to-die-for’ bowl of asam laksa. With sufficient garnishing of greens, it was indeed my idea of a perfect bowl of asam laksa.





Address:

67, Jalan Balik Pulau,

11000  Penang

Tel No: 012-4286235

Business hours: 12:30pm – 3:30pm (Closed on Wednesday)

GPS Coordinates: N 5 21.10698 E 100 14.14799

Cash terms only