aaaaahhhh………Still remember Ivy’s Kitchen Combo Meal posted a month ago?

I feel a bit bad towards to Mr.Tan & Ivy for owing the a-lar cart dinner post for such a long time.

Ok now, Ivy’s Kitchen also have available dishes on a-lar-cart order for dinner time besides the lunch combos that cater to the OLs and OMs in the near by office blocks.

At Night they serve Chinese and Nyonya dishes, and the followings are my verdict for some of the dishes served for the invited review dinner do:

The Big Banner hanging in front of the restaurant is eye catching. Jason has given Mr. Tan some ideas to make the restataurant’s brand name more visible to attract those who drive on Jalan Chow Thye. One of them was to place a extended vertical banner similar to that used by Japanese restaurants to show-off its name because the current banner is slightly out of sight by car drivers.

Sweet and Sour Flower Crab (market price)

The sauce combination is thick and very flavorful, and i can taste the distinctive sweet crab meat flavor from the first mouthful.

The flower crab flesh was indeed very meaty & fresh, it is a testament to the quality ingredients that they used here. To be frank, is my first encounter with such a meaty flower crab. Usually flower crab ain’t that meaty. The dish is a good mate for a bowl of fragrant white rice.

It was good, but there was a slightly sweet after taste. Light handed on the sugar is necessary.

Rating for the dish: 3.9/5

Gulai Tumis Chinese Silver Pomfret (market price)

Gulai Tumis usually would be Malaysian’s favourite, when talk and think about the dish one would start begin to experience a saliva tsunami in the mouth. Hahaha…

What is so special about the Gulai? It is all about the spiciness of the chili paste, sourly taste of tamarind, pungent smell of lemongrass, light perfumery bungah kantan (tourh ginger) to make it became a mouth watering dish.

Above all ingredients, Ivy’s Kitchen version has additional Green Chilies and tomatoes. The Silver Promfret was fresh, but the fish was slightly over cooked because there some late arrivals due to the traffic situation. I personally would prefer the silver pomfret put into the steaming tray rather into the gulai tumis if the fish still extremely fresh. :)

Rating for the dish: 3.7/5

Assam Prawns (RM20 for 10 prawns)

Look at that divine caramelised colour!

There are 2 types of assam prawn, either with thick gravy or dried. And here they served dried and crispy assam prawn with wonderful flavors .

I would say this nyonya assam prawn was very authentic to me. Although here in Malaysia there are tones of restaurant serving the same dish, but rarely you would get the same “good” nyonya assam prawn.

But don’t be sad, you can now taste the very nicely marinated and pan fried to perfection assam prawn in Ivy’s kitchen. The tamarind flavour is not overpowering; sweet and sour on the right balance. Thumbs Up!

Rating for the dish: 4/5

check the rest of the food list and rating here

The Food Loft at Gurney Plaza has come and go. The lots are now being occupied by a new tenant by the name of Ko Fu Loft. When we were driving past Gurney Plaza and while looking to the vacated lots, I told Gill that if it were up to me, I would have occupied the vacated lots with a Dim Sum restaurant. Not long later, we got news that a dim sum restaurant would be opened to replace The Food Loft. There are numerous reasons behind the idea; the location, the type of crowd and potential customers, and the competition, but I won’t go into that here may be in my other blog.

I have yet to interview or have much information about Ko Fu Loft and their operations to provide a clear write-up of this place. Thus, it would be more of a pictorial post with focuses on the people, the atmosphere, the food and experience during the invited review that was held on last Sunday’s late afternoon (7th July 2009). Basically Ko Fu Loft took over the setup left by The Food Loft and made some minor renovation to suit their concept.

Let’s start with the people! This review saw some new faces that we have not personally met other than reading their blogs. We were overjoyed to have the opportunity to persanally meet up Christy from yumyumbites.blogspot.com, Cheryl from nuttyeve9.blogspot.com, L K Low from food-4tots.com, Eunice, Siew Ying & Iris from foodpromotions.com.my, CW Chan from noweating.com, and Chef Khoon(blog is still in the works) for the first time after reading their blogs for so long. In some way, the review was an occasion and opportunity to meet other persons that also shares the same passion for food.

Some how or rather, the majority of the food bloggers that attended the functions are women. Many would think that food bloggers would be like a 2 ton truck like me but you would be amazed to see many of them are like a SMART cars, petite and attractive to the eye. Other than having a smaller circumference, each and every one of these beautiful human beings are very approachable and easy to be with. They would be great companions to have at the dining table. We shared many laughs and ideas at the table, and time seems to fly by when there is great company amongst. Three hours seems like 3 minutes.

As we shared our laughs we also shared some pointer is photo shooting when the dishes were served. The moment the food was placed on the table we were all like bees to honey. Each one was trying to get the best angle and shot for our blog readers to feast on. The management and kitchen of Ko Fu Loft had generously prepared 14 types of dishes and a dessert for us to sample that range from appetizers and dim sum to ‘Poon Choy’ and fried noodles.

Crystal Spring Roll Skin Stuff with Vege & Chicken Meat(RM6.90), the presentation was average similar to many other restaurants that offered this kind of Vietnamese summer rolls. Taste wise it wasn’t appetising or refreshing as we have better experienced in Miss Saigon & Young Heart . This may be contributed by the powdery texture chicken meat and the vegetables that lack sweetness.

Steam Fresh Prawn Dumpling or ‘Har Kau’(RM5.50), taste and presentation was standard and comparable to some traditional dim sum restaurants.

Signature Steamed Custard Creamy Bun ((RM5.50), with one of the buns cracked opened it looked pretty nice golden yellow custard cream flowing out. But then was it supposed to be presented in this way? The buns were average in texture and taste except for the custard cream. The custard cream wasn’t smooth in texture; it felt sandy like an inclusion of duck egg yolk in the cream.

Szechuan Aromatic Duck (RM18.90), presentation average taste texture was below average. The duck slices were coated in some sort of batter and deep fried. But it may have been over cooked, thus the duck meat slices were dry and the lacks any aromatics and tastes. The accompanying egg wrapper was similarly dry and lacks that eggy taste.

Jingdo Pork Rib (RM14.90), presentation was average and for taste it was more like black pepper ribs than’ jingdo’ ribs due to the overwhelming pepper taste. In addition to that, there was a slight taste of soda on the surface of the ribs. But of all the dishes that were served it seems that the ribs and the following deep fried Calamari were my favourite as they have got some taste in them.

Read more verdicts here

After a meeting with our business partners at Queensbay, I decided of bringing Gill to the Thong Shui stall that I used to patronise occasionally after meeting a client in the Sungai Dua area during my working days. This thong shui or dessert stall is manned a husband and wife team who started this business some 2 yeras ago. The stall is located directly facing the Sungai Dua Tesco Extra main entrance at the end of the ‘T’ junction opposite it.

The stall sells a variety of traditional hot desserts and some cold ones like ‘loh han goa’,'pak mok yee’, etc. Majority of the hot desserts are rotated or changed either daily or weekly depending on the supply of ingredients to give their customers a sense of surprise when they open up the pots to see what do they have install for them. Basically their desserts cater to those who prefer a taste of the old and those who do not wish to be overwhelm with to much sugary sweetness. To me it is a good cool-off place and ’snake’ for a while before continuing with the daily chores.

One of my favourites is the whole-wheat or ‘gandum’ congee. It is not as tasty as those famous ones in Georgetown but it do suffice the craving when it creeps up. The sweet taste of melted sugar and the bid like texture of the bloated grains of wheat is something that you would not forget.

The black glutinous rice congee or ‘or chu bee’ is also....

Click here to read more in our shifted blog @ gourmetgarden.com.my

The remembrance of childhood tastes and food texture are some things that affect ones eating habit and expectations. I can remember as a young tod, my parents or siblings used to like to patronise a Koay Teow Th’ng stall located opposite the Air Itam wet market. It was a treat whenever we visit that place cause I like the texture of the mince pork patties that they cook up. Now I am nearing my mid-30’s and I still yarn for that feeling in my mouth again. I have ventured to many Koay Teow Th’ng stalls in Penang and in Kuala Lumpur in search for my nostalgic childhood memories, and the closest that I could achieve was at Peter’s Pork Noodles in Breikfields in Kuala Lumpur. But know I have found a stall that can fill that void, and it was all the while under my nose.

Me and my wife always travel to Kimberley street for ‘makan’ on Saturdays before our church fellowship, have never thought of trying out Ah Hai’s Koay Teow Th’ng which is next to the much talk about Ah Seng Eco Bee Hoon on Kimberley Street. Numerous trips there over the years and have not tried them, I should be kicked in the head for that kind of mistake!

Ah Hai’s Koay Teow Th’ng is the freshly cooked to order type where you could choose toppings like mince pork patties, slice pork, pork innards, fish balls, fish cake, whole egg, and not forgetting glorious crispy pork lard. And for the noodles there are a few choices too like ‘koay teow’, ‘lo shu fan aka bee thai bak’, yellow noodles, instant noodles and rice vermicelli. My favorite is still yellow noodle and koay teow mix, and Gill’s is ‘lo shu fan’.

continue to read on delicious Koay Teow Thng? click here

A cruller in western context is a fried pastry made of dough which may resemble the shape of a doughnut or twister sticks with some cake characteristics. Crullers are often topped with powdered sugar or icing, but now-a-days with more sinful ingredients. Traditional crullers were being made and sold at Dunkin’ Donuts, not until 2003 when they decided to stop these delicacies due to the labour-intensive nature of the process.

In this part of the globe, crullers are almost the same as those found on the western hemisphere except that they are coated nor topped with any other ingredients. Chinese crullers or commonly known as 'you tiao' are sticks of dough deep fried till goldenly crisp, with the inners of the 'you tiao' should still retaining some softness. Last Sunday, after reviewing the Ivy's Kitchen and after picking Gill up at her friends', we went to this road side stall along the main road of Paya Terubong in search of the not-so-well-known 'Te Chang You Tiao' or extra long crullers.

The 'Te Chang You Tiao' stall is manned by Mr. Tan junior and his pretty efficient workers. Over here one could get a glimpse of how the traditional Chinese crullers are made. It all starts with a batch of dough which is then separated into smaller batches or blocks. Then the dough is left to sit or rise before they are prep for the fryer. What is so special of the crullers stall is that they produce extra long golden crisp cruller sticks which are around 14 to 15 inch. The normal Chinese crullers in town are half the length of Tan's crullers.

Read more about this article in our self hosted blog

gourmetgarden.com.my

Last Saturday before going to our church for the blood donation campaign, me & Gill headed to Seng Thor coff shop for brunch. Seng Thor is an old rustic coffee shop or kopitiam in local dialect located at the junction of Carnarvon Street and Kimberly Street. We have been here for numerous times not for their famous Oyster Omelette nor the Loh Mee, but for the little known wantan mee. Basically at the Seng Thor coffee shop there are a five(5) hawker stalls(Koay Teow Th’ng, Loh Mee, Loh Bak, Wantan Mee & Oyster Omelette) in and around the shop and an economy rice stall(was not open that day or has ceased operations) operating at different hours. During the morning breakfast hours the centre of attraction is the Loh Mee and the individually cooked koay teow th’ng stalls. And in the afternoon until early evening hours, the limelight is on the Oyster Omelette stall. These 3 hawker food stalls are quite famous in Penang as many Penangites and outstation people like to patronise them, and little attention is actually given to the wantan mee stall there. 

Today my attention is only on the Koay Teow Th’ng(KTT) and Wantan Mee(WtM) stall because that were what we had that faithful day. Let’s talk about the KTT stall which we actually tried before quite some time ago and this was like a revisit for us after reading about it in the blog-sphere. The KTT at Seng Thor is actually individually cooked upon order which is quite scarce and hard to come by now-a-days, especially good ones. Although the KTT was cook without or less MSG, Gill noticed that the uncle has a lot of rock sugar in stock in the cupboard below the stall. Rock sugar is normally used to give sweetness to soups, especially clear ones.

For last Saturday’s brunch we ordered a bowl of ‘Lo Shu Fun’ and a bowl of Koay Teow and Yellow Noodle mix, which cost us RM7. By looking at the toppings and the size of the bowl they quite worth the money paid as both bowls were requested to have additional toppings of pig liver, lean meat, minced meat, pork balls, fish balls and pig heart.

But the sad thing about these 2 bowls of KTT is that the soup base was not as tasty and ’sweet’ as we expected. My bowl of koay teow and yellow noodles weren’t that bad, with the additional innard toppings the soup had some ’sweetness’ to it. Other than the soup base the koay teow and yellow noodles was also a put down. The koay teow and yellow noodle felt limb and blotted(like noodles soaked i n water for too long).

Gill’s bowl of ‘Loh Shun Fun’ was blend with very little taste of ’sweetness’ although we had the same toppings and was cooked in the same pot. But the ‘Loh Shu Fun’ was of consolation because they were firm and full. 

Because we were not satified with the brunch that we had, we went for the wantan mee that we usually patronise at the same coffee shop.  This wantan mee stall is not very good or delicious, the main reason we like it is because it is cheap. The bowl of 12 wantan dumpling in soup and the regular size noodle only cost us RM5. Remember to ask for the dry noodles toss in only oil and dark soya sauce without or little soup mix, but the taste is some times inconsistent due to the dark soy and the lard oil.

Another attraction is the fried wantans which have a slight sugary sweetness to their crispy skin, one can even eat them like snacks on its own and on the go. 

The fried pork lard bits are also a must at this stall, but you must ask for it as the proprietor seldom provides them without requests. The lard bits were actually more fragrant than the ones provided by the KTT stall.

 

On average I would grade the Koay Teow Th’ng stall:

* 3.5/5 for value(considered cheap in Penang standards)
* 2.9/5 for taste & texture (soup was blend and the noodles not firm and fresh)
* 3.0/5 for service
* 3.0/5 for cleanliness 
* 3.0/5 for atmosphere (what do you expect from an old rustic kopitiam man by seniors)

 

And on average I would grade the Wantan Mee stall:

* 4.2/5 for value
* 3.8/5 for taste & texture (not consistent on the dry sauce)
* 3.5/5 for service
* 3.4/5 for cleanliness 
* 3.0/5 for atmosphere (what do you expect from an old rustic kopitiam man by seniors)

GPS Coordinate: N5*24′91″ E100*20′07″

Dim Sum for supper? Well that was what we had just now after our Fellowship meeting. We went to Yong Pin on Jalan Sungai Ujung, near to the junction of Cintra and Kimberley Street. I have not patronised that place for almost 10 years. I can still remember during my teens, me and my friends would go there after our camping trips or after our walk at Gurney Drive. Things has changed and we are all getting older and fatter!

'Mah Tai Ko' or water chestnut cake was my favorite, I even had seconds. The cakes were firm and fluffy on the surface and crunchy on the inside due to the loads of water chestnut slices in them. The taste was light and sweet (not too sweet), and you could still taste the water chestnut scent in them. If you could get the ones with their side slightly crisp, it would bring the feel to another level. Imagine the caramelised crisp sugary surface and the fluffy and crunchy insides!

Deep fried 'Lo Pak Ko' or Reddish Cake, the surface was crisp but the insides were a bit too soft. The taste was average with slight taste of dried shrimps (har mai) and not much of reddish taste. You could skip it if do not fancy this dish.

Then came the 'Siew Mai's or pork meat dumplings, we had two types the normal Siew Mai and the 'Kau Choi' Siew Mai. The tastes were quite traditional, porky, slight sweetness and creamy. The creaminess came from the Siew Mai skin itself. Siew Mais are one of my favourites and a must have for any dim sum meal as you tell the quality of the ingredients especially the pork meat and skill that was put in making it.

Then we had the fish balls, it was told that the fish balls and all the other dim sum and Paus are made in-house. They do not buy from other suppliers. The fish balls were soft and not as firm as those found in other dim sum shops. Taste wise they were not really that tasty, may be because not much MSG used!

We also tried their 'Chu Kyiok Chou' or Vinegar Pork Trotters. The gravy was a bit too sweet for my liking, but the trotters were tender and soft, and the fatty layer were very 'lemak'(creamy). For some of the meat chunks, they were a bit dry to the tongue. Still the home cook version feel and taste better.

Another dish that we order was the 'Keong Ngap Mun Min' or Simmered Noodle with Ginger Duck. The noodles were actually Yee Mee which has that unique taste to it. The Yee Mee was simmered or stewed in the Ginger Duck gravy. Thus, the noodles itself also have the aroma and taste of duck and ginger. The noodles were smooth and rich. It was anything but soggy.

On average, I would give this place:

• 3.5/5 for value (Everything for only RM 27.20, can't complain)
  
• 3.6/5 for taste & texture
  
• 3/5 for service
• 2.9/5 for cleanliness
• 3/5 for atmosphere

GPS Coordinates: to be added!

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Last Sunday after church we could not decide where to go for breakfast, therefore we went driving around our Heritage zone in Georgetown. It was hard to decide what to eat because there were to many choice and also because we had problem finding a good place to park. Then we came by this corners shop selling Duck Meat Koay Teow Th'ng. We actually drove by this place some weeks ago hoping to try it after Gill's dad said that it was not bad, but no luck. It was always closed for us. This time die-die must try said Gill.

This shop is located at the corner of Lebuh Keng Kwee and Jalan Kangsar. The name of the shop is Kedai Kopi Tong Hoe. The only hawker offering they sell is the Duck Meat Koay Teow Th'ng and drinks. But fear not, you are allowed to order other hawker item from road side stalls located at the vacininity. This shop is open for business from 7:30am to 12:30pm daily except for either Wednesday or Thursday. They also close on the 1st and 15th day of the month on the lunar calender.

For the first meal of the day, we ordered 2 small bowls of KTT, 1 plate of duck meat, 1 plate pig intestines and 1 plate of blench green vege. Guess how much is cost us?

The first thing that we tasted was the soup, it was very lite with a hint of the duck's scent. Remember not to put any soya sauce or chili, or else you would have lost that unique taste. The Koay Teow (flat rice noodle) is smooth and springy, but not as springy like the ones in Ipoh. They quite a compliment to the light soup base. One of condiment item in the KTT, was the meat balls (not the testicles). It taste average and not firm enough. Why I mentioned the pork balls is because it will affect the taste of the soup due to the stronger taste it has.

Then there are the 3 side dishes that we ordered, the duck meat, pig intestines and blench green vegetables. The duck and intestines were served on a bed of plum and crunchy beans sprouts, dressed in light soya and fragrant lard and garlic oil and sprinkle with crispy garlic and pork lard bids. The duck meat was firm and cooked just nice, but it lost its juices because it was cutted too thin. The pig intestine was light, clean, and slightly springy. The blench vege was crunchy and sweet. It was dressed in the same dressing as the the duck meat and pork intestine.

If you are not fond of the taste burnt garlic, you could ask them leave out the garlic. May be before you decide, just snoop around to see how the garlic was that day.

On average, I would give this place:

• 2.8/5 for value (the meal we had cost the two of us RM 12.50)
• 3.5/5 for taste & texture
• 2.9/5 for service ( damn slow, kira koay teow like kira bulu. We waited at least 10-15 minutes to be served 3 tables but less then 12 pax...gee. There were 3 persons working, one prepare the koay teow, one choped the duck and one do the serving )
• 3/5 for cleanliness
• 3/5 for atmosphere

GPS Coordinate: N5*24'59.5" E100*19'53.5"

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