By Invitation: Karaikudi Restaurant at Market Street, Little India
My family and I eat regularly at , but we’ve never gone to the original outlet at Market Street. I’ve always enjoyed the food there which serves Chettinad cuisine and immediately said yes when the invitation came in from PenangTuaPui. I was excited to see what the original outlet had to offer! The menu for the night mainly focused on South Indian cuisine and we were told that the food is cooked fresh everyday!
First up to whet our appetite was a Chettinad style Vegetable Soup (RM3). It was a light clear soup with cauliflower, carrots and french bean. The soup was a great start to the meal! We were told that the soup had a yellow tinge due to the use of dhall.
Next up was Bitter Gourd Chips (RM6). This was a surprise as it was sliced really thin and crispy to the taste! I’m not a big fan of bitter gourd though cos I don’t like the bitterness and this was plenty bitter!
The Squid Fry (RM8) was dish I really enjoyed. Squids are very easy to overcook. But there was no sign of hard rubbery squids here. Even after it cooled down substantially from all the photography, the squids were still nice and tender.
Meanwhile, the chicken cutlet (RM6 for 2 pieces larger than the photo above) is easily my favourite appetizer of the lot. The cutlets were very flavorful thanks to the generous use of spices with a slight tinge of heat to it. And there were also very soft with a slight crisp edge. I would definitely order this again!
The luciously thick Mango Lassi (RM4 – comes in a bigger glass than the photo)
The Ladies Finger Pepper Fry (RM7) was an instant hit! The ladies fingers were finely chopped and had a surprising chewy texture. The generous but not overboard use of black pepper gives the dish its zing. I’ve never had ladies fingers cooked in such a delicious manner!
The Kadai Vegetable (RM9) was an assorted vegetable dish cooked in a rich slightly spicy gravy. I tasted beancurds, tomatoes and lots of button mushrooms in the dish. We were told that Kadai is the big vessel that is being used to cook the dish, hence the name.
The Mutton Chukka Varuval (RM18) is another one of Karaikudi’s specialities. This turned out to be the spiciest dish of the night. But I loved it! The mutton pieces were scrumptiously tender and very well marinated with spices. I wouldn’t hesitate to order this again as I found it paired very well with naan bread.
Next was the Chettinad Potato Masala (RM6) which was a mild dish. It would go well with the spicy mutton dish too! I liked the fact that the potatoes here were not too mushy so there was still a bite to it.
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Cake Decorating & Tiramisu Baking Class in Penang!
As a baking enthusiast, it thrills me to bring you this piece of news that Big Boys Oven will be back in Penang for another round of classes!!
This time, there will be an exciting full day cake decorating class (using fondant) and also a tiramisu class!! ~swoon~
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–> Cake Decorating Class (Hands On Class)
Pastry Chef Sunny Yaw will share with you:
- How to make your own fondant (sugar paste) and gum paste
- How to cover a 2 tier cake with fondant
- How to decorate the 2 tier cake with flower theme (similar to photo above)
Time : 9.30am – 5.00pm
Date : 18th April 2009 (Saturday)
Fee : RM550 per student (All materials included, plus tea break)
(Limited to only 6 students)
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–> Glorious Tiramisu (Hands on class)
Tiramisu, a rich decadent and desired dessert! Come learn the art of making this glorious dessert with Sunny Yaw!
Time : 9.30am – 12.30pm
Date : 19th April 2009 (Sunday)
Fee : RM150
(Limited to only 6 students)
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Limited seats available! To register for the class please email bbonorth@gmail.com or sms/call 012-4209433
I can hardly wait!! 
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OXO Cafelab @ Queensbay, Penang
is one of the latest additions to the eating scene in Bayan Lepas area. I found out about it when a friend had sent me their Opening Promotion Brochure. RM9.90 for set lunch! RM13.90 for set dinner! the brochure had said. I liked the Red, Black and White color scheme. I liked their quirky cute logo. And the brochure certainly looked interesting! So kudos to their advertising agency!
Incidentally, as I planned to visit the place for dinner, I had read of it. I was impressed that they offered a Healthy Steam Cusinese Set complete with herbal soup! So off we went!
I had high hopes for the place as we entered the venue. It was very well decorated. Very chic! And complete with pool table too!
Glancing through the menu, OXO Cafelab serves a variety of cuisines – Asian, Western, Local. And they serve breakfast too from 8am-11am.
For their opening promotion, OXO Cafelab is offering 15% discount for their set meals. A set meal comes with a drink (cordial), soup OR salad, main dish and dessert. No discount for ala carte orders. I opted for the set meal and chose the Soup. Soup of the day was Mushroom Soup. I didn’t really care for the soup as I found it too starchy and bland.
We had another set meal and opted for the salad, which thankfully fared better than the dismal soup.
My main meal choice was the Juicy with Boxthorne Fruit and Plum Sauce. (This set is normally RM18.70, after discount – RM15.90) The chicken piccata here was basically chicken chop coated with egg and then pan fried. I found the boxthorne fruit and plum sauce interesting as it gave the dish an Asian twist to it. Overall, a very normal dish save for the interesting sauce.
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Mido Cafe, Hong Kong.
I am sorry I am taking forever to come up with my food adventures in Hong Kong (HK). Who would have thought a week off work would see so much backlog? Even the total unpacking of the suitcase had to wait. But better late than never eh? And here I am. Starting off with something that’s totally old school Hong Kong. This place has been featured often in TVB series and was not actually something on my list but we met up with friend and it was he who brought us here. He did the ordering so I have very little idea about the dish names.
Just at the corner of , where one of the many famous HK night markets are, this place is easy to locate. There’s a retro feel to the interior of this char chan teng, where booth seats line the windows and we chose the corner one where the table looked like some triangle off my trigonometry books. I loved that I could peep out and see men busy setting up their stalls. A glance around and I could spot some old items that probably have been there since the shop opened – an old cash registry, the antiquated ceiling fans etc. Felt surreal to be in HK somehow where things seem so familiar just because we have seen them almost everyday on telly.
Once you’re seated, glasses of hot chinese tea are plonked down in front of you, as per the custom of HK coffeeshops. The menu is sometimes wedged under the glass table for easy reference, but there are also recommendations on the walls.
Our first dish was this Stir fried Hor Fun with beef slices. I noticed that the eating places in HK like to serve mustard as a dipping sauce with meat and this place was no different. The Hor Fun (??) is thicker than the ones we’re used to, but smooth nevertheless. As for the beef slices, flavourful and tender to bite, was probably due to meat tenderizer being used. And the mustard does add a certain kick to the overall blend of flavours.
The next dish was apparently a special one, recommended on the wall menu by the name of ???? featuring of wantons and a sweet & sour dish consisting of various ingredients from tomatoes, bell peppers, ham chunks, cauliflower florets, chicken chunks, pig stomach, to shrimps. The way to eat this was to dip the deep fried wrappers and dip them into the sweet & sour gravy. It was honestly an interesting dish that I have never heard of before. But the taste takes some getting used to as the gravy was a tad too acidic for my liking. Very intense.
This vegetable dish however scored thumbs up from all of us. It also had a lot going on with baby bok choy, bean sprouts, carrots, mushrooms, lettuce, bean curd sheets etc. But it was a nice combination.
It was quite a enjoyable meal, with great company and the english speaking boss was actually quite friendly, contrary to what they say about HK people. Heh. Menu’s really extensive and apparently web reviews suggest that their Baked Spareribs rice is the thing to try. Even though we didn’t try a rice dish, overall what we had, I liked. But this cafe is worth visiting for the ambience alone, if not for the food.
Mido Cafe ????
63, Temple Street,
Yau Ma Tei,
Hong Kong.
Open : 8:30am-9:30pm
other reviews;
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2nd Anniversary Haagen-Dazs Voucher Winners!
First and foremost, thank you so much to all of you who left congratulatory comments and ideas on what you’d like to see on lingzie.com!
Each idea and comment is important to me and over the next few weeks, I’ll be incorporating them onto the blog as best as I can. For now, you may have noticed that there is already a Search funtion up on the right. There is also a Search box under the Archives page.
I was so happy and grateful for the comments that instead of 3 vouchers, there are now FIVE vouchers to be given away to the randomly picked lucky winners!
And so without further ado…. the lucky winners are……
1. Karen
2. J2Kfm
3. Min
4. Jennifer
5. Kenneth
Congratulations to the lucky five above!!! Do email me your mailing address at lingzie@gmail.com
Your vouchers will be on the way! PS: Vouchers are valid til 31 Dec 2009.
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Dim Sum Food Restaurant at Macalister Road Gets Thumbs Up!
As much as I love my dim sum, I do shudder at the thought of doing a post on dim sum eating places. Because it would mean lots and lots of photos of decadent delicate morsels of popping flavour!
However, since I also lament on the lack of decent dim sum in Penang, I just knew I must do this post. Because… Dim Sum Food Restaurant definitely serves one of the better dim sums in town! My family and I like this place so much that we’ve been here almost 10 times since we discovered it early this year! (which also explains my expanding waistline…sigh…)
And therefore, without further ado… the photos (lots and lots of them!)
I usually measure a dim sum place by 3 items – the first being the ’siew mai’. The ones here definitely measure up! Lots of flavourful meat with a crunchy bite to it. So far so good!
The second crucial item would be the ‘Char Siew Pau’. And I do like the ones here very much! The filling is rather sweet but still agreeable to me. And the buns are nice and soft.
And the final third crucial item would be the much loved “Har Kau”. The ones here have got whole prawns wrapped around a nice soft chewy skin. Its really no wonder that this place is packed especially during weekends!
Other items we’ve tried and liked:
Meaty pork ribs
Salad Har Kau. Again lots of prawns!
“Wu Kok” These pork filled yam morsels are really addictive! I like the fact that the yam is not drenched in oil that’s been used over and over again.
“Hor Yip Fan” Lotus leaf rice. Sinfully oily but oh so good!
I have no idea what this is called. But it’s pretty good! Similar to “wu kok” but with different filling.
Egg tarts!! I do prefer the ones at Canton-i. But these are much cheaper.
“Pi Tan Chook” Century egg porridge. A bit on the salty side for me but still does the trick!
This is another must have for me whenever I have dim sums! Love the lotus paste filling!
Other than dim sum items, their noodle dishes are pretty good as well. So far I’ve tried and loved the Singapore Bee Hoon. Its rather wet and can be a bit too salty at times. But otherwise tasty and lots of ‘wok hei’!
Crispy noodles – crispy and tasty!
And perhaps the best thing about this place is the really affordable prices! Most dim sum items are about RM2-3 per portion. Meanwhile, medium sized noodles are RM8. Usually our bill for the 4 of us comes up to about RM40+, and we walk out stuffed to the brim!
Dim Sum Food Restaurant is operated by the same people behind Zim Sum Restaurant (at Anson Road). Dim Sum Food Restaurant is located at 63 Macalister Road, 10400 Penang (next to Guang Ming Daily’s office). Dim Sum is served from 9am-3pm Mon-Fri, and 8am-3pm Sat/Sun/Public Holidays. T: 04-229 7273.
This place turns into Town Steamboat Restaurant from 5.30pm-11.30pm serving all you can eat buffet style steamboat barbeque.
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100°C Steamboat, Teppanyaki & BBQ Restaurant @ NZX (Niu Ze Xui)
For me, the best time to enjoy steamboat is none other than rainy days. It has been raining non stop in the evenings recently so it was the perfect time to try out a new steamboat restaurant, 100°C located in NZX (Niu Ze Xui). Besides being a steamboat restaurant, 100C also has teppanyaki and BBQ. This is great for gatherings that involve people who are not into steamboat, as they can order other food instead.
There are four set meals starting from RM39.90 which increments of RM20 for a bigger and better portion. We had 100°C’s Special Homemade Combo Set @ RM59.90 that came with some seafood, dumplings, wantan, self made meat balls, vegetable and two cakes of yee mee. Here, everyone will have their individual cooking pot like shabu-shabu style for none other than hygiene purposes.
The seafood included fresh prawns, scallops, bamboo clams and some self made fish balls.
Some ordinary processed meat balls. The cone shaped plastic actually contained some fish paste, which can be squeezed out shaped like noodle into the boiling soup.
11 varieties of soup is available at 100°C with Ba Kut Teh and Fish Head soup being the most popular among all. I had the Ba Kut Teh soup, which was fragrant and packed a quite strong herbal taste. This was actually the first time I had steamboat using Ba Kut Teh soup, and to be honest, it really seemed weird. But hey you gotta try everything right? We also tried the Fish Head soup, which had a smooth creamy texture and a nice milky taste. Just imagine Fish Head noodle’s soup but a lot thicker.
After trying Ba Kut Teh soup, I switched to Golden Porridge soup instead. It was a light tasting broth, with an appetizing golden-yellow color from the pumpkin added. By the way, different types of soup has a different boiling and cooking temperature. For porridge, it is advisable to maintain the temperature at 60c after it boils to avoid the base from getting burnt.
I preferred Fish Head soup because the taste simply blended better with seafood. Ba Kut Teh soup on the other hand fared better if wantan and dumplings were cooked with it. On the seafood’s freshness, it is there but not the freshest I ever had. The easiest way to know is simply looking and at the prawn shell. If the shell turns black after being cooked, or soft and sticks to the flesh when you try to deshell, you would know the prawns are not at the freshest.
Besides, it would be better if sea tiger prawns were used instead of reared ones. I am damn particular when it comes to seafood especially prawns, my palate could differentiate the quality very clearly. If you tasted prawns caught from the sea before, you would know their sweetness and texture far exceed reared ones.
100°C’s special dipping sauce is made up of five different condiments, as prepared by the staff for us. Slightly spicy, sweet and nutty it was a nice for the steamboat. If you are feeling creative, there are 20 sauces to choose from to experiment for your very own condiment.
100°C’s menu also features some cheese baked dishes such as Cheese Baked Escargots @ RM9.80 for half a dozen. Nothing special about this dish because the snails were quite tasteless and purely depended on the cheese for the flavoring. I noticed there were sand in the snails as well. Maybe the shells or snail were not cleaned properly before being popped into the oven.. not really sure about that but it surely had a bad effect on the dish.
Hu La La is a new upcoming dish that would be featured in 100°C’s menu in March. It was basically some fried buns oven baked with lots of cheese, best enjoyed warm. Since it was not on the menu yet, there wasn’t a price for it.
Named ‘Mei Ren Yu’ in Mandarin, or translated to Mermaid in English, this dish is a combination of deep fried butterflied anchovies and macadamia nuts in a sweet and spicy sauce. It was also a new dish which wasn’t on menu but I am guessing it is more of a finger food looking at the serving size. Mermaid was one of the dishes I enjoyed the most for its crunchiness with its sweet and spicy taste hitting the perfect spot.
Next was 100°C’s top seller from their BBQ menu – Chicken Chop on a stick marinated with black pepper and turmeric @ RM6.80. The chunks of chicken meat were very flavorful after being marinated for a long time. Quite spicy too.
Fried Fish Head with Chili Oyster Sauce was another personal favorite of mine. The fish head had plenty of flesh, crunchy on the outside and soft inside. But what really made the dish great was the chili oyster sauce that gave the spicy kick.
I was quite surprised to know that Baked Squid was available too. The sourness and spiciness level were just right, making it a very appetizing and tasty dish if eaten with rice. Very recommended.
Cheese Fondue set @ RM18.80 was a disappointment mainly because of the cheese itself. I felt the cheese had a weird taste, and the fire was not strong enough to melt the cheese hence making the food felt stone cold. It came with some fried chicken, nuggets, fried buns, fries and broccoli, with none of them was nice really. So, it seemed like the cheese related food was all let down for me.
Two drinks we had that night were Fruit Punch (front, to be introduced in menu later) and Pineapple Strawberry drink.
There are two floors of seating area at 100°C. The ground floor is a normal steamboat area, where the indoor is reserved only for steamboat meals while the outdoor would be solely for BBQ and steamboat in the near future. If a more unique dining experience is preferred, you may head to the 1st floor where the steamboat area is of Japanese Tatami style. The ambiance at this floor is nice and warm.
Both floors have a sauce counter where all the 20 types of sauces are placed.
Overall my dining experience at 100°C was a pleasant one, quite a nice place for steamboat for the huge variety of food to choose from. Service was good too because you get attended to almost instantly just by pressing the buzz button located on each table. Ah well, if only the cheese related food fared better.
H-2-01, block A, No 2,
Jalan PJU 1A/41B,
Pusat Dagangan NZX,
Ara Jaya PJU 1A,
47301 PJ Selangor
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Kek Seng Kopitiam – Still Cheap and Good!
The iconic Kek Seng kopitiam is definitely no stranger to local Penangites. Having been in business since the early 1900s, Kek Seng kopitiam has consistently served cheap and good food.
It’s been years since I last visited Kek Seng. It used to be my grandfather’s favourite eating place. And I remember that I hated going there because it was really hot and packed! Little did I realize at that young age, that I was being brought to one of the best places to eat in Penang!
Over the years, we somehow have forgotten or overlooked this old gem which still stands proud today. I suspect that the kopitiam still looks exactly like it did when it first opened its doors. It hasn’t been renovated much or given a new coat of paint. It may even turn off some people who prefer dining at newer, cooler and cleaner places. But there was definitely something nostalgic about Kek Seng as I stepped into it on a recent overcast afternoon.
The Asam Laksa immediately caught my eye. Although this may not be one of the more famous stalls, the laksa definitely packs a punch! Chockfull of fish and served with lots of ‘he ko’. Heaven!
Everything at Kek Seng seemed to appeal to me that day. And so I went on an ordering spree. Pie Tee (Top Hats) was next. Crispy pastry cups filled with vegetables (turnips) and topped with shredded egg. A truly unique snack!
Oh oh and of course who can forget Kek Seng’s star item – their home made durian ice cream!! Best eaten with the Ice Kacang topped with their signature jelly. Very refreshing on a hot day.
I was on a roll now, so we ordered ‘lor bak’ (fried pork rolls) , ‘he chee’ (prawn fritters) and a piece of fried beancurd (I love beancurds!). Comes served with a chilli dip and a starchy ‘lor’ dip. Yet another great snack!
Just outside Kek Seng Kopitiam is the Char Koay Teow and Mee Jawa stalls. The Char Koay Teow here tastes good too! Lots of ‘lap cheong’ (Chinese sausages) to flavor the dish. I still prefer , but Kek Seng’s Char Koay Teow is a different style of preparing the dish which also sits very well with me.
By this time, I was too stuffed to try the Mee Jawa and the chicken rice, which if memory serves me well, should also be good!
I am glad to find that the food in Kek Seng kopitiam is still as good. And definitely affordable! Expect to pay about RM2.50-RM3 for the noodle dishes. Its no wonder that Kek Seng has managed to stand the test of time!
With more development and modern shiny new places coming up, something in me desperately holds onto memories and tastes of my younger years. In future, I would love to take my grandchildren to places filled with nostalgia just like how my grandfather took me to Kek Seng. And I would chuckle to myself when they complain about how hot and ugly the place is. Here’s to many many more years of Kek Seng!
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Johnny’s Nasi Lemak – A Truly Unique Treat!
Nasi Lemak is indeed one of the best loved staple foods in Malaysia. Various versions are available, from the simplest form (those RM1 per packet nasi lemaks) to the more elaborate types where you can pick and choose your dishes to go with the rice.
One of the most unique nasi lemaks I’ve come across is Johnny’s Nasi Lemak in Pulau Tikus.
Basically, what you get is VERY FRAGRANT rice, 2 prawns & 1 fish, cucumbers and a dollop of fiery hot ’sambal belacan’. That’s it. No curry, no ’sambal ikan bilis’. This is so unique that when I brought a KL guest to try it, he couldn’t really accept it, because to quote him ” I just can’t believe that nasi lemak comes without sambal ikan bilis!”
And it does not come cheap too! A plate like that would set you back RM3.50! You can opt to skip the fish if you’re not a fan of fish. It’ll be replaced with an extra prawn (hence the photo above has got 3 prawns instead of the usual 2)
Some would think it’s crazy to pay RM3.50 for a rather small plate of nasi lemak. In fact, most guys would need to order an extra bowl of rice! But I urge you to give it a try. The rice is sinfully rich and fragrant, living up to the ‘lemak’ claim. Mix up the rich rice with that dollop of spicy belacan and you would think that you’ve died and gone to nasi lemak heaven!
Perhaps another reason for this nasi lemak being such a hit is the limited supply. Johnny’s Nasi Lemak opens at 8.30am (on the dot, no earlier than that) from Mondays to Saturdays only. And they only make and sell one big pot of rice. So he’s usually all sold out by about 10am!
To get your hands on a plate of this really yummy nasi lemak, make your way to Jin Hoe Kopitiam, which is located in the shoplots opposite Bandar Baru supermarket in Pulau Tikus.
There are 2 stalls in this kopitiam. Johnny’s Nasi Lemak is the stall on the left. The stall on the right sells economy rice. And remember, don’t go too late as they sell out really fast (by about 10am). 8.30am onwards, Mon-Sat only.
Price List: Normal nasi lemak – RM3.50. Extra rice – RM.160, extra fish – RM1, extra prawn – RM0.70, ikan bilis – RM1
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Truly Hong Kong at Canton-i, Queensbay Mall
After much delay and location change, Canton-i finally opened their doors at the ground floor of Queensbay Mall, Penang. This brand; which is associated with the Dragon-i line of restaurants, offers varieties of authentic Hong Kong cuisines. Upon stepping into this restaurant, the ambiance and atmosphere radiating from its surrounding was completely different of Dragon-i. [...]
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