Cariso Delicacies Corner

Hock Chuan Heong (福泉香)

An authentic Hokkien cuisine that used to be my family’s all-time-favourite. But then….Two persons having meal like this (as shown below) gonna spend about RM50. Argh! I guess I got to limit myself from visiting Hock Chuan Heong that often unless memang tak bolah tahan dah!

Oyster Noodle (the below photo is showing full oysterversion (全蚝). Another type is oysters mixed with other ingredients (fish slices, pork and etc).

The yellow noodle, after frying, gives a very good noodle frangance （面香）(lye water as a factor) which cannot be substituted with any other types of noodles. That’s what I like the most about yellow noodle!

At times I felt ”yer….” looking at those big sizes of oysters. I prefer smaller size one. ：）

Char Tao Kua (Fried Dried Bean Curd with Leeks).

A never-fail-to-order dish, simple yet delicious with spice-marinated dried bean curd, leeks and BIG prawns! This dish alone is great enough to savour with a bowl of porridge.

Hae Chee (Fried Prawn Roll)

Out of 6pcs,  only one-third of them were having more batter, thus more starchy texture which I like. The rest are crispy from inside out.

Whole prawn was stuffed inside. Not only children, I believe we adults also enjoy this!

Of course other than the above dishes, we used to order their Bak Kee, Fried Tang Hoon, Fried Oyster (Orr Chien) and others too.

I always believe that a restaurant that excels doesn’t need to introduce too many dish varieties nor too fancy in their dishes . This restaurant only needs to specialize in a few dishes (of course with food quality control) and that is enough to attract tam chiak like us from all over Penang!

Hock Chuan Heong (福泉香)
Add : 344-G-5, Pengkalan Weld (sea-side) , 10300 Penang. (Direction: at the back of post office)
Tel : 04-2611004
Business Hours: ~ 12 noon until late noon.
Closed on Sunday.

I appreciated this kopitiam a lot. Without this kopitiam, I won’t be able to enjoy good toasts at south-west region of Penang as it’s simply too inconvenient to travel down to town in order to have just 2 pieces of good toasts for breakfast.

Serving is considered fast even though the kopitiam is always packed with customers.

See? Hainanese bread could do magic with just plain butter!

Two pieces of half-boiled eggs. Either consume separately or dip your toast into it.

It’s consistent. Never too watery or too solid.

I like this style – slightly burnt till golden brown colour.

Price :

Roti Bakar / Toast (2pcs ) RM1.60
Telur Separuh Masak / Half -boiled egg (2pcs) RM1.20
Closed on Monday.

Direction : On the way to airport. Offset opposite the Shell.

Winter Warmers Coffee & Tea House @ Queensbay

I was happily entering the newly opened Winter Warmers at Queensbay on last Friday, who knows……it’s another ‘warm’ experience again. (Previous posts at Winter Warmer – our WARM experience! and Winter Warmer Set Meal ).

In summary, they couldn’t cope with the stream of customers (at ~2pm). Mind you, I observed same ‘face’ (management) as Gurney Plaza’s outlet one.

1) Dishes were uncleared on the tables unless you called them to do so.

2) Repeated times to request for ordering.

3) There are simply too many partitions and obstructions in the restaurant that the waitresses /waiters could harldy notice you  especially during such ‘cannot-cope’ situation.

4) I saw a number of tables requesting to leave immediately if the dishes they ordered were still not prepared.

5) I saw one of the persons in charge kept on apologizing to the customers for their late delivery of dishes and etc.

6) He showed you a very ‘discouraging’ look when you walked up to him to ADD order.

It was having Jasmine tea 50% discount promotion for members.

Jasmine Blossom (Orig price RM9.90 -50% = RM4.95)

Jasmine Milk Tea (Orig price RM9.90 -50% = RM4.95). Hmm…this one tasted better than the above one. 

Mango Chicken Rice (RM13.90 – 10% = RM12.51)

Cake of the day (blueberry) (RM5.00 – 10% = RM4.50)

Cake of the day (maple) RM4.00 after discount.

Fruit Sandwich (RM11.90 – 10% = RM10.71)

After the member discount of 10%, total balance will be charged 15% (service charge & gov tax). Grrrrr…….not much difference right?!

I wish that every new restaurant at Queensbay area can allocate enough personnel to cope with the crowd of customers during its opening period, otherwise any bad experiences suffered by customers will only spoil the image and reputation of your own restaurant. *shrugged*

Winter Warmers Coffee & Tea House
Add : GF19 (gs06), Queensbay Mall, 100 Persiaran Bayan Lepas, 11900 Bayan Lepas, Penang.
Direction: One level lower than Maybank, very near to escalator. Or just next to the Queensbay post office.

Matsuki Japanese Restaurant （松本日本料理） @ Cantonment Road, off Gurney Drive.

Japanese restaurants with affordable sashimi price and above average quality are getting less and less. Therefore Matsuki still carries weight even though I have explored lots of Jap restaurants.

Just imagine over here we can still order Teriyaki Chicken Set at the price of as low as RM12+!!

Complimentary appetizer with green tea.

Sashimi Mori Sakura (Special mixed raw fish) RM40+

At Azuma this type of sashimi set (although not exactly the same combo/standard) easily costs you RM70+.

Here’s the complete ala carte sashimi menu of Matsuki for your reference.

Ala Carte Sashimi

Sashimi Mori Special (special imported mixed raw fish) RM70
Sashimi Mori Fuji (Special imported & local mixed raw fish) RM58
Sashimi Mori Sakura (Special mixed raw fish) RM40
Sashimi For One (mixed raw fish) RM22
Shake Sashimi (raw salmon) RM35
Maguro Sashimi (raw tuna) RM28
Amaebi Sashimi (raw sweet shrimp) RM32
Ika Sashimi (raw squid) RM15
Suzuki Sashimi (raw red snapper) RM10
Saba Sashimi (raw mackeral) RM12
Tako Sashimi (raw octopus) RM18
Akagai Sashimi (raw arkshell) RM50
Hokigai Sashimi (raw shell) RM50

Unagi Set (B.B.Q Japanese eel with special sauce) RM30+

The unagi was marvellous, very tender until melted in your mouth.

The dishes that came with the set including chawan mushi, miso soup, salad, pickles and fruits. Do bear in mind not to expect high on both the chawan mushi and miso as they are just ‘OK’.

Ginmutsu Enoki Bata Set (cod fish & golden mushroom with sauce) RM25+

I did not expect the cod fish served was this big. No fishy smell.

A different type of salad.

Ebi Tempura (Deep fried prawns) RM20+

At town (gurney) area with such pricing and standard, beh tan hiam liao lah right?

Service charge of 10% applicable. No gov. tax.

Matsuki Japanese Restaurant （松本日本料理）
Add : 62, Cantonment Road, 10250 Penang.
Tel : 04-2295504 Fax : 04-2289784

Tree Monkey @ Tropical Spice Garden, Teluk Bahang.

Last Sunday we in a group of ~20 pax (consisted of food bloggers and Penang bloggers) were invited and treated by the boss, Mr. PattKhor and the person-in-charge, Ms Wisakha, through coordination by Warren, CK Lam and Criz.

Let’s move on to explore what you could expect from the Tree Monkey!

Tree Monkey is a “Back To Nature” alfresco restaurant. It has just started its business recently on 30th Jul 2010 as a pork-free restaurant. It serves North Eastern Thai, Asian and Western cuisine (vegetarian is also available). Their chefs are from North East Thailand. The herbs used in preparing dishes are taken from the Spice Garden itself.

Tree Monkey is located beside the Tropical Spice Garden. Use this entrance and take a few minutes hike up and that will lead you to the restaurant.

Green. Wood. Peace in Rustic Garden.

It is a great place for those who like to to hang out in rustic and tranquil ambience. One who knows how to appreciate the art of wooden structure building should find this place interesting too as this restaurant was built without using nails. Their wooden furnitures are also imported from Chiangmai, Thailand.

The open space dining floor.

Bloggers were busy taking photos around the restaurant.

Great food and hospitality offered with ~80 pax of capacity and WiFi equipment in this restaurant make this a cool place for either family dining or couple dining. Alcoholic beverages are available too (RM30 per bottle corkage charge).

This is the monkey that you may spot in the surrounding of this restaurant if you are lucky. I didn’t spot any on the day that we went. Argh!

WELCOME DRINK: Sunset Paradise - RM10.00 (only available from 6.00pm-7.00pm). This is a special drink prepared for us, not in the menu yet.

A refreshing tropical fruit mocktail. I could taste a mixture of orange, pineapple and lemon in it.

MEAL 1: Thai Tapas (choose any types of appetizers served with sweet chili sauce)
8pcs @ RM30, 12 pcs @ RM45, 16 pcs @ RM60 (max 4 pcs on each item)

(There are 12 options on this menu – Thai Toast, Money Bag, Herbs Chicken, Spring Roll, Pandan Chicken, Otak-otak, Mussels Salsa, Lemongrass Stick, Prawn Sarong, Prawn Sabai, Thai Fish Cake & Darling Crab)

(more…)

A bunch of us were invited to Caffe Strada last Sunday. The restaurant owner stressed that Caffe Strada is not a FINE DINING restaurant but rather a place to get together with family or friends, for spending quality time and having a simple dishes or two.

Appetizer

Green Garden Salad (RM8.90)
-Lettuce, capsicum, onion, croutons, sun flower, seed, egg and smoked chicken, served with house salad dressing.

Seafood Chowder in Bread Bowl (RM15.90)
-Chunks of seafood are simmered with potatos, onions, celery, real heavy cream and a touch of butter. Served in bread bowl.

Asian Delights

Kung Pao Chicken (RM9.90)
-Stir fried with kung pao sauce, served with cashew nuts, fried egg, prawn crackers and rice.

Kam Heong Seafood Combo (RM8.90) (more…)