Northam Beach Cafe

Okay, I have to admit that I'm actually quite 'noob' when it comes to Penang hawker fare. You ask me where's the best laksa and I'll tell you Mount Erskine. Haha. I don't like the oil, my sister doesn't like the less than pristine surroundings, and we generally don't crave hawker food. But lately we found a new hawker joint  that has successfully won us over.

The view from our table. 

Guess what my sister had for dinner.

 The French stall offered set meals with any of the main courses. In other words, you get a soup. Figures.

She ordered the Croque Monsieur. Ham and cheese sandwich at its French-iest.

Pan Mee! I can never resist this favourite of mine. However, the Pan Mee here failed to impress. The noodles were slightly rubbery, and the wood fungus tasted a bit off. The only good part was the homemade fish ball, Mom and I both agreed they were excellent.

Seafood Popiah. Was average, nothing special about it.

Pie Tee, didn't try this but it looked appetizing enough!

Muar Chee. From the famous Muar Chee stall that offers a whole lot of unique flavours you won't get anywhere else.

Time for desserts!

Crepes with chocolate sauce, from the French stall. Little sister finished this all by herself! Conclusion: it was great.

I also ordered an apple cinnamon crepe. The apple cinnamon mixture was not too sweet, and gave a very mild, tangy taste. Not bad for RM4.50!

Mom and Dad had banana pancakes, Penang style. Ban chang kuih, in other words. My mom loves this, she couldn't stop raving about how crispy the crust was.

Brownies at home.

My very own brownie stack! 

Made by Mom, she's simply amazing.

Especially when it comes to pleasing my sweet tooth!

Why does everything always taste better with vanilla ice cream?

Mom's Chicken Sandwich

 Cheese, grilled capsicums, avocado, cucumber, and of course, Lingham's chilli sauce. 

Mom's chicken sandwich just got a whole lot better. Take that, Coffee Bean!

Delicious Cafe @ Straits Quay - Part II

How could anybody say no to Delicious? The afternoon tea was really good, we couldn't resist going back to try the rest of their food. This time round, we went for dinner. Bring it on, Delicious.

First off, soup. Mom ordered the Wild Mushroom soup. As you can see, the consistency of the soup was pretty thick, great if you like your soup rich and creamy. Tasted home made, definitely not your regular soup in a can. 

Next, the Gado-gado. This Indonesian specialty  is prepared to perfection here at Delicious, I could even remember how much I loved it the first time around two years ago! The highlight of the dish is their peanut sauce, wonderfully served in a ginger flower bud (or bunga kantan in Malay), it would have been every satay lover's dream. At first I was amazed at the huge portions of not only the sauce, but also the vegetables (including bean sprouts, long beans, cabbage, carrots, cucumber, potatoes), taupok, egg and emping (Indonesian crackers, which were extremely crispy). In the end, we managed to finish almost everything, even the sauce!

My little sister's Grilled Chicken Burger. Came with turkey bacon. Just look at the size of that thing. Beats a Big Mac any day.

Next up: their star dish, the Duck Confit, with potato, mushrooms and sauerkraut. 

Paired with the mustard cream sauce, it is definitely a must try. At least that's what I gather from my dad's super clean plate. 

And then we proceed on to desserts. Exhibit A: the White Chocolate Tart (the real deal this time!) Literally heaven on a plate, a layer of white chocolate shavings sits atop this charming treat. The tart was a bit too huge though, even when the three of us shared. We were probably too full on mains by then. 

Exhibit B: Marmalade Bread and Butter Pudding. Aw, as much as I love bread and butter pudding this was utterly disappointing. The crust was hard, as in difficult to cut and even more difficult to chew. The pudding itself was on the dry side, but that's where the custard sauce comes in.

Last dessert: Banana Pudding with Butterscotch Sauce. I'm a sucker for banana desserts, so this definitely goes on my Yummy list. Together with the sauce, it's still not overly sweet, perfect if you're watching your weight. Plus, it's not one of those desserts that'll make you feel sick after the first three bites.

After sampling this trio of desserts, we all agreed that the banoffee pie still reigns supreme at Delicious. A little something to take note though; try to make a reservation beforehand so you don't have to wait 20 minutes for a table. Like what we did. Yes, I know 20 minutes isn't that long, but it's always better to get a table right when you step in, instead of having a staring competition with the cake display. :P

Kim Gary Cafe @ Gurney Plaza

I've blogged about this place before, so I'll just keep the photo post short and simple. 

Above: French Fries with Seaweed Mix.

Fish Fillet Burger in Macau Style.

Tomato and egg sandwich.

I always order this. Red bean lover on the loose.

Above: Red bean ice.

Coffee Bean @ Island Plaza

On weekdays, lunches are late and short. We don't really have that many options when it comes to places to grab a quick bite. Today, we chose Coffee Bean at Island, since we literally live 5 minutes away. Plus, aren't gourmet sandwiches the best?

Check out my sister's yummy Double Patty sandwich with ciabatta bread. 

Mom and I shared a Turkey with Melted Cheese sandwich with pita bread. The sandwich was surprisingly really good, inside you get a couple of layers of turkey ham, sliced thinly. I also love the side salad they serve, especially the sweetish dressing. On a side note, they don't always have all the breads available, like the Panini or the Foccacia, which kind of ticked me off a little. There were only pita and ciabatta on the day we visited. I mean, come on. Y U NO restock?

Ah, dessert. Couldn't resist, what with those lovely cakes staring right at me through the display. 

Had the Red Velvet Cake. Not as good as it looked. First off, it was as hard as a walnut. Besides that, the cake was dry and lacked the 'oomph' factor that most cakes have. How disappointing, Coffee Bean. 

Opera Cake @ Ritz Bakery, Prima Tanjung

Mom was feeling pretty happy yesterday and gave me the liberty of choosing a whole cake from Ritz. It's definitely one of the best sensations one can get, seriously. Felt like a little kid choosing the cutest puppy from the pet store. 

I was stumped. Didn't know which to choose and ended up asking the lady at the counter. I don't like cheesecakes and mousse-filled cakes are a no-no, so that cut down the options left. Opera cake seemed to be the best choice.

Ooh la la. Not too sweet, this is what you call a good, wait no scratch that, GREAT coffee table cake. Layers and layers of who knows what but to be honest I don't really care what's the 'what' as long as it's good and makes my tummy happy. I'm also pretty sure I tasted some coffee in there. Coffee + chocolate = BOOMZ.

Dragon-I @ Gurney Plaza

Dragon-I has always been a treat for us, especially when we had to travel all the way to Queensbay. All for the steaming hot basket of Xiao Long Bao. That was before they opened another outlet in Gurney Plaza, our usual haunt. 

Claypot Tofu with Mushrooms and Mixed Vegetables. The sauce is so tasty I found myself scooping out spoonfuls just to accompany my white rice.

Spinach with Century Egg in soup. This is an absolute must-try, you can take my word for it. I love how they are so generous with the century egg, there are plenty of tiny bits floating in the soup!

Stir-fried fish slices with eggplant. My favourite among the dishes we ordered. What else can I say? I simply can't get enough of my eggplant.

Sumida Japanese Restaurant @ Prima Tanjung, Penang

On Mother's Day, we were foolish enough to forgo making a reservation for dinner as we initially planned to have a nice family meal at home. After a long day of travelling back from our hometown Sitiawan, both mom and dad were exhausted so we decided to eat out anyway. And where, on this excessively commercialised day, could we have gotten a table without reservations? 

I have heard rave reviews about Sumida from my parents (mom, especially) and couldn't wait to try this new Jap place. I mean, was it as great as Edo Ichi as my mom had mentioned so many times? Expectations were definitely high on this one.

Unagi set for the Dad. As per normal, it came with the Chawan Mushi, side veggies, a miso soup and a radish salad. 

The little sister's fried rice wrapped in egg. I am not too sure of the Japanese name for this, but I reckon it's easily found on the menu. She loved this, even finished most of her vegetables. A mean feat for her, trust me.

And for my mom, she ordered the tempura rice set, which came with the same items as my dad's set. The tempura was really nicely done, I have to admit, as I also ordered the tempura udon pictured below.

Mine came with two giant prawn tempura, which equal to one really happy girl.
My mom's had one prawn but loads of vegetable tempura, including sweet potato, eggplant and some long beans. Tempting, but I already had my two huge prawns! Yummy they were indeed.

Afternoon Tea @ Delicious, Straits Quay

Afternoon Tea. The name itself is synonymous with gourmet teas, tiered sandwiches, and of course, scones with a generous serving of the oh so delicious clotted cream. The whole dining experience is reminiscent of one you get at a colonial tea parlour, with the Claire de Lune on repeat in the background. Previously, Penangites were subjected to ridiculously priced afternoon tea sets at the E&O hotel, which I've blogged about previously. It was the closest you get to feeling 'royal', right in little Penang. 

You can now get your share of the royal treatment at a place other than the usual hotel coffee houses. Location - Straits Quay, the newest hotspot, or rather 'watering hole' for the who's who in Penang. 

The little sister ordered her turkey ham and cheese toastie as she was starving after her school activities. 

Even the simple combination of heavenly cheese on toast could make anyone drool. Not forgetting the smell!

Her Melted Chocolate Pot with  Marshmallows. And the verdict: 'The marshmallows are so fluffy I can die!'

And the moment you've all been waiting for...

... Three tiers of yummy goodness!

Four different kinds of finger sandwiches: Smoked salmon with cream cheese (5 stars from me), cucumber, egg mayo and tuna. There were also some duck confit in pastry but I didn't manage to get a shot of them.

Tier two: Lovely scones, paired with cream and jam. They gave us some truffles (the chocolate, not the mushrooms!) as well as some strawberry 'satays', ala fondue with the chocolate dipping sauce on the side.

The savoury cheese biscuits. Interesting taste, but not exactly fantastic in my opinion. I would like my cookies sweet, please.

As for the top tier, you get a choice of any cake on display, so we opted for the latest addition, their white chocolate tart. And boy, were we in for a treat! It was so yummy my sister even wanted to lick the crumbs off the plate. See the picture above? The top's covered in some white chocolate ganache, but below that you get a wonderful layer of banana (yes, bananas!) and caramel filling, waiting to ooze out from the equally amazing pastry shell. Gosh, I am already daydreaming about it now as I type this. I am definitely returning there again to try the rest of their heavenly desserts.

Edit (15/5) : I recently found out that we were served the Banoffee Pie instead of the White Chocolate Tart. Although we did enjoy our banana toffee dessert (to the crumbs!), I'd still give Delicious minus points for getting our order wrong. Tsk tsk.

Delicious, you have certainly met my expectations, what with a name like that! Don't worry, I'll be back soon with more updates on the rest of their delish offerings.