Buzzing with FOOD

 This place hardly needs any introduction. Anyone who craves for some authentic banana leaf cuisine will surely be reminded of Passions of Kerala Restaurant. They have a branch in Brown Garden, this one in Service Road (off Burmah Road) and the latest new outlet at New World Park.

Of the 3 branches, I prefer the environment and setting in Service Road. It still maintains its old pre-war house charm (unlike the spanking new cafe concept in New World Park) and is considerably very clean (Brown Garden’s branch is a little worn out, hence looking less appealing). There’s air-conditioning in here too, although the restaurant doors are left open.

Some spices crucial in Indian cooking. No spice no Indian food, as they say.

Menu

Prices differ from branch to branch. The one in New World Park is more expensive.

All the portion and serving shown in the menu are meant for one to two pax.

How can I go to an Indian restaurant without ordering my favourite mango lassi (RM 4.50)

Banana leaf being laid out.

The vegetarian set (RM 5.00) includes five types of dishes - chilli beansprout, pickled mango, mayo salad, papadam and one more which I cant recall.

If 2 pieces of papadam is not enough, you can order a basket but it cost RM 1.00, not FOC.

One serving of McNairs fried chicken. This taste great as it was well marinated with spices but not spicy. The only setback was that one piece of chicken was a little uncooked in the center part, near the bones. Other than that, it’s a winner.

Fried ladies fingers. I was trying to get others to agree to order the fried bitter gourd but they were not as adventurous and opted for ladies fingers. Not over-fried and very crunchy. This can be gone in minutes since it’s a nice dish to munch on while waiting for other dishes to be served. Same goes with the fried squid  (sotong). I guess I was too busy eating and hence forgot to snap a photo of that dish. But it was as crunchy as the ladies fingers and didn’t taste "rubbery".

Mutton masala is richly cooked in their special masala sauce. It was very tender and goes very well with rice.

Curry fish with ladies fingers. The never-fail curry version with ikan bawal. Not very spicy for me but others might think otherwise.

Chicken masala. Isn’t this table full of "masalah"?? Haha, no it’s not the masalah (problem) but masala. This dish is very flavourful and has a thick gravy coating the chicken. Their combination of spices is just right. You won’t feel like there’s too strong taste of one certain spice, which can contribute to the downfall of a dish.

Fish curry, chicken curry and dhall all united to drown the rice and other side dishes on the banana leaf. You can request to have more or less gravy, depending on your stlye of eating. Me, I prefer my rice wet, so more gravy please!!!

Price list.

Thank you to the guest whom we brought here to eat. It was suppose to be my treat, since I’m the one bringing the guest out for dinner, but I was a minute too late in grabbing the bill.

Contact:

40, Service Road (Burmah Square),
10050, Penang
Tel:04-229 2570

Map:

~

 When you hear the word "Bento", you’ll think of Japanese food. It’s a Japanese word for meals in a box.

What is bento?

Bento (written 弁当), or obento (お弁当) to use the honorific term, is the Japanese word for a meal served in a box. Beyond that basic definition though, just about anything goes as to what kind of box or container is used, as well as what is put inside that box,.

Different types of bento

(See also: Types of homemade bento.)

There are several different kinds of bento, with different purposes. Makunouchi bento are elaborate bento meals presented at formal meals, meant to be eaten at table.

(read more from the source)

Over here I think no Japanese restaurant go by without adding bento meals into their menu. But Tonki Bento stands out as a Japanese Restaurant which focuses on these box meals, hence the name.

It’s location is a little hidden, off from the busy Burmah Road, so some might not realise this corner shop. Nevertheless, they are going all out with their delivery service of bento meals. I tried their delivered bento lunch box before and I thought I would go to the restaurant to try out some other offerings of theirs.

Very simple interior decoration, comfortable enough for about 10 tables.

Free-flow of green tea

 Teriyaki Bento (RM 18.80)

A complete meal of rice, salad, teriyaki chicken, deep-fried prawns, orange and also a bowl of miso soup.

Tori Katsu Kore (RM 11.80) - Japanese curry Katsu-don. Japanese curry is not as spicy and fragrant as the curry we have here. It is more towards a sweet taste. It’s also not as red as our local curry. But this is how Japanese curry is like, since Japanese can’t really take spicy stuff. But there’s lots of big onions added in this curry.

Tori Katsu Don (RM 8.80). This version of chicken cutlet is added with an egg after being deep-fried. I’ve tasted much better Katsu-don elsewhere. Over here, it’s quite dry and lacks in aroma and taste.

A stock of carnation was given to each table for an occasion (go guess)

I think they are more popular with bento meals. Other types of ala-carte dishes are just so-so. I did not try their sushi though.

Look at their Bento sets for lunch. Great variety at a low price. (click to view larger image)

~

Today marks the last day of the Nine Emperor Gods Festival (Hokkien: Kow Ong Yeah). This Taoist festival is a nine-day celebration where Chinese Taoist will go on a strict vegetarian diet lasting from 3-days to 9-days. In Penang, many will make a visit to the Nine Emperor Gods Temple located at Burma Road to pray and make their aspirations.

(For further reading: Nine Emperor Gods Festival, All set for the Nine Emperor Gods Fest)

The strict vegetarian diet means there should not be any consumption of dairy, onions or garlic (believed to give bad breathe, hence not allowed), spring onion and also other products from animal source. Even the cooking utensils, cups, etc. are strictly used only for this vegetarian period or completely new.

I’m not a Taoist but I joined in the vegetarian diet since it’s been practised in my household and also I somehow prefer to eat less meat these days, so going through this vegetarian diet is not a big change to my usual eating habit. My mum also cooks during this period (using all utensils used only at this time of the year), so it’s a healthy vegetarian diet for me (outside vegetarian food seems very oily nowadays)

I managed to snap some photos of the temporary stalls set up for the public to buy vegetarian food. This was taken in Madras Lane, just opposite the Nine Emperor Gods Temple. They have practically everything from economy rice, curry mee, loh mee, char hor fun, nyonya kuih, pau, poh piah, to even satay, pizza and bak kut teh. There’s also an array of snacks like crackers, biscuits and pastries.

Tonight, there will be a grand send-off procession to the sea for the nine emperor gods to mark the end of the nine day festival.

Now on to the food available in Noodle Station. For a look at what beverages they have, look here.

With over 70 items to choose from, here are some of the more widely ordered dishes. 

Curry Springy Noodle With Prawn & Fish Ball (No. 25) @ RM 7.50
Springy Noodle Soup With Tom Yam Seafood (No. 32) @ RM 7.50

This two dishes came out first. Curry was a little tad salty and tomyam was sweet instead of hot+spicy. Nevertheless these two are the more popular dishes here. I do agree too that these two are some of the better choice to order.

Curly noodles are used in all their noodles dishes. Not as springy as I thought it would be.

Fried Springy Noodle With Thai Style- Spicy (No. 40) @ RM6.50
Fried Springy Noodle With Prawn- Non Spicy (No. 39) @ RM6.50

 Look almost the same except that one is in a darker shade than the other. I know ‘al-dente’ does not cover this kind of noodle category but not al-dente is what I feel about these two dishes. There’s also not much ingredients other than a few prawns and greens.

Springy Noodle With Fried Chicken Dumpling (No. 7) @ RM 6.50

It’s a little dry and that’s why this dish is accompanied by a small bowl of clear soup. I think making the soy sauce seasoning more fragrant will enhance the noodle’s taste.

 Springy Noodle With BBQ Honey Whole Leg Chicken (No. 15) @ RM 8.00

The first look of this dish is indeed impressive but as you dig in, you’ll realise that the whole leg drumstick is a little of a hindrance. Chopping it into a few pieces but presented it in the same way will make it more realistic I think.

Spicy Fried Kuey Teow (No. 44) @ RM6.00

Before I talk about the koay teow, compare the drumstick below with the one above. What’s the difference? Shinny right? It’s the wonders of honey!!

The spicy fried koay teow taste ok but as we all know, Penangnites are spoilt with great choices for char koay teow. But this version is of course halal and that’s a plus point for some.

Fried Rice With Prawn (No. 53) @ RM6.00
Tom Yam Fried Rice With Prawn (No. 54) @ RM6.50

Both fried rice lack the thorough frying effect. The tomyam version has more flavour than the normal version but the tomyam paste seems a little too much.

Ladna Kuey Teow (No. 45) @ RM6.50
Fried Yellow Noodle Hokkien Style Kicap Hitam (No. 49) RM6.50

Dishes such as these two seem very little when served but this is actually due to the plate size, not the portion. If you prefer something not too dry, then try it. Can’t fight the hawker version though.

Honey BBQ Chicken Wing- 6pcs (No. 72) @ RM14.50
Fried Chicken Dumpling- 10pcs (No. 73) @ RM5.00

The BBQ chicken wings are of the same style as the whole drumstick served with the springy noodles. I feel it’s a little dry, i.e. not juicy. The fried dumplings is very crispy but the filling is quite little. Nevertheless, it makes a good finger food!!

Super Sandwich With Smoke Turkey (No. 67) @ RM7.50
Chicken Chop With Brown Sauce (No. 57) @ RM10.90

If you want to take something light, then go for the sandwich. I like the fact that they use the thick ‘roti benggali’ style of bread and lightly toast it. The chicken cop is one of the western food dish available here. I don’t fancy the brown sauce and funny thing is that a fried egg is served with this dish.

Overall, Noodle Station does serve with it’s mission of providings food with fast service. Lots of choices and and cafe-dining concept is a plus point here. Food-wise, some hits and misses, but with further improvements, they should be able to cope in this business.

Here are some of the branches available across the country. 

Noodle Station at Kulim Landmark Central Shopping Complex. This complex also housed the Giant supermarket. So if you are unsure how to reach this place, do look out for Giant’s signboard along the road to this area.

Noodle Station started from Kota Bharu, Kelantan in 2005. Their concept is to create a dining place of fresh food with fast service at an affordable price.

The first branch opened in E-Gate, Penang and soon after, many other branches have mushroomed, from northern region (Sunway Carnival Mall Penang, Taiping Central) to central region (Ampang, Setapak, Subang Jaya, Damansara, Kajang, etc.)

Part of the Menu. There’s over 70 (food) and 100 (beverage) items to choose from. Talk about extensive!!!

(click to view a larger image)

I’m going to do something a little different here. The beverages standard will be based on awards I’ve come up with (IMHO). So feel free to interpret the goodness or worth-ordering factor!! (Not all beverages are featured and given award. The complete serving are shown in 2 photos above)