Ipoh Ngau Lam Min - 牛腩面

When you mention Ipoh's food, I'm sure the only thing that you can think of would be the Nga Choi Kai ( Bean Sprout Chicken). Well, nobody can blame you. Myself is exactly the same, only Gou Wan Kai (Better than Lou Wong)! But here, I would like to provide you an option beside the normal chicken dish. The Ngau Lam!
The Ngau Lam is tender and the soup has the sweetness taste. I believe they must have stewed their soup with 'big bone' for long hour. This bowl of Ngau Lam is only RM4.00. The photo does not really show that there are more beef underneath the carrot. The portion is considered acceptable to the price.

They actually served the noodle separately. I ordered this Hakka Mee which was only RM2.00. Cheap!

The signboard is only mentioned Fish ball & Yong Tau Foo. Maybe they think their Ngau Lam is so famous that needs no advertisement.

The restaurant is just located in Jalan Jubilee. Well, the tree behind the road sign, unfortunately is not the famous Tree of Democracy in Ipoh. If you are coming from North South Highway exiting the Ipoh Selatan Toll and heading to Ipoh Town, You just need to go all the way straight to the town and turn to your right when you reach the Balai Polis at the traffic light junction. Turn right again at the first junction and you can immediately see the big yellow signboard! Location map

Penang Kuay Chiap - 粿汁

Kuay Chiap粿汁 is the only food that I treasure most among the rest of Penang's hawker foods (based on my personal taste bud la). Maybe it is the only hawker food that I cannot find in KL. It is served in herbal soup, braised duck and some with 'spare parts' (innards). The soup is like the mild version of Bah Kut Teh which the herbal is not so strong.

The only other place that claims to have the best Kuay Chiap in Malaysia, is Sarawak. If you ask the local people there what would be the best food to try when you are in Sarawak, most probably they would be very proud to tell you - "Kuay Chiap!",.... if it's not Kolok Mee. I tried their Kuay Chiap last year but really- no fight la! This may offend our Sarawakian friends but you should come to Penang to try the real Kuay Chiap yourself and it's only RM3.00!

I was told that it is tedious and time consuming to prepare this Kuay Chiap especially the flat rice noodle. It's unlike those kuay teow or egg noodles that can easily get from the supplier. The kuay for this Kuay Chiap has to be prepared by the hawker himself. Therefore not so many people are willing to sell this Kuay Chiap. The texture of the kuay is like Hong Kong Chee Cheong Fan but slightly harder and thicker.

This is the stall that I used to go whenever I'm in Penang. Business hour is from 7am-12pm.

The coffee shop is located in Pulau Tikus (not kidding) in Penang Island itself. No need to take ferry to go there! It's just opposite this church. Location map

Kuay Chiap @ Kimberley Street

My brother & wife knew that my crave for Kuay Chiap is overwhelmed and they enthusiastically brought me to their favourite stall in Kimberley Street. This is quite a popular stall in Penang. This guy is operating his stall at the roadside and tables are set on the five-foot-way outside the shops. Of course they open for business only at night (6:30pm-12pm) when the shops are closed. Don't worry about the open drain as it's dark and you can't see and smell anything beside the smell of Kuay Chiap!.

My sister-in-law usually is a small eater. The rice she takes in a meal is not more than the rice for a cat. But that night she ordered a big bowl & 'keh liao' (extra meat) some more. She finished the whole bowl and maybe the Kuay Chiap was so good that it brought out her appetite to follow by a piece of 'ham chim peng' also. Here I need to 'tapek' (salute) her! Well, it is indeed very good. The soup is slightly thicker than the one in Pulau Tikus. This bowl of Kuay Chiap that full of duck meat and a hard boiled egg ('keh liao' one) was priced at RM6.00. The basic one should be RM5.00.

Don't forget to order a plate of chicken feet to go with the Kuay Chiap. It's Heavenly!

Actually this guy was selling 'Emperor Chicken Feet Kuay Teow Th'ng' but we just ordered the chicken feet. So can't comment if the Kuay Teow Th'ng is fit for the emperor. Location map

Tiong Nam’s Char Kuey Teow

If you don’t want to be ‘tortured’ by the stuck-up lady of the Lorong Selamat Char Kuey Teow, you need to find alternatives. I’ve boycotted the lady and stopped going to Lorong Selamat, therefore an alternative should be found to replace it. You can’t miss the Char Kuey Teow when you are in Penang, can you?

I have found a place for a decent Char Kuey Teow at Tiong Nam. Normally we just say going ‘Tion Nam’ for our breakfast, lunch, dinner or supper there but would not bother to mention the name of coffee shop. In fact I didn’t know the name of the coffee shop until I took this photo for blogging. It is ‘Keat Seng’ mate! It’s just located at the junction of Reservoir Garden where the morning market is. If you are heading to Penang Hill from town, it is just right after the Shell petrol station. Location map

It has a nice aroma when a piece of banana leaf is used for lining the plate when the Kuey Teow is piping hot. 2 pieces of prawn (the size slightly bigger than RM0.50), some cockles, few pieces of ‘lap cheong’ (Chinese sausage) & egg cost RM3.00 a plate which is cheap to KL’s standard. The portion is just right where it leaves some space in your stomach for a bowl of curry mee.
The curry mee is nothing to shout about. But it’s just RM2.50!

Indian Mee Goreng@Bangkok Lane

This Indian Mee Goreng (fried noodle) is one of my priority foods that I must have whenever I come back Penang. If you really want to taste the real Indian fried noodle, you should have come to Penang. I can’t find any other place that fry the Indian Mee which the taste is closed to Penang’s one.

This is the stall that I will definitely go whenever I want to have Indian Mee. They do have mee rebus as well, but mee goreng is what I always order. I particularly love their 'sotong' (cuttlefish). It’s so tender and they are generous with them. I think every bite of mee would have sotong in it. Today’s price is only RM4.00 for this plate of mee goreng which considered cheap compared to the KL’s standard. (sometimes I was charged Rm5.00, I don’t know why even though the portion is same)

After your prayer at The Reclining Buddha temple of Wat Chayamangkalaram, you can just drop by Bangkok Lane (behind the temple) to check out the real Indian Mee goreng. Location map

Breakfast @ KFC

Since I was tired of having Gardenia with butter and jam for breakfast at home, and not feeling like having Wan Tan Mee or Curry Mee as well. Roti Canai was the other choice that crossed my mind but I dropped the idea as I didn’t want my body to smell like beef curry afterwords.
Suddenly I remembered I read somewhere that KFC is having breakfast promotion. And I thought it would be a good idea to try them out since their burger and a cup of coffee is only RM3.90. (cheaper than McDonald’s by RM0.10) So I stopped for my breakfast at the KFC outlet which was attached to a Petronas petrol station halfway between Subang & Damansara of the NKVE before heading back to Penang for Cheng Meng.
I walked up to the counter and go through their whole menu but couldn’t find the RM3.90 one. I asked, ” can I have the set breakfast for RM3.90 one?” and I got a reply, ” sir, do you have the coupon? Without coupon the set would be RM5.50″.
“F**K!….. Where the f**k to get your coupon?”. Well, of course I didn’t say it out. What to do? I am not like some aunties who are happy to carry a whole stack of Tesco or Carrefour coupons with them all the time. My advice to you- KFC, if you really want to compete with McDonald’s, you should do away with this kind of f**king coupons. Well, that moment it would be ‘pai sei’ to walk away, so I somehow reluctantly paid RM5.80 (after tax) for the burger and coffee.
Even though this incident slightly affected my impression towards them, but the burger actually tasted better than the McBreakfast’s burger. It is what its wrapper stated- Hot, Juicy, Crunchy, Fresh & Tasty!
* This post contains strong language, reader discretion is advised.

Tangkak Beef Noodle in USJ 14

I’ve never tried the original Tangkak beef noodle in Johor. I guess it must be very good so that this guy in USJ is using the name ‘Tangkak’ on his stall. Something like Penang Fried Kuey Teow, Penang Laksa, Penang Prawn Mee and so on, as Penang is famous for those foods.
I can’t comment on the original Tangkak Beef Noodle but this one in USJ 14 is indeed very good. The beef is tender and the soup is tasty. I think it must be the ‘ham choy’ (salty vegetable) that makes the difference. And not forgetting the specially made chili sauce as well. It has a bit of sourly taste that bring out the real good taste of beef.

This bowl of noodle is priced RM5.00. The price is considered reasonable especially it comes with a few big chunk of beef and 2 beef balls. The coffee shop is near to Petronas in USJ 14 Subang. Location map

If you have the time for 猪肉粉

This guy used to operate his stall opposite Carrefour Subang Jaya until the place was closed down for renovation to become a hotel a couple of years ago. He stopped selling the pork noodles maybe for a year or more before getting a new place at SS15. We have lost ‘contact’ before I found him again at his new place recently.
If you are thinking of going for a quick lunch, to order this bowl of 猪肉粉, my advice to you is - forget about it! It will normally take 45mins to arrive. I still can remember during those day we used to order from him first and then we headed to Carrefour to shop for groceries. The noodles would be ready by the time we came back. If you have the patience to wait, you definitely should try this 猪肉粉. But don’t forget to bring along your magazines, books, newspapers or Ipod to kill your time while waiting, or else temper will easily flare and start quarrelling with your girlfriends instead.

Take a look at the crowds. It was actually 3 pm! This time my order took 35 mins to arrive. Noticed the air-cons? It actually helps to cool down your ‘templeture’ .

It’s so good that you don’t want to waste a single drop of the soup. If you think that it’s too oily with those fried pork lard…. aiyah never mind la, not everyday ma! Location map

Nasi Kandar@235

If you happen to be around PJ222 and suddenly have a crave for nasi kandar,without wanting to hurt your wallet, you may consider this place - Restoran Kampung Baiduri. The restaurant is just located at a corner shop of Jalan 235/51A. I think they are quite popular as I can see some photos of VIPs that frequented their restaurant are hanged on the wall. A plate of nasi kandar with a piece of chicken, some veges and papadom is priced RM4.50. Location map

Nasi Lemak @ Village Park Restaurant

Many years ago I used to frequent the nasi lemak stall in Kelana Jaya almost every weekend. The stall was just beside the FAM football field and operated by a school teacher. For those of you who had been there must agree with me that he cooked the best nasi lemak in town. The chicken was so crispy as they fried on the spot and the ’sambal’ unlike others where it was not so thick. Not forgetting the ’sotong’ as I liked the most. Every weekend when we frequented the stall, the queue was so long where we used to joke that it was like the Hard Rock’s queue. Unfortunately they moved to few different places in a short period of time and because of this, many of his ‘fans’ may have lost him along the way. The sight of queing had disappeared and the crowds had long gone. Maybe due to the lesser crowd, he no longer prepare the chicken on the spot and I found that the taste of the whole combination of sambal and sotong have gone down the drain. I have stopped going there for quite some time now.

After deleting the cikgu’s on my favourite list, I used to go to Uncle Lim’s and Kluang Station whenever I feel like having nasi lemak. But I never hook on them.

One day when we looked out for food at Uptown Damansara and spotted the crowd at this ’Village Park Restaurant’. With that kind of crowd, we knew that the foods there should be OK. So we decided to give them a try to see what they had to offer and I immediately hooked up with their nasi lemak after since. They are just a few shops away from the Sport Toto. There is only one Toto there, so you will never miss it! Location map. Thanks god I’ve found my favourite nasi lemak again!

Eventhough the chicken is not fried on the spot but the turnover is fast, therefore it’s very crispy on the outside and very tender inside when served. The chicken is well marinated with diferent spices. They only serve the ’L’ shape chicken leg. Sorry no breast for those who like breast. The sambal is very nice and not that spicy but they tend to be stingy with their sambal.
They do serve other stuff but I don’t want to miss the nasi lemak whenever I go there. So never order the other stuff that they have. Therefore I can’t comment on their other foods. You may try it out yourself.
The price is only RM6.80 nett for a plate of nasi lemak with a big piece of chicken, half of a hard boiled egg, few slices of cucumber, peanuts and anchovies. A cup of teh tarik is RM2.00 or a glass of Kopi ice is RM2.30 which is a bit higher compare to Ah Huat Kopitiam but cheaper compared to Starbucks!
Lunch time is crowded but getting a table should not be a problem since now theyhave just occupied another shoplot next to them. But getting a parking space is a big problem!

A Banquet Fits For VVIP

The very first time to taste the sea urchin. It was prepared by steaming with egg. It tastes liked pudding but without any flavour. Can’t understand why so many people are desperate for it especially whenever there was a seafood programs showed on TV. Maybe it should be eaten raw.

We hardly touched on the shrimps. Here we are normally using it to fry veges as the size is more suitable to do so than eating it on its own. I think I tried only 2 of this shrimp that night. Actually it was quite sweet but we rather spend more time on other stuff like abalones, scallops and many more which really hard to recall it now. Altogether 23 dishes! You name it, for seafood we have fish, oysters, scallops, sea cucumber, abalones. For meat, we have pork, duck, chicken, lamb. Well, without photos it is hard to recall every one of the dishes and how it taste like now.

The eel is the only other photo that I managed to take at that night. Not that I forgot to take but it’s just that the other dishes were finished up very fast. The eels, they found it a bit ‘ geli’ and the strimps are troublesome to peel. so they were left there for me to shoot. Actually the eel is not cheap. A plate like this cost about RMB 200.

‘Tua Char’ at Sanya Bay

A great experience of having dinner at the roadside in Sanya. It’s cheap and the foods are OK but have to bear with the cleanliness of the place.

We ordered 1 grouper fish and 5 or 6 other dishes. The bill came to RMB 225.

WenChang Chicken Rice

How can one miss the chicken rice when you are in Hainan where the original famous Hainanese Chicken Rice come from? It’s like you don’t try the Tom Yam when you are in Thailand. Therefore after we landed shortly and quickly checked into our hotel, we started to search for the Original Hainanese Chicken Rice Shop. The guide brought us to this restaurant. We have to wait for 30mins before we can get a table. This restaurant was the first meal we had when we landed in Hainan Island. This chicken rice shop turned out to be the most memorable one!

The chicken was so juicy and succulent

The whole chicken weigh over 1KG and cost RMB 86. We had 4 other dishes of veges, fish and a big bowl of soup for each one of us where the total bill came to RMB 245 for 10 of us.