Hakka Tree @ Tesco Tanjung Pinang, Penang

A must-have when you're eating Hakka - Thunder Tea Rice. A vegetarian's heaven.

The soup that came with the rice set. 

Shared a bowl of prawn dumplings or sui kow with my sister. Really tasty!

My hakka noodles. Aren't flat and wide noodles better than those yellow round ones? Loved it.

Grandma's Restaurant @ Raffles City

Honey Chicken

Belacan Mixed Vegetables - Had petai, long beans, eggplant; all my favourite veggies! Tasted great.

Claypot Tofu - This was as good as any good ol' tze char place.

And for dessert, Chendol! There's a promotion for 60 cents chendol with any main dish ordered. Really worth it. They even gave a tiny jug of gula melaka. Which was too much for the three of us, honestly. But still good though. Two thumbs up. 

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.

Hong Kong Food Trip Part VII : Random HK Fare in Mongkok

Okay, I decided to sort of combine the food we had in Mongkok into one post, for a more enjoyable (smoother?)  reading experience. We went to the bustling Mongkok area at night for dinner and chanced upon this packed eatery. Forgot the name, as it was not particularly unique. Just assumed that the food would be good, judging from the number of patrons. 

The first dish was simple, ham and mixed vegetables fried rice. Humble dish, yet the whole family couldn't resist from taking seconds. The aromatic smell vaguely resembled our hawker style fare, but somehow I tasted very little oil in this dish. 

 

Next we ordered the kailan. Which is one of the most ordered dishes in Hong Kong, apparently. Due to its amazing crunchiness. Seriously, you could actually hear the stalk breaking as you munch your way through.

And then we ordered the sweet and sour fish and pork. Two separate dishes, but the same style. The highlight of the dish : pineapples. If you're a pineapple lover like me, you would definitely enjoy this dish to the last bit. The sauce is not starchy, just the way I like my sweet and sour.

 

After some last minute shopping within the vicinity, we headed to the famous Hui Lao Shan for dessert. Above is the drink my sister ordered. Something fruity, I've forgotten the name.

I had the cold red bean soup. Not bad, but a little too thick for my liking. I'm used to the more dilute version my mom always makes. Had a lot of red beans and lotus seeds, so it's worth the price.

Lastly, we ordered the mango mochi. Or glutinous rice balls, as some call it. Very good texture with a substantial amount of mango-ey goodness tucked inside. 

Dragon-i @ Queensbay

After picking up my sister from the airport a few weeks ago, we headed to Queensbay for lunch. We live so, so far away (okay, not that far but still worse than Gurney) from the place so this was the one of those rare opportunities to coax dad into going heh) Anyway, when we go to QB we always end up here. We are a LaMian obsessed family. Check out the good food!

Sister's La Mian with Shredded Pork and Preserved Vegetables. 

 

Dad's Sichuan Style La Mian. The soup is 'souper' aromatic (lame joke :S), could smell peanut oil in it, which isn't as bad as it sounds, really. 

 

My LaMian. Forgot the full name but it had a soury taste to it, a lot like shark's fin soup. 

Had a lot of prawns, preserved vegetables, pork slices, the works.

How can you not order the famed Xiao Long Bao at Dragon-i? That's just not right.

 

Little sister's La Mian in soup with pork cutlets. No complaints here.

 

Mom's fried rice with chicken cutlets. Her only gripe: took a little too long to arrive.

 

 I don't know why but we always order this. Tasted great though.

 

Dessert! Glutinous rice balls in mango juice with extra mango. Not mango-ey enough?

 

Too pretty, must take multiple shots.

 

Honeydew sago. Too much ice shavings in this one. So-so.

Overall experience : B+

Apparently there's going to be a new outlet at Gurney Plaza soon, hope they'll have my terracota warrior in shiny armour!

Home Style Restaurant @ Tanjung Bungah

Quick post for today. This restaurant is located near Blue Reef (which I have blogged about previously here), there's a row of eating places and it's right at the corner so it's not hard to miss. The above is the Braised Tong Bor Pork Ribs with mui-choy and nuts.

Our must have veggie dish - the stir fried french beans with minced meat. I sense a little deja vu here. Oh yeah, we ordered this at XuanXin before! Home Style's version is quite similar, fragrant and crunchy.

And lastly we have the fish meat with yam. Now this I particularly LOVED. The fish was fresh, not to mention the amazing texture of the yam slices! Whole family enjoyed this one. 

Ordered soup as well but forgot to take a picture. My bad. Anyway, great place if you're looking for good Chinese 'home style' food. 

Address & Contact Number
Permai 32, No. 2
Lebuh Lembah Permai 4
11200 Tanjong Bungah
Penang
Tel: +6016-475 9181

XuanXin Ramen Kitchen @ Gurney Plaza

XuanXin just opened a new restaurant in Gurney Plaza, which specialises in: you've guessed it, RAMEN.

And there's a whole lot of choices which you get to pick from.

You can have the soupy ramen, like my sister's pick above with pork.

Or if you're more of a fish person, there's always the fish belly to complement your ramen.

By the way, the soup is surprisingly tasty! Just like your favourite Maggi soup noodles.

And then you have your stir fried ramen. 

Accompanied by whichever meat takes your fancy. 

Trust me, they have everyone's choice considered in the menu.

And oh yeah, they have affordable sets which are specially created for 2,3 or 4 persons. Each set comes with any choice of ramen, drinks and a side dish. I did the math, you save about 10 dollars with the sets so just go for it.

Xuan Xin Ramen Kitchen

Address: 170-B1-8, Gurney Plaza, Persiaran Gurney, 10250 Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia.
Tel: 04-2272227

Website

Pang's Hainan Seafood @ Tanjong Tokong

Don't you just love a simple yet tasty Maggi noodle dish? 

Drenched in the most delightful brown sauce, this one's a must-order every time we come to Pang's.

Quite a big portion, I must say. Enough for a family of four.

And yes, there are a ton of prawns under the heap.

Next is our veggie dish. Love the crunchiness of the Brussel sprouts here. Addictive. They do it pretty simple, with just a handful of chopped garlic, no sauce. Still turns out great though.

Stir fried lala. Or clams. The spicy sauce wasn't even necessary to fully enjoy the fresh lalas.

And this is what keeps people coming back for more.

The crabs in sweet and sour sauce. Remember, SWEET AND SOUR. 

The sauce has got so much kick to it you can't help but slurp it off your fingers. 

Yeah, the crabs are not bad themselves either but the highlight is definitely the sauce. 

You can even order fried buns (mantou) to scoop up all the leftover sauce from the crabby wreckage.

Just don't mess with Hook.

Red Wine Mee Sua @ Home

 

My uncle started making his own red wine (hokkien : ang zhiu/ang jiu), being the budding chef he is. 

So guess who gets to try out the first few bottles?

 

My mom makes one very slurpy bowl of red wine mee sua. 

Recipe passed down from generation to generation. 

Mom learnt it from my grandmother, who I remember used to make one giant pot every chinese new year. 

The soup's definitely the highlight.  Dad never fails to finish even the last drop of soup.

Wanna know where to get the best mee sua? Or rice vermicelli, as known by the Westeners. 

My hometown! -The small, quiet town of Sitiawan. 

(fun fact - notice it's featured quite frequently in the foodie section of The Star)