TauFuFah & Soya Bean @ Funny Mountain, Jalan Theater, Ipoh, Perak: Natural And Cheap SK II?

Do you know why Ipoh girls are well known for their beauty? What's their secret??!!

Ladies out there...please pay close attention if you want to know where to find Malaysia’s own natural SKII, in form of ‘taufufah’ (soy milk curd). *It’s believed that those consuming taufufah will have smooth and flawless skin. The more, if not most famous one is Funny Mountain, found in Ipoh, Perak. Besides taufufah, this stall is also famous for their soya bean drink and ‘cincau’. 

The sun rises above the 'mountain'

Fried Chicken @ Kafe 35, Fettes Park, Tanjong Tokong, Penang: Best Belachan Fried Chicken Discovered By Me!

I’m a chicken lover, fried chicken to be precise. I love to eat at McDonald and my order will be always like this, ‘2 pieces of chicken, spicy, thigh & ribs and with 1 regular light Coke’. I'll show you all next time how I eat my McDonald spicy fried chicken next time, hehe.

So, it brings me much joy when I ‘discovered’ a small stall near where I stayed selling tasty, cheap (refer to the price below) and special fried chicken. And why is it special? The chicken is fried with ‘belachan’/ shrimp paste flavor and it tastes great. Besides the regular drumstick, chicken wing, thigh and ribs, this stall also sells fried chicken SKIN, hehe.

Unbeatable price and taste. Can you imagine the price is same as my favorite fried chicken in Tapah, Perak?

Golden Phoenix, Equatorial Hotel, Penang: Fine Dining For Dim Sum?

I was somehow lucky to be at the right place, at the right time today. BS was planning to give my boss, V, a farewell treat and I happened to be ‘around’, hehe. So, I got a chance to taste hotel dim sum for lunch at Equatorial Hotel, Penang. How was it compared to other non-hotel dim sum restaurant?

Actually, the journey to Equatorial Hotel was a little bit awkward because I was seated at the back of the car sandwiched by V and BS but fortunately, the journey was a short one, hehe.

The restaurant perched high above and overlooking golf course @ Bukit Jambul. Life of the rich and famous…not my life yet

Lam Hong Hainan Chicken Rice, Penang Road, Georgetown: Tasty, Cheap, Fast And Generous Portions

I’d like to introduce another nice place to eat today, Lam Hong Hainan Chicken Rice. It’s located along Penang Road but instead of driving down from Upper Penang Road, you must start drive along Macalister Road towards Komtar. It’s situated on your left side after passing about 2 traffic lights, corner shop beside Lorong Bertam. It’s open from about 11pm onwards till finish (rather early about 3pm).

The stall ‘jiu pai’/ signage. Don’t really know why he put up the Thai words because neither him nor the food appeared to be of Thai origins, hehe.

Secrets of Great Penang Char Koay Teow, Unveiled!

Just want to share with you some of the secrets of cooking a great Penang Char Koay Teow, from my observations and spying all these while, hehe.

1:  Seafood! All great Penang Char Koay Teow MUST have ingredients. The more types of ingredients the better and more famous they become. Prawns a must, cockles preferred, crab, sotongs and ‘lai liew har’ (mantis shrimps) role are emerging and becoming mainstream for a great Penang CKT. I’m still looking for Penang CKT that put in ALL these, hahaha!

Nasi Kandar SUBAIDAH, Sungai Dua, Penang: The Wait...Till 10.30pm

I’d been pestering my colleague, N, to tell me good foods available at where he stays, Sungai Dua, Penang. He recommended to me Nasi Kandar Subaidah at Sungai Dua...but, there are already a few branches in Penang, including one much nearer to where I stay at Tanjong Tokong. Think he want to trick me:)

Front signage

Sister’s Char Koay Teow, Macalister Road, Penang: Famous Penang CKT In The Past, Now A Passe?

Mention Sister’s CKT in Penang and everyone sure knew of it. This stall was rather famous in the past, before Ah Leng CKT @ Lorong Selamat assumed the mantle for being the ‘must-eat’ CKT when one visits Penang.

Can only eat at this stall, no branch elsewhere.

I’d eaten in Sister’s CKT when I first started to work in Penang, which was about 9 months ago. Today, I went there to eat again, my second time only. I think the long duration between my visit is because there were no ‘pulling’ factors for me to eat here.

(EXPIRED) Starbucks Promotion @ 1st Avenue, Penang

I was at New World Park Starbucks when I saw this promotion.

Thaipusam @ Penang: Chinaman Enjoying It Very Much, Vel! Vel! Finale (Part 3/3)

This Chinaman went again to Thaipusam celebrations. Since I’m oncall today (actually yesterday also, hehe), don’t think I want to end up in the middle of the huge crowds. People were packed shoulder to shoulder and it was another miracle that no one was injured. If I wanted to go somewhere, I’d need to follow the ‘wave’ of people going to that direction and change ‘wave’ if I decided to change direction.

Below are some photos and videos that I managed to take after great deal of squeezing to put myself in front to get some unobstructed view. It's worth it!

A young man carrying kavadi. I found out that the faster way to move in the crowd was to follow behind ‘kavadi’ bearers as people always make way for them, hehe.

Penang Char Koay Teow @ Viva Food Court, Jalan Tanjong Tokong, Penang: Learn How To Cook Penang Char Koay Teow (VIDEO INSIDE!!!)

I was told by Ju, my food liaison whom I confide about nice foods in and around Tanjong Tokong that there is nice Penang char koay teow in Tanjong Tokong, opens only at night. She further detailed that there were huge crowd of people waiting every night for their favorite char koay teow. I must try it out!!

The char koay teow is located in Viva Local Food Haven @ Tanjong Tokong. If you're heading towards Batu Ferringi, the food court is located on your right side. Rest assured, it's easy to find as it's situated just beside the main road.

Signage in front of the stall

Vegetarian Foods @ Thaipusam Celebrations, Penang: Chinaman Finally Found Food! (Part 2/3)

(...cont)

I’d been walking since 7.30pm and by the time I’d only completed ¾ of Jalan Utama, it was already 9pm. I began to feel a little hungry. ‘Looking for food’ mode now but there were more stalls giving out drinks than food. Didn’t drink any drinks that they offered because I’m worried about sharing the same cup with thousands of people, hehe. Finally, I managed to find stalls that distribute food. Many volunteers were helping to pack and distribute free food to feed the large crowds.

Many hands make work faster. Crowds were going to this stall non-stop. Some sort of miracle as I observed that they kept on scooping food from the big container for so long, but the container never empties, hehe

Sisters Curry Mee, Jalan Air Itam, Penang: Famous Curry Mee In Air Itam, Feeding Generations

Earlier this week, on a working day, I woke up early in Mount Erskin, where I'm staying and drove all the way to Air Itam. The mission was to find the famous curry mee in Air Itam, ‘wo-manned’ by two sisters. I failed, not knowing where they’re situated, traffic jam and no parking didn’t helped either. Mission aborted and I rushed to work. Aii..

I tried again this morning because it’s a public holiday.

I’m surprised when I found out that my Garmin actually their location but it can’t show their exact location. First thing first, find parking, done. I walked about Air Itam town and since I’m not rushing this time, I took my own sweet time. I can’t fail this time, hehe.

Finally found the stall. Driving towards Air Itam, continue to drive straight for about 150metres when you see the Air Itam market. The stall is on your left, beside a trunk road but still accessible by car and motorcycle.

The two sisters sit next to each other on stools. One in-charged of curry mee and another fried mee. Once the food is ready, take it yourself to the nearest table to eat. Only RM3! They also have one young assistance helping them, another crowd puller? Hehe




Two sisters sitting on stool chairs, serving curry mee and fried mee with chili sauce. See all the guys standing behind. I wonder why?

Vegetarian Foods @ Thaipusam Celebrations, Penang: More Than Just Foods (Part 1/3)

To be honest, I actually wanted to write about Thaipusam celebrations in Penang. However, since ‘Tasty Or Not?’ is a food blog, I’m obliged to put up some foods that I’d came across. My friend, N told me that the ‘real’ celebration of Thaipusam starts from eve of Thaipusam.

And so, I decided walk to the hilltop temple on eve of Thaipusam, starting from Penang General Hospital at 7.30pm. Walking alongside with multitude of worshipers, the sound of celebrations can be heard from far away and it got louder as I approached the epicenter of the celebration, along the whole stretch of road towards Botanical Garden.



One of the nicely decorated altar along Jalan Utama, Penang

Altars were set-up along the road, which the chariot carrying Lord Muruga will pass by and offerings will be presented to Him. The chariot was pulled by 2 cows and stopped about every 10 feet because so many people jostled to present offerings.


Lord Muruga Chariot

Wai Kee Char Siew, Lebuh Chulia, Georgetown: Best Char Siew In Penang?

Lunch is always a special time for me to rest, chit-chat with my friends and filled my stomach with delicious foods scattered around Georgetown, Penang. Yesterday was no different. I had lunch yesterday with V, T and S at Wai Kee Char Siew restaurant, located at the junction of Lebuh Chulia and Jalan Masjid.

If you enter Lebuh Chulia through Jalan Penang, go straight until you see a green color building (Sky Hotel) on your left. The restaurant is located on the ground floor.

Roti Canai @ Transfer Road, Georgetown, Penang: A Different Kind of Bread For Breakfast

This morning, I went to Transfer Road for breakfast. And when one mentioned going to Transfer Road for breakfast, it's usually associated with the 'must try' roti canai sidewalk stall, located along Transfer Road (beside mosque and before reaching Caltex petrol station). I reached there early in the morning while they sky is still dark (darn, substandard pics! my Galaxy S no flash!)


Early breakfast, sky still dark (roti canai kosong garing with chicken curry plus sambal)



'Dough balls' (hehe)

What's 'roti canai'?

Ipoh Police Station Curry Mee @ Restoran Xin Quan Fang: Best-est Curry Mee In Ipoh. Period!!

Ipoh famous 'Police Station Curry Mee' gets even more famous after recent radio advertisement (you may have heard it if you're tuning to English radio stations).


Police Station Curry Mee aka Restaurant Xin Quan Fang



Both the boss and her son, a bit camera-shy at the begining:)

I went there for breakfast this morning with J, ordered 2 bowls of curry bihun-mee and a separate serving of mixed 'liews' (char siew, siew yuk, 3 layered pork, prawns, chicken and taugeh all in one bowl, like eating a mini 'poon choy', yay!).  If you don't ask for separate 'liews', then they'll put it altogether with your curry mee (not recommended, less fulfilling).

In The Beginning, There's...Breakfast @ Kiah Hong Coffee Shop, Madras Lane, Georgetown, Penang

I'd like to start off with this simple posting.

If you're in Georgetown (Penang), for holiday or work, I'd like to recommend to you this place for breakfast. It's located at the junction of Madras Lane and Macalister Road (corner shop).

Simple, yet delicious

Introduction

First of all, thanks for visiting this blog. I'm passionate about Malaysian foods and in search for it, I'm bound to come across foods that are superb, good, mediocre or bad. I'm here to tell you the truth!

Of course, our tastebuds are different and my suggestions are solely mine alone and it's not meant to promote or belittle anyone.

I'm now based in Penang and had spent fair amount of my time in Negeri Sembilan (Seremban) and Perak (Ipoh, Taiping, Tanjung Malim, Bidor, Kampar, Tapah). It's my hope that someday, I'll be in Kuala Lumpur and blogging about the foods available there, hehe.

It's my aim to keep my entry as short and simple as possible and with lots of pics. I'm looking forward for your comments and suggestions for great foods and foods to avoid