penang: eden seafood village

went to batu ferringhi in penang, which is their famous beach area. for more local fare we initially decided to eat at long beach food center. upon arrival we realized it was too crowded and smelly, not good for freshly bathe tourists who plan to go to hard rock afterwards.

so i've decided to eat at eden seafood village, which i've read reviews and recommendations of. eden village is like a dampa restaurant. the prices of the dishes are based on the weight of the seafood, particularly fish and shellfish. other food items have fixed prices. so here are the stuff we got.

steamed red tilapia (1.15kg @ 51.75 RM), honestly, we got this one because it was the cheapest hehe. we knew we'd burn more money afterwards so we were a bit cautious on how much we're gonna order. you can never really go wrong with a simple steamed fish unless the seafood is not fresh. this one is definitely fresh, it was jumping out of the basket when the aunti took it from the tank.

baked white prawn (RM52.50) - what could go wrong with with some cheesy baked shrimps? however, wish that the shrimps were more meaty.

squid dry chilli (RM32) - a common method of cooking is with dried chilli, loads of them. this one is peppery and buttery. really good and perfect with rice. the squid was really tender.

beancurd claypot with minced chicken (RM20) - i'd rather call this mapo tofu because it tastes and looks like it. i was expecting the real beancurd claypot. this was good we all loved it, being tofu lovers that we are. but it was kinda oily.

hand pulled noodles in xo sauce (RM20) - a recommendation since it's supposed to be a special. however, i find nothing special about this. the noodles are not springy nearly soggy, so i don't know how this one is hand pulled. they didn't scrimped on the ingredients though so that's a plus. the flavor, nothing really spectacular very low key. but this was a huge plate/serving of noodles.

overall, it was great meal. no misses or utterly disappointing dish. costs roughly 40RM per person. i reckon this is relatively expensive for malaysia prices. but this is a touristy place with cultural shows during dinner time which we were able to see, not that it was impressive. but still food was good, the place might need to get renovations to be more updated.

eden seafood village

batu ferringhi

penang, malaysia

penang: tho yuen

was able to spend a long weekend in penang last week. i am not sure if they call penang the food capital of malaysia. but everyone would just rave about penang food. they said you get the best of every malaysian dish in penang well maybe not all especially when it comes to bak kut teh which is best had in klang and the cendol best had in melaka.

anyway, we arrived in penang after lunch time so consequently we were starving. i've got my penang lonely planet guide and had the must try places already tagged. decided to eat at tho yuen, a chinese resto which is walking distance from the place we were staying at.

here's the food we got.

dumpling soup, the auntie decided for us, she even decided how many pieces we get. it's not like they have a fixed size for orders i guess. the stuffing the traditional pork stuffing i know - with water chestnuts. perfect for our grumbling tummies.

roasted chicken - initially wanted steamed chicken but they ran out of it. flavorful, tender and perfectly cooked.




crispy noodles - they've got a variety of noodles. we opted for this. it was good. the noodles are thin, crispy and flavorful. better devour this immediately when served so you can appreciate the crispy texture.

all of these plus rice and chinese tea costs around 72RM, shared among 7 people (yeah the servings were huge) it was a good meal. ok, maybe because we were hungry. but really, the place was packed at 2PM. can you believe that? anyway, you might consider this when out in penang.

tho yuen

jalan campbell

penang

miele guide

let's see how i fare based on the miele guide.

Malaysia's Top 5 restaurants 2009/2010:

1. Sage Restaurant & Wine Bar, Kuala Lumpur - should probably try this place when i go shopping
2. Senses Restaurant, Kuala Lumpur
3. Neroteca, Kuala Lumpur - i'll eat here when i get the panini craving next door to my friend's place
4. Frangipani Restaurant & Bar, Kuala Lumpur
5. El Cerdo, Kuala Lumpur - eaten here
   

Philippines Top 5 restaurants 2009/2010:

1. Antonio's, Cavite (No. 17 in Asia's Top 20) - not impressed
2. Aubergine, Manila (No. 18 in Asia's Top 20) - loved it!!! this is the best for me.
3. Mamou, Manila - tried it loved the breads, the steak was yummy and i heart the truffle pasta
4. Abe, Manila - eaten here
5. Sala Restaurant, Manila - have yet to try this i already ate at sala bistro :)

kl: sushi zanmai

fruit of my japanese craving....a trip to the gardens to eat at another japanese resto which i've read good reviews of. as far as i know, sushi zanmai is also managed by the group who owns rakuzen, so i was pretty complacent with this place.

we got chuka wakame, seasoned seaweed (RM3.80), has this refreshing flavor of the sea slightly salty with a hint of sesame which was just perfect.

sanshoku hana salmon (RM9.80) got great reviews. salmon with shrimp roe, wasabi flying fish roe and black caviar. what can i say? the salmon was extremely fresh. had this melt in your mouth texture.

softshell crab maki (RM6) is softshell crab becoming a japanese staple for me? i really don't know. this one has skinny crabs hehe i'm sure that's not the proper word to describe it. given the choice i would choose sugi anytime, but for the price? i think it's worth it.

as if these rolls were not enough, we got the stamina roll (RM12.8) too. omelette sushi roll topped with eel. unagi i heart. another jap staple for me. this one is so filling and so worth your buck.

for more carbs =), we also got yakisoba. topped with bonito shavings, i also liked this one. probably the best yakisoba i've tried by far. the small serving goes for RM8.80.

and of course i had to pair these up with a great drink. if i remember it correctly this is a honeydew green tea shake =)

good food, great ambiance...no wonder you'd often see a long queue outside.




sushi zanmai
midvalley the gardens
kuala lumpur

kl: super noodle house

this resto is listed in malaysia's best eats. hard to miss since it's at the entrance of sungei wang, one of the famous malls in kl. what i love about this place aside from the great dimsum is, hongkong chili garlic oil. in other words it's the pinas version of chilli garlic oil. i've mentioned a couple of times already that they serve an asado like sauce and hot sauce for their dimsum here in malaysia which is not really apt if you ask me.

anyway, i'll just post the pictures of my previous eats as well as my friends's eats. prices of the noodles range from 7-10RM while the dimsum is around 5RM, pretty pricey for malaysian standards but same prices in pinas. i have no picture for the super yummy siu pao but they really have one of the nicest char siu pork buns i've tried. moist and soft that i could gobble 2-3 buns and for me that's a record because i don't like asado siopao.

dumpling soup

congee topped with fried bread

roasted pork noodle

hargau/hakao - a dimsum staple

crystal vegetable and pork dumpling - something like that...my friends say this is better than the siumai. haven't tried the siumai but i like this one too.

chicken feet another staple, the last time i ordered it, it wasn't as tender and as falling off the bones as it should be.

friend taro with chicken - do not order this! nuf' said.

i usually eat at this place during off hours like an early lunch at 11 am or a snack at 5pm. during those times i get great quality dimsum, all hot and all available. last time i've eaten there during lunch hour, the dimsum is cooked by batch and you have limited choices on which ever is left/available. i recommend this for pinoys working here in kl. but for those who live in manila, you can get great dimsum in a lot of our chinese restos there except for the charsiu bun of course, i have yet to find a chinese resto in manila that serves a similar siopao other than kowloon. and of course, i don't think there's a roasted pork with dry noodles noodles in manila...as far as i can remember ;).

super noodle house

at the entrance of sungei wang

jalan sultan ismail cor bukit bintang

kl: woo pin fish head noodle

fish head noodle is a unique food fare and woo pin is famous for it. when i got invited to eat there i immediately said yes. they have two kinds of noodles one is fish paste which we were told is basically similar to homemade fish balls and of course fish head which is pretty much pieces of fish head.

this one has a milky flavorful broth. it was delicious, no fishy taste because the fish was fried, the serving was huge but the only downside was the the fish was bony. other than that it was really good. i forgot how much this was around 6-7RM i think.

woo pin fish head noodles @ ho a one steam boat restaurant

jalan 1/109F, taman danau desa

kuala lumpur

hours: 730am-1000pm (closed on mondays)

kl: el cerdo

finally got the chance to eat at el cerdo after a lot of rescheduling. this place is famous for its cochinillo (roasted suckling pig) so after hearing mass we went to the nearby changkat bukit bintang to get ourselves a pork feast.

for appetizers we got jamon serrano with rock melon and salad (RM38).

though melon and ham is a famous combination this is the first time i was able to try it. it was really good. the jamon serrano was perfect - lightly salty and doesn't have that gamey taste which contrasted with the sweet melon. however, i would have wanted the melon to be more firm to give a contrast of textures as well.

we also got mixed appetizers (big one is 56RM). the picture is just half of the big serving.

had a lot of coldcuts, 1 pate, 1 rillete and some veggies, served with bread. i wished the bread was more crusty. the round jelly like thing in the foregound is the least favorite =).

for the mains, we got paella (RM88), they have several versions - vegetarian, seafood, and the regular i think.it's a good paella, the rice was cooked well and flavors were just right.

also got oxtail stew (RM48) served with a bowl of pasta. presentation of the pasta looked lonely (pasta at the background). i think they should reconsider the presentation. strong robust flavors, the oxtail was tender but as i've said the flavors are just a bit too strong.

the roasted pork ribs with mango chutney (RM49) was a favorite. wasn't as tender as it should be but it was acceptable, and everyone loved the buttery mashed potato which i actually didn't try.

and of course how can i leave out the star of the meal, we got one whole cochinillo at RM 219. fresh out of the oven, the server had us do the traditional cutting wherein a boy and a girl can make a wish and cut through the pig using the plate. after which, they break the plates in a bucket.

the pig was crispy and tender, it was really good. it came with a brown gravy, which i thought wasn't that apt. i dunno, maybe because of the richness of the pig, the sauce would be something that could probably counteract it...maybe a chutney of some sort or a more tart sauce. anyway, it was a good meal. the service was ok, we even got benches to put our bags on. however, we found the over bearing wait staff a bit off, we liked that they would make suggestions or would think about when to bring out the food, but having insisted on not serving the food immediately until the entire party arrived was a bit of a turn off. still we loved the food so that was a bit forgiven. all of these fed 9 people and there were a lot of excess, i reckon 1-2 additional persons would have just made it enough for everyone.

45 changkat bukit bintang

kuala lumpur

el cerdo

kl: xi men ting

i'm pretty scarred with little taiwan so i'm a bit wary with taiwanese restos. but i am always up for an adventure and i am getting pretty tired with esquire and nam heong so i decided to try xi men ting the newest resto at endah parade, closest establishment from my place.

my love for noodles never cease so the yang chun noodles (RM7.90) definitely caught my attention. i like dry noodles, meaning no broth/soup so i'm happy that it comes with that option. noodles topped with sauteed ground pork that is very flavorful and some bouncy meatballs. love this dish! sometimes it just becomes inconsistent with the veggie, typically served with bakchoy but there are instances wherein they put lettuce which i don't like - like the one in the pic below.

and for my side dish, i got braised intestines (RM5). yeah, whenever i get that isaw craving i can just result to braised intestines. i also love this one. flavorful and very tender intestines.

this place has also converted into liking the sweet flowery teas too which is perfect after eating the uric acid cholesterol laden intestines =).

xi men ting
endah parade
sri petaling,kl

kl: the ship

if you ask me, the ship seems to be a tourist trap of some sort. really lame restaurant with a facade like a ship and the interiors is totally lame as well. if not only for my friend who vouched that they serve decent steak, i wouldn't dine in this place.

got some freebie bread, which i decided not to post. think bread that can be had in your local bakery slightly warm with butter.

got myself a ribeye steak (RM48) which comes with a salad, you get to choose the dressing. i opted for french i think. either the dressing was too old or was bottled dressing dunno which, nothing special not even decent if you ask me. came in a small bowl actually the picture just makes it look bigger.

my steak had a couple of side dishes, brocolli, tomato, corn and baked potato of which you will be asked what topping you want and i said everything hehe...sour cream, bacon bits and spring onions.

nothing remarkable, i now even think it is pricey. i haven't really had steak in restos except for myron's which i reckon is far much better i wouldn't mind the couple of extra bucks for a better steak. there are other offerings like the minute steak (RM30), a lot cheaper and probably more worth your ringgit.

the ship

bukit bintang

jalan sultan ismail

check out their site for other branches

the ship

kl: yogurt boyz

thank god for that impromptu dinner because we discovered yogurt boyz. i have been looking for froyo in kl ever since i got here. kept searching in the internet and failed to find one. the pink neon signs of yogurt boyz caught our attention. so we said, we're gonna get dessert there.

this is my best kl food find by far and the best froyo i have ever tasted. the froyo is creamy with a hint of tartness, just enough to remind you that it's still yogurt. the picture above is a large serving which i forgot how much, i usually order the regular size, original flavor with one topping which costs roughly 50-55 pesos. the syrup is free, you can choose between strawberry or chocolate. so among the 3 yogurt places i have tried, yoh-gurt froz, yogurbud and californiaberry, this one beats them all. affordable and yet so delish, the serving might be smaller than the ones in manila, but i think it's just right.

anyway, i have yet to try red mango, white hat and tutti frutti in megamall. i wonder when pinkberry will come over to manila. by the end of 2009, i ought to declare which is the best froyo for me hehe.

we've discovered yogurt boyz a couple of months ago, since then i found out that there's a lot of froyo places in sunway mall. which is totally inaccessible from my place, good thing yogurt boyz is uber close to my place.

yogurt boyz

jalan radin

sri petaling, kuala lumpur

kl: fastfood fish head

my friend gave me a good eats guide to malaysia. a perfect gift for a foodie like me, i should really start collecting the same kind of books for the places i have been to.

anyway, since i live not exactly in the city but still part of kl...think muntinlupa in metro manila, i scoured the book for any good eats in our area. surprisingly, i found one. fastfood fish head is actually a seafood restaurant.

the usual process of eating at restos such as these is that you order the seafood you want and let them know the method you wanted it to be cooked similar to our dampa.

steamed red tilapia (RM32), cooked with soy and some tausi topped with wansuy. yup you read it right, it's red tilapia. i still find it weird actually, when i go to the supermarket and see all those fresh tilapia swimming in the water tank, i still think that they look like my dad's pets. anyway, this was my first time to try red tilapia, it actually tastes the same like our grey/black colored tilapia.

dried chilli pork (RM13), apparently this is a common dish, my pork loving friend ordered this because he is allergic to crabs. thinly sliced pork that is tender and flavorful, this is actually a good one.

sauteed spinach or was it kailan (RM13) i really forgot what veggie this was. we got this because we thought we needed to eat something healthy. and did you notice the price? same as the pork hehe.

crabs - always the star of a seafood feast. salted egg crab (RM57), basically crabs cooked with salted egg and garnished with fried curry leaves which i really like. i've already mentioned this in my din tai fung post salted egg here is fresh, so it basically just looks like a coating of egg on the crabs. it was really yummy. this was way better than my singaporean chilli crabs and this one only costs less than half of that.

this was a good meal, split among four people and we barely finished the crabs and the we had the pork to go even. but this didn't end here we capped it off with a great dessert that's up next.

fastfood fish head

58 jalan radin tengah

sri petaling, kuala lumpur

melaka: nancy's kitchen

melaka is known for peranakan or nonya cuisine. it's the combination of chinese cooking method and malay spices. saw nancy's kitchen on several discovery channel specials on melaka and it's also included in the lonely planet melaka guide so of course, nancy's kitchen was a must.

so here's the stuff we got.

otak-otak (RM10) is a fish cake, made of fish paste and spices. it is usually steamed or grilled wrapped in banana leaf. this is my first time to try it. it was so so. it actually has the same texture as tamales the fake ones of course those that have extenders already.

fried sotong (RM18) basically deep fried squid. nothing special...lacks flavor, i hope they would add spices to give it flavor and the plain flour breading doesn't make it any better.

chicken candlenut (RM18) is one of their famous dishes, this one is very flavorful. but it would have been perfect for me if it was more spicy i would choose chicken rendang anytime.

assam pork (RM18) assam is tamarind, this dish was tart and sweet, it had a good balance of flavors and the pork was really tender. this one is my favorite.

steamed fish (RM45) the fish was bland, i don't know what species it is but it was bland, snapper or grouper would have been perfect or even the typical chinese steamed fish like pearl fish. the sauce was on the bland side as well. we've had better steamed fish dishes else where and did you see the price??? gheez now that i am writing this i just realized it was expensive.

we also had veggie side dishes like kangkong and brinjal (eggplant) belacan. belacan is chilli and shrimp paste. i liked the brinjal, i love fried eggplants so i enjoyed that the most but i also like kangkong so no complaints on that one. all of the dishes were ordered in large servings except for the otak otak. all of these fed 10 people. not bad actually, but the dishes didn't give me that i ought to come back for more feeling. a friend said she found a nice quaint place in melaka with great food, dunno how at par it is with nancy's since nancy is the most famous one. you can still give it a shot though, maybe we just had more misses than hits in our choices.

nancy's kitchen

no. 7 jalan hang lekir

off jonker street

melaka: 88 jonker street

melaka is 2 hours south of kuala lumpur, probably the only state that has western influences. it was conquered by the portuguese in their quest of the spice islands, remember how magellan accidentally discovered the philippines because of the spice islands exploration? melaka has been declared as a world heritage site by unesco because of its rich history but of course what lured me to the place was the food. before i move on to that here's a picture of the church in the town square.

jonker street is the main street in melaka, lined up with restaurants, antique stores and even a temple. when you look up melaka, 88 jonker street would always popup. they say that you can get the best cendol at this place. cendol is made up of a green jelly like worms that's made from rice flour and coconut, beans, shaved ice, coconut milk and in melaka they use the famous gula melaka...it tastes like coco jam but darker and more syrupy.

definitely the best cendol i've ever had. fine shaved ice and the gula melaka is really to die for. this one costs around 3.50RM if i'm not mistaken, i had mine with sago. other varieties are available too like my friends' mango ais.

but before we had these luscious desserts we had some snacks first. my friends said this was called goreng-goreng which didn't make sense because goreng-goreng means fried fried? anyway, these are basically fried food items like bean curd sheets, dumplings and all sorts of things you can find in your typical shabu shabu or yang tau fu. this comes with a nice sweet brown sauce with peanuts.

also had noodles, mine was chicken rendang mee if i am not mistaken. basically, chicken curry with noodles. really spicy but has great flavors. forgot how much this was something around 5RM i reckon.

jonker street is an old house turned to a food court of some sort. the food stations mainly the desserts, noodles and the fried items are at the door of the establishment and you line up to order your food. the rest of your party can go inside and look for a table. the place is packed most of the time but i think it's worth the wait.

88 jonker street

melaka