Part 2 of Trip to Penang 2007 - Breakfast in Air Hitam Market

Its about time we continued on with Part 2 of 4 on our mini food trip to Penang. Arrived in Penang around midnight after having a that delicious meal in Ipoh. Luckily one of our colleague was already there earlier so we already had our room prepared.

Stayed in the okay Gurney Hotel. Booked the 2-bedroom suite courtesy of my Penang "brother's" corporate rate. We got a really good price for the room minus breakfast (who needs hotel breakfast in Penang???!@$!)

When we woke up in the morning, finally reached Air Hitam market for breakfast at about 11am. We knew it was going to be a really fulfilling (literally) day as I promised my Penang friend's we'll meet for lunch at 12pm!!

Anyway, back to the food. We ordered the char kuey tiao. Seriously addictive stuff. Might not be as famous as other char kuey tiao but it can give the best ones in KL a run for their woks! Lots of prawns, cockles and bits of fish cake and eggs. And as most people say, full of "wok hei" which is supremely important.

Next to arrive was the "kueh chiap". This really reminds me of home. Flat sheets of rice noodles (kinda like kuey tiao also) served with pieces of duck meat and pork innards drenched with a superbly meaty broth. It was absolutely delicious!! My colleague the Canadian who doesn't really like innards says its just "ok". I happily finished off his leftover bowl of soup and innards!

This place has made it on to my must eat in Penang list. I simply love a good "kueh chiap" and I must say this place is good and on-par with the best in Kuching.

Makan King's ratings = 7.5 out of 10

GPS coordinates:
N 5° 24' 1.3"
E 100° 16' 40.7"

Cheers,
-BKT King-

Part 1 of Trip to Penang 2007 - Ipoh Beansprouts Chicken

Ok! As promised, here is Part 1 of 4 of my trip to Penang. We (my boss and another colleague) left to Penang after work on a Friday. As we left for Penang from the office (boss's and my car parked safely in our office carpark) we decided its best to stop in Ipoh for our dinner.

The shop that we wanted to visit was Lou Wong Taugeh Chicken. Its a famous shop for Taugeh (beansprouts) Chicken my boss even found it on his GPS software. Arriving in Ipoh and then Lou Wong after about 2hrs on the road, we were certainly more than ready to eat!!

Both my boss and colleague ordered just normal chicken rice while I ordered the Hor Fun (flat rice noodles). The hor fun was delicious!! It was ultra smooth and broth was nice and savoury with hints of spring onions.

First to arrive was the famous Ipoh beansprouts. The special thing about Ipoh breansprouts is that its normally short, fat and juicy as compared to long and thin ones from elsewhere.

The beansprouts were crunchy and went well with the sauce (soy sauce mixed with some oils). Good start to the meal (those who had the rice were scooping up the sauce to mix with the rice).

Next was a bowl of fish and meat balls. The fish ball was good. Bouncy, smooth and tasty. The meat balls were only decent IMHO.

Next to arrive was the steamed chicken. This was as good as I remember it. Smooth skin and meat with the flavorful soy sauce dressing. It may have been because we were all hungry but we lapped up everything in no time.

GPS coordinates:
N 4° 35' 38.2"
E 101° 05' 2.9"

Onwards to Penang.................

Makan King's ratings = 7 out of 10

Pizza Uno @ Centerpoint, Bandar Utama

Hello again! It seems like every time I/We post something these days it always starts with an apology for lack of updates and etc. This time, its gonna start with a promise!

Me and a few colleagues (including my BOSS) went on a trip to Penang 2 weekends ago. As with any trip to Penang, there'll be load of food reviews. But this time, because Ed my Boss is a GPS junkie, I'll post GPS co-ordinates as well!! So let me organise and I promise it'll be done in the next 2 to 3 weeks

Anyway, for today, I'll review Pizza Uno. When my dinner companion recommended Pizza Uno, I was under the impression that its some sort of pizza joint like Pizza Hut etc. How wrong I was, its actually a pretty decent Italian restaurant.

First up drinks. I ordered a Sangria. It was delicious!! Pretty good wine + cognac and some cut fruits with ice. It was pretty good, on par with those I tasted at la-bodega and such. My dinner companion ordered a diet pepsi which I didnt photograph.

Both of us decided to share an appetizer. We ordered the grilled calamari salad. A pretty good sized squid was grilled and served on a bed of rocket and dressed with what tasted like a balsamic vinegarret. Squeeze the lemon over the squid and its all good!! Again, my only complain is that the rocket and the cherry tomatoes could have been colder.

Oh, and the thicker parts of the squid were only partially cooked. I have no problems with that so I was eating it happily while my dinner companion ate the ends of the squid which is thinner and more cooked. So if you like your squid fully cooked, you might want to let the kitchen know.

My dinner companion ordered the carbonara with freshly made fettuccine. I had a taste and its pretty good. Creamy with a nice smoky taste of the beef bacon. This is one of the few times I get to try fresh pasta and it is really good! Quite a difference from pre-made dried pasta.

My entree for the night was the oven baked half chicken. I really enjoyed this. Some of my friends who have tried it says the gravy is a little bland but I think its just nice. I love the potatoes which has a nice glace to it and the chunky carrot pieces too. Feels really homey to eat this.

We had just enough room in our tummies after the meal to share a desert. We ordered the panna cotta. This was super good!!! The berry sauce was sweet and tangy, the perfect accompaniment for the ultra smooth, not too sweet panna cotta. I've always enjoyed panna cotta and this one did not disappoint one bit.

Overall a very good meal at reasonable price. Again, we do not keep receipts and I'm never one to remember how much each dish costs but the meal above was about RM70 from memory.

Makan King's ratings = 7.5 out of 10

Cheers,
-Makan Kings-